Blog

After 20 years as a K-12 island educator, I often experienced the joy of student learning. Now that I mostly work with adults, I find myself missing the outward display of happiness that young students exhibit in a learning setting. While adults certainly experience joy when they learn something new, it is often a more subdued response, especially in formal settings like classrooms and professional development sessions.

Maine is at the forefront of community energy transitions, with Island Institute serving as the Northeast Regional Partner for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP).

Three times each year, the full cohort of 10 Island Institute fellows meet in person for retreats. Our winter retreat this year was held on Vinalhaven where Kaylin Wu is living and working for her fellowship.

January’s storms tested the resilience of Maine’s coastal communities like no other time in recent history. During the weekend after the Jan. 13th storm, Island Institute’s team quickly decided to expand and redirect its Business Resilience grant program toward providing storm response grants to help rebuild critical coastal infrastructure. With these early grants, we wanted to help pick up those who were feeling knocked down and jumpstart the recovery process. In total, Island Institute awarded $250,000 in grants that were funded entirely by our donors and supported 52 grantees in 20 towns from Chebeague to Pembroke.  

This story is the first in a series about the impact of high-speed internet connectivity on Maine’s coast. To learn more about Island Institute’s investments in broadband infrastructure on the…

As more electric outboard motors quietly emerge on Maine's harbors, lakes, and waterways, a pressing question surfaces: who will maintain and repair them? As an organization dedicated to the long-term goal of electrifying Maine’s working waterfront, Island Institute convened a team of partners to develop a pioneering two-part education and training initiative.

Dylan Metrano, a multi-talented artist and co-founder of La Nef Chocolate, shares how he masterfully blends papercutting, chocolate making, and music into an inspiring and creative concoction.

This article is the first in a series by Island Institute exploring the topic of broadband and digital equity in relation to Maine’s municipalities. The series will celebrate many dirigo moments, but also reveal gaps in the funding and resources needed to support municipalities to achieve digital goals.

It’s no surprise that consumers want their power to be reliable and affordable, a duo of attributes that are challenging to balance and achieve anywhere - and notoriously difficult on an island or at the end of long radial power line. In our fourth year as regional partner for the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP), Island Institute has been busy identifying and evaluating solutions that achieve just those very goals with our community partners and national lab collaborators.

Island Institute hit the road this winter to advance the development of electric marine propulsion along Maine’s working coastline. Advocating for a new technology can take you places: from Machias to Portland, to Long Beach, CA. We’re seeking solutions to support businesses and community transition away from traditional diesel motors and their associated emissions and unpredictable costs.