Mainers from every corner of the state are stepping up to the climate challenge. Practical, creative and trailblazing teachers, bus drivers, students, communities, recent graduates and professional athletes alike are taking action to get ahead of the climate curve. Read their stories.
Chris Morin was one of the first participants in the E-Bike Partnership pilot project jointly run by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Department of Labor. In partnership with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Eastern Maine Development Corporation, and the Bangor Area Recovery Network, the pilot provided Chris with an e-bike, helmet, toolkit, safety vest, and training in November of 2023. He’s been logging hours and miles on his e-bike ever since.
After graduating from Lesley University in 2017 with a degree in environmental science, Jamie Snook, now 29, decided she needed a hands-on job that didn’t feel limiting.
“I didn’t want anyone telling me that I needed to create differently,” she said. “It reminded me that life can be a little bit more grounded in the landscape we’re surrounded by.”
Lucy Robinson a senior at Colby College, is studying environmental policy and history and conducting research among Maine college students about experiencing climate anxiety, a leading topic from the recent report on climate effects in Maine by the Maine Climate Council's Scientific and Technical Subcommittee. Read the full report or its executive summary.
Liza White thought she was going to become a doctor. Born and raised in Rumford, White always loved science and math.
But when she arrived at the University of Maine, Orono in 2017, White quickly discovered that her interests were a better fit for something other than medicine: sustainable biomedical engineering, a field that has been increasingly used to create innovative solutions to climate change.
Earlier this year, STS co-chair Susie Arnold, Senior Ocean Scientist and Director of the Center for Climate and Community at the Island Institute, presented about the Science of Hope, and how we can apply the hope theory construct to climate action.