The Nature of Phenology 1/15/22: Blue Jays

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

If blue jays annoy you, discover at least three nice things about them.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com

About the host/writers:

Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing [email protected]

Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing [email protected]

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The Cosmic Curator 1/15/22: Deep Spiritual Transformation

This is your Cosmic Curator, Tom Yaroschuk, with an astrological update for today January 15 and the week ahead.

Well folks 2022 is definitely in full swing now.
Welcome to a new year and a new energy pattern to kick it into gear.
Here’s what’s up…

About the Host:
Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer.

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Let’s Talk About It 1/14/22: Domestic Abuse and Religion

Producer/Host: Patrisha McLean
Production assistance: Tammy Oropesa
Music: Jackie Lee McLean

Let’s Talk About It: Conversations with Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Guest:
Jennifer Greenmith and Anonymous. A woman survivor of domestic abuse in the orthodox Jewish community and another in the Christian community talk about how religion played a key factor in trapping them and keeping them trapped in domestic violence.

Topics include:
Religion, mental Illness, family court malfunction.

About the host:
Patrisha McLean is an award-winning photojournalist and the founder/president of Finding Our Voices, the survivor-powered and grassroots nonprofit organization breaking the silence of domestic abuse.

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Awanadjo Almanack 1/14/22: “Toothpicks”

Producer/Host: Rob McCall
Production Assistance: Rebecca McCall

About the host, Rob McCall:

Born in the Black Hills of South Dakota, grew up in Oregon and Illinois. Father was a Scots-Irish preacher, mother a Yankee Congregationalist tracing her ancestry back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Father taught him about Scripture, mother taught him about Nature.

Bachelor of arts in philosophy, bachelor of divinity in American religious history, graduate studies in education, doctor of ministry in congregational studies, certified in elementary education, tree fruits and entomology.

Worked as an elementary school teacher, tree and landscape contractor, church sexton, orchard manager, chimney sweep, ambulance driver, musician. Began second career as a preacher at age 40. Served as minister of the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill, Maine 1986 – 2014. He is currently chaplain of the Brooklin Fire Department.

Since 1992 has published the weekly Awanadjo Almanack which is broadcast to midcoast Maine and on the web at WERU-FM and appears in a number of publications. His writing has also appeared in Yankee, Down East, Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, Island Journal and elsewhere.

His first book, Small Misty Mountain, was published in 2006 by Pushcart Press and distributed by W.W. Norton. Publisher’s Weekly called it “by turns inspiring and infuriating.” His second book, Great Speckled Bird, followed in 2012. His third book, Some Glad Morning, was released in October 2020.

Passions include wild plants and animals, and traditional fiddle tunes. Married for 53 years to Rebecca Haley, artist and singer. Father of two, grandfather of two.

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Common Ground Radio 1/13/22: Soil Carbon Farming

Producer/Host: C.J. Walke

Organic Food and Farming in Maine: Soil Carbon Farming

-Carbon sequestration on organic farms
-Linking soil health to crop health and human health
-Ecological benefits of carbon sequestration

Guest: Dr. Gladis Zinati, Director of Vegetable Systems Trial, Rodale Institute, Kutztown, PA

About the hosts:

C.J. Walke has been involved in Maine agriculture for over 20 years and has worked in numerous capacities for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) starting in 2006. Since 2012, C.J. has worked as farm manager for College of the Atlantic’s Peggy Rockefeller Farms in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he works with students to grow organic fruits, vegetables and livestock products. He holds degrees in park management/environment education and library science. Common Ground Radio debuted in June of 2010 and C.J. has been the show’s host since 2014.

Holli Cederholm has been involved in organic agriculture since 2005 when she first apprenticed on a small farm. She has worked on organic farms in Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Scotland and Italy and, in 2010, founded a small farm focused on celebrating open-pollinated and heirloom vegetables. As the former manager of a national nonprofit dedicated to organic seed growers, she authored a peer-reviewed handbook on GMO avoidance strategies for seed growers. Holli has also been a steward at Forest Farm, the iconic homestead of “The Good Life” authors Helen and Scott Nearing; a host of “The Farm Report” on Heritage Radio Network; and a long-time contributor for The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, which she now edits in her role as content creator and editor at MOFGA.

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 1/13/22: Public Domain Day 2022

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Welcome to the New Year with hopes for a better 2022 than was 2021. No “Year’s 10 Best” or “Year’s 10 Worst” list on today’s program. Instead, let’s take a look at a few things in the tech January 1 was Public Domain Day for 2022. Here’s what that means and why it is worth celebrating.

Here’s the link mentioned on today’s program.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Talk of the Towns 1/12/22: College of the Atlantic in its 50th Year—a conversation with Darron Collins, President

Producer/Host: Ron Beard

College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, welcomed its first class 50 years ago, offering a many paths to a degree in human ecology. In a conversation with Darron Collins, President of the college and himself a graduate, we explore the origins and history of College of the Atlantic, the ways in which students learn and faculty teach, the role of international students who make up nearly 20% of the intentionally small student body of 350, and aspirations as faculty, staff and students look ahead.

About the host:
Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

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