In 2019, Public Law Chapter 476 established the Maine Climate Council and the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STS) within the Council “to identify, monitor, study and report out to the council and to the working groups...findings and recommendations related to climate change in the State and its effects on the State’s climate, species, marine and coastal environments and natural landscape and on the oceans and other bodies of water.” These duties included:
- Establish, by December 1, 2020, science-based sea level rise projections to 2100 for the State's coastal areas and update those projections at least every 4 years
- Create maps that indicate the areas of the State that may be most affected by storm surges, ocean and river flooding and extreme weather events and make these maps publicly available on a website maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Geological Survey
- Identify critical scientific information needs pertaining to priority research and monitoring of state-based changes in the climate and its impacts.
- Identify options for quantifying carbon emissions and sequestration associated with biomass growth, management and utilization in terrestrial and marine environments in Maine.
- Identify methods to build resilience to direct and indirect effects of climate change for the State's species.
The Scientific and Technical Subcommittee has carried out these duties and continues to support the work of the Maine Climate Council and its working groups. The original deliverables to identify anticipated sea level rise, natural climate solutions for greenhouse gas mitigation, maps and other decision-support tools, priority scientific information needs around climate change in Maine, and methods to build resilience for the State’s species are embodied in some of deliverables listed below.
These deliverables are the subject of ongoing work by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, state agencies such as the Maine Geological Survey, and research institutions throughout Maine. The Scientific and Technical Subcommittee works closely with the working groups to support their efforts to develop strategies for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience for consideration by the Maine Climate Council and periodic updates of the Maine Climate Action Plan Maine Won’t Wait.
Reports and Data
STS Co-Chairs
Ivan J. Fernandez
Ivan J. Fernandez is Professor in the School of Forest Resources, Climate Change Institute, and School of Food and Agriculture at the University of Maine. He has served on various U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board committees in Washington DC since 2000, represented the University of Maine in the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, and has led the Maine’s Climate Future assessments in 2009, 2015, and 2020. In 2019 he was appointed to the Maine Climate Council, serves as co-Chair of its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, and has been a member of its Natural Working Lands working group. He is Director of the Maine Climate Science Information Exchange and is a soil scientist and biogeochemist, with a research program that has focused on the biogeochemistry of ecosystems in a changing physical and chemical climate.
Susie Arnold
Susie Arnold is the Senior Ocean Scientist and the Director of the Center for Climate and Communities at the Island Institute, where she focuses on the impacts of climate change on fisheries and fishing communities. Her current work includes helping coastal communities better understand the implications of ocean climate change so they can make informed adaptation decisions. She is an appointee to the Maine Climate Council and co-chair of the Climate Council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee. Susie earned masters degrees in Marine Biology and Marine Policy and a doctoral degree in Marine Biology from the University of Maine.
Stephen Dickson
Stephen Dickson is the State Geologist and Director of the Maine Geological Survey. He has been with MGS since 1986 and has studied Maine beaches, seafloor geology, oceanography, erosion, flood hazards, and sea level rise. He is a co-chair of the Maine Climate Council’s Science and Technology Subcommittee. Dr. Dickson is a licensed geologist in Maine. He received a B.A. in Environmental Science from Wesleyan University, a M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, and a Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography from the University of Maine.
STS Members
Maine Legislators
- Senator Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth
- Senator Matt Harrington, R-York
- Representative Mark Michael Babin, R-Ft. Fairfield
- Representative Vicki Doudera, D-Camden
Subcommittee Members
- Sean Birkel, University of Maine
- Pamela Lombard, US Geological Survey
- Glenn Hodgkins, US Geological Survey
- Linda Bacon, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
- Alix Contosta, University of New Hampshire
- Bradfield Lyon, University of Maine
- Andrew Johnson, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
- Carl Wilson, Maine Department of Marine Resources
- Peter Slovinsky, Maine Geological Survey
- Joe Kelley, University of Maine
- Rick Wahle, University of Maine
- Nichole Price, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Studies
- Damian Brady, University of Maine
- Nicholas Record, Bigelow Laboratory
- Hannah Baranes, GMRI
- Kathy Mills, GMRI
- Andrew Goode, University of Maine
- Kanae Tokunaga, GMRI
- Aaron Weiskittel, University of Maine
- Adam Daigneault, University of Maine
- Alyssa Soucy, University of Maine --Maine Youth Representative
- Philip deMaynadier, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
- Amanda Cross, US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon
- Kristen Puryear, Maine Natural Areas Program
- Todd Ontl, US Forest Service
- Andrew Barton, University of Maine at Farmington
- Daniel Hayes, University of Maine
- Glen Koehler, Cooperative Extension, University of Maine
- Rachel Schattman, University of Maine
- Jason Lilley, Cooperative Extension, University of Maine
- Lily Calderwood, Cooperative Extension, University of Maine
- Caleb Goossen, Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association
- Mark King, Cooperative Extension, University of Maine
- Rebecca Lincoln, Maine Center for Disease Control
- Susan Elias, Maine Medical Center Research Institute
- Gail Carlson, Colby College
- Jonathan Rubin, University of Maine
- Alison Gardner, University of Maine
- Darren Ranco, Wabanaki Center, University of Maine
- Cindy Isenhour, University of Maine
- Eileen Johnson, Bowdoin College