Education position available
Scott Richardson ~ 2009-02-05
The application window for this position has passed.
Through the generosity of a Laudholm Trust supporter, a unique opportunity is available within the Wells Reserve education program. Applications are being accepted from 2008 and 2009 Maine college graduates for the Charles C. and Rebecca S. Richardson Post-Baccalaureate Education Fellowship.
A full-time 12-month commitment is required from early June 2009 through the end of May 2010. For full details, download the information sheet (MS Word). Applications must be received by February 22.
2008 Volunteers For Peace crew arrives
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-08-27
Today we welcome six Volunteers For Peace, who will be working with Wells Reserve and Laudholm Trust over the next couple of weeks: Corisande Van Heurck and Evelyne Esterzon from Belgium, Florina Meusert from Germany, In-kyoung Lee and Kyung Young Jin from South Korea, and Yohei Kawasaki from Japan. Thank you for coming to Maine to help with our programs!
Thanks to KSB Community Investment Ballot voters
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-08-01
Laudholm Trust interim president Diana Joyner accepted a check Wednesday from Sheila Kelley, manager of Kennebunk Savings Bank’s Wells Branch. The $1430 contribution resulted from customer votes on the bank’s Community Investment Ballot last spring. If you voted for Laudholm Trust, thank you for choosing us! We know that the other local nonprofits on the bank’s ballot also merit support.
Will the next Reserve hold a freshwater estuary?
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-07-07
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has nominated the St. Louis River in the northwest part of his state to become the 28th National Estuarine Research Reserve. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will determine whether to add the site to the Reserve system.
The Governor’s press release is here. The NERR System announcement is here.
According to the latter reference…
If NOAA approves the designation, the 15,000-acre St. Louis River site will become the second reserve in the Great Lakes. Ohio’s Old Woman Creek, on Lake Erie, was designated in 1980. The St. Louis River flowing between the cities of Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota, is one of the largest freshwater estuaries on Lake Superior.
In simple terms, estuaries are “where rivers meet the sea.” In Wells, that sea is the Gulf of Maine, but the Wisconsin sea would be a large freshwater lake. We are used to thinking of estuaries as the places where fresh water and salt water mix. The idea of a “freshwater estuary” is not new, but it is controversial.
To learn about seiches and wind tides and how they contribute to the definition of a freshwater estuary, we recommend this University of Wisconsin Extension page. Follow the link for Freshwater Estuaries Defined.
Does the term freshwater estuary catch you by surprise?
One drop at a time
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-06-19
This morning, the Coastal Training Program advisory committee met at Wells Reserve to share news, resources, ideas, and collaborative opportunities. Among the attendees was LaMarr Clannon of Maine NEMO, who highly recommended a visit to One Drop at a Time: A Sustainable Pilot Project with Green Stormwater Management Technology. I decided to check it out, and enthusiastically endorse LaMarr’s recommendation.
Social science tools for natural resource managers
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-06-12
Coastal Training Program (CTP) coordinator Chris Feurt is in Burlington, Vermont today, speaking at the 14th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. This year’s theme is “People and Place: Linking Culture and Nature.”
Chris’s talk is titled “Understanding the ‘system’ in ecosystem management—social science tools for natural resource managers.” Her case study stems from the CTP “Protecting Our Children’s Water” initiative, where social science methodologies are applied to community-based ecosystem management. Here is part of her abstract…
Stakeholder and institutional analysis combined with instructional design and collaborative learning methodologies facilitated watershed partnerships in coastal watersheds in southern Maine. An understanding of the cultural roots of conflict, motivational forces guiding resource management and perceived barriers to collaboration guided this place-based design of the national science to management initiative. The social science methodologies applied in this case study yielded surprising and valuable perspectives about the social system influencing community based ecosystem management. A conceptual framework for integrating social science tools into ecosystem management is proposed.