Laurie Catanese
October 20, 2016

Hands-on learning in schools large and small

What kind of school gets kids to build their own racecar? How about asking students to carry their trash around for a week? Or compare themselves to a favorite vegetable? Those are just a few of the student assignments I heard about at this year's Island Teachers Conference, and they all have a common result: Students are diving deeper into their surroundings, and learning more along the way.
Maren Granstrom
October 20, 2016

Outer island stories brought to life by shadow puppets

Last winter and spring, Figures of Speech Theatre worked with outer islands schools to produce a film. And it's probably not like any film you've seen before.
Maren Granstrom
Amanda Moeser
October 19, 2016

Baby shellfish are growing fast as our first aquaculturists start their farms

Many of our aquaculture business development participants have already started their farms and we project that the economic impact of this work will have an $8.5 million effect on Maine’s coast over the next five years.
Briana Warner
Ready and waiting for the crab fishery to open in California
October 19, 2016

Maine’s recent shellfish closure has the same culprit as California’s 2015 crab crisis

In September of this year, eastern Maine was closed to clam and mussel harvesting. The cause? Not our familiar red tide, but a different biotoxin, domoic acid. It accumulates in filter-feeding shellfish during a bloom of specific algae species. The bloom in eastern Maine is now dissipating, but the clam and mussel fishery hasn’t fully reopened.
Susie Arnold, Ph. D.
Bri Warner
October 3, 2016

Commercial Currents: Boosting business with better internet

Island residents strive to provide better internet for businesses and communities

Are you frustrated when trying to run a customer’s credit card? Can’t provide WiFi? Are you prevented from working where you want to live because of poor internet service? Struggling to market your products to customers beyond your neighborhood?
Stephenie MacLagan|Briana Warner
Deer Isle
September 6, 2016

Entrepreneurs as Community Leaders

It is becoming clear to me that entrepreneurs have a special ability to tackle important community issues with an eye toward innovative solutions.
Briana Warner
September 1, 2016

Commercial Currents: Finding efficiency with digital tools

Island and coastal business owners have often told us that they would like to make their businesses more efficient through the use of digital tools like QuickBooks and social media. As a result, we teamed up with Axiom Education and Training Center (AETC) to deliver digital workshops on islands, to support businesses on their own turf.
Stephenie MacLagan
August 10, 2016

How many islanders does it take to change a tire?

I’ve been told that Long Islanders are notoriously frugal, and some of that must have rubbed off on me because I decided that instead of paying for freight service, I would just carry the sizeable truck tire on board with me.
Erin Love
August 9, 2016

A bite of the past: hunting apples on Great Cranberry Island

After months and months of careful research I was on a mission—to track down some of the oldest apple trees on Great Cranberry and capture their essence.
Jessica Duma
Shore Shop Gifts on Isle au Haut
July 26, 2016

Commercial Currents: Island store owner brings in tourism dollars

Kendra Chubbuck of Shore Shop Gifts on Isle au Haut is an entrepreneur who knows the value that conserved lands can bring to local businesses. On the doorstep of a beautiful section of Acadia National Park, her store focuses on providing high-quality, Maine-made products to the varied tourists that come through the island. The following interview gives insight into her winning strategy.
Stephenie MacLagan