2008-2009 Island Fellows Begin Work In 12 Island and Coastal Communities

The Island Institute has placed eight new Island Fellows and four returning Fellows in communities from Down East to Casco Bay to work on critical local projects.  These talented, energetic college and master’s-degree graduates will provide expertise and seek to engage new resources for projects focused on affordable housing, health care, education, economic development, alternative energy, municipal government, and resource management. 

This year’s Fellows come from diverse backgrounds; several have lived and studied in established or developing countries around the world.  They have set up businesses, taught school, developed land-use plans, and participated in research projects.  The 12 host communities are Peaks Island, Cliff Island, the Cranberry Isles, Monhegan, Matinicus, North Haven, Long Island, Vinalhaven, Chebeague, Isle Au Haut, Deer-Isle-Stonington, and Rockland.  

This is the 10th year that the Island Institute has responded to specific requests from organizations based in Maine’s year-round island and working-waterfront communities to send a vitally important “extra set of hands” and additional skills to help further local efforts.  The process for receiving an Island Fellow is a competitive one.  Communities submit applications in early spring; if their proposal is accepted, they then conduct interviews in early summer with candidates who have been recruited for specific skills and talents that match the needs of the proposed project.  What is more difficult to assess is a candidate’s ability to adjust to island life, the harsh winter weather, and the difficulties of fitting into a small, closely-knit community.  For almost 10 years, however, it has worked out well, and one-fifth of Island Fellows have chosen to remain after their fellowships have ended.  Several Fellows have married local island residents, and their growing new families have been warmly welcomed into the community. 

The Island Institute, a membership-based nonprofit, is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year.  Philip Conkling, the Institute’s president and co-founder, believes that the 60 Island Fellows placed over the years on Maine’s 15 year-round islands and in several coastal communities have made this one of the Institute’s most valued and visible programs.  “We continue to be astonished,” he said recently, “at the degree to which our host communities embrace their new Fellows, and at how eagerly these young people tackle difficult tasks.” For more information on the Island Fellows program, or to learn more about the 2008-2009 Fellows, please visit http://www.islandinstitute.org/fellows/index.asp. 

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