Category: Columns

Working Waterfront

The immeasurable gifts of community

Early in my career, I trained as a cultural anthropologist, wanting to understand the norms, values, and behaviors that shape us across time and geography. For a variety of reasons, I chose a different path, pursuing foreign policy, global philanthropy, and now, community development here on the coast of Maine.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Federal cuts threaten Maine science assets

In the face of shifting federal policy priorities and funding, Maine is finding that federal agencies have become less reliable partners in the effort to track the effects of climate change on the state. These shifts impact our state in multiple ways, with the disruption of funding for grants, research,… SEE MORE
Cranberry Report

Working Waterfront

The many perks of a daily walk

Twenty-three years ago, when I was 50, I felt great about life and living on Little Cranberry Island. I was in pretty good physical shape and enjoyed going to social events. At one of them, a friend in her 70s told me, with a somewhat sour expression on her face,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A northernmost working waterfront

I recently visited the village of Siorapaluk, in northwest Greenland. At about 77 1/2 degrees north latitude, it’s the northernmost human settlement in Greenland and one of the world’s northernmost working waterfronts. I arrived by kayak, paddling north across the calm late-July waters of Robertson Fjord. The shore included a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Monhegan shuffle

Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent grads of college and master’s programs who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront.   Two rubber totes, two large suitcases, one cooler, one duffel bag, four backpacks. What gets… SEE MORE