COA Volume 5 | Number 2 Fall 2009 UNDY FOR SUPERFIX The College of the Atlantic Magazine COA Mission: Letter from the Editor College of the Atlantic enriches the liberal arts tradition through a distinctive educational philoso- Back in September I visited Annabel Linquist '00 in phy-human ecology. A human her Manhattan studio at the fringe of the old ware- house district in Chelsea. It was one of those late ecological perspective integrates knowledge from all academic dis- summer days when it is hard to tell the difference ciplines and from personal experi- between mugginess and grimy rain, but Annabel's ence to investigate-and ultimately studio was light and white, with high ceilings that improve-the relationships between comfortably accommodated her large paintings. As human beings and our social and we stood surrounded by images of dark green rain- natural communities. The human bow-like arches, hot air balloons and diving masks-human attempts to explore ecological perspective guides all the heights and depths of life-Annabel cocked her head and said, "I had my aspects of education, research, ac- heart broken " I wanted to reach out to this young woman, dwarfed by her tivism, and interactions among the artwork, by the very painting that is now on the cover of this magazine, but she college's students, faculty, staff, and was still talking. "I realized he had touched some essential part of me, something trustees. The College of the Atlantic I needed to understand." Annabel was not speaking of protecting herself or bury- community encourages, prepares, ing her sorrow-no. With amazing courage and clarity, she was talking about and expects students to gain exper- sending those diving bells deep within herself to examine the wounds, knowing tise, breadth, values, and practical that with enough attention she would learn what this relationship and its lesions experience necessary to achieve had to teach her, and could use that knowledge to transform herself-and in the individual fulfillment and to help process create objects of wonder and mystery. solve problems that challenge com- A few weeks later, I talked with Emily Troutman '01. She had recently been in the munities everywhere. Democratic Republic of the Congo, among people who have endured a decade of civil war. Upon returning to her home state of Maryland, she found that dear friends had lost their baby and had their house robbed-on the very same night. "I needed to find a way to transform my anger," she said to me. And SO she began writing and thinking, and came to the concept for a video that won her a "Citizen Cover: Ambassador" role at the United Nations (page 60). (Anchor) Undo Disaster by Annabel Underlying this issue of COA are numerous efforts at transformation, large and Linquist '00, 36" X 60," silkscreen, small, personal and public. The focus is on food systems, on how we produce latex, china marker, graphite and and distribute and obtain and alter the very subsistence of our lives. If ever there oil stick on canvas, 2010. (See full were an area needing transformation, it would be this one. And our alumni-Nell story on pages 19-21.) Newman '87 among them-already have begun. Through Nell's work, the sacred tents of our supermarket chains, not to mention the coffee urns of the McDon- Back Cover: ald's franchises in New England, have now found space for organic foods. Skip by Meryl Mekeel '09, 36" X It is a cloudy fall night as I sit at my desk in Turrets wondering what it is that al- 34," digital photograph, 2009. lows our students to move into the world with eyes SO wide open that they see H.G. "Skip" Brack was not only what is, but what could be. As I stare out the window, pondering the photographed by Mekeel in his question, the wind shifts, the clouds break up and the full moon rides high in the sky, rippling its reflection in the tide below. Hulls Cove Tool Barn as part of her senior project, Environmental Is it the ever-changing beauty of this coastal spot in Maine? Is it our students, who Portrait Photography. arrive already engaged and curious? Or is it the education offered at College of the Atlantic? I imagine it is some sort of synergy of the above-these bright minds active in a place of nature, where the fundamentals of existence are spread out around them. Here, within the beauty and tragedy that is life, these creative, thoughtful students are encouraged to develop the tools they will need to move out into the world, and trained to hone their own clarity, courage and concern SO that they can push beyond the expected, personally and professionally, and Mixed Sources PRINTED WITH transform their lives and those around them. Product group from well-managed 30% CERTIFIED forests, controlled sources and recycled wood fiber WIND FSC www.fsc.org Cert no. SW-COC-002129 c 1996 Forest Stewardship Council POWER Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks on equipment Donna Gold using 100% wind-generated power. Editor, COA features COA The College of the Atlantic Magazine Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2009 Letter from the President 2 COA Beat Articles 3 EDITOR Donna Gold EDITORIAL GUIDANCE Notes from a Watson Journey Heather Albert-Knopp'99 4 Richard Borden Mackenzie Delta Oliver Bruce '10 By Brett Ciccotelli '09 Dianne Clendaniel Jennifer Hughes Marine Mammal Conference 6 Danielle Meier '08 Matt Shaw '11 Waterbird Society: Seabird Habitats 7 Rebecca Hope Woods on Great Duck Island EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Bill Carpenter ALUMNI CONSULTANTS Lessons from White Earth 10 Jill Barlow-Kelley Dianne Clendaniel By Johannah Berstein '83 DESIGN Rebecca Hope Woods In Search of the Amazing Mr. Forbush 13 PRINTING JS McCarthy Printers By Sean Todd, Steven K. Katona Chair in Marine Sciences Augusta, Maine Oral History: Pam Parvin '93 16 COA AADMINISTRATION Poetry 18 David Hales Andrew Griffiths By Jenny George '02 President