COA Volume 4 I Number 1 SPRING 2008 The College of the Atlantic Magazine COA VISION LETTER FROM THE EDITOR The faculty, students, trustees, features COA The College of the Atlantic Magazine Volume Number SPRING 2008 staff, and alumni of College of You would think that it would be simple to the Atlantic envision a world cover a college the size of COA, with its three EDITOR where people value creativity, Donna Gold hundred-odd students, thirty-two-odd faculty Academic Program Review ~ p. 4 intellectual achievement, and EDITORIAL GUIDANCE members, thirty-five years of history and By David Hales Nancy Andrews diversity of nature and human fewer than two thousand alumni. Richard Borden Lynn Boulger cultures. With respect and com- Think again. At COA, everyone is an indi- COA Leads the World by Going Carbon Neutral ~ p. 5 Ken Cline passion, individuals construct Naveed Davoodian '10 vidual. Everyone has a story. There really Noreen Hogan '91 meaningful lives for themselves, COA's Astoundingly Sustainable New Housing ~ p. 6 Jennifer Hughes aren't groups-and though college guides gain appreciation of the relation- EDITORIAL CONSULTANT may try to reduce our students to types, they Bali Buzz: p. 8 Bill Carpenter ships among all forms of life, and are such adamant individualists that they rise 30+ hours of youth life at the UNFCC safeguard the heritage of future beyond characterization. As I grab a salad at Jill Barlow-Kelley generations. The People Behind the Dike ~ p. 10 Milja Brecher-DeMuro lunch, I see some first-year students who managed to raise $2000 for the EDITOR Juan Hoffmaister '07 reports from his Watson year Heifer Project at the end of winter term, another first-year student who Jennifer Hughes COVER: Pitkin Interior choreographed a compelling dance from the perspective of Gertrude, DESIGN We Wanted to Form Our Own School - p. 13 Mahan Graphics by David Vickery '89 Hamlet's mother, for her Shakespeare midterm, some committed poli- Excerpts from an oral history with Fran Pollitt '77 of 2007, oil on linen, 20" X 15" cy analysts who were at the United Nations Framework Convention on COA's first class JS McCarthy Printers, Augusta, Maine BACK COVER: Climate Change in Bali, others who were at the convention in Nairobi, The Beach Hill Farm Gang, and those who devote their analysis to the energy use on campus-as Horizons Only, No Lines ~ p. 15 COA ADMINISTRATION A tribute to JoAnne Carpenter David Hales David H. Fischer August 2007 well as avid researchers of birds and whales and lizards and mush- President William G. Foulke, Jr. Photo by Alexander Lane Kenneth Hill Portland Monthly rooms. But what is so amazing to me is the brilliant writer who is James M. Gower, Samuel Hamill, Jr. Ardent Environmentalist ~ p. 20 Academic Dean Life Trustee intending to go to veterinary school, the pre-med student who is also A donor profile of COA's devoted board chair John Anderson George B.E. Hambleton Michelle Soto '10, Alisha Associate Dean for an artist and writer, the sustainability expert who has just co-authored a Charles E. Hewett Advanced Studies Strater, Isabella Perkins '10, botanical paper. And that's just the current students. COA Teaches Lifelong Learning ~ p. 22 Sherry Huber Sarah Baker farm manager Lara Judson Whether it's the COA graduate who has chosen to instill a family Alumni making a difference in science Dean of Admission John N. Kelly, '04, assistant farm manager Trustee Emeritus Lynn Boulger Diane Lokocz '03, Dawn with the mission of human ecology as a stay-at-home parent or Dave Philip B. Kunhardt III 77 Human Ecology as a Discipline - Two Views ~ p. 30 Dean of Development Matlak, Phoebe Van Vleet Susan Storey Lyman, Feldman, faculty member in math, going off to China each July to teach Andrew Griffiths '08 and Tess Faller '09 Essays by Bill Carpenter and Maxwell Coolidge '05 Life Trustee Administrative Dean in the Santa Fe Institute's Complex Systems Summer School in Beijing, Suzanne Folds pause during a day's work Sarah Luke McCullagh on the farm. COA offers an ever-changing multitude of stories-some two thousand Culebra, selections from a novella ~ p. 32 Associate Dean Sarah A. McDaniel '93 of them! My story list is already impossibly long. By Erica Maltz '08 for Student Life Stephen G. Milliken Karen Waldron SUSTAINABLE PRINTING: In this issue, we are featuring science alumni who are making a mark Associate Dean Philip S.J. Moriarty COA is printed on recycled, Poetry p. 37 for Faculty Phyllis Anina Moriarty in medicine, conservation, even in the military. Also check out the back FSC-certified paper with By Candice Stover BOARD OF TRUSTEES William V.P. Newlin, vegetable-based inks at J.S. of the magazine for the work David Malakoff '86 is doing on the science Samuel M. Hamill, Jr., Life Trustee desk of National Public Radio as one of the co-creators of the station's Chairman Elizabeth Nitze McCarthy, which purchases windpower credits for all its Elizabeth D. Hodder, Helen Porter year-long Climate Connections series, broadcast to as many as twenty- electricity. McCarthy recy- five million people. departments Vice Chair Cathy L. Ramsdell '78, Casey Mallinckrodt, Trustee Emeritus cles more than 100 tons of Vice Chair John Reeves waste paper and cardboard One more note. After thirty-five years, College of the Atlantic has its COA Beat p. 5 Ronald E. Beard, Hamilton Robinson, Jr. each month and continues first faculty retiree. JoAnne Carpenter, who taught at the college almost Secretary Henry D. Sharpe, Jr., to work to reduce wastage. Class Notes since the very beginning, retired at the end of the fall term. The artwork p. 38 Leslie C. Brewer, Life Trustee It has also substituted envi- Treasurer Clyde E. Shorey, Jr., ronmentally friendly products on this issue's cover, like that within the spread, is part of a tribute to Community Notes p. 42 Edward McC. Blair, Life Trustee for most of its hazardous Carpenter by those who were deeply influenced by her sweeping intel- Life Trustee William N. Thorndike, Jr. chemicals and recycles and ligence and her attention to artistic detail. We wish her a deeply cre- Cody van Heerden reuses its press wash, the ative retirement. only remaining hazardous Financial Operations Report Revisited ~ p. 45 COA is published twice each year for the College of the Atlantic community. waste generated. Please direct correspondence to: Expanding Horizons - p. 46 COA Magazine Donna Gold College of the Atlantic David Malakoff '86 and NPR's climate change series editor, COA 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Human Ecology Essay Revisited ~ p. 47 Phone: (207) 288-5015 email: dgold@coa.edu By Greg Rainoff '81 www.coa.edu on paper LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT COA Leads the World COA BEAT by going carbon neutral for hen College of the Atlantic opened its doors in 1972, it was W greenhouse gas emissions designed to be a very different higher educational experience. With one major-human ecology, no departments, no tenure, a ollege of the Atlantic is now NetZero for very low student-teacher ratio and an interdisciplinary approach, COA was C greenhouse gas emissions. COA's pledge an experiment in progressive education. to become carbon neutral, made October We are no longer an experiment; in 2008 COA is an acclaimed institution 8, 2006 at the inauguration of President David of higher education whose focus on the study of the relationships between Hales, was fulfilled December 19, 2007. human beings and their environment has never been more relevant. COA As the first college or university to become draws students from around the world who are committed to applying their NetZero, COA's leadership was applauded around learning to improving prospects for a sustainable, peaceful and just society. the world, in articles and comments from such "Life changing, world changing" speaks to the hope and promise that an global leaders as Mohamed El Ashry, chair education in human ecology can help solve some of this century's most of the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st complex problems: from climate change to social justice to the disparity Dick Cough (right, son of founding trustee Bernard "Sonny" Century, REN21. Wrote El Ashry to Hales, "I always Cough), at the launch of Green Lights Bar Harbor, in which between the world's richest and poorest peoples. By all measures, COA say we know the causes as well as the solutions COA and the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce linked up has succeeded. to replace member businesses' incandescent lightbulbs with to most of our environmental problems-what It is precisely because of this success that we are in a position to system- compact fluorescents. As Cough, part-owner of Atlantic Oakes, we lack is leadership." switched to a cfl bulb, the entire room wondered, How many atically assess and strategically improve our academic program. Over the COA's process was painstaking, but doable. ecologists does it take to change a lightbulb? Three, it seems. next sixteen months or so, College of the Atlantic will engage in a process One to change the lightbulb and two more (COA sophomores A team of faculty, staff and students spent the Jordan Motzkin and Leland Moore, who are managing the light- of academic renewal to ensure that we meet the needs of our students, and year calculating the college's greenhouse gas bulb exchange for COA and the chamber) to note the carbon that they understand the world as it is and the changes occurring in it as footprint reduction. emissions, while also researching ways to reduce, they develop the knowledge, skills and methods to positively influence avoid and offset them. The 2,488 tons of green- than 189,000 tons over five years-equivalent to those changes. house gases emissions COA could not reduce or taking more than 34,000 cars off the road for a As part of this process, we will explore the intellectual foundations-and avoid this year have been offset by investing in a year. It can also serve as a model for other cities. the myriad challenges-of seeking sustainability, peace and justice in this project operated by The Climate Trust of Oregon. COA has also been working nationally and century. Faculty-led working groups will examine our current curriculum, COA has now also switched to a low-impact locally to help other institutions further carbon focusing on the skills and knowledge we need to impart to our students hydroelectric generator for electricity, reducing reductions. It is a founding member of the to enable them to understand and be effective in the twenty-first century. its emissions by 22 percent or about 450 tons. American College & University Presidents Climate Concurrently, we will invite others to join us in this exploration of the Incandescent lightbulbs have been replaced Commitment, a member of the Maine Governor's future of human ecology. with compact fluorescents where possible, car- Carbon Challenge and has recently teamed up It is clear that the twenty-first century will be characterized by massive pooling and biking are being promoted, as are with the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce to and rapid change-a time of great danger and great opportunity. Edu- flexible work plans so employees can work from replace member businesses' incandescent light- cational institutions will be the crucible in which both individual and home at times. bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. societal responses to this challenge are shaped. No other societal "We have much more to do to directly reduce The urgency of these actions cannot be under- institution can play this role. Higher education must move beyond the our emissions," noted Hales, "but it is satisfying estimated. Upon his return from the United responsibility to prepare students to live in the world as it will be; we to know that our contribution to the increase of Nations Conference on Climate Change (see page must embrace the responsibility to prepare students to shape the world greenhouse gases in our atmosphere over the 8), COA sophomore Matthew Maiorana called in which they will live. last fifteen months adds up to zero." climate change "the challenge of our generation," We will report frequently on our progress in our publications and on The decision to go with Climate Trust was adding, "After the conference, I realize that COA our website. We intend for this effort to be as inclusive as possible, and based on months of student and staff investiga- is a world leader in addressing the climate crisis. we invite your interest and participation. tion into the complicated and at times controver- While the United Nations and the United States & sial carbon offset market. The project chosen will are taking small steps toward creating a just optimize traffic signals and manage traffic flow in climate future, COA is taking giant leaps." Portland, Oregon, limiting the time cars spend To read more about the process and see David Hales idling at traffic lights. The entire project is expect- our calculations, please visit the web site at ed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more www.coa.edu/html/carbonzero.htm. 4 COA COA 5 COA BEAT COA BEAT COA's Astoundingly Sustainable New Housing wood pellet boilers. That's one boiler of a size Because COA's students are so innately envi- that would typically heat a one-family home, ronmental, architect Bruce Coldham found that Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village surprises even its creators heating three residences of seventeen people. certain energy-saving systems were simply redun- Says Richard Riegel Burbank, who with dant. "COA's student body has a uniquely reliable Samantha Riegel Burbank '00 owns Evergreen conservation mentality," he says. Take lights. They here's green design, there's T Home Performance LLC, the company that pro- just don't get left on, so there is little need for official certification, and vided the insulation and blower door testing for occupancy sensors. "Why leave the lights on for a then there's the human air tightness, "I think COA can make the claim pre-set period when the COA human computer is ecological approach to sustain- that these buildings are the most airtight of any programmed for immediate switch-off? This was able building. The Kathryn W. dorm, perhaps in the world." The tightness also a first for us," adds Coldham. Davis Student Residence Village bodes well for the air quality "These are very smart may be the first-ever human eco- system, allowing, he says, investments, economically logical complex built-and one "the heat recovery ventila- and environmentally," com- of the most sustainable campus tion to provide superior air ments COA President David housing projects in the country. quality at the lowest energy Hales. "More than resi- "It's interdisciplinary," says cost." dences, these spaces repre- Millard Dority, COA's director To reduce the energy used sent our fundamental values of campus planning, buildings in heating water, the build- as an institution. They're and public safety. "It's as much ings have a heat recovery designed to meet the full social as it is structural. We're system, using the warm gray range of human needs- not just talking about the build- water to temper the incom- including fun." After all, ing, or what's in it-you have to ing hot water. To make stu- what's more human ecologi- talk about the whole package dents aware of usage, all "I think COA can make the cal than students from together." showers have meters. To Detroit, Maine and Mumbai As part of the human ecological approach, The six residences in COA's new waterfront student housing minimize water use-and claim that these buildings everyone was part of the discussion at the outset. complex are fitted with triple-paned windows, composting planning a dinner for their toilets, metered showers and super-electricity saving LED lights, maximize recycling-the are the most airtight of any household of eight, mingling It's typical at COA for the entire community- as well as carbon fluorescent bulbs. Heated by renewable wood pellets, these buildings are not only beautifully situated, they are buildings are fitted with dorm, perhaps in the world." dishes, laughter and conver- students, faculty, staff, trustees and alumni-to amazingly kind to the Earth they are built on-and from. composting toilets. sation as they sauté onions weigh in on a project, but this time the planning Photos by Donna Gold. Ultimately, the waste from meetings also included Coldham & Hartman ~ Richard Riegel Burbank and chop carrots? the Phoenix Composting Evergreen Home Designed to enhance con- Architects of Amherst, Massachusetts, COA envi- Common, the new student center that's built Toilets will feed the sur- Performance LLC nections, the three buildings ronmental consultant Marc Rosenbaum of within the 1886 Sea Urchins cottage given to the rounding landscape. Here, have plenty of common Meriden, New Hampshire's Energysmiths, and college by the Ryle family (see COA Summer/ too, alumni play a part. Abe Noe-Hays '00 of Full space-because learning does not end at the even contractor E.L. Shea from Ellsworth, Maine. Fall 2007), are scheduled to open in August. Circle Compost Consulting installed the toilets; classroom door. At COA especially, relationships To allow a strong connection between stu- Early tests predict extraordinary energy effi- Ben Goldberg '90 is the regional representative. enhance learning through assumption-challeng- dents-another aspect of the human ecological ciency, primarily because the buildings are so The building materials are mostly local, reduc- ing discussions, observation and the kind of play approach-the buildings were planned as family- effectively air-sealed. With a foot of recycled ing transportation emissions while promoting that leads to immense creativity. style units, with no more than nine students per cellulose insulation (shredded newspapers that Maine's economy. Rooms are situated to receive And yet, visitors frequently forget about car- house. Each of the three buildings contains two don't emit volatile organic compounds) and maximum sunlight, cutting the need for electric bon footprints, energy savings and composting houses, joined by common space. What sounds triple-paned windows, says Dority, "there is bare- lighting, which will be provided by compact fluo- toilets when they step inside these waterfront complicated on paper already has become a ly any thermal connection between the inside rescent bulbs and LED, or light-emitting diodes, homes. They just stare out the window at the small village nestled between Seafox and the and the outside of these buildings." further reducing energy use. All appliances are ocean beyond and try to figure out how they Kathryn Davis Center for International and The complex is so tight, that the college plans Energy Star rated. might return to school-if only to live here for Regional Studies, across a little stream from The on heating the three duplexes-six homes serv- just one term. Turrets. This village, along with Deering ing fifty-one students-with just two residential 6 COA COA 7 COA BEAT BaliBuzz 3 a.m.: Return to the hotel after learning the talks The Pleasure Drivers will resume at 8 a.m. Screenplay By Adam Haynes '98 7:30 a.m.: Rush to the conference center, make Thirty-plus hours in the lives of COA's climate change by James Connaughton, senior some quick banners and head to the entrance with By Bill Carpenter delegates to the United Nations Frame- environmental and natural resources advisor to a sign that says "Please," and the Canadians' ban- Adam Haynes, an outstanding stu- work Convention on Climate Change President Bush: "The US will lead, and we will ner that states, "This will follow you home." Got a dent in the first Aesthetics of Violence DRIVERS continue to lead, but leadership also requires bit of media coverage, but we were there to let the class in 1996, published his senior In December, COA second- others to fall in line and follow." official delegates know we are watching and wait- project as a serialized novel in the old INFOOT year students Matthew ing. 12:30 p.m.: Realize the banner for the day's action Off the Wall to great controversy. Maiorana (left) and Lauren Nutter joined the United needs to be finished and that the press release 8:30 a.m.: Return to the plenary room. The negoti- Haynes later trained in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los United Nations Circle Nations Framework needs to be printed and the action is in thirty ations get going again! Angeles and soon had a dozen scripts Convention on Climate minutes. Finish both. International youth work 9:15 a.m.: The session is adjourned due to con- in circulation. Director Andrzej Sekula, Change in Bali, also known unbelievably well together under pressure. as COP 13. The COA stu- tentious language in the text. A twenty-minute cinematographer for Quentin Tarrantino's Pulp Fiction and dents quickly learned to come 1 p.m.: The youth statement at the high level ple- break turns into two hours. Reservoir Dogs, picked up The Pleasure Drivers and it to consensus with the other one hundred and fifty youth nary hasn't been given yet. Aaagghhh. This is came out as an indie from Leonidas Films in 2005, most participants from around the world, creating and implement- 11:15 a.m.: The session resumes, but is quickly what we have been waiting for! likely the first Hollywood movie written by a COA alum. ing strategies that actually helped to move the proceedings closed. This is going to be a long day. In a 2006 podcast, Haynes calls The Pleasure Drivers a forward. 1:15 p.m.: The speech is amazing. Almost every- "Freudian thriller" which finds its way to spirituality through COA students have attended international climate change body in the high level plenary session at COP 13 Leading us to reflections by Lauren Nutter '10 the darkest zones of the unconscious. "Sex is the engine meetings for three years running. What's it like? What do a few hours later. is moved to tears. This is our future. If the wrong for this movie," Haynes remarks, "and violence is the they do? Here's an hour-by-hour description from Maiorana. decisions are made, we won't have time to go Friday night and Saturday were an amazing cap to gasoline. All my work is about pleasure and pain." Three DG back and fix them. COP 13. We were up almost all night Friday seeing intertwining narratives represent Freud's superego, ego, A day in the life very little progress. Saturday was a totally extra day and id, and the film's X rating gives him plenty of leeway And so it goes, meetings, actions, more meetings. of COP-negotiations had gone over that much. to investigate Eros and Thanatos in the raw. Daphne, the of a youth delegate superego character, is the caretaker for a brain-damaged 5:30 p.m.: Head to "Fossil of the Day," a daily When I walked in to the plenary, people were young man. The id character is a well-armed, leather- By Matt Maiorana '10 award given by Climate Action Network to the standing and clapping as Papua New Guinea bold- jacketed hitwoman, and the ego character is Bill Plummer, most climate-unfriendly countries of the previous ly condemned the United States for blocking Friday, December 14, 2007 a college professor of Freudian dream theory (Angus day. Today, the United States and Canadian youth progress, basically saying, either take leadership McFayden). When Daphne (Lauren Holly) kidnaps the 6 a.m.: Start the day's work after passing out at perform a song/dance to the tune of "Anything and join the consensus or get out of the way. priestess of a televangelist cult, hitwoman Marcy is sent to around 2 a.m. on the hotel floor while writing a You Can Do, I Can Do Better" to see who gets it. There was thunderous applause! Shortly after, kill her. Meanwhile, Professor Plummer discovers his wife press release for the upcoming day's action. Canada and the US share first place. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and in bed with a woman, and so picks up one of his students Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky made a statement (Lacey Chabert) who turns out to be a prostitute just 8 a.m.: Jump on the shuttle to the convention 6:30 p.m.: A conga line starts, snaking out of saying the US would not impede progress. There "auditing" his class. All three plots converge at the Big center; work on the press release with others. the conference center. Outside, we perform was more thunderous applause and the most Cock Motel, whose roof icon of a giant rooster presides "Oooooo, It's Hot in Here," the unofficially 9 a.m.: Attend the daily international youth meet- vibrant wave of emotion. The US had committed over a great expenditure of ammunition and a burning official youth climate song and dance. ing; continue work on the press release. to something with relatively decent language. Volvo. This reduces the extensive cast for the redemption scene. Behind the wheel of a Mercedes convertible, the 7 p.m.: Head to the last international youth Things were moving forward. The pressure from 10 a.m.: Strategize with other youth regarding brain-damaged man and prostitute start out for a new life debrief where we discuss how to build on the everyone-from us-had helped that happen. specific activities for the day. in Portland, Maine. She smiles and says "I feel blessed;" momentum and create a sustained global youth We felt our impact again during the Ad Hoc the young man answers, "Me too," as scenes of sex, gore 10:30 a.m.: Work as a group to track down good climate movement. Working Group on Further Commitments when and violence transform to spirituality in the pale morning quotes for the press release; finalize it; send it to Canada tried to block progress on Option 2, to 8:30 p.m.: Get food! light of the Californian desert. media contacts. reduce emissions from 25 to 40 percent below The Pleasure Drivers definitely walks on the dark side 9:30 p.m.: Return to the plenary where the 1990 levels by 2020. The youth stood right next to of human ecology, but, as Heraclitus said, "the way down 11 a.m.: Go to the "bunker," the space beneath a negotiations are supposed to begin again. the Canadian delegation, clapping for each state- and the way up are one." When the young couple head stairwell that's been designated as the youth ment of support. Eventually Canada backed down; East in that gorgeous sunrise, top down, I find myself command center. Saturday, December 15, 2007 progress proceeded. Tuvalu's prime minister came hoping their journey will take them past Portland to 11:30 a.m.: Pass out flyers highlighting an absurd 2 a.m.: Realize I fell asleep on the floor and that up to us-the youth-and thanked us for putting Bar Harbor, so they can opt for a real change of life and statement made the previous day regarding the negotiations still haven't started. pressure on Canada. Wow! Talk about a fulfilling visit the admissions office at COA. end to two weeks of hard work! 8 COA COA 9 COA BEAT The people behind the dikes Serpentine Enthusiasts Gather COA BEAT Concerns from the corners of Asia Rajakaruna brings Sixth International Conference on Serpentine Ecology By Juan Pablo Hoffmaister '07 By Robin Katrick '09 there was such a need for ser- Midway through a year spent studying the responses to pentine research in eastern climate change in various locales around the globe, Juan f you get excited about an North America-which is also Pablo Hoffmaister '07 reports from Vietnam. His travels idea, you never know where why he is excited to bring the are funded by a Watson Foundation Fellowship for his project, "Changing Climate: Community Response to it's going to take you," says conference to Maine. Water Crises in Extreme Weather." Nishanta Rajakaruna '94, COA Serpentine rocks and their faculty member in botany. His associated soils have high con- he typhoon season is technically over in T enthusiasm for serpentine centrations of heavy metals, mak- South East Asia, which gives us some time ecology, the study of plant life ing their environment less hos- to think about the past few months. in extreme geologies, earlier pitable. Says Rajakaruna, "think Vietnam, where I have been living, was affected took him to California for his of these rocks as their own by five typhoons in 2007, and some of the worst PhD and post-doctoral studies islands," because the area sur- floods in its history. In the midst of these record- Juan Pablo Hoffmaister '07 in Vietnam. and has now driven him to bring rounding them is so different. breaking statistics, one reality is evident: while projects, I offered my views on what I thought to campus the Sixth The habitats may start with the much has improved in curbing the economic were the highest funding priorities: small-scale International Conference on Nathaniel Pope '07, who will be present- flood management and primary response at the ing at the Sixth International Conference serpentine rocks, but they affect losses to national infrastructure from disaster, the Serpentine Ecology. The confer- on Serpentine Ecology, is taking GPS the plants and other organisms most affected groups in every storm are the poor community level, post-disaster recovery of rural ence, June 16 through 23, is held coordinates for Minuartia groenlandica found in the area. and marginalized. livelihoods, and the prevention of small-scale on the summit of Cadillac Mountain. every few years in a different Rajakaruna's spring course, Issues of environmental justice continue to land degradation. I am horrified to see that cur- nation, bringing together scientists working in Plants with Mettle: Lives of Metalophytes, offers shock me in South East Asia. Sometimes I feel lost rent adaptations could leave vulnerable commu- fields such as botany, zoology, ecology, geology, opportunities for students to research topics to and discouraged. Asia, the most populated conti- nities outside the dikes being built to protect microbiology and conservation biology. The sev- be discussed at the conference; he's hoping stu- nent in the world, is already experiencing an investment and economic growth. enty-plus presenters are coming from literally dents will attend. "Meeting other researchers increased intensity of severe weather events with History will be the judge, but I believe that around the globe. provides students an incredible opportunity to greater risk of flooding-1particularly in mega- current (in)action to prepare communities for Rajakaruna became enthusiastic about serpen- learn the most recent discoveries by those on the deltas and coastal areas. Combined with the environmental challenges leads to global envi- tine ecology during his sophomore year at COA, cutting edge of the field," says Rajakaruna. COA growing pressure over such natural resources as ronmental injustice. The vulnerable and marginal- while taking a Plant Systematics course taught by students will also be able to hear presentations freshwater supplies and unsustainable develop- ized always get pushed around. The current dis- the late COA botanist, Craig Greene. Rajakaruna by alumni and students Tanner Harris '06, ment patterns, this increased intensity is deadly. course of international relations and environment has been hooked ever since, choosing to return Nathaniel Pope '07, Laura Briscoe '07, Brett I could spend hours rambling over whom to needs to fully embrace the environmental justice to COA as a faculty member precisely because Ciccotelli '08, and Naveed Davoodian '10. blame for these environmental threats, but imme- implications of the issues being negotiated in the diate attention needs to be given to the fact that capitals of the world and correct its deficiencies. the main focus continues to be on reducing eco- Vietnam is emotionally challenging. This nation Mount Descrit Island nomic losses, leaving millions vulnerable. While has suffered immensely from war and other Meaningful maps - - - - dikes diverting floods effectively guard industrial calamities. Watching communities be destroyed areas and cities from big floods, poor communi- once again by natural disasters was not uplifting, College of the Atlantic's Geographic Information Systems ties often end up living behind the dikes. but I was encouraged to see communities rebuild Lab-GIS-has worked with the towns of Mount Desert I came to Vietnam to explore potential areas themselves. As I leave, the rice paddies are green Island and with Acadia National Park since 1987, providing to be financed by the newly created community- again; soon it will be harvest time. As Vietnam them with maps to assist in planning. This map, made based adaptation focal area of the Small Grants prepares for a new lunar year, it is clear that eth- by students in an advanced projects lab, represents Programme, a joint effort of the Global nic minorities, children and women will continue what may be a new era of GIS for the island: a modeling Environmental Facility and the United Nations to suffer the most. And yet, I know the communi- process that is both flexible and extensible, allowing Development Programme. After meeting with ties I visited are becoming stronger. There will be multiple stakeholder values to be represented. In this community leaders, national and international better days. But environmental justice must bring map, students have included the aesthetic, community Model nonprofits, and government representatives, those behind the dikes to the front of disaster and environmental values of planning, following the work after visiting dozens of disaster sites and recovery risk reduction efforts. of landscape architect/planner lan McHarg. This was selected from more than three thousand maps to bei included in the 2008 ESRI Map Books, Volume 23, which will be released this Gordon Longsworth, director, GIS Lab August. 10 COA COA 11 COA nightlife COA~INTERVIEW By Naveed Davoodian '10 Islands Through Time "We wanted to form our own school, COA revelers turn up the heat on MDI's nightlife during the off-season to combat August 2-14, 2008 like it said in the brochure the bitter cold. The result? Dance parties that are the envy of Bacchus himself. High School Students: Earn college credit in one of the most beautiful places on earth! An Interview with Fran Pollitt '77 College of the Atlantic's sum- A member of COA's first class mer program for rising high school juniors and seniors The last issue of COA featured an oral history with Bill explores the environmental, Carpenter, one of the college's four founding faculty aesthetic, cultural, political, members. He ended his reminiscence saying that the historical and economic moment that clinched his decision to remain at College aspects of coastal Maine The now-infamous "Hula Hoop Bros" embark of the Atlantic, and not return to his tenure-track position on yet another death-defying dance number. islands. at the University of Chicago, was a paper by an eighteen- Visit whale feeding grounds, seal haul-outs, seabird year-old COA student, Fran Pollitt '77. This issue, we colonies and the intertidal coastline. Gain firsthand decided to interview Pollitt, who entered COA's first experience in data collection and research with class as a first-year student. marine experts at offshore island research stations. ~ Donna Gold Explore music, writing and litera- ture while visiting the places you are reading about. DJ Ames keeps the party going all night long Donna Gold: How did you first hear about College DG: Tell me about your classmates- with only the finest obscure techno. Reflect on your experience of the Atlantic? through writing, music, video and FP: We were thirty-two, and a little more than half other media. Frances Pollitt: I was taking an extra high school were really committed to environmental educa- year with the National Audubon Expedition tion and the concept of the college. It was just the Students enjoy hands-on, individualized instruction with A book-weary stu- Institute-called Trailside then. Somewhere along place we wanted to be. And then there was anoth- dent takes a break COA faculty members while continuing to express the line, I heard about the college. When I did er group who were trying it out because it was from philosophical themselves in music, writing, and photography, working hear about it, I knew that it was the only school I interesting for whatever reason and a lot of investigation and as a team to develop a final multi-media presentation. cuts loose with his wanted to apply to. It was perfect for what I was those people went on to a different kind of edu- solo interpretive interested in-ecology, environmental education cational experience. You had to be pretty commit- dance composition $3,200 program fee includes food, lodging, sea travel and alternative education, too. titled Wittgenstein: ted to take a chance on a place like COA. Man or Machine. and college credit. Room for 18 students. Limited financial aid is available. DG: And what did your parents think about you DG: Tell me about arriving at COA- going to COA? Faculty: John Cooper, music and media, Helen Hess, FP: It was thrilling. Those were thrilling moments. invertebrate zoology, Steve Ressel, herpetology, Sean FP: They were all gung-ho. They were alternative- It was the start of a whole new world. Todd, marine studies, Karen Waldron, literature. minded parents. They had to be, to send me out to a National Audubon Expedition program. DG: In the last issue, I interviewed Bill Carpenter, Deadline for applications: May 23, 2008 Anything I wanted, fine [laughter] Those were who said that the faculty had spent the summer For more information and an application, wild times. And the National Audubon Expedition planning the college and then the students came visit www.coa.edu/islandsthroughtime. If you have Institute was completely consultative in nature, so and said, "We're doing the planning-" questions, please contact Amanda Hooykaas, College of the Atlantic was just a natural. FP: Oh yes. Our community meetings were really Program Coordinator, islandsthroughtime@coa.edu, As is the custom, dancers adjourn the party with lively, and we wanted to form our own school, like a jovial, non-competitive game of soccerball. or (207) 288-2944, ext. 374. 12 COA COA 13 Horizons only,no lines it said in the brochure that we would be doing. DG: That's a wonderful description of human A tribute to JoAnne Carpenter, faculty member in art and art history We wanted to have full say about how everything ecology And after classes, what did you do from 1973 to 2008: COA's first faculty retiree. was done. In the end, we probably did quite a lot after hours? of what the faculty had planned. But we wanted to munch it around a little bit. FP: Hmmm. Well, there was not much happening downtown. There were maybe two bars open, if DG: Do you remember what issues you were par- that. In the winter there was nothing to do except ticularly concerned about? what was on campus. FP: One of the issues that I was really concerned DG: What attracted you to COA? about was the student FP: If it had just been an advising system; who would "And that's of course inclusive, community- do it and how it would get centered school, I would not done. Some of us wanted what human ecology have been interested. It was everyone to be advisors to everybody else. Others is at its center- that strong interest in the environment and the world, didn't want to advise, didn't like to do it, or weren't very that love of our the ecology and natural history and the sanctity of good at it. The students, the entire world." staff, the teachers. You see? life on the planet and being responsible for that and That was the whole point of Fran Pollitt '77 getting out of the old way this college. of thinking about being DG: So you knew what you wanted and- external to the natural world and putting our- selves in- JoAnne Carpenter in front of a painting she was working on at a time when COA was much smaller and the pool table FP: I didn't necessarily know what I wanted, but I sat in Take-A-Break. Photo by Randy Ury. wasn't shy to talk about it. But then, you had a lot DG: And is that something that you talked about? of people at the college who were shy, or who n the early COA years, there was a sense that Though fully contemporary, her elegant paintings FP: Oh, yes. We were avid. We were wild about didn't know how to ask, or who were struggling the earth was in a dreadful emergency and are layered with reference both to Renaissance along with all their different issues, whatever it-and then we would tire ourselves out and go that art was a frill or pastime that had little aesthetics and her own deep-rooted connection, to the movies. they were. relevance to the problem or the solution. So for through her Mediterranean background, to the One of the hard things was how strong the more than a decade, there was no artist or art classical world. DG: That's interesting, because every single one force was for peer conformation. You had to wear historian on the full-time faculty. Year by year, I must say personally that some of the high of these students had to be taking a risk. Right? hiking boots, jeans and a flannel shirt. Most of however, working her way from visitor to adjunct points of my own time at COA came from team- our meals were organic, healthy- to part-time and finally to full-time, having to teaching with JoAnne, from Maine Coast History FP: We were really like any other kind of student And one of the great things was that Cathy prove herself and her subject at every step, and Architecture to The Fifties, to the many itera- body, but willing to take on something a little dif- Johnson '74 led us in madrigal singing. Cathy had JoAnne Carpenter established the living centrality tions of Turn of the Century-thirty-five years of ferent. I would say we had a lot of heart. the capacity to help us really have a great time of art to the human ecology curriculum. Her teaching collaboration. I would just add to all And that's of course what human ecology is at singing. Our graduation was filled with music, story is central to the story of art at COA. Her these student tributes a colleague's deep respect its center-that love of our entire world. You real- because we all knew how to sing together. unsurpassed intellectual range-from Minoan for JoAnne's endless self-generating energy, her ize you're not just a person walking through it antiquity to the latest Whitney biennial-brought constant questioning, her passionate intensity but you have responsibility for it. Fran Pollitt's book, Historic Photos of Maine has to a remote Maine island the full spectacle across a staggering range of subject matter, her just been published by Turner Publishing. of visual culture. JoAnne also embodied the insistence on an all-out integrity of approach, essential human ecology doctrine that theory and her humility before the words, images, ideas and knowledge had to be realized in the world. and reality of the world we share. ~Bill Carpenter 14 COA COA 15 Encouraging Gifts "JoAnne's inspiring teaching and influence were the foundation of my JoAnne as Art Teacher career as a fulltime painter. What has kept me going when I've been discouraged, however, has been this "When I started at COA, I wanted comment: 'Talent isn't as important as to study marine biology. But when having something to say.' After twenty I asked other students about the years, I'm still making a good living best professors, JoAnne's name kept with my artwork. I'd like JoAnne to coming up. took one of her courses. know that I'm grateful." After that I took every course she David Vickery '89 offered. I now compare the passion and level of discussion in her classes to "JoAnne's passion for the study and the seminars I attended in graduate practice of art represents the best of school. She challenged her students to COA. She encouraged her students to ask big questions, think independently be intellectually curious and to make and engage in academic rigor beyond connections across disciplines. She Reunion the classroom. helped me to connect my own love of Jason Harrington JoAnne is probably one of the history and politics with architecture, 1996, mixed media greatest single influences in my life. 4' 8' cinema and visual art. Her inquisitive- I have gone on to become a film professor, and when I plan my courses, Solstice (Monhegan) ness has made us all more complete David Vickery people and better students." it is her inspiration I recall." 2007, oil on panel, 11" X 17" Nat Keller '04 Jason Harrington '96 "I have rarely known teachers who are "I remember JoAnne saying she could more giving of themselves. To have not sleep the previous night because JoAnne as a teacher was to have her of the conflict in Iraq. She emphasized entire attention." an attention to self-consciousness that was as relevant to her art courses as ~ Jude Lamb '00 to her humanitarian insomnia. JoAnne Chutes and helped to convince me that I had Ladders much to gain by continuing my Jude Lamb "JoAnne taught me two of the most studies in the arts. Now, every time I 2006, acrylic, important things I learned at COA. 20" 30" work on a painting I remember her The first was that it was okay to bring suggestions of technical and my whole self, my spirit, to my conceptual theory. Thanking JoAnne professors, not just my intellect. will always be insufficient because The second was that there is no of her effortless sincerity and her such thing as a line, only a horizon. inexhaustible fascination with people I apply this to almost every difficult and art." situation I encounter." Sam Wustner '04 Josie Sigler '99 "I was doubtful of my ability to "While taking JoAnne's watercolor complete the portrait assignment in class, she leaned over my shoulder JoAnne's watercolor course, which was during a speedy-gonzales-time- probably why I left it for last. But as I painting a vase of flowers in thirty began to paint, everything she taught seconds. She whispered, 'I think Rusty At Sea started to make sense. I mixed the you've found your style.' As a writer, Julianne Kearney colors correctly, used the right hues / often reflect on that exercise, or 2005, watercolor, of pinks and browns for the face. paint in that same speedy style 12" X 15" When / was finished, I couldn't wait for a pre-writing activity. JoAnne to hear her comments. Because of revealed to me a fresh approach JoAnne, I see the world in a different Fast Watercolor, 2000 to all creative work." way and / discovered my love for Leah Stetson 2000, watercolor, 6" X 9" Leah Stetson, BA '01, MPhil '06 watercolors." 16 COA Julianne Kearney '06 COA 17 Each Meeting,an Exploration JoAnne as Art History Teacher "There are so many things to be thankful to JoAnne for-sincerity, tireless dedication, wonderful sense of humor. But I am especially grateful for the enthusiastic and probing attitude that infused her work. During an independent study I did with her on Greek architecture, JoAnne had such enthusiasm for each image that each meeting became an exploration. JoAnne is an immensely creative thinker and / couldn't help but have it rub off a bit on me-by osmosis / learned to be constantly learning, observing, making connections, seeing things anew." - Liz Cunningham '82 Back From Israel "In my Greek art class, JoAnne made Mirage me feel as if lived in the Bronze Ethan Rochmis Liz Cunningham Age with the Minoans. She was 2007, oil, 18" by 60" Balancing Heart, 2007, India ink on paper, 24" 18" definitely a Renaissance woman in Mind & Spirit our Renaissance art class, reflecting the dunamitis of that time." JoAnne as Life Kathy Massimini '82 Teacher "JoAnne taught me to involve my "JoAnne taught me the importance dreams in my work. To those of us of history that all art, whether from for whom dreams are both a blessing yesterday or four hundred years ago- in their vibrancy and a curse in their is made within a context whereby we frequency, paying attention to them learn how we see the world around us. opens worlds not necessarily open to Whether it's mannerist structure of the rational mind. Her influence will space or the light emanating from a remain with me as long as I dream." baroque canvas, what most concerned the artists of their time speaks volumes ~ Ethan Rochmis '98 Just Another to all subsequent generations-a. I Day in Iraq believe the art we make today will tell Neil Mick '85 future generations how we saw the August 12, 2004, "JoAnne has the ability to carve world." collage and oil, out the essence of each of us in 16" 22" words, finding meaning in each of ~ Ellen Sylvarnes '83 our unconscious habits. She was the first person who lifted the everyday to the divine for me, Forever An Inspiration and with such boundless passion!" Look at him, That face Alice Leeds '76 Cheek tucked behind nose In the repose of Grecian foothills Chin rising to lips "JoAnne's ability to help her students Conjure a flowering and friends balance matters of heart, Goblet ready to drink mind, and spirit is an amazing gift. Its eyebrows inverted pietas Those of us who have been blessed to Cradling bright lakes receive this gift will forever be grateful. And its ears COA is what it is partly because of Reading #1 Ears curled to its contours' many winds JoAnne's love, light, and wisdom." Lisa Damtoft And gently informing its expression Beth Sarah Keeley '05 2006, Pine nee- Sam Wustner dles and paper, Mark Tully '93 oil on panel, 3" 3" 9" 12" 18 COA COA 19 DONOR PROFILE SAMUEL M. HAMILL, JR., Hamill says, he was lured by COA's promise, and its ability to retain its core values while adapting to twenty-first-century challenges. ARDENT ENVIRONMENTALIST Still, says Hamill, "it seemed to many in the college community that more was required to assure our longevity." As with his planning By Donna Gold work, Hamill has taken a big-picture approach to COA, first as co- S a graduate student in regional planning at the University of chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, then working on Buildings A and Grounds and other committees. Pennsylvania, College of the Atlantic board chair Samuel Hamill, Jr. studied with lan McHarg, a landscape architect and The college's first endowment campaign was initiated in the mid- seminal thinker considered by many to be an early human ecologist. nineties. The campaign's success was evidence that COA was becoming In the early 1970s, says Hamill, the McHarg program, based on an a mature institution with fine prospects. "With an endowment," says understanding of natural systems, was a "magnet for ardent environ- Hamill, "you become responsible to a larger universe of people. And that mentalists." is a wonderful thing; it shows that there are a growing number of people Hamill was among them. Though his father was a textile executive, who care about the college and are willing to invest in its future." Hamill was raised on a dairy farm in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Just a In 1998, when his wife, Mary Richards, died of cancer, Hamill's mile walk through hayfields would bring the young Hamill to the farm- connections to the college deepened; in 2004 he became chair. house where his grandfather, a professor at nearby Princeton Hamill's tenure has seen the successful presidential transition from University, lived with his grandmother, a student of the natural world. Steve Katona to David Hales; a closer working relationship among the Long before Hamill was born, his grandmother had come to know the trustees and between the board, the administration and the faculty; great landscape designer Beatrix Farrand, who had been hired to work and ever-growing connections between the college, the greater Photo by Toby Hollis out a plan for Princeton. Mount Desert Island community and the world beyond. Farrand also created a design for the old farmhouse property where Last September, with the help of Patrick Uwihoreye '06, Hamill Hamill's grandparents lived. "She got my grandmother interested in initiated the Great Lakes of Africa Scholarship, offering full tuition to a what was referred to then as 'the wild flowers'-two words," says student from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi or Kenya. The pro- Hamill. "And my grandmother got me interested in the wild flowers, gram complements the Davis United World College Scholars Program and from there an appreciation of the natural landscape." funded by Shelby and Gale Davis. To launch it, Hamill is funding four As corporate headquarters and tract housing began to encroach on years of COA tuition for the first scholar, to begin this fall. Hamill's childhood landscape, he first became dismayed, then curious "Starting with the Davis family's remarkable commitment to COA, about the forces that were behind them. Eventually he sought to dis- we can-even in this downeast corner of New England-expand our cover what could be done to reverse or at least deflect them. "When I international program so that every student has significant overseas learned, in the late sixties, that there was actually a profession called experience and COA has a demonstrable impact on the global envi- 'regional planning,' I was delighted," Hamill recalls. ronment," says Hamill. "With President Hales' international experience Hamill has spent his professional career working to manage growth, and vision, we have a leader uniquely suited to accomplish this." conserve land and renew cities, applying a big-picture, regional plan- "Every college is a reflection of its trustee chairs," comments Hales. ning approach to places like the Hudson River Valley and the State of "COA has had giants in this role, and Sam Hamill is one of the most New Jersey. He still serves as senior consultant to New Jersey Future, important leaders we have had. COA has made the transition from an one of four nonprofit organizations that he founded. The organization experiment in higher education to an established alternative widely is an independent research and advocacy group that advances solu- recognized for its excellence and creativity. No one is more closely associated with this successful transition than Sam Hamill." tions to issues of suburban sprawl, environmental conservation, social justice and economic progress. "With magnificent landscapes, urban Though Hamill is retiring as board chair in July, one of his biggest blight, high population densities, sprawl and social injustices, New undertakings is just beginning-making faculty and staff salaries more Jersey has some of the most pioneering and effective land use regula- equitable. "Our pay scales are too low," says Hamill. "I'm glad the tion in the nation. It couldn't be a better place to work," Hamill says. trustees have begun to focus on this." So much in Hamill's background resonates with human ecology As Hamill moves on to other endeavors, he continues to be that it's actually a surprise to find he didn't get involved with COA amazed at the college's capacity for self-renewal. "I have such admira- until 1994, at the invitation of late trustee Alice Eno. At the time, he tion for Father Jim Gower, Les Brewer and their early associates who says, he was attracted by four aspects of the college: COA's mission to shared the vision of what this college could be-and for the make the world a better place, its commitment to Mount Desert faculty, staff, trustees and friends who have worked so hard to bring Island, where Hamill has summered since 1968, and the opportunity to this college where it is today. We are well-poised to address the be among those who share the college's values and goals. Lastly, challenges of the twenty-first century." Photo by Donna Gold 20 COA COA 21 "COA teaches on water pollution and land use, she studied about 50 percent over the past thirty years. Roy lifelong learning" Mount Desert Island lake chemistry with COA was a leading author in the final report, Adiron- botanist Fred Olday for her internship, and raised dack Acid Rain Research, which came out in 2005 European oysters in the Skillings River for her and has been recently issued as Acid Rain in senior project. the Adirondacks: An Environmental History by Roy's concern for ecosystem health has shaped Cornell University Press, one of Roy's seventeen Alumni Making a her life ever since. She currently works for the publications. Difference in Science New York State Department of Environmental Roy spent much of her early career in the field, Conservation directing research for the getting to know the Adirondacks. She still occa- Donnie Mullen ('97) Adirondack Long-Term Monitoring Program, sionally gets out, though her job now is translat- which looks at the impact of and recovery from ing field data for policy makers and the public, Whether ten or thirty years separate the fol- acid rain in water bodies across the Adirondacks. staying abreast of current research. lowing alumni from their college experience, Growing up in northern Roy loves the process of the influence of COA remains a force in their Maine, Roy loved the out- recognizing a problem, doors and was intrigued by "At COA, establishing a monitoring lives. As I interviewed six graduates working natural systems, yet thought in various scientific fields, all expressed I learned individual system, then collecting and an outdoor science career analyzing data with the gratitude for the personalized learning they meant being a forester or responsibility, that eventual goal of influencing received. When it came to remembering the game warden-until she policy. "Working with a sys- COA faculty and staff that played influential discovered environmental every person and tem of observation devel- roles in their lives, the list reads like a cam- biology. pus-wide roll-call of past and present, staff, Studying water resources every action counts." oped over time is hugely interesting," she says. faculty, trustees and presidents. For these for a master's degree at the Karen Roy '77 Ultimately, Roy sees alumni, the COA community provided a University of Vermont, Roy science as a way to head off supportive platform for their academic and focused on the relationship between rain pH and future problems by understanding the present. personal growth. stream acidification. Soon after, she became a She is upbeat but practical about the recovery COA's ethos remains a part of each life: project analyst for the Adirondack Park Agency, process of the Adirondack ecosystem. vaccine scientist, acid rain researcher, con- serving as the agency's acid rain spokesperson "We're no longer arguing whether or not servationist, behavioral ecologist, biology while also evaluating New York conservation emissions lead to acidification of lakes. We're Karen Roy '77 stands in one of the nearly two hundred head- department policies affecting the park. This expe- going in the right direction with emissions professor and environmental consultant water streams of the Oswegatchie-Black River system near rience gave her the credentials necessary for her control, but it's taken a long time to reverse are all sure to keep recycling, composting, Harrisville, New York. These waters were intensively sampled for acidification chemistry from 2003 to 2005. On this day, current work. acidification and we haven't gotten there yet. bicycling to work, and otherwise conserving Roy was sampling for chemistry and scraping rocks and In 2001, Roy began directing research for the The question becomes one of urgency, how energy. They're also sure to think broadly and collecting sediments for biota. Adirondack program, which now has more than committed are we as a population?" creatively, as demanded by human ecology. twenty years of data at its disposal, making it She and her husband, Steve Engelhart ('77), Each of these six scientists credits COA WATCHING OUT FOR one of the most comprehensive studies of lake a historic preservationist, live in Keeseville, with offering challenges and lessons tailored THE HEALTH OF THE WATERS chemistry in North America. The program New York where she gardens, composts, uses to their needs: assistance with discovering monitors fifty-two lakes and three streams in a clothesline and drives a high mileage, low- Karen Roy '77, Conservation Research Director their life path, help with honing skills in the Adirondacks, collecting the acid neutralizing emission vehicle. Son Noah is a musician and writing, science and the humanities, and In the early 1970s, as the environmental side capacity and levels of sulfate, nitrate, pH and toxic high school junior and son Sam studies altern- encouragement to approach life with both a effects of one-hundred-plus years of industrial- aluminum. Located downwind of Midwest coal- ative energy at Clarkson University. They're all critical eye and open mind. COA was as much ization splashed across the headlines, Karen burning facilities, the monitoring program was active promoters of local food, music and art. an experience as it was a college. Roy transferred from the pre-med program at largely responsible for establishing the direct An ethos gained long ago has clearly become Dartmouth College to COA-in part for the "take connection between emissions and acidification. her own. "At COA, I learned individual responsi- ~DM action" sentiment she found at the college. Thanks to the Clean Air Act amendments of 1970 bility, that every person and every action counts." "Everyone had to do their part," she says. Focused and 1990, sulfur emissions have decreased by 22 COA COA 23 Later, while at a post-doctorate fellowship in who lives with his wife, Elizabeth Freedman, a molecular genetics at Brown University, he pub- family physician, and daughter Frances, eight, and lished a groundbreaking article in the journal son William, three, in West Hartford, Connecticut. Cell (one of seventeen he's published to date) He credits writing faculty member Anne Kozak on how DNA is packaged differently around with helping him to recognize his natural ability. genes that are actively expressed. "I connected with her. She saw my talents and In 2005, he brought his enthusiasm and scien- pushed where it was needed." tific acumen to Protein Sciences Corporation in He also worked in chemistry with COA faculty Meriden, Connecticut, a company that specializes member Don Cass, helping him to develop exper- in developing and manufacturing vaccines. iments for a bioorganic chemistry class. "Don He's now focused on the licensing of FluBlOk, taught me how to take a scientific book or paper a cell-culture vaccine manufactured using insect and figure out what it meant," he says. cells. The Food and Drug Administration has When asked about the influence of COA in his never licensed a vaccine of this type, so everyday life, he speaks about his environmental McPherson has had to answer a lot of questions. awareness and minimizing his ecological foot- Currently, one fertilized chicken egg is print: "We're a part of the world rather than in required to grow a dose of flu vaccine. The charge of it." decades-old process takes six months and requires that the flu virus, often a live virus, Trey McPherson '84 at his lab at Protein Sciences Corporation, be altered to grow in eggs. FluBlOk offers the advantages of safety, speed and an exact match of A LIFE RICH IN looking into one of the details of licensing FluBlOk, a flu vaccine using insect cells. the virus, explains McPherson. The cell-culture SENSORY EXPERIENCE approach eliminates exposure to the actual virus Lauren Gilson '88, Field Biologist as well as the potential risk of a poultry-born ill- THE JOY OF DISCOVERY: Lauren Gilson gained her love for animal ness, making it safe for both manufacturers and CREATING VACCINES behavior during childhood summers spent in patients: The vaccine is made from a single pro- FROM INSECT CELLS tein taken from the surface of the flu virus. New Hampshire, swimming, catching turtles, FluBlOk can be produced in as little as six weeks watching loons and visiting the Squam Lake Clifton "Trey" McPherson '84 Science Center where a live-animals education and the protein used to make the vaccine is Lauren Gilson is flagging a tree in which she has found a new "I didn't grow up knowing what I was going to unaltered from the original virus. Cell-culture program exposed her to a red-tailed hawk and woodpecker excavation, or a "start" (the start of a cavity). Though it may be years before the woodpecker excavates do," reflects Clifton "Trey" McPherson. Today, he vaccines are not new technology-polio, hepatitis snowy owl. An animal lover fascinated by flight, into the heartwood and hollows out a chamber to roost in, finds himself playing a leading role in the develop- these birds captivated her. At thirteen, she the starts are tracked to see how long they take to finish, A and chickenpox vaccines fall in this category- ment of the first non-egg-based flu vaccine. worked at the center as a future naturalist and how often new starts are made, who in the group works yet the use of insect cells is uncommon; on them, what characteristics the chosen tree displays, McPherson transferred to COA in 1981. He mammalian cells are the norm. discovered that the study of animal behavior and other information to help scientists manage the bird initially explored architectural design, then med- could become a career. and its habitat needs. Photo by Lynne Flannery. These days McPherson spends more time icine. Fascinated by discovery, he ultimately in his office than the lab. As director of quality Several decades later, having been a field focused on molecular biology. control, he is charged with establishing protocols biologist from Nebraska to Madagascar, Gilson Following COA, he worked as a research assis- for the battery of tests that must be administered is now studying the endangered red-cockaded tant at The Jackson Laboratory, in Bar Harbor, over the proteins produced. He also works on woodpecker at the Avon Park Air Force Range He encouraged her to think beyond the estab- mapping the genes of anemia and other blood dis- in Florida. analytical method development, raw materials lished precepts of animal behavior, to "always be orders. He went on to Vanderbilt University for a Gilson transferred to COA in search of profes- testing and carries out stability studies. He's also open to another way of interpretation." PhD. Most of his colleagues had to adjust to being sors who would take the time to become involved still project manager for Protein Science's SARS She now routinely finds that animals do not handed the responsibility for their education, but in her education. vaccine project. Human clinical trials will likely necessarily repeat predicted behavior. The local coming from COA, where, "everything was based begin at the end of 2008. As she designed non-competitive games to differences she sees in her current work with on interest," McPherson was already a motivated, "Being involved in a new way of making vac- teach animal behavior, the late Bill Drury, faculty the red-cockaded woodpecker lead her to apply independent thinker. cines is exciting and stressful," says McPherson, member in biology, challenged her to question the a regional lens to existing federal management very notions she was laying out in her curriculum. regulations. 24 COA COA 25 Her job is often a creative challenge as federal In Guatemala, cultural distance and a language Collins has a gift for grasping the importance regulations limit the methods she can use. For barrier prevented Collins from gathering the hard of the microcosm within the context of a global example, getting a permit to use telemetry units science he was after. As a result, he began to con- climate, and for him these two seemingly diver- to track juveniles is very difficult, for fear that sider tools beyond science; the lesson has carried gent regions have a binding similarity-the even simple monitoring devices would harm over into his international conservation work. importance of paying heed to the local per- the birds. "The world is too crazy to use science all the spective-another lesson that dates back to "My goal is to figure out the most about these time," he says. "We have woefully inadequate data a college campus on the Maine coast. animals with the least impact," she says. in a rapidly changing world. You need instinct, Working with the red-cockaded woodpecker creativity and a look at the cultural systems. has made her more attentive to how a species Natural systems are hard to predict; when utilizes the landscape, as she also monitors the humans are thrown into the mix, it becomes even FULFILLING A resources on which the birds live. By observing Darron Collins '92 mounts a camera trap to capture images harder. Science can help prioritize, but a lot of CHILDHOOD DREAM of the highly endangered Amur leopard (Panthera pardus the productivity, survival rates and growth of the amurensis). the time it's about talking to people and tapping Jim Kellam '96, Tenure-Track Biology Professor red-cockaded woodpecker, she can recommend into local knowledge." what will increase the overall number of species. His work in the Amur Basin- Amur River Jim Kellam only applied to one college. He loved While many studies simply emphasize learning LISTENING, THEN ACTING flows from the mountains of Mongolia and COA's infectious optimism, the personal atten- about a species, her current work included, becomes the border between Russia and China- tion and getting to know his professors-a Darron Collins '92, World Wildlife Fund Gilson has long made it a point to try and use Conservationist has focused in part on the taimen or "river wolf," refreshing change from his Richmond, Virginia behavior to learn from a species. the world's largest salmonid, the family that high school of two thousand. Longing, early on, Although she has spent much of her career Darron Collins loved COA from the moment he includes salmon, trout and whitefish. Collins says to be a biology professor, he delved into classes working with birds-her master's thesis at Boise stepped onto campus. Beyond the beauty, size the forces working against taimen, which can taught by COA faculty members in biology John State University was on raptor biology-her true and proximity to Acadia National Park, he felt like grow to one hundred pounds, are numerous, passion is the study of behavior itself, in any he shared a similar intensity with the students he including gold mining and overgrazing. He hopes organism. She tries to consider the world from met. "I wanted to tie myself to trees as an Earth that a locally based sport fishing industry, empha- the perspective of her subject, focusing on First! activist," he recalls. Today, as a World sizing catch and release, might bring some relief. individuals, challenging herself to know them Wildlife Fund conservationist, he understands And yet, the greatest threat to taimen is localized well enough to recognize the slightest change the importance of listening to all parties. "Who's sport fishing of a different breed-for trophy in vocalization or behavior. to say we know more?" fish-a popular pastime among Mongolia's elite. "I could watch a species for hours and hours, Collins' interest in activism evolved into a Six months ago, to work closer to the Decatur, paying attention to what they are doing, how they fascination with field biology and then into a Georgia home where he and his wife Karen and are using their environment, and how they react curiosity with environmental law. their two daughters, Maggie, six, and Molly, four, to each other," she says. The same drive that led him to design the pop- live, Collins added the rivers and streams of the Beyond birds, Gilson soon hopes to be study- ular Whitewater/White Paper class with Ken Cline, southeast to his job description. ing reptiles with her partner, behavioral ecologist COA faculty member in public policy and envi- Working in the US offers significantly better Bill Bateman of the University of Pretoria. ronmental law, now finds Collins directing two access to resources and expertise, but property High-paying work has never been Gilson's WWF priority areas: the Amur Basin of Mongolia, rights activists pose a challenge, he says. The focus. Her life is rich with sensory experience. Russia and China, and the rivers and streams of southern Appalachians support the richest in- Nature's sounds and sights offer endless delight. the southeastern United States. vertebrate and fish populations in the temperate The red-cockaded woodpeckers she studies are "COA allowed me the flexibility to figure out world. But this diversity is threatened by the like her children, she says. what made me tick," he says. ever-expanding urban centers of Chattanooga, Drury's focus on individuals has opened the As a Watson Fellow, Collins studied the social Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, widest of worlds. "I love knowing so many birds; and ecological consequences of development Georgia. "People don't want to be told what to I'm very fortunate to spend a lot of time working on rivers in Latin America, later earning his PhD do," says Collins, "but they are starting to come Jim Kellam '96 is attaching a radio transmitter to the crow's with organisms that are very different from us," in anthropology from Tulane University, where he around as the negative consequences of not back so his team can determine whether it was part of the Gilson says, adding, "Everybody should end up studied the plant usage and lore of Guatemala's planning become apparent." communal roost and where it spent the daylight hours. doing the thing that is most important to them." Q'eqchi' people. 26 COA COA 27 Anderson and Craig Greene. He loved field trips After Purdue, Kellam taught at Franklin & returned to policy work with AH Environmental with Greene and his approach of teaching about Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania as Consultants, a small firm in Newport News, the relationships among plants. From Anderson a visiting professor. Teaming up with Margaret Virginia. Come April, she and husband James he learned to remain open to variation in the Brittingham of Pennsylvania State University, he Young, an Army logistics officer who works at natural world and to think beyond his book researched the effectiveness of management the Pentagon, are expecting their first child. learning. For his senior project, Kellam studied techniques utilized by the United States As an environmental consultant, Damon how weather influences the roosting behavior of Department of Agriculture to move a crow roost designs and implements an environmental man- pileated woodpeckers. Today, he's still studying that had been deemed a public nuisance. The agement system for the Navy, streamlining and birds as a tenure-track biology professor at Saint methods ranged from flares and noisemakers to enhancing existing policy execution. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. poison, with a few hundred actually killed. Over Whether it's hazardous waste regulations or While his contemporaries were outside play- the course of three years the roost size dropped historic building preservation, Damon must know ing basketball, Kellam was wandering through from about 40,000 to circa 15,000 individuals, yet the policy, and how federal, state or Navy regu- the woods, watching birds and identifying wild- Kellam could not say that the shift in roost size lations affect her client. Then she must find flowers. Even in elementary was directly correlated to efficient ways to implement that policy. Here, school, science was his management practices. It Damon goes beyond teaching how to effectively favorite subject-he still "I enjoy asking could have simply been a disseminate rules, striving to integrate human has his fifth-grade rock col- students a lot of behavioral shift. ecological thinking into the minds of influential lection. He and his mother He's now looking into people. She seeks those who manage others, kept a feeder in their back- questions, hoping to birds and sleep-how stress such as department heads or doctors, and teach- yard and together they levels and weather affect es them, for example, why recycling matters and would keep track of who elicit an "I never sleep behavior in birds and Jessica Damon at work in her office at the Navy. how it affects their lives, in hopes that they will in visited. In eighth grade he how sleep affects their social turn pass the awareness onto their subordinates. was asked to interview thought of it that interactions during the day. early. In fifth grade, she was engrossed by what "You need a concise message and you need to someone with a profession way" revelation. " Since arriving at Saint she could grow in a petri dish. communicate with the right people. Success is all he was interested in-he Vincent, Kellam has focused For her internship at COA, she worked on about effective communication," she says. Jim Kellam '96 chose an ornithologist. on designing his teaching Allied Whale's long-term study of the ecology Damon has been surprised by how much she Kellam earned his PhD in curriculum. "I enjoy being and habitat of finback and humpback whales. enjoys seeing a project produce a more edu- biological sciences from Purdue University, study- like John Anderson," he says, referring to his for- Her senior project looked at how high-speed cated, contented and greener client. The bulk ing the pair bond maintenance of downy wood- mer advisor's knack for challenging assumptions. vessels affect whales. She has since presented of her time is split between writing environ- peckers in winter, an interest stemming from his Kellam asks his students a lot of questions, hop- her research in Maui and Massachusetts. mental policy, and interacting with people to COA senior project. At Purdue, Kellam looked ing to elicit an "I never thought of it that way" Damon later worked for Allied Whale and a ensure implementation at the hospital. She is also at whether males and females compete at for- revelation. whale-watching outfit in Bar Harbor, earning working toward a master's degree in environmen- aging during the winter. In opposition to well- her captain's license. She also researched the tal management at the University of Maryland. documented literature, Kellam found that they endangered right whale under Scott Kraus '77 In an effort to morph her career back toward don't-he observed that males and females for- at the New England Aquarium. marine research, she wants to extend her con- aging within fifty yards of one another didn't INFLUENCING "There is nothing like being far offshore, in a sulting to include the greening of Chesapeake affect each other's success. He also implanted THE INFLUENCERS small boat with a few other dedicated individuals, Bay. Whether it's keeping pollutants out of the testosterone in one group of birds-the method Jessica Damon '98, Environmental Consultant watching a species you're not certain will be bay or working directly with a species in need, had never been practiced in woodpeckers-to around for another hundred years-knowing any future move will stand up to the internal see if it would strengthen the pair bond relation- When asked to think outside of the box at COA, you're making a difference." litmus test that has guided her work since her ship. The added testosterone did influence the Jessica Damon rose to the challenge: "In my post- But Damon found earning a living from field COA years: "If I'm not making a difference, I'm pair, but only to the advantage of the male. COA life, I have never been afraid to try," she biology difficult. She had already worked on not living up to what I could be." Females foraging with testosterone-added males says. Her sense of empowerment is astonishing. implementing federal policy during whale and were less successful when compared to their Growing up on a small farm in Buckfield, sea turtle encounters as a certified biological control group counterparts. Maine, with a gamut of chores from milking COWS observer aboard dredging vessels along the east Donnie Mullen ('97) is a writer and photographer to fixing the snowplow, Damon came to science and gulf coasts. Seeking to start a family, she living in midcoast Maine. 28 COA COA 29 Human Ecology Human Ecology BEYOND DISCIPLINE DARE TO BE A DISCIPLINE By Bill Carpenter By Maxwell G. Coolidge '05 n the fall of 1972 COA convened as an academic textbook, Human Ecology, and impart it to our stu- spent most of my time at COA in human studies studying different phenomena. I recall history faculty institution with thirty-two students; every issue dents in an orderly way. classes but the arts and design curriculum was member Todd Little-Siebold's annoyance at the pop- involved in running a college was on the table, right But I see the faculty as having quite the opposite where I learned the value of discipline. ularity of Jared Diamond's book, Guns, Germs, and down to whether we would turn the clocks back mission: never to let human ecology freeze into a Discipline is a word that has taken on a negative Steel, which sought to explain the Spanish conquest to standard time. I think of those first years as the discipline to be known and transmitted by profes- connotation these days. In the world of child rearing of the Americas in terms of material and biological Big Bang of human ecology; we were willing to sional human ecologists to passive students. If (which I am in the thick of) it has been conflated advantage. A biologist who writes a history book may question all that came before in education, level it anything, the faculty must use all our knowledge of with the word punishment. In academia it has have a popular following, but his cross-disciplinary to the ground if necessary and build it over. human ecology to keep it unknown, so that each fall become something in need of transcendence. We move cheapens the work of historians who trade in With a visionary challenge, the trustees had taken it is as new to us as when we first encountered it. strive to be multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary, the in-depth study of specific people and events. a brand-new concept-human ecology-and asked Human ecology is not a subject matter. It is a way trans-, post-, cross-, etc. The result unfortunately is Likewise, any student trying to draw conclusions us to breathe life into it and make it work as a col- of apprehending the world through the relations of that many of us forget to be disciplinary in the first about social sciences from something they studied in lege education. They knew and we knew that it things in their ceaseless interaction and change. As place. botany class was sure to evoke the ire of my wise wouldn't be just another academic discipline, but students, if you assume the faculty already knows Discipline was the last thing I expected to find in (and disciplined) classmate Yaniv Brandvain '04. a complete transvaluation of how we learn. Of the and all you have to do is take notes, if you assume my art and music classes. Art and music in my mind If human ecology is to develop as a discipline, we uncountable gifts the trustees have the administration already knows were where people went to "express must guard it against being broad- bestowed on us, the greatest has and all you have to do is follow the themselves" and "find their inner "Human ecology is also ened out of existence by being been those two words, human and "Human ecology is not a rules, you will be missing the point voice." in danger of being so defined as the study of humans and ecology, the zygote of the organism subject matter. It is a way of human ecology, which is your Students who enter Ernie their environments. narrowly defined that the that has come to be COA. own creative involvement in the McMullen's painting classes or John Rather than becoming a new and The first handful of faculty spent of apprehending the destiny of your personal education Cooper's music tutorials with this prime activities of the important field of inquiry, human a summer thinking and talking and world through the and of the institution as a whole. attitude quickly discover otherwise. human ecologist become ecology might merely become just made a definition, "humans and relations of things in It takes courage for the faculty There is no room for fudging in preaching environmen- another interdisciplinary "study" their relation to the environment," their ceaseless interac- to give up the comfort of mastery their classes; you paint; you practice. talism and the superiori- like the "gender studies" or "ethnic which has kept its focus not on the and see our subjects as unknowns Cooper and McMullen are not mid- studies" programs elsewhere. These things of this world but on the tion and change." again; and courage for students to wives assisting at the birth of your ty of human ecology." are not fields of inquiry, but rather separate relationships that hold ~ Bill Carpenter give up being disciples and con- creativity; they are disciplinarians ~ Max Coolidge '05 curricula that draw from a number them together. sumers. In the eyes of human ecol- and masters of their fields who of different disciplines and lead the But a definition is only the skin of ogy, students and faculty are joint know the difference between beauty and bullshit. student to pre-determined (politically biased) an idea, not the heart. It was not till the students partners in this limitless investigation. Faculty They expect students to be just as committed to conclusions. came that we truly began this great evolutionary should take on the best qualities of the students- mastery as they are. Human ecology is also in danger of being so nar- experiment in modifying liberal education to serve a their radicalism and eager openness, and students Many teachers, from the elementary to the college rowly defined that the prime activities of the human new millennium. The liberal arts had been formed in should assume the best of the faculty, our wise level, have given up on the idea of discipline. ecologist become preaching environmentalism and the Middle Ages to respond to a world that was fixed articulateness and self-confidence, right or wrong. Education in this country has shifted from an intellec- the superiority of human ecology. The college has in place while the sun revolved around it. Human In this way we can join against one-way authoritari- tual model, with a focus on the acquisition and mas- gotten a lot of good press for its commitments to ecology would teach an open, unconstrained, cre- an learning and keep the Big Bang going in its cre- tery of skills and knowledge, to a psychotherapeutic environmental concerns but it would be a shame if ative response to a post-Darwinian world that will ative intensity and freedom. model where feelings, opinions and self-esteem are the college's educational mission took a back seat to never stop changing. You can't freeze and define What keeps human ecology from being just what count. Teachers no longer teach but rather help its non-intellectual pursuits such as signing the Earth human ecology; but its mercurial indefinability is the another academic discipline is the deeply personal students make discoveries and voice opinions. Charter or becoming carbon neutral. ideal instrument for understanding and responding encounter each of us has with it, student or teacher. Teachers are no longer regarded as masters and stu- Both of these extremes are anti-intellectual pit- to the world we're in. And the highest expressions of this encounter are dents no longer regarded as disciples; in fact the falls. Students, commit your attention to studying the The first students have long since gone forth to the superhuman achievements of the senior projects, whole notion that the older generation has some- fields that interest you the most. The disciplines you creative life voyages in service to both humans and because all-out creativity is the only response to the thing of value to impart has fallen out of fashion. master, and more importantly the discipline you the environment, while the faculty is still here trying unanswerable questions that will be asked of you, Discipline involves developing effective, regular develop, will last you a lifetime. to figure out what human ecology is, a task we've and that you will continue to answer all your lives. study and work habits; it also involves staying within been chipping at for one score and fifteen years. By disciplinary bounds. Human knowledge is divided Maxwell Coolidge '05 and his wife Jennifer now you would think we could take that hairy, anar- Excerpted from Carpenter's speech at COA's thirty- into disciplines because it is vast and there are spe- (Wahlquist) '03 live in Orland, Maine. Coolidge chic tarball we call human ecology, wrap it up in a fifth convocation, September 5, 2007. cific tools and methods that can be best used for is a candidate for the Maine State Legislature. 30 COA COA 31 culebra selections from a novella BY ERICA MALTZ '08 T he Caribbean dawns like a bad dream, Photos (5) by Donna Gold one that you forget soon after waking, but that flavors your day with a precarious feeling of something about to happen. I came to the Caribbean because the low I. Runaway latitudes evade me like an infantile memory, I open my eyes to a world as bright as blue start to cook eggs with the slight sense of a mess of light and color, indiscernible to my flames and as old as diamonds. Outside the win- revenge of the rooster who would have never eyes that cannot yet focus. The warm wind dow a rooster sings his solitude to neighborhood fathered these eggs anyhow. and curved horizon lived in my brain before animals in a series of short, splitting crows. The Caribbean dawns like a bad dream, a day that / could formulate the series of thoughts that keeps on repeating, a modern day Isle of In the Caribbean, roosters and iguanas live in the I needed to interpret those rough waters, Nausicaa worthy of Odysseus. To Odysseus, the same space, the rooster where the roots of the before I could analyze its presence, before picture was wrong, a perfection and clarity that tree enter the ground, the iguana where the the amphibious syllables of words could must not exist on a proper earth. Somewhere in branches meet the sky. The civilized world, as I creep forth from a mouth that had not yet his memory, Odysseus knew that he must go have come to realize, is a zoo of animals dumped home, something sad that would not bend to the where they did not evolve. The iguana belongs said anything that anyone else could will of the beauty before his eyes. The boy beside here and so has always, to some sunlit tree in understand. me in my bed is asleep with dreams of moonlight these latitudes. With the scratch of his front and snow, girls that will come and sweep him off claws, and then a pull of his hind, he is not trying his feet. I will get out of the bed, cook him break- to tell me anything, not telling me to wake up. He fast, but will not eat anything myself. does not know I am here several feet below him. The rooster continues to scream, though the He will simmer on my roof in the morning sun sun floated into the sky two hours earlier, his until his insides are cooked, then slide off to a sense of time lost in his ancestry, this feral colo- coconut palm and disappear into cooler, more nial descendant of the more well-behaved roost- invisible places of the world, long after my chick- ers of the conquistadors. Roosters were bred to en's eggs are cooked and eaten. crow at dawn, to awaken humans with the first Through the metal shutters the sun percolates, ray of light; that was the purpose of roosters, the the rays only a few minutes old. That is how long reason for their being so carefully kept by mas- they take to get to the earth. A year ago I was not ters of another species. In this story, the conquis- in the Caribbean, but a year from now the faint tadors mixed their blood with the unwilling light of stars behind the blue sky of this day will Taíno, and then eventually nobody taught the hit the ground beneath my feet and end their roosters when to crow. travels. The slow, archaic clawing of a green iguana on In the beginning there was only water and the cement roof joins the sound of the rooster. I light, then the creatures in the sea. 32 COA COA 33 In the beginning, the boy and I set out to dis- cover all of the secrets of this small island. In the beginning the boy and I just were, and just were with each other, and we did not know the territory. You had a picture already in your mind, before you came here. Bone white and azure blue, the waves fan out, recede, fan out, recede, breathe- quiet, fan out, fall back, in that endless, stochas- tic, admirable fashion of waves. A slow Jurassic mist rises from sea grapes and coconuts, instantly marooning us on a forgotten isle of piracy, a rum- laden kingdom of rats and outcasts, giant schools of silver fish, and twisted mangrove roots. If I am stranded here forever, I would slowly forget what exactly it was that I did before this, grow bark and tree rings: My skin will be scales and my eyes a spy glass looking always to a hori- II. Castaway zon that I would never reach. As the soft sweet Shells of bombs that exploded fifty years before coconut water steals my taste buds, my nails scatter the beach along with sandals and bottles, make it, my arms have never been that strong. parched like teeth, a tongue raspy and salty like piles of bottles that will one day outnumber the I look in the mirror of the casita bathroom to the skin of the iguana and a crepuscular sense of I pack up all my words to you in a glass-green living conch in Culebra's shallows. The hills crum- see if I am still there. time, rising with the moon instead of the sun. bottle. The message is composed of the many ble into the ocean and the bombs slowly turn to The words are as delicate as if I wrote them in words I have never said to you, words that might rock, to raw metal, and one day you will not be ash, as if I set fire to the footsteps of the fly and have made your leaving different had you read able to see where they are. It is not the job of filled the bottle with smoke instead of ink. At the sea-grape gate of the shore, the boy picks them. I write it on the paper we had scrapped to rocks to record history, it is not the job of rocks a hibiscus flower and tucks it behind my ear. I recycle, the ink runny from the humidity that to remember and forget or to say where it is they wander up into the bush away from him, trying to rises every day since you left. are going. Herds of urchins surround my words, resting in a name the stones as if they were my own cre- A fly lands on my words, leaving a tiny ink trail Someone goes to sleep in Culebra when bed of turtle grass, just beyond the reef. The sea ations. of fly footsteps before it hovers away. If the mes- someone else is waking. Someone is choking in egg, the inflated and flattened sea biscuits, the When the boy isn't looking I pull the hibiscus sage ever reaches you, look for these, and you the generations of confines of a small island green urchin, the black urchin, the spiny urchin from behind my ear and place it on the grave of will know what state I am in. while someone else is wondering when to leave. crawl slowly on the bottom, eating detritus. You conchs, a pile of empty shells, scabby skin cover- There must be people who still look for mes- Someone decides to stay, someone decides to go do not know it, but they have been there for ing a spiral of pink and pearl. They say that only sages in bottles, look for little written pieces of and never come back, whether by intention or thousands of years, hundreds of thousands, mil- living things can produce spirals, and that spirals other people's lives on the ground, lost or dis- not. lions. are always evidence of something that has lived. carded, people who will pick up my bottle, crack A hand-painted sign stands guard over the vast This doesn't impress you; maybe I should have This hibiscus marks well this grave, a star-spiral of it open, and send the letters I write to you. I must coastline of Culebra, a landscape that you will said centuries, and our brains could begin to its own in the center of these hollow shells. believe in these people, even if they are only chil- never see even if you live here. It is abandoned to understand the age of their lineage. The urchins Before we walk away, the boy asks me where dren, children not old enough to send letters. birds and to bombs, with rocky beaches that will have lived here for centuries, among the first to the flower has gone. I tell him it must have fallen They make it plausible that you might one day get not turn to sand for thousands of years. Some of claim these waters. The seas have since shifted, out. He looks to the ground for a brief moment these. the deepest waters of the Caribbean lie just and maybe Culebra was once under water. I hold and we continue to the shore. I fling these words as far as I can into the blue, beyond this coast, this western point, and many the body of a sea biscuit, the first human to touch beyond the reef, to the current that may carry it waves that strike this shore travel first over the its pored shell, and I tell you that the star shaped away and closer to where you are. Where are dark trenches of ocean. flower on the surface of a sand dollar is perfect. you? You are beyond the reef, where it might not Whoever translated this sign with its uneven lettering did not do so completely. It is meant to 34 COA COA 35 warn you that the U.S. Navy did not keep track of have at home in the North. Their young faces will all unexploded artillery, and that among the cob- want to trace the perfect petals on its surface with ble, pieces of Culebra's history have not yet the tips of their fingers, and ask for its history. poetry candice stover exposed themselves. You said I'd have to marry you if I wanted this From her book, Poems from the Pond The boy and I walk and know, as only travelers gift. I stared at it for hours after, marveling at Published by Deerbrook Editions, Cumberland, Maine 2007 can, that no one will find us here. No one knows every detail etched in calcium. In Season: we are absent, or even that we have a place to be These are my treasures. Someday, after I die, absent from. We pass beyond the web that socie- my progeny will uncover great hordes of these, ty weaves around us, into a protected part of a lit- Five Tankas Intuition shells, rocks, antlers, teeth. tle island, a phantom limb of an amputee land. The boy is pretty sure that this limb has been from the Pond This one, from his first steps, longed gone for many years. The whole Caribbean fills up with bones and to carry home in his arms all creatures somehow no one sees them. Turtles and conch, 1. April Thaw wild, bovine, other, rare. As if he might dogs and fish, horses and cats, coral and sand. for Jane Disney lead the moo-cows he called out to Between, below these hollow bombs are bottles, in the meadow by a string drawn Thinnest near the edge, from his pocket, might guide them thousands. They are inside the bombs, filling the white layers keep vanishing: breath to his bedside and tie them there, empty shells with sand and with words. Each bot- Ten years from now, I will return to Culebra to dig over dark water. COW by COW, like private angels tle tried to reach someone and failed on these up the only thing we left on the island, one bottle Sublimation, science calls to watch a boy sleep. forgotten northern shores of Culebra, or else of cheap Australian wine, mostly because we had it, how we change forms, hover sank and drowned in the sea. nothing more personal to bury. Once, by a lake, three deer lifted It is impossible to tell, trash to be left or a bot- I still have the map, measured out in my small 2. Latitude: Coyotes in Winter their heads and watched him approach, tle to be found and read, sent to someone waiting paces, wandering from a particular palm out Shrill city yanking let him take his stance of entrancement or someone who is no longer here. toward the sea on the nearly hidden Resaca its twilight chain, unleashing and did not run. The boy turned eight. beach. Remember? I made sure to measure out what still clamors, wild That summer his father found a turtle the paces in my own steps knowing in some to reach us, touching what's raw- stranded between ditch and pavement, It has been one year since we met for the second sense that I would return alone to find this bottle. Dusk sinks the pond plum. a baby snapper he scooped in his palm time. I can't remember the date. See? It is some- I know I will set foot on that beach again, climb to bring home. thing you would have never remembered, but through the little tunnel of poisonwood and sea 3. Waking After Midnight: That Thirst The boy kept it in a sink on the porch. you didn't have to because I didn't remember grape, larch and a broadleaf of which I never One loon calling, one He tempted his turtle with bits of grass, either. Was that how it was always going to be? learned the name. note floating from the pond's dark lumps of hamburger, lettuce, strawberries. The years pass without seasons, like Culebra, and The day will be sunny and completely clear of kingdom bats gliding He gave it a rock to stand on, cooled it we would never remember to remind each other clouds or stars, there will only be the solitary blind mosquitoes whine, sucking with rain trickled from the red spout how many it had been. I don't think I could live frigate birds gliding thousands of meters above, blood leaves sizzle wings beat hush of his mother's Mexican watering can. like that. looking down at one small girl moving through The black curves of the turtle's tiny claws I am still on Culebra. I am looking at the giant the trees. 4. On a Day She Heard No Voices strained and scratched to climb the basin. sand dollar you found for me at the bottom of the The bottle will be salty, the label faded, and Its head, a leather thumb, stretched for sky. The pond: tea-colored sea, beyond the corals. It is whole. I can't believe the wine sour. I will put it to my lips and gaze dark clarities no memory you discovered one entire after all the broken out onto a horizon, wondering what about that Every day the boy nudged the rough puzzle of ice sealing it ones I pulled up disappointedly from the sand. I thin line has changed since we were here. I will of its shell and studied the sleepy slits then-shearing up-gradually thought my lungs would burst looking for this drink sweet coconut milk instead, and fall of its eyes. He named it a secret name. she enters her reflection one rare treasure. You can't tell if they are whole asleep under the palms. When I wake up, every- This went on for a week. Then, one twilight under a quarter moon, the boy cradled when they are on the bottom, the sand too often thing will look the same. I may even wish you 5. Minus 14 Degrees Fahrenheit, with Wind-chill the turtle into a paper cup and walked hides the broken half. were there. Ice like a bandit to the pond. Every time I pick it up I hold it with both my We should have buried rum, or photos, or jew- steals the pond overnight, shuts hands. It will be an heirloom I leave to my chil- elry, or words. I don't know why we didn't. fragile edges in Candice Stover is a COA lecturer in writing dren, so they can show their children what per- where clouds float lilac, early and literature. She is also the author of fect designs millions of years had rendered. They After completing the novella Culebra for her sen- sunset: cold jewels burning Holding Pattern published by Muse Press will marvel at its symmetry, its size and how it's ior project, Erica Maltz is taking some time to and Another Stopping Place by Oyster River puffed up unlike the common sand dollars we travel. Press. 36 COA COA 37 CLASS NOTES For a week each spring since 2000, Jackson Gillman '78 has been living at I'm still teaching English at a university in the United Arab Emirates where I've CLASS NOTES Rudyard Kipling's historic Brattleboro, Vermont home while he portrays been since 1999," writes Bone Jo Rodgers '85. "In my free time I often go out "Rudyard-in-Residence." Because of its inspirational setting, he also rents the looking for art and/or traditional dyes. A year ago that meant going to northern home in early February to host workshop sessions he calls Springboards for Vietnam to check out how they used indigo. I also stop into museums in Europe Stories, helping individuals develop stories by doing some exploratory mining on the way home each summer, still doing an assignment that JoAnne Carpenter of personal experiences and considering ways to refine, polish and share those gave us twenty-five years ago: Plan a trip through Europe, tell me where you nuggets. Find out more at www.jacksongillman.com. want to go, what you want to see, and why you want to see it.' Thanks, JoAnne, that assignment has taken me to some very interesting places!" On November 18, Loie Hayes '79, Glen Berkowitz '82, Terri Goldberg ('76) and Sara Wendt '85 recently released her second album Weightless With Love with Kathy Weinstock '81 attended the annual conference of the Massachusetts indie label City Canyons, downloadable through the iTunes store. She is trying Climate Action Network (MCAN). Glen is president of Beaufort Windpower; to live "gently" in New York City where she rides her bicycle, avoids plastic and Terri is deputy director of Northeast Waste Management Officials Association. works as a hypnotherapist, part-time human resources manager and copyeditor Kathy is a social worker and a member of C-10 (Citizens Within a 10-Mile Radius for college textbook publishing companies. She attributes most of her good life of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant) and Loie (photo, with another BCAN mem- to her "awesome education in human ecology." sarawendt@gmail.com ber), is an editor and also coordinator of Boston Climate Action Network. Paul Boothby '88 and his wife, Krista, have moved to Lynchburg, Virginia where Frank Twohill '80, a private practice lawyer, was recently elected to his eighth Paul is now the minister of First Unitarian Church, promoting environmental term in the Branford, Connecticut, Representative Town Meeting. The thirty- stewardship in the church and social healing through a city-wide dialog on race member town legislature passes the $85 million annual budget, prepares ordi- relations. "Our relations with our neighbors and with the environment are nances and hears from citizens. Frank was also elected minority leader. Since reflections of each other," he writes. 2005 Frank has served on the COA Alumni Association Governing Board where he is, "committed to improving the COA alumni experience." He writes the Natalie Springuel '91 and husband Rich MacDonald are excited to announce the occasional COA News, Views & Gossip column on the COATribe@yahoo.com birth of their little girl, Anouk Liesl Springuel MacDonald, born on April 29, group and is especially interested in hearing from classmates who attended 2007. At five weeks, Anouk was the youngest student enrolled in the 2007 COA COA between 1973 and 1978. franktwohill@hotmail.com course, This Marvelous Terrible Place, The Human Ecology of Newfoundland, which Natalie co-taught with faculty member in economics, Davis Taylor, and "I am still living in Santa Monica," writes Greg Rainoff '81, "spending a lot of Sean Todd, faculty member in biology. Writes Natalie, "Anouk was so happy to time in Tijuana working on a documentary about the US/Mexico border fence. camp her way around Newfoundland with her fellow COA students that she (see page 47) I think I have left Hollywood and visual effects for good except caught a serious travel bug. She has since ventured to Norway for some back- to keep contacts to facilitate more socially conscious ventures than blowing up packing and Belgium for her uncle's wedding." nspringuel@coa.edu spaceships for television, although that was kinda fun. I can't just be a consumer anymore with things the way they are. The whole world is about to go green whether we are tree huggers or not. If have garnered power in the world of Cedar Bough Saeji '93 is adjusting to life in the United States as she starts her media, it's my job as a human ecologist to use that power to facilitate that PhD in culture and performance at the University of California Los Angeles. change. I still ride my bike like a fiend. Not too fat or bald yet, forty-nine Husband Karjam's CD, Pilgrimage, can be found on iTunes and at CDBaby. going on seventeen." greg.rainoff@earthlink.net http://www.cedarsphotography.com Johannah Bernstein '83 recently moved to Geneva, Switzerland, having decided E. Anne Gustavson '94 is living in Seattle, Washington and recently passed the that she had to see Mont Blanc every day. She says she has re-created the bal- exam to become certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ance she had at COA, "minus the all-nighters in the original library and blue- (or LEED) architect. She is working to reduce the percentage of greenhouse gas berry pancakes at Jordan's at the crack of dawn!" She starts her days with a emissions from buildings. Sagi swim in Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) and hikes, skis or climbs on the weekends. Pilgrimage Yes, she is still doing international environmental law consultation. Her new "I have just entered the magical world of motherhood and feel the strength and home is "always open to COA alum who may be passing through." johannah- power of having gone through thirty hours of labor to get there," writes berns24@hotmail.com Elizabeth Rousek Ayers '95. Daughter Eva was born November 20. Elizabeth has since left her job as head gardener at Openhearth Estate to enjoy her time with Pam Cobb Heuberger '83 is the owner and director of Camp Runoia, a summer Eva and work in her own gardens. She writes, "I love hearing from COA and camp offering, "a human ecology experience for girls ages seven to fifteen." She COA friends, as it grounds me to my core values and beliefs-which I plan to also volunteers with the American Camp Association as president of the north- COA Alumni Relations pass on to my daughter." elizzierousek@yahoo.com east section. Alumni: Stay in Touch! "I've been in Seattle almost ten years now, having fun being an aunt to Vera, 5, Deborah Keisch Polin '96 is living in Northampton, Massachusetts with her hus- Update your contact and Arlo, 8, learning how to garden and commuting to an island with llamas and band, Mitch, and ten-month-old daughter, Willa. Deborah is in the PhD program information, tell us of changes very furry goats," writes Anna Hurwitz '84. She works for the consulting firm in cultural anthropology at the University of Massachusetts while, she says, "try- in your job or life or find out about regional alumni events Social Enterprise Group, which recently launched a hands-on, accelerated ing to figure out the mama/school/work balance." and other alumni method for developing social ventures, called Sustayne. She and her partner, services: Wendy, are planning a trip up the eastern seaboard in 2009 and hope to come Ryan Ruggiero '96 lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Sarah, a middle school Jennifer Hughes visit. msannarh@hotmail.com science teacher, and their two children, Mason, 5, and Stella, 2. Ryan is a natural in the Development Office resources and landscape planner with Vigil-Agrimis, a firm working in, "multi- 207-288-5015 ext. 329 disciplinary environmental design and consulting," and is close to licensure as a or jhughes@coa.edu. landscape architect. "The Pacific Northwest offers so many incredible opportu- nities to connect with the natural world, at the beach, in the mountains, and along the many rivers that are central to the region's identity." 38 COA COA 39 CLASS NOTES After more than eight years working for the Girl Scouts in Ann Arbor, Michigan, "We live our days in a beautiful, bountiful and slow manner filled with lots of CLASS NOTES Margaret Hoffman '97 has moved back to coastal Maine. She is now the director time for play and attention to detail," writes Jennifer Wahlquist Coolidge '03. "We of marketing and visitor services at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in raise organic produce, floral bouquets and fall ornamentals for sale at the Blue Boothbay. Visitors are welcome to her two guestrooms in Southport. Hill Co-Op and farmers markets." She and her husband Maxwell Coolidge '05 margaret11274@aol.com live in Orland, Maine with their two young sons, Matthew and Thomas. Max works as a cook at the Wescott Forge restaurant in Blue Hill and the Hiram Blake Career & Internship Services "I am engaged to be married to my boyfriend of five years, Ben Rosenberger," Camp in Cape Rosier. They also started a bakery out of their kitchen. Late fall Alumni: We can help! writes Jen Zankowski '98. She is also working with the activist investment firm and winter are cuddle down times when they dream of next season's crops. Career Information and Relational Investors in San Diego. What she likes most about this job is learning "Every day has allotments for outdoor running around, music making, fort Guidance about corporate governance and the process by which shareholders create making, driveway-bike-riding, kitchen-dance-parties, food creation, eating and Searchable Database change. "Business plays such a critical role in politics and creating change," she naps!" Graduate School Information writes. But while finance is interesting, she says, "it is not my passion." Jen is also Job Search Skills applying to graduate school to study city and regional planning. She'd love to Ranjan Bhattarai '04 and Deodonne Dustin (Bhattarai) '06 were married this sum- Resume Review hear from old COA friends. jenzen310@hotmail.com mer in Kathmandu, Nepal. Ranjan oversees web development and video pro- Relocation Guidance duction as a designer for MediaWORKS Enterprise, a graphic design firm train- Employment Websites Luciana Pandolfi '98 and Luke Wagner '99 are back in Antarctica for their fifth ing at-risk youth in multimedia. He is also working as a lead designer for consecutive summer season, their third in the deep field. They are working in Environment News Network. www.enn.com Interested in providing East Antarctica as logistical support staff for the University of Maine's Climate an internship? Change Institute on its International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition "I just got the new COA Magazine and realized I should brag on what I've been Working with (ITASE). The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, seeks to obtain up to lately," writes Aaron Lewis '04. This summer he won the blue ribbon in the prospective students? an overview of climate change through ice core and surface sample analysis as Bluegrass Fiddle Category at Galax Fiddle Convention. In September his band, Mentoring current students well as ice penetrating radar surveys. This year they aim to traverse 1400 km Special Ed and the Shortbus, was a finalist in the Billboard Magazine/Discmakers and other alumni? from a site at the head of the Byrd Glacier to the South Pole. Their progress can Independent Music World Series. They later went on to win the Grand Prize. be followed on the logbook on the ITASE website: They recently released an album titled Ground Beef Patrol. Aaron has also been Contact Jill Barlow-Kelley, Director http://blogs.bootsnall.com/luke/ playing with a band named Jackass Flats, whose new album will be available soon. of Internships and Career Services, "I have recently moved back to Portland and am so happy to be in Maine at jbk@coa.edu or 288-5015 ext. 236 again!" writes Hannah Fogg '99. "Life is in constant flux. The chilly weather has Briana Duga '04 and Seth LaFlamme announce the birth of their first child, brought on much inspiration for knitting scarves, shawls and sweaters and also Zooey Lynn Duga LaFlamme, born on the morning of June 5, 2007, by way of a for canning food-mango chutney, applesauce, pickled jalapeno peppers and natural water birth. They are still living in Atlanta, Georgia, working on chiro- quince jam. We should get together and laugh and eat good food!" practic degrees. phoenixluna@gmail.com After a year of learning, teaching, living and playing in the Tetons, Jamie Duval Jennifer Jones '05 is now a teacher in North Carolina and owns, she says, "the '00 has returned to her home state of Maine. She is now assistant director at the cutest puppy in the world," named Oakley Edward Jones. Ferry Beach Ecology School in Saco. She writes, "my favorite part of the job is coordinating a children's garden program and getting my hands dirty! I was Marisa Glass '06 is studying in the Islam program at McGill University, working recently engaged to Rob Beranek, whom I met through my graduate studies at on a cultural study of the Bedouins and how their Islamic lifestyle is being influ- Antioch University New England. We are basking in the enjoyment of life and enced by Western culture and tourism. She is planning a master's thesis on how will keep you updated on a date!" Islam was practical for a nomadic desert people and how things are currently changing. "Ultimately I have aspirations of doing several things with this Addie Dupree '02 is living in Leysin, Switzerland as a high school science teacher degree," she writes. "I am concerned for the preservation of the Bedouin cul- at an American boarding school. Her students come from across the globe. She ture and the conservation of the environment, especially in Jordan, because writes, "The town I live in is a small village on a mountain and has a ski resort. In major ecological problems face this amazing area. also want to work towards the winter, I spend many days with my skis strapped to my feet, searching for creating better relations between the Arab and Western worlds by working for fresh snow or snowshoeing to chalets for a hot drink. Working with such a exchange student programs. There's lots to be done in the region and I want to diverse student body has given me a better understanding of the world as a spend my life going between the States and the Middle East, hopefully bringing whole and how we are all interconnected. I have been given a new thread to more awareness and sustainability." intertwine in my human ecology perspective by working with students from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia and South America." Nickilynn Estologa '07 and Tom Rush '07 were married on June 3, 2007 in Bucksport, Maine, at Tom's parent's camp. Sarah Baker, COA dean of admission, Fae Silverman '03 continues to work as a nationally certified sign language inter- performed the ceremony. Both Nicki and Tom are working at the private lan- preter and to teach scuba divers a system of international hand signals contrived guage school Nova as English instructors in Osaka, Japan until September 2008. during her senior project. She is also working part time as the first Hillel Adviser/Jewish Associate Chaplain at the University of Southern Maine. faejoliege@yahoo.com 40 COA COA 41 COMMUNITY College of the Atlantic's re-accreditation review by the Northeastern Association Rich Borden, Rachel Carson Chair in Human Ecology and faculty member in psy- COMMUNITY Schools and Colleges has come to a successful conclusion: COA continues in chology, served as a member of the conference planning committee for the NOTES accredited status through 2017. The board commended COA for its unique and XVth International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology, or SHE, last NOTES relevant mission, its work in achieving financial sustainability, its levels of stu- October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the symposium, Psychology Looks at Mind dent engagement, even its approach to the review. and Nature, he made the presentation, "Ecology Scientific Foundations and Mythic Imagination." With Sean Berg '08, Borden presented, "Actual Events and "Baleen whales are not important as prey for killer whales Orcinus orca in high- Virtual Possibilities: The Past, Present and Future of the Society for Human latitude regions," according to a paper written by Amee V. Mehta in the Marine Ecology on the World-Wide Web." This was for a workshop and roundtable on Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 348, of October 25, 2007. Among the co-authors New Directions in Human Ecology Education for Sustainable Development. As with Mehta (who hails from the Boston University Marine Program in Woods part of his Rachel Carson Chair activities, Borden made a research visit to the Hole, Massachusetts) were Allied Whale researchers Judith M. Allen and Seaside Institute in Florida, and the Institute of Ecology at University of Georgia, Rosemary E. Seton. The paper examined the extent to which killer whales feed where Borden gave seminars on 'ecological thought to both the Odum School on baleen whales. Through photographic and sighting data from long-term of Ecology and the School of Engineering. He also attended a planning meeting studies of baleen whales in twenty-four regions worldwide, the authors deter- at Huxley College for the Environment in Bellingham, Washington, in prepara- mined that most killer whale attacks on baleen whales target young animals, tion for the XVIth SHE conference in September 2008. probably calves on their first migration from low-latitude breeding and calving areas to high-latitude feeding grounds. Adult baleen whales do not seem to be Ken Cline, faculty member in law and policy, has again been asked to evaluate an important prey source for killer whales in high latitudes. Udall Scholars for the Morris K. Udall Foundation. Cline was also recently appointed to the Keeping Maine's Forests study group, comprised of sixteen John Anderson, COA's William H. Drury, Jr. Chair in Evolution, Ecology and knowledgeable Mainers involved in studying and evaluating some of the long- Natural History, chaired a session at the international Waterbirds Conference in term trends of private forest ownership in the state. COA board member Sherry Barcelona, Spain in October and presented a paper on the impacts of various Huber is also a member of the group. In January, Cline took a group of students conservation strategies on Great Duck Island over the past century. to the hearings about Plum Creek's Moosehead Lake Concept Plan (see Winter Accompanying him were COA students Mikus Abolins-Abols '10, Sarah Kebler 2007). The photo includes students Jenny Lynch '11, Jordan Motzkin '11, Casey '08, Kaitlin Palmer '08, and Anna Perry '10, each of whom presented papers or Rayburn '11, Matt Maiorana '10, Brett Ciccotelli '09, Saras Yerlig '11, Rebecca posters on their research last summer on Great Duck Island. In December, Abuza '11, Maxwell Van Houten '08, Brooke Welty '11, Cline and Galen Ballentine Anderson and Sean Todd, COA's Steven K. Katona Chair in Marine Studies and '08, standing. Alumni Garrett '78 and Alexandra Conover '77 are kneeling in director of Allied Whale, took their Literature and Ecology of the Sea class for a front with Eliah Thanhauser '09. two-week Caribbean sail. The high point of that trip was a night sail across the Anegada Passage to St. Eustatius, where they had plenty of time to climb the In October, Gray Cox, faculty member in political philosophy, spoke on "Ethical volcano and taunt each other (photo). Finally, those who saw History Channel's Relations Amongst the Coming Post-human Species" for the Acadia Senior World Without People may have heard Anderson's eloquent discussion of the College. He also gave a talk for the Human Ecology Forum, "Todos Somos Otros relationship between humans, oceans and birds. (We Are All Others): Ethical Research in Human Ecology and the COA ERRB," otherwise known as the Ethical Research Review Board, of which Cox is the cur- Over winter break, Nancy Andrews, faculty member in video and performing art, rent chair. Cox also spoke on "Quaker Process and a Culture of Peace" at the and Dru Colbert, faculty member in design and museum issues, traveled to Ellsworth Unitarian Universalist Church. London (photo) and Paris to start laying groundwork for a new set of courses to be co-taught with language faculty member, Camille Vande Berg. In addition, Lynn Havsall, director of museum programs at the George B. Dorr Museum of Andrews spent much of the fall writing proposals for her new film. She is one of Natural History, attended the Northeast Mycological Federation's annual confer- one hundred twenty nominees for a Rockefeller Film/Video fellowship and one ence at University of Maine Orono last August, then came back to share her of twenty nominees for another nationwide film/video fellowship. In October, new insights with students working on a mushroom group study. She and the her latest film, The Dreamless Sleep, showed at Cinema Nova in Brussels, students attended the Maine Mycological Association's annual meeting in Belgium as part of a series of underground films. She was recently invited to Hallowell in November. Havsall is also a member of the board of Downeast submit work to The Center for Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Audubon and led their moonlight tidepool walk near Otter Cliffs in late Arts, so you can now see some of her work online at integr8dmedia.net/viralnet. October. And this just in: Andrews has received a Guggenheim Fellowship to complete her next movie! In November, COA library director Jane Hultberg served on a panel presentation of local librarians at Birch Bay Village in Hulls Cove on "What Will Your Grand- As a member of the Maine Career Development Association governing board, children Want from Their Public Libraries?" Jill Barlow-Kelley, internship director, coordinated the fall 2007 membership conference. The association is a membership organization of Maine career Chris Petersen, faculty member in biology, was an invited speaker at the Japanese counselors. Among the offerings of the daylong conference, Career Services for Ichthyological Society Annual Meeting in Sapporo, Japan in October, where he Diverse Populations: Working with Clients with Specific Needs, were workshops spoke about his work on sculpins in the northeastern Pacific. Peterson was also on serving the needs of alumni, international employees and nonprofit services a guest at Dr. Hiro Munehara's lab on Hokkaido where he went diving with Dr. available to those with worksite challenges. Munehara (see photo) and spent time with graduate students. At 10:28 p.m. on December 26, 2007, Milja Brecher-DeMuro, former alumni devel- Faculty member in languages, Camille Vande Berg, attended the National opment coordinator, gave birth to Ruby Eliisia DeMuro. She writes, "Ruby Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs in Washington, DC in weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and measured 21 inches long and has a head full of November and the Learning Chinese in Maine conference at Colby College in black hair! She is beautiful and wonderful and we couldn't be happier. Rex December. loves his little sister!" 42 COA COA 43 COMMUNITY Nishanta Rajakaruna '94, faculty member in botany, was proud to be a secondary FINANCIAL REPORT 2006-07 author with adjunct faculty member Fred Olday of a paper written by Tanner NOTES Harris '06, "Lichens of Pine Hill, A Peridotite Outcrop in Eastern North America." The paper, which looks at the lichen flora of a peridotite outcrop on Deer Isle, Maine, in which sixty-three species were found, appeared in Vol. 109, No. 940 of Financial Operations Report* the New England Botanical Club journal, Rhodora (2007). Two species were new reports for New England and three were new reports for Maine. Twenty species, College of the Atlantic Statement of Activities, audited including one genus, Lobaria, are new reports for ultramafic soils worldwide. For Fiscal Years 2005-06 and 2006-07 (rounded to the nearest $1,000) Harris is currently in the master's program in plant and soil science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. And lest we forget, in a badminton tour- Revenues FY 2005-2006 FY2006-2007 nament that brought a Colby College team to Mount Desert Island, Rajakaruna won the men's singles. (In the photo, Harris and Rajakaruna are collecting seed Tuition and Fees 7,580,000 8,233,000 of Minuartia glabra, a rare plant found on the summit of Cadillac Mountain.) Contributions 5,700,000 6,016,000 Endowment Gains and Earnings 973,000 3,263,000 Davis Taylor, faculty member in economics, writes from the Yucatan where he is Government and Other Grants 799,000 705,000 co-directing the cultural immersion program with adjunct faculty member Karla Peña; Katie Freedman '05 is program assistant. Spanish is the working tongue, Auxiliary Activities 843,000 879,000 with almost all instruction, directions and conversation for Going Into Summer Programs 482,000 447,000 Community: Field Work in Developing Regions (Entrando en la Comunidad: Research Projects 467,000 669,000 Trabajo de Campo en Regiones en Desarollo) entirely en Español. This is the first Other Sources (includes sale of land in 2005) 1,433,000 311,000 time a non-language COA faculty member has taught a non-language course in anything but English. All twelve students live with Yucatecan families. Taylor, too, is living with a family, another first for the International Studies Program. The Total Revenues $ 18,277,000 $ 20,523,000 level of conversation skills in the classroom is impressive and growing, he says. (The photo of Taylor is taken at the ruins of Oxkintuk.) Expenses Instruction and student activities 2,586,000 2,731,000 John Visvader, faculty member in philosophy, gave two lectures recently. Last June he gave the Cosmos Colloquia Lecture at the Humboldt Field Research Library 225,000 228,000 Institute in Steuben, Maine, entitled, "The Mountain Poets of China: Finding the Auxiliary Activities 544,000 598,000 Self in Nature." In October he gave a Colby College Forum Lecture at Colby Summer Programs 275,000 265,000 College in Waterville: "Nature, Wildness, and Cultivation: Reflections on a Museum and Gallery 179,000 142,000 Daoist Garden." Beech Hill Farm 145,000 165,000 Financial Aid 5,365,000 5,523,000 COA's Northern Lights Society By Lynn Boulger, Dean of Development General Administration 1,316,000 1,411,000 G iven the chance, most of us would like to leave a legacy that continues to contribute to what we valued during our Payroll Taxes and Fringe Benefits 1,291,000 1,443,000 lifetime. Imagine the satisfaction of knowing that because of your generosity and planning, every future generation Institutional Advancement 932,000 953,000 of COA students and faculty will be conducting botany classes in Acadia National Park, or studying the migration of Buildings and Grounds 586,000 678,000 whales off the coast of Maine, or reading philosophy in a class that is team-taught by a philospopher and an historian- Interest 105,000 98,000 just as they do today. Grants, research projects 819,000 1,000,000 This can happen through a planned or deferred gift to the college. People who choose to make a planned gift to COA Depreciation and Amortization 635,000 671,000 become members of the Northern Lights Society. We thank the following for investing in COA and giving us the most precious gift: Hope for the future. Total Expenses $ 15,003,000 $ 15,906,000 Alida E. Camp Ms. Norah Davis Edward Kaelber Dr. Elizabeth Russell Change in Net Assets $ 3,274,000 $ 4,617,000 Alice Eno Ms. Joanne Devlin and Ann Sewall Mrs. Robert Ryle Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Bahrt Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Erikson Mr. John Kaufmann Mr. Charles Sawyer Mr. Edward Blair Mr. and Mrs. Philip Geyelin Mr. David McGiffert Net Assets at Year-end Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Shorey, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Howard Endowment 17,495,000 19,999,000 Mr. Robert Blum Henry and Sunny Guthrie Mr. and Mrs. Donald Straus Merriman Mr. Leslie Brewer Operations and other funds (612,000) (592,000) Mr. Sam Hamill, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Thomas Mr. and Mrs. Eliot C. Paine Plant 10,799,000 12,892,000 Ms. Ker Cleary Mr. George Hambleton Mr. Charles Tyson Ms. Barbara Piel Ms. Fran Day Mr. and Mrs. John Howard Mr. and Mrs. James Wakelin, III Total Net Assets $ 27,682,000 $ 32,299,000 Interested in becoming a member? Planned Giving opportunites are designed to help you shape a gift to COA. We suggest strategies and resources that, when combined with your financial and estate objectives, create the most advantageous tax and income benefits *This replaces the Financial Operations Report in the Summer/Fall 2007 issue of COA, which good for you and good for COA. For more information, please call Lynn Boulger, Dean of Development at 207-288-5015 inadvertently repeated the college's 2004-05 and 2005-06 data. ext. 350. 44 COA COA 45 HUMAN ECOLOGY ESSAY REVISITED Expanding Horizons Human Ecology Essay Revisited David Malakoff '86 and NPR's climate change series By Greg Rainoff '81 n the summer of 2006, the place like Tijuana with its over- National Public Radio has Q. What has surprised you in the United States government population, violence and dis- voted to construct seven hun- series? ease infested colonias, and its spent an entire year, from May dred miles of high-tech security daily twenty-five million gal- 2007 to April 2008, focused on A. The commitment from our fencing along the US/Mexican lons of raw sewage flowing climate change. The Climate reporters to see it through-it's border. Drug smuggling, crime, into the ocean. So let's build a Connections series, produced been an amazing effort. A lot of erosion of our way of life, even fence to keep us safe. in partnership with the 0839 these stories are hard to do, there's a terrorism was used to justify the Filming around the fence is lot of nuance, there's often not a fence. Arguments against it dicey. I've been yelled at, National Geographic Society, black and white conflict. We're fin- were mostly that it would be searched, escorted off and involved more than two hun- ishing off the series with the next ineffective, costly and would accused of being an "Al Gore dred hefty stories from not address the core issues. Few fan." To look at the fence is generation, and people have come reporters covering national, people looked at the environmental consequences of trouble. In Mexico, no one cares, but if the US border up with some creative stories- "sealing the border." patrol sees me they tell the Mexican police to scare foreign, business, arts and there's a Ukrainian rock star, a wild The Tijuana estuary, the last unobstructed estuar- me away. Since when are our guys in uniform paid to culture beats. The impetus out-there pop star, for whom climate ine wetland on the California coast, sits just inside care if I like Al Gore? behind this series came from change is the leading issue, Ruslana the US border where San Diego meets Tijuana. The fence is about fear. Dissent is demonized, as is her name. She's also a two NPR science editors: COA Completing the fence involves filling in three sizable are Mexicans. In the name of national security, we Parliamentarian. It shows the degree alumnus David Malakoff canyons with millions of cubic yards of highly erosive have been handed the problem and the solution to which climate change has permeated culture. soil to create berms for the fence and its access with no invitation to the debate. In the name of pro- and his colleague Alison Richards. roads. These desert soils are held together by an tecting our national interests, we are willing to Malakoff works as an editor and Q. How did your degree in human ecology prepare intricate web of bacteria and fungi. Stick a shovel in destroy our land and our democracy. Keeping us correspondent on NPR's science desk, you for this? and it takes hundreds of years to return to normal. afraid makes us pliable. Keeping Mexicans afraid helping to shape NPR's coverage of And when it rains the soil just washes away. The ero- makes them cheap. Building a wall ignores our rela- A. For me, COA was perfect, because it allowed me sion and subsequent sedimentation could destroy tionship, turns them into invaders. As our fears are science, technology and the environment, to have a highly quixotic, esoteric and diverse edu- the estuary, spelling extinction for several species. In exploited, so are their needs. occasionally doing his own reporting. cation got to dip into a lot of things. Of course, I 1993, a fence was built that has actually served to pro- Human ecology is about relatedness, understand- had a huge advantage: I transferred to COA already tect the estuary from migrant foot traffic. But it has ing ourselves as part of social and natural systems: knowing I was interested in science journalism. I pushed migrants eastward where some ten thousand not separate, not walled off. Mind, body, family, com- spent one winter working for the Christian Science have died crossing the desert. The federal govern- munity and bank account. The Dalai Lama says that Q. What did it take to have Climate Connections come Monitor and I did my senior project interviewing ment was sued over that fence; the suit was thrown our adversary is our biggest teacher. That which about? science journalists about strengths and weaknesses out of court on grounds of national security. causes fear provides us with an opportunity to over- of the field. For much of my post-COA life, I wondered what come it. The solution lies within the problem. We A. Tremendous patience and organizational skills. the hell was I thinking: human ecology? Creating a must walk through our own walls with eyes wide NPR is a very large, very complex organization, and documentary to understand why we're building the open, and maybe we won't need to build walls that it has a lot to do. It is not easy to get this entire Q. What is the most meaningful part of your work? fence has redefined the concept. We cannot separate perpetuate fear in the world. Stepping into fear. organization to focus on one topic. But I think peo- A. Telling a good story-a good and important story, environmental destruction in California from destitu- With a camera. ple recognized that climate change is a big, compli- either one that people need to know to live an tion in Mexico, from the US economy. cated, rich issue-and one that is very important. informed life, or a story that will entertain them or At one time, the world seemed limitless; exploit- Greg Rainoff lives in Santa Monica. A former visual make their life richer in some way-expand their ing it was our manifest destiny. So what if we con- effects artist, he won four Emmys for his work as an Q. Do you feel like you have had an impact? horizons. jured up a war to justify annexing half of Mexico? Or animator for the Star Trek television series. He now created the North American Free Trade Agreement to runs Crucible Productions, exploring issues of social A. NPR has a huge audience, bigger than any TV remove trade "barriers?" Now we can't start our cars and environmental justice. gr8fx@mac.com news program-something like twenty-five million without considering climate change and we have an people. We are truly national. But it's hard to know. You might have heard COA's own Juan Hoffmaister '07 "immigration crisis" in part because NAFTA displaced COA welcomes human ecology essays and other work. I think over time, NPR has made a difference in how (see page 10) on this series, talking with NPR reporter a million Mexican farmers who seek jobs in the US. Please send to dgold@coa.edu or COA / 105 Eden St. / things work, how things happen. Dan Charles. If you missed it, visit www.npr.org and It's easy to blame Mexicans. Understandable to Bar Harbor, ME 04609. search for his interview on Climate Connections. want to shut out the poverty and degradation of a 46 COA COA 47 Non-Profit U.S.Postage College of the Atlantic PAID Augusta, ME 918a m world changing Permit No.121 100 LOLIN JINELT BAR HARBOR, MAINE 04609