If you want to meet islanders, go to an island. Now before you send a letter to the editor complaining about the dumbest sentence you’ve ever read in your life, let me explain. I had that admittedly room-temperature insight recently, on the barnacle-crusted shore of West Gosling, one of a pair of little islets tucked alongside Lower Goose Island in…

First, some news. On April 23, my 45th birthday, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The thumbnail sketch is that my prognosis is great, it hasn't spread anywhere, and I'm…

Name: Lisa Millette Title: Senior Community Development Officer Focus: For the past 3+ years, I’ve led Island Institute’s fellowship program. Island Institute Fellows work in and with communities for two years on community-identified projects…

Battling polar winds, rough seas, and sea ice, the University of Maine’s Emmanuel Boss and his colleagues sailed the Southern Ocean to study plankton, microscopic organisms that form the foundation…

Seaweed is having a moment—well, actually, more like an era. Attention to algae has been growing for many years now, led by environmentalists and entrepreneurs. While their goals might at…

There’s nothing like a near-record heat wave to make you feel like garbage. That’s my first thought as I write this during the sweltering days before July 4, sitting in…

With more than 30 miles of hiking trails, 100 campsites, spectacular vistas and varied four-season recreational opportunities for both families and hard-core adventurers, Camden Hills State Park is one of…

Sixty years ago, Mainers elected a new governor who went on to transform state government, and in many ways give it the shape it still retains today. Ken Curtis was…

Like a friend welcoming his buddies home after a long voyage at sea, Jasper DelCarlino greets the crew members of virtually every working ship that arrives in the port of…

Like so many Mainers before me, I grew up with a well-loved copy of Barbara Cooney’s Miss Rumphius on my bookshelf. The titular character, better known in my family simply…