The Wrack

Paddle on calm and quiet waters while observing wildlife and learning about the natural history of estuaries, our treasured habitats.

2016 is our sixth year offering these popular guided tours led by registered Maine Kayak Guides.

Friends and staff of four National Estuarine Research Reserves — Wells, Great Bay, Waquoit, and Narragansett —are expected to line the banks of the Little River over the weekend for Bleachers on the Estuary.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 3/20/2016, and Making It At Home's 3/23/2016 issue.

My wife and I and our two boys moved up to Maine full-time in July 2012. We felt like wed arrived in the Garden of Eden. Lobsters were four bucks, the ocean was 73 degrees, and the outdoor season stretched well into November. It wasnt the Maine I knew from my childhood (swimmable water!?), but who cared? It was awesome.

Recently the Coastal Training Program hosted a webinar series on environmental communication by Water Words that Work. Space was limited and several of you asked for materials and resources. View part I here.

The Environmental Message Method

Step 1: Begin with behavior

Watch these two videos and compare their style.

The first video provides awareness about an issue but doesn't leave the viewer with any solutions. The second video provides multiple actions or behavior changes the viewer can make.

This spring, our research staff will be heading out to nearby rivers to begin a fish-monitoring project and you can get involved.

We're collaborating with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) to generate up-to-date population information on species with the greatest conservation need in coastal Maine. DMR staff have identified potential spawning habitat for diadromous species such as alewife, rainbow smelt, and brook trout in the Merriland River, Mousam River, and Little River (Biddeford). Now were off too see if these species are indeed using these habitats.

Teachers on the Estuary Returns in 2016

The four New England research reserves are putting teachers on the estuary again this summer by offering free workshops that will give educators data-driven climate change activities to bring back to their classes. Each of the four TOTE (Teachers on the Estuary) workshops, one 3- or 4-day session per reserve, will train a dozen educators in reserve-style environmental monitoring, "coastal blue carbon" concepts, and ways to understand and address climate change.

Please note: The workshop at Wells Reserve will be held Monday, July 11 through Thursday, July 14, 2016. Review of applications will begin May 31, 2016.

Wells Reserve TOTE Application

Wells Reserve TOTE Draft Agenda

Wells Reserve TOTE Promotional Flyer

To learn more about TOTE workshops, see the articles at wellsreserve.org/tote.

Why TOTE?

Teachers often don't get much exposure to estuarine and watershed concepts during their own education, so it can be daunting for them to develop a curriculum (and locate suitable data sets) around these topics. TOTE workshops show teachers how to access and employ custom curricula and data that already meet Next Generation Science Standards or state education frameworks.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 2/28/2016.

Today, I feel like a chimney swift, because Im looking for a mate!

We had been asked, at the start of the meeting, to reveal the animal we most felt like. At 89 years old, June Ficker had the best answer. Of course it was a bird, because she was the Wells Reserve at Laudholms most committed and knowledgeable master bird bander. But the uproarious looking for a mate part was so June. She had that spark, that consistent ability to deny the age society said she should act.

A saltwater farm with rustic barn, expansive grounds, and environmental mission made the Wells Reserve at Laudholm our first and only choice for a wedding venue.

We have lost a committed conservationist, a lover of birds and of all things wild, a master bird-bander and masterful birder, an excellent teacher and an enthusiastic life-long learner, and one the greatest friends one could ever have.

Two years ago, Kate and I participated in the National Association of Interpretation's (NAI) 40-hour Certified Interpretive Trainer (CIT) workshop with the intent of facilitating our own Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) workshops at the Reserve. Last week, our vision became reality as twelve talented interpreters from Maine and Massachusetts convened for 32 hours of training with us in Mather Auditorium.