The HELIO group tries rowing a local "dragon" boat.

Working Waterfront

College of the Atlantic inspires ‘human ecology’ model in Japan

In 2014, a group of residents of the town of Ōsakikamijima, Japan, invited the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor to help them start a college. Ōsakikamijima is on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea, off Hiroshima. It has a population of 7,800 that’s trending up in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New master of MMA’s Bowdoin has global experience

Capt. Will McLean recalls sailing the 134-foot steel brigantine Corwith Cramer in 15-foot seas. He was working as senior chief mate and relief captain for Sea Education Association, an undergraduate ocean education school in Woods Hole, Mass., which takes students on research expeditions to places as far apart as the North… SEE MORE

Karen E. Smith is the new executive director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

Working Waterfront

New director at Penobscot Marine Museum hails from Iowa

The Penobscot Marine Museum, a history and arts museum with nationally-recognized collections, has named Karen E. Smith, as executive director, effective April 19. Smith joins the museum from the Cedar Falls Historical Society, where she served as executive director for six years. “After a thorough and deliberate national search process,… SEE MORE

The Island Institute's press conference on the Cranberry Isles getting a USDA grant.

Working Waterfront

Cranberry Isles wins $1.3 million for internet upgrade

The Cranberry Isles learned this month it has won a $1.3 million USDA grant to pay for the construction of its broadband network. The work is complete on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island), one of three islands in the five-island Hancock municipality that will have access to the network. At a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How we support the island’s gay, lesbian,and trans teens

A few years ago, in the service of our podcast “12 Knots,” my husband and I had a chance to sit down with lesbian, gay, and transgender islanders and have a conversation. The five people we interviewed grew up on the island, came out as lesbian, gay, or transgender in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Two scientists win fellowships in Washington D.C.

Since 1979, the National Sea Grant College Program has administered one of the nation’s most prestigious marine policy fellowship programs, sending over 1,200 professionals with backgrounds in science, policy, management, and law to Washington, D.C. Knauss Fellows are matched with offices in the legislative or executive branch of government for… SEE MORE

Nancy and W.G. Sayre with blueprints for the new childcare center.

Working Waterfront

Castine hopes to remedy ‘town out of balance’

For a century, a stone and mortar, wooden-roofed tank on the outskirts of town provided Castine with a necessary resource—water. Today, the remains of the structure and the site are being repurposed to serve the town in a new way. The municipal water tank is gone and in its place… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ross Greene offers new strategy for teaching, raising ‘human beings’

Few would argue that public school classrooms are easier to manage today than they were 50 years ago. Or that children face fewer social pressures. Or that parents have more time. But Ross Greene says the way educators and parents—and children—respond to the challenges of a fast-paced, pressure-filled environment is… SEE MORE

The columnist leads a workshop on ukulele playing at the Island Teachers Conference.

Working Waterfront

Teachers conference bridges isolation gap

Being an island teacher has some unique challenges and benefits. On the one hand, as the only music teacher in North Haven’s one-building district, I have total control over the scope and sequence of our K-12 music classes. I’ve been able to build a program that ensures most students are… SEE MORE

Vinalhaven music teacher Bill Trevaskis works with other island teachers at the Island Institute's Island Teachers Conference in Belfast.

Working Waterfront

Island teachers share cross-curricular methods at conference

When you’re teaching in a small island school, the term “cross-curricular” is not a concept; it’s a day-to-day reality. Bill Trevaskis, the sole music teacher for students in the pre-K to 12th grade Vinalhaven School, explained how he worked with his colleagues to a group of teachers at the Island… SEE MORE