The Wrack

It has been nearly two months since Linda Littlefield Grenfell, the Reserve's Environmental Educator, presented her Lunch 'n Learn entitled, "What Do I Want to Do Next?" It followed our tremendously successful Volunteer Fair, where community members gathered to learn more about the varied year-round volunteer opportunities available at the Reserve.

Linda's presentation was centered around retirement, aimed at providing useful tips for retirees. Two months later, I am still reflecting upon the content of her talk.

Learning how the reserve system works as a whole, how neighboring reserves strive to work together, and how staff members collaborate on ideas.

On Tuesday, six of us traveled to Augusta for the 2015 Maine Sustainability and Water Conference. This conference was established by UMaine in 1994 to bring together water resource professionals, researchers, consultants, citizens, students, regulators, and planners to discuss the future of Maines water resources. This year's conference included presentations, panel discussions, and poster displays. Session topics ranged from Ocean Acidification to Municipal Water Resources Management to Urban Sustainability & Climate Change, to Sustainable Engagement with the Food System, as well as many more!

Four reserve staff had the privilege of sharing recent and ongoing projects:

Our study of water temperature in the Mousam River during summer 2013 found conditions that do not support native coldwater fish species during the most critical time of the year.

Jeremy Miller, research associate at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, is no stranger to Wells Harbor. But recently he saw something he'd never seen before. Or at least, he thought he did.

For the past thirty years (and counting), each month has been warmer than its average. We may remember, year to year, locally colder Januarys or cooler Julys, but around the world, our collective thermometers have not seen a dip for 360 straight months. 

The Wells Reserve at Laudholm has become the first nonprofit in Maine to meet 100 percent of its electricity needs with solar energy, with 248 solar panels that are expected to generate 73,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy while preventing 45 tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere each year.

The Wells Reserve at Laudholm is the first nonprofit in Maine to go 100% solar. Our photovoltaic systems now generate enough solar energy to meet all of our electricity needs.

Perfectly reliable and yet completely unknowable, pi is one of those great Absolute Truths that seem to only exist in mathematics. Its one of only a few beautiful round pearls buried in the sands of space and time. How can you not love it, even envy it a little?

Warning: Mildly graphic images of wildlife below

Thanks to a couple of observant walkers, the Wells Reserve education programs will soon have a few new props to teach about our feathered friends out on the trails and along the beach. Last week, I received the bodies of a common murre and a red-tailed hawk that had been found dead: the murre found by volunteer-extraordinaire Stu Flavin along a beach during his morning dog walk; the hawk by a Reserve neighbor strolling through the woods. Its always sad to see wildlife that have passed, and with these two birds the cause of death was unclear, though likely natural as they were found in their respective habitats. The silver lining for me is that they can live a second life as teachers, educating the public about their amazing adaptations and encouraging a deeper appreciation for their role in our natural world.