Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Maine
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2015 Grants
Bates College $90,000
Sally Slovenski, 220 College Street, Lewiston, ME 04240-000
http://www.mainecompact.orgExit
Community Colleges for Environmental Stewardship
The Community Colleges for Environmental Stewardship project prepares a diverse pool of low-income students for a lifetime of environmental stewardship. The program creates and sustains changes in delivery of local community college courses to include ongoing environmental education in all fields of study. It furthers this goal by having students complete locally focused environmental stewardship projects in New England communities to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and protect water. Under the grant, community colleges in northern New England provide training and support to at least 20 faculty from diverse disciplines to embed environmental community projects into their courses. Participants include more than 360 low-income and non-traditional community college students. Each state involved in the project hosts field seminars to share best practices, expand networking of community colleges, and support community environmental stewardship projects.
2014 Grants
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory $192,200
Jane Disney, P.O. Box 35, Salisbury, ME 04672
Building School and Community Collaborations to Eliminate Arsenic from Drinking Water in Maine and New Hampshire: A Model for the U.S.
https://mdibl.org/Exit
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory's model environmental education program facilitates schools and community organizations working together to address the public health risks of exposure to toxic contaminants in drinking water, with a particular focus on arsenic. Between 80 and 280 students in 4 communities in Maine will be involved in the project, and 60 to 300 students in 10 communities in New Hampshire will be involved in community events, website activities, collaborative projects, and the piloting of the model, replicable program.
2013 Grants
Island Institute $100,000
Ruth Kermish-Allen, 386 Main Street, Rockland, ME 04841
Energy for US
This project establishes and supports community energy teams, providing them with high quality, user-friendly energy action guides, energy investigation tools, and mini-grants to empower them to promote and measure energy-saving behavior changes and investments, and quantify savings in dollars, kilowatt hours and pounds saved on greenhouse gas emissions. The goals of the project are to empower multi-generational community energy teams to change behaviors by increasing community awareness, stewardship and action in energy efficiency and renewable energy, to define strategies for communities to achieve measurable reductions of energy consumption, money and greenhouse gas emissions and for community energy groups to measure and document these reductions, and to develop and test a replicable model for a “K through Gray” place-based informal after-school environmental education program resulting in increased energy literacy and stewardship behaviors.
2012 Grants
President and Trustees of Bates College $150,000
Liz McCabe Park, 220 College Street, Lewiston, ME 04240
Bates College Region 1 Sub-Grants Project
Through the Maine Campus Project formed in 1994, the Bates College Region 1 Sub-Grants Project involves 19 colleges in three northern New England states, including Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The project prepares college students in rural communities for a lifetime of environmental stewardship while changing systems and processes on college campuses to better support environmental education through embedding community climate change and water quality projects in courses. In addition, the project prepares faculty and students in any field to teach and learn communication, problem-solving, decision-making, teamwork and action skills, which leads to environmental stewardship. This approach increases student awareness and knowledge about environmental issues related to climate change and protection of America's waters and is based on objective and scientifically sound information.
2011 Grants
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) $83,628
Dr Jane Disney, PhD, Old Bar Harbor Road, PO Box 35, Salisbury Cove, ME 04672
Stewardship of Eelgrass Beds by Inland Schools.
The Stewardship of Eelgrass Beds by Inland Schools project is one of the primary MDIBL programs operated within its Community Environmental Health Laboratory (CEHL). This two-year project educates two inland Maine high schools (Bangor and Waterville Senior High School) about marine vegetative environments through stewardship activities including eelgrass restoration and long term monitoring of restored eelgrass habitats. The project expands its Ecologist-in -Residence program in these two Maine high schools by engaging inland teachers and students as stewards of local eelgrass habitats through exploration, research, and restoration. It also creates a teacher internship program for inland teachers to work more closely with MDIBL researchers, and offers a short course for teachers (Marine Habitats and Climate Change), and hosts a marine science event for students to present their knowledge and share ideas.
2010 Grants
College of The Atlantic $18,503
David P. Feldman, 105 Eden Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Elementary Teacher Training in Sustainable Energy
The Elementary Teacher Training in Sustainable Energy project educates upper elementary and middle school teachers at Pemetic Elementary School in sustainable energy and energy conservation. The teachers gain knowledge through classroom and teacher workshop efforts to initiate or expand energy conservation projects and service learning opportunities for students. The teachers devise lesson plans and activities to educate their elementary and middle school students and increase energy literacy among young people. The main environmental issues that this project aims to address are the sustainable generation and use of energy. Reducing the use of fossil fuels is essential to slow climate change and reduce harmful pollution resulting from the burning of fossil fuels, including acid rain and particulate matter. Energy literacy, a basic understanding of the physics of energy generation and conservation, and possessing the skills and disposition to do simple quantitative comparisons of different options, is an essential part of responsible environmental stewardship in the age of climate change.
Island Institute
Ruth Kermish-Allen, 386 Main Street, Rockland, ME 04841
Energy for Maine
Maine's islands are among the nation's communities most deeply impacted by high energy costs and are at the forefront of a statewide debate on how to access the enormous off-shore wind energy resource available off the coast of Maine. Energy for Maine provides the opportunity for students, teachers, and families to become leaders in the critical local energy debate, by providing the training and analytical tools to understand local energy usage. The project partners with six middle and high schools in the island communities of Maine to provide direct training to students and teachers on monitoring and evaluating energy use in their community. Teachers and students participate in a three-day Energy Institute to receive technology training and designated time to create a plan for collecting energy-usage data within their homes, schools, and community. Throughout the school year, teachers and students collect and analyze energy usage data at the school. Additionally, families receive energy monitoring equipment to monitor their family's daily energy usage in real time. Students and their parents are also engaged monthly video conferences, called EarthQuests, which connect project participants with leaders in the renewable energy and energy efficiency field. The project helps participants research and evaluate community energy options and encourages their active participation as stakeholders in discussions about energy efficiency, renewable energy policy, and new developments. Project partners include Maine's island schools, local energy cooperatives, and state education leaders.
2009 Grants
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory $45,730
Amy Pelletier, Old Bar Harbor Road, P.O. Box 35, Salisbury Cove, ME 04672
Ecologist-in-Residence Program
This project creates an Ecologist-in-Residence program in the Mount Desert Island elementary schools. After the elementary school staff has assisted in narrowing the goals and objective of this program, a staff person spends one full week in each of the schools educating students on the eelgrass restoration project. Working together with the students, the ecologist-in-residence develops a classroom-based environmental education program on eelgrass growth by assessing reproduction rates in a closed aquarium system. Students in grades 6 and 7 focusing on marine ecology are educated on eelgrass ecosystems, surveying organisms associated with the eelgrass, and marine conservation efforts. In turn, middle school-aged students create a Student Summit to demonstrate their knowledge.
2008 Grants
Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed $12,330
Tamara Whitmore, P.O. Box 5003, Augusta, ME 04332
Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed's "Watershed Education in the Classroom Project"
The Watershed Education in the Classroom Project teaches students in grades 4, 5, and 6 in the Cobbossee Watershed about nonpoint source pollution and invasive aquatic plants that affect the ecological and economic stability of the watershed. The project's goal is to increase knowledge of water quality issues and concepts in the watershed for current and future stewards.
Good Will Home Association $9,804
Deborah Staber, Route 201, P.O. Box 159, Hinkley, ME 04944-0159
After School Programs: Inspiring an Interest in Maine's Natural Environment
In after-school programs for children (kindergarten through grade 5) and their families, this project teaches about Maine’s natural habitats, wildlife diversity, and environmental stewardship. Students learn about environmental issues created by road salt, rubbish, invasive plants and animals, and potential solutions and outcomes. There are 16 12-week sessions and eight Saturday family exploration sessions.
Gulf of Maine Institute $106,433
John Terry, 487 Clarks Mills Road, Dayton, ME 04005
Gulf of Maine Institute Teacher Training Initiative
The Gulf of Maine Institute’s (GOMI) mission is to inspire young people, in partnership with adults, to lead stewardship efforts in the Gulf of Maine and its watershed. As part of the Teacher Training Initiative, GOMI is developing a model teacher training program that prepares social science and environmental educators to incorporate hands-on, experiential initiatives into the curriculum. Participating teachers attend 2-week-long summer workshops that serve as core training in environmental science, team building, and civic engagement. In addition, participants develop a teacher’s kit designed to effectively introduce teachers to “place-based” experiential education. Participating teachers develop community-based initiative teams at their schools and form a cadre of trainers to disseminate these tools and resources at their schools. Dissemination of this model is further aided with presentations at several regional annual teacher conferences, as well as with workshops and Web site development. The initiative enables students to become more competent in science and environmental stewardship by helping to foster teams of educators who change the ways science and social science are taught and learned. The primary partner on this project is Tufts University.
2007 Grants
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory $21,125
Michael P. McKernan, Old Bar Harbor Road, P.O. Box 35, Salisbury Cove, ME 04672
Marine Environmental Education at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
This project supports environmental education in the Myers Marine Aquarium, which houses unique vertebrate and invertebrate marine animals as well as algae from Frenchman’s Bay and the Gulf of Maine. Specific objectives are to (1) recruit an experienced marine environmental education teacher for the summer season, (2) modify existing and design new educational displays and aquaria by recruiting an undergraduate research intern for the summer program, and (3) enhance the education of students, teachers, and the community through monitoring using the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) research community and the Community Environmental Health Laboratory and its ongoing environmental research projects. This project has undertaken a key partnership with the Mount Desert Island Water Quality Coalition.
2006 Grants
Cultivating Community $33,200
Craig Lapine, P.O. Box 3792, Portland, ME 04104
Earth Steward Garden Initiative
The Earth Steward Garden Initiative educates middle school and high school students on environmental stewardship through food-based issues. The project includes gardening programs at area schools. Teachers and students explore the environmental impacts they cause as consumers and producers of food so that they may assess the ecological consequences of food choices, value local foods as a way to minimize resource use and preserve open space, and learn techniques to minimize waste streams and conserve soil fertility. This organization implements the program through school partnerships and youth programs. It expects to partner with at least three schools and train several teachers in Cumberland County on food- and garden-based programs. This organization’s Compost Corps program also expects to enroll high school students to participate in this program.
University of Maine System acting for University of Maine $61,780
Kathryn Carson, 5717 Corbett Hall, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Orono, ME 04469
Aquatic Invaders in Maine (AIM): Education, Exploration, and Stewardship
Seeking to improve literacy on the aquatic environment and to promote environmental stewardship, this project involves the development of an education program for 12 Maine middle schools on aquatic invasive species and related concepts in biodiversity. This program augments science education in middle schools by integrating information on aquatic invasive species and biodiversity into the curriculum and empowering students to analyze valuable and useful scientific data. Under the grant, students learn how to use Vital Signs, a monitoring technology that engages and teaches them about aquatic environments. Using hand-held computers, the students identify invasive species and report their observations on an Internet mapping site used by scientists who are tracking the spread and location of these species. These hands-on experiences provide the students a unique opportunity to learn and practice scientific skills and methods and to learn first-hand about local ecosystems and ecology. Participating teachers and volunteers attend a 5-day institute at the Darling Marine Center, followed by monthly in-school visits or field activities by project staff and volunteers. The teachers receive a toolbox to help them teach and learn about aquatic invasive species and their environmental impact, along with guidance on how to integrate lesson plans with the existing curricula. Participants in the program learn about the need to collect meaningful data on aquatic invasive species. These participants also learn about the importance of their role in preserving aquatic biodiversity, thus promoting environmental awareness and stewardship. The program focuses on empowering students and members of the local community to utilize “real-world” data that are also useful to scientists who track the spread of aquatic invasive species within the State of Maine. Partners in this project include the Maine Shore Stewards Program and 12 middle schools in Maine.
2005 Grants
MDI Water Quality Coalition $32,426
Jane E. Disney, P.O. Box 911, Mt. Desert, ME 04660
Environmental Stewardship Through Service Learning
The Mount Desert Island (MDI) Water Quality Coalition is expanding the current service learning environmental education projects. Third graders stencil drains, sixth and seventh graders monitor red tide organisms, eighth graders monitor water quality in streams and ponds, and tenth graders participate in swim beach monitoring as part of these projects. MDI enriches these programs with teacher training and fuller discussions with the students to develop greater stewardship. A Youth Watershed Forum Convener’s Handbook containing case studies of the service learning projects is published and later presented at the Youth Watershed Forum. MDI is partnering with School Union 98 of the Mount Desert Schools and Union River Watershed Coalition at the College of the Atlantic.
Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District $9,991
Tamara Lee Pinard, 51 Court Street, P.O. Box 121, Machias, ME 04654-0121
Conservation Ed Web
The Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District is one of 16 districts working to promote the conservation and stewardship of soil, water, and related natural resources. The goal of this project is to identify, assess, and prioritize statewide natural resource education needs, evaluate conservation districts’ programs that address the statewide needs, and prepare an implementation plan for achieving coordinated education programming. Facilitated stakeholder meetings provide the basis for developing the implementation plan.
2004 Grants
Merryspring, Inc. $4,500
Kerry Hardy, 30 Conway Road, P.O. Box 893, Camden, ME 04843
Environmental Education Modulesxcvbvc
Merryspring, Inc. partners with public schools in a three-county area to enhance their curriculums in natural science and ecology. The program takes students in kindergarten through grade 5 out of the classroom and into a natural setting to learn about local habitats and the plant and animal species native to this part of Maine.
University of Maine $5,000
Laura R. Wilson, 5717 Corbett Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5717
Education and Action Through Lake Leaders
This program is an expansion of the Lake Leaders training. Over 250 lakefront landowners have received training about lake threats and lake protection methods. The program is providing additional training to more than 20 individuals in lake leadership, outreach, and water quality education methods. After the training, these individuals develop small-group proposals for better lake protection.
2003 Grants
Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District $9,957
Mary Gilbertson, 201 Main Street, Suite 6, Westbrook, ME 04092
Empowering Students To Become Involved Citizens
Teachers in four pilot communities are trained to incorporate this environmental service-learning program into their local curricula through workshops, one-on-one guidance, and technical expertise provided by staff of the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District. The program encourages high-school students to take ownership of local environmental issues through hands-on investigations of local watersheds. In addition to meeting local needs, the program is also in compliance with Maine's Learning Results.
University of Maine Geological Sciences Department $5,000
Molly Schauffler, 5717 Corbett Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5717
Maine Environmental Research Grid and Education (MERGE)
The Maine Environmental Research Grid and Education (MERGE) project is a collaboration between Maine's Environmental Research Grid and the Hutchinson Center. Project staff members develop and administer a series of workshops to show environmental educators and science teachers how to locate, download, and apply environmental data available on the Internet using the online Maine Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (MEMAP) Index as a starting point. As part of the MERGE project, teachers also develop pedagogic strategies for helping students use online data to investigate environmental questions that are meaningful to them and relevant to their communities.
2002 Grants
Northern Maine Development Commission $14,414
Sigrid Houlette, 302 Main Street, P. O. Box 779, Caribou, ME 04736
Safe Home Drinking Water - Education of Private Well Owners in Northern Maine
This program is presented to various community organizations, family health groups, as well as the general public. Issues covered include contaminant threats to groundwater and their potential health effects, as well as the differences in drilled and dug wells. The program provides tools to change poor habits at home, such as inadequate care of septic systems, purchasing and disposal of household cleaners and agricultural chemicals, and testing of drinking wells at least every 3 years.
The Environmental Schools $2,250
Matt Dubel, 2 Randall Avenue, Ocean Park, ME 04063
Using Environmental Education to Reach Main Learning Results
This grant consists of three public school teacher workshops; one for kindergarten through second grade, one for grades 3 through 4, and one for grades 5 through 8. The workshops provide effective, practical activities selected from existing curricula for their ability to reach standards contained in the Maine Learning Results. The workshops include briefings on the ecological or environmental science behind each activity and are accompanied by written materials outlining the activities and additional resources.
2001 Grants
Morris Farm Trust, Inc. $14,700
Cristine James, P. O. Box 136, Wiscasset, ME 04578
Ecological Forestry & Agriculture for Rural Maine (Eco-FARM)
In partnership with many organizations, the Morris Farm Trust works with teachers to use the farm’s facilities, property, and operations to explore such concepts as sustainable agriculture, forest ecology, energy efficiency, and management of natural resources, while meeting the educational frameworks established by the state of Maine. Through several learning projects, students find real solutions to real challenges that confront farm operations.
University of Maine $72,148
Sara Lindsay, Office of Research & Sponsored Programs, 5717 Corbett Hall, Orono, ME 04469-6717
The Silver Wake: An Integrative, Community-Based Curriculum
Building on the successful alliance between the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant programs, the Silver Wake project reaches middle school students, their teachers, and volunteers in coastal communities to educate them about environmental issues in their neighborhoods. By participating in “real-life” science, the students and their families, teachers, and communities are learning why it is important to ask and answer questions about their environment. Phytoplankton found along the coast of Maine provides the theme for improving and integrating the curriculum and educational practices in 12 middle schools. The teachers attend an intensive 10-day institute, followed by two-day workshops, to develop curriculum plans aligned with the state’s science standards and to learn how to use Internet resources effectively in their classrooms. In turn, the students benefit from the new curriculums, as well as visits by project staff and volunteers who lead sessions on various environmental issues. A web site is being developed to facilitate communication among the teachers and students and to serve as a forum for the posting of student portfolios. The Penobscot Bay Stewards Program is a significant partner in the project.
2000 Grants
French Bay Conservancy $12,000
Barbara Welch, P. O. Box 606, Ellsworth, ME 04605
Mount Desert Island High School Students & Swimming Water
With an educator, Mount Desert Island High School interview area residents and collect water data from local swimming areas. To promote awareness of water quality and environmental education, the students develop an educational outreach program for local officials, residents, and other students. The French Bay Conservancy and the Mount Desert Island Water Quality Coalition are developing a Web site related to the issues. The educator is working with 200 10th grade students and three teachers at Mount Desert Island High School and 75 students and 6 teachers at Mount Desert Island elementary schools.
KIDS Consortium, Inc. $109,204
Francine Rudoff, 215 Lisbon Street, Suite 12, Lewiston, ME 04240
Gulf of Maine Institute Without Walls
A unique collaboration among the Kids Involved Doing Service (KIDS) Consortium, Inc. and several key partners, the Gulf of Maine Institute Without Walls is a binational, multijurisdictional effort focused on developing partnerships and educational initiatives among adults and youth at five watershed sites in the Gulf of Maine area. The mission of KIDS Consortium is to move education beyond the classroom as students apply academic knowledge and skills to real community needs. Under the project, students are involved actively in learning about watersheds and producing data, information, and products that are used by partner community organizations and businesses. In addition, teams from each project site participate in a summer institute to share their knowledge and ideas, participate in training programs, and train new teams from communities in the region. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade participate in the project, as well as teachers at each watershed site, representatives of the partner organizations, and community and parent volunteers. Partners include the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District, the Cocheco River Watershed Coalition, the Roxbury Science Workshop, Eastern Charlotte Waterways, and the Tusket River Environmental Protection Association.
1999 Grants
Aroostook Literacy Coalition $5,000
Ervin T. MacDonald, P. O. Box 190, Houlton, ME 04730
Bridging The Two Maines
This regional telecommunications project educates the general public in Aroostook County and key community leaders about environmental issues and on-line networking to improve their access to key environmental data. By providing that training, the project uses technology to educate members of the adult community, including low-income audiences, in Aroostook County, the largest and northernmost county in the state.
University of Maine, Water Research Institute $5,000
Mary Ann McGarry, 5717 Corbett Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5717
Testing The Waters (TTW): Building A Maine Watershed Alliance
This project extends the reach of the earlier pilot Testing The Water (TTW) programs by expanding their geographic base into the Kennebec River watershed, located in central Maine. The TTW program now provides a hands-on, minds-on, water quality monitoring and educational experience for more than 800 school children and teachers in the Kennebec watershed.
Aroostook Literacy Coalition $5,000
Ervin Macdonald, P. O. Box 190, Houlton, ME 04469
Network Resources Teacher Training
This project uses the Internet to deliver training on environmental resources to educators. The training shows teachers how to use classroom projects that incorporate critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective decision-making skills to address human health issues and environmental issues that have high priority in the region. The 25 Internet training units involve 200 teachers in eight hours of training.
University of Maine - Water Research Institute $11,406 Jeffery S. Kahl, 5717 Corbett Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5717
Discovering the Penobscot River Watershed
The Testing the Waters (TTW) program provides education and a hands-on experience in monitoring water quality for more than 1,000 students in kindergarten through college. Participants collect water samples at more than 40 stations along the Penobscot River. They then use field testing kits to analyze the samples. Staff of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, as well as members of Project WET and other groups, provide assistance in the program, which builds on earlier pilot TTW events.
1997 Grants
Aroostook Band of Micmacs $3,728
Fred Corey, Environmental Health Director, 759 Main Street, Presque Isle, ME 04769
Environmental Workshops and Newsletters: Education, Problem Solving, and the Environment
This two-part project provides workshops for tribal youth and distributes newsletters to the tribal community. Through the three workshops provided, the young people examine issues related to non-point-source pollution, solid waste and landfills, and water quality. The two newsletters produced under the project cover environmental hazards known to affect the Micmac community. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, collaborators in the development and presentation of the workshops, provide staff, educational resources, and equipment for field exercises.
Audubon Expedition Institute $15,000
Lissa Widoff, Development Director, P. O. Box 365, 243 High Street, Belfast, ME 04915
Fostering a New Generation of Environmentally Literate Teachers
This project establishes a summer master's degree program in ecological literacy, which fosters a new generation of environmentally literate teachers. After preparation of curricula and course syllabi, selection and training of faculty, and planning for its field and urban segments, the program reaches 20 teachers and the students in each of their classrooms, thereby affecting as many as 400 non-traditional (working) students. The project is a collaborative effort of the Audubon Expedition Institute and Lesley College of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Blue Hill Consolidated School $5,000
Patrick Phillips, Blue Hill, Blue Hill, ME 04614
Enhancing Environmental Education Through Collaboration and Inservice
The core curriculum developed under this project involves students in the care of injured wildlife and research related to the needs of those creatures and enhances awareness of endangered species, especially in the Blue Hill Peninsula and Mount Desert Island area. The project uses existing resources to integrate the subject matter into environmental education at the seventh- and eighth-grade levels. The project also provides support for kindergarten through sixth-grade curricula. Blue Hill Consolidated School conducts the project in collaboration with the Acadia Wildlife Foundation and College of the Atlantic.
Northern Maine Development Commission $17,559
Robert P. Clark, Executive Director, P. O. Box 779, 2 South Main Street, Caribou, ME 04736
Household Hazardous Waste Education and Exchange Program
The Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Education and Exchange Program provides regional workshops for citizens, businesses, industries, schools, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities in northern Maine, an area that has a population of 79,582. The project also provides workshops through which teachers and students learn about inventorying and reusing HHW, as well as reducing the amounts of such waste generated. The workshops, which reach more than 15,000 students, are conducted in conjunction with solid waste professionals in Aroostok County, local water and sewer utility districts, and the Northern Maine Solid Waste Management Committee.
1996 Grants
Aroostook Literacy Coalition $9,650
Ervin MacDonald, P. O. Box 190, Houlton, ME 04730
Pollution Prevention Education Project for the General Public
The Aroostook Literacy Coalition is a diverse, nonprofit organization that proposes to educate people in the state's northernmost, rural county about pollution prevention by offering a seminar series in each of six locations throughout the county. Topics in the Pollution Prevention Education Project for the General Public are based upon a statewide survey done under the "Maine Environmental Priorities Project" and include "Eco" tourism, air quality, sustainable forestry practices, drinking water quality, and regulations for recreational vehicle usage. Seminars are being designed so that participants can develop strategies to balance economic development, tourism, recreation, and preservation in their communities.
Houlton High School $5,000
Christy Fitzpatrick, P. O. Box 190, Houlton, ME 04730
Yard Waste Composting: Community Service Curriculum
The Yard Waste Composting: Community Service Curriculum project is developing a core of trained students to set up and monitor a pilot project on yard waste composting during the 1996-1997 school year. It will educate local citizens on the importance of composting yard waste, allow students and teachers a chance to use an experimental science class designed around a real-life project, and provide citizens of the Houlton area with a local site to compost yard waste. Students will create experimental plots to test various compost recipes, rates of turning, and physical arrangements for compost formation.
1995 Grants
Maine Environmental Education Association $5,000
Marianne Dubois, P. O. Box 9, Wiscasset, ME 04578
Earthminders: Topics in Environmental Education
Earthminders, a coalition of organizations promoting environmental education in Maine, conducts a state-wide teacher training program by means of an interactive television series. The target audience for this project is 1,200 elementary and secondary school teachers. The program will reach them in remote locations and allow them to participate to the same extent as teachers in the more populous southern region of the state. The eight, 60-minute programs will be broadcast from the University of Maine to 78 school sites state-wide.
Passamaquoddy Tribe-Indian Township Tribal Government $12,000
Veronica Smith, P. O. Box 301, Princeton, ME 04668
Reservation Environmental Education Needs Assessment
Funds from this grant will go to conduct a needs assessment on the Indian Township Reservation to identify local environmental issues and determine how tribal members wish to be educated and involved. The project will engage tribal adults in defining water quality on the Reservation, nonpoint source pollution, energy consumption, water usage, and excess packaging issues. Participants in the project also will conduct a needs assessment for a kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum, and create five, one- to three-minute public service announcements for the tribal cable access channel.
University of Southern Maine/Maine Geographic Alliance $7,915
Pamela L. Wilson, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103
Summer Teacher Training Institute
This project involves a one-week residential workshop designed to improve the ability of 20 Maine teachers (10 two-teacher teams, grades 7 through 12) and members of 10 communities to address fresh water issues. This pilot project will reach 570 Maine citizens in its first year and will establish an ongoing network of support among the participants.
1994 Grants
Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District $4,900
Forrest Bell, 381 Main Street, Suite 3, Gorham, ME 04038
The Campers' Lake Ecology Book
"The Campers' Lake Ecology Book" will provide campers and camp staff within the Sebago Lake Watershed area with information on soil and water resources. Specifically, it will explain to younger "lake users" (ages 6 through 10) how lakes function, how they are threatened, and how they can be protected. The project makes use of a variety of activities including puzzles and illustrations. The goal of the "Camper's Book" is to teach about lake ecology while stressing the importance of the water quality of their lakes to young campers.
Department of Environmental Protection $3,600
Nick Archer, 1235 Central Drive, Presque Isle, ME 04769-2053
Mr. and Mrs. Fish
The St. John River "Mr. and Mrs. Fish" water quality education program will market its project focusing on enhancing the understanding of water ecosystems among students living on the American and Canadian banks of the river. The program, directed at 3rd grade students and their teachers, consists of a teacher workshop, performance for students, and a training package. The project will provide teachers with the resources to introduce water quality lessons in the classroom curriculum. Furthermore, the project will enhance partnerships between local school systems, municipalities, and regional natural resource agencies, all on behalf of the water quality of the area's St. John River.
Maine Audubon Society $4,998
Maureen K. Oates, 118 U.S. Route 1, P. O. Box 6009, Falmouth, ME 04105
Casco Bay Water Quality and Watershed Education Project
"The Casco Bay Water Quality and Watershed Education Project" will provide middle and high school teachers with hands-on experience in water quality and watershed issues. Teachers will participate in interactive workshops and use watershed models and topographic and watershed maps for wetland education in the classroom. The Casco Bay Watershed program is the vehicle which will establish a student and community water quality monitoring project on Casco Bay and foster ongoing "mentoring" relationships between citizens and the schools.
1993 Grants
Department of Environmental Protection $3,000
Nick Archer, 1235 Central Drive, Presque Isle, ME 04769-2053
Mr. & Mrs. Fish
"Mr. & Mrs. Fish" is a 3rd grade water education program designed to introduce and teach water conservation and reuse. It utilizes scripts tailored to specific geographic locations, and will reach at least 400 students in rural Aroostook County during the first year. One character, Ebenezer Sewage, is visited by three aquatic spirits before he learns not to waste water which "all earthlings depend on for survival and sustenance."
Laudholm Trust $5,000
Henrietta E. List, P. O. Box 1007, Wells, ME 04090
Pathway to Change
The "Pathway to Change" project expands an outreach program that has reached 6,000 students in kindergarten through 8th grade in eight school districts since 1990. The project provides a summer teaching institute for grades 7 through 12, teaching what estuaries are, why they are important, and how each of us affects and is affected by the health of estuaries. The project also enables teachers to enhance their understanding of the science of ecology and critical thinking skills.
Threshold to Maine Resource, Conservation, and Development Area $5,000
Jim Chandler, 67 Shaker Road, Gray, ME 04039
Maine ENVIROTHON
This project develops and offers a hands-on environmental decision-making institute for high school teachers to strengthen the "Maine ENVIROTHON," a competition focusing on environmental assessment and problem solving in the areas of soil, water, forestry, and wildlife. The Institute is designed to enhance teaching skills by involving the teachers in current case studies coupled with real-life problem situations and data gathering, such as watershed survey work, habitat analysis.
1992 Grants
Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District $5,000
Gorham, ME 04092
Groundwater and Drinking Water Curriculum
This grant funds a project to develop and disseminate an integrated, goal-oriented environmental education curriculum on groundwater and drinking water issues. The project will focus on investigation and evaluation skills and citizenship action issues for students in grade 9 through 12.
Maine Audubon Society $4,998
Falmouth, ME 04105
Wetlands Education Project
The"Wetlands Education Project" will provide relevant and accessible educational materials and programs to teachers and concerned community members that includes wetlands curricula, slide shows, videos, brochures, and posters.
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife $3,750
Augusta, ME 04333
Wetlands and Wildlife Interpretation Area
The "Wetlands and Wildlife Interpretation Area" project, located in Gray, Maine, will focus on methods in which the public can protect or enhance wetland habitat, including areas located on their own property, in order to attract wildlife.
Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association $5,000
Augusta, ME 04338
Seed-To-Table Farm Stewardship Exhibition
The "Seed-To-Table Farm Stewardship Exhibition" is a project for farmers and consumers to make them more aware of the environmental impacts on food choices. The exhibit will include a portable, walk-through display that will use models, games, stories, photographs, and performers to demonstrate the proper farming practices used to protect natural ecosystems. The exhibit will travel to major agricultural and environmental events across New England.
Saint Joseph's College Department of Biology $5,000
Windham, ME 04062
Remote Sensing in Southern Maine
This grant funds a project that incorporates the analysis of remote sensing satellite images into a curriculum for undergraduate students and the public. The project is designed to educate students on the impacts of environmentally destructive processes occurring in southern Maine.