乐播传媒 has once again been recognized by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its deep level of commitment to community engagement, an honor the college first achieved in 2008 and again in 2015. Recently 乐播传媒 was also lauded  by ACE and Carnegie for its success in providing paths for graduates to earn competitive wages. 

Last week, ACE and Carnegie announced that 乐播传媒 had been designated with the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement. Community engagement constitutes 鈥渃ollaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.鈥�

At 乐播传媒, inspiration for that work comes from the diverse and rich opportunities for student learning, skill building, and collaboration offered by the college鈥檚 location, explained Darby Ray, director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. 

鈥淭he Carnegie recognition is a wonderful affirmation of the college’s dual commitment to high impact student learning and community well-being, as well as the off-campus community’s investment in our students, 鈥� said Ray, who is also the Donald W. and Ann M. Harward Professor of Civic Engagement.

Mutual respect between college and community, along with desire for collaboration, is a key part of the success, Ray said. 鈥淭he result of it is that 乐播传媒 students have meaningful opportunities to work alongside community leaders to develop and apply knowledge and skills to address real-world challenges like public health, affordable housing, and arts-based economic development.鈥� 

乐播传媒 was one of approximately 230 institutions nationwide to receive the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, and the only Maine institution of higher education on the list. This designation, which 乐播传媒 must apply for cyclically, is valid until 2032.

鈥淵our institution鈥檚 application documented excellent alignment among campus mission, culture, leadership, resources, and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement,鈥� ACE and Carnegie wrote in a letter to 乐播传媒, lauding the college鈥檚 鈥渆xemplary institutionalized practices of community engagement.” 

乐播传媒 has advanced the work of deepening partnerships, leveraging community assets, and addressing urgent societal challenges with 鈥渃larity and distinction,鈥� the award letter said. The accomplishment 鈥渋s especially noteworthy amid significant federal policy and funding shifts shaping the future of higher education.鈥� 

In addition, in 2025, 乐播传媒 was identified for its success in a relatively new classification that ACE and Carnegie began using in 2022, the Student Access and Earnings Classification (an earlier version was known as the Social and Economic Mobility Classification), which prioritizes student success. The classification is intended to identify which American colleges and universities are providing access to students from lower socioeconomic and historically underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds to higher education and paths to earning competitive wages.

乐播传媒 ranked high in terms of its return on investment. Eight years after a student first enrolled at 乐播传媒 鈥� so typically, four years into being in the workplace 鈥� data shows that their median earnings are 68 percent above the median earnings of a comparison group of similar institutions. 

鈥淏oth these designations speak to the deep and rewarding experiences 乐播传媒 has to offer to students,鈥� said President Garry W. Jenkins. 鈥淲e鈥檙e committed to our community and we鈥檙e giving our undergraduates meaningful educational experiences not just on our campus, but within the Lewiston-Auburn region we care about so much. They鈥檙e volunteering in public schools and museums. They鈥檙e consulting and conducting research in a wide range of areas, from sustainability to water quality and asbestos remediation, and studying the history and culture of this community.”

These community connections are not fleeting, Jenkins noted. “We see this reflected in how many 乐播传媒 graduates stay in the state 鈥� a little more than 12 percent 鈥� or how they develop the habit of building community connections in their future neighborhoods and communities across the country and the world.鈥�

鈥淎t 乐播传媒, we believe that students from all backgrounds should have access to the transformative power of education,鈥� Jenkins added. 鈥淭hat is and always has been part of our mission. To know that their 乐播传媒 education is helping graduates thrive in their careers is reason to celebrate.鈥�

President Garry W. Jenkins has received the 2025 Maine Black Excellence Compass Career Award from , a network that connects Maine鈥檚 Black professionals, students, and entrepreneurs to opportunities across multiple areas, from social to professional. 

The Third Place gives its Compass Career Award in recognition of 鈥渙utstanding professional achievement, principled leadership, and a commitment to equity and excellence in one鈥檚 field.鈥� The nonprofit, which was founded in 2017 by Executive Director Adilah Muhammad, noted that Jenkins, the ninth president of 乐播传媒, is also its first Black president.

鈥淔rom the courtroom to the boardroom to the college green, Garry Jenkins has led with integrity, brilliance, and heart,鈥� the group said, citing his record spanning higher education, law, philanthropy, and public service. 鈥淗is career is a compass for those navigating the intersections of leadership and justice.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 deeply touched by this honor, and for this award to be tied to my new home state of Maine,鈥� Jenkins said as he accepted the award at a dinner celebration on a beautiful August evening outdoors at the Caswell Farm and Wedding Barn in Gray. 鈥淚t carries special significance because it comes from a community that understands both the challenges we face and the excellence we represent.鈥�

鈥淥ur democracy and our institutions succeed and flourish when everyone has a seat at the table and has the support and encouragement to shine brightly,鈥� he added.

Jenkins was one of . He spoke of his pride at leading 乐播传媒, citing its rich and unique history of inclusion and legacy of producing remarkable Black leaders through the 20th century and into the 21st century. Specifically, he mentioned John P. Davis, a debater at 乐播传媒 who graduated in 1926 and would go on to be a lawyer and pivotal figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and civil rights icon Benjamin Mays, a member of the Class of 1920, as well as pioneering television journalist Bryant Gumbel 鈥�70 and Val Smith 鈥�75, the president of Swarthmore College. 

鈥淚 want to make sure that we continue to produce alumni, of all backgrounds, who go on to make a difference to their communities, fields, and institutions,鈥� Jenkins said.  

His remarks ended with an invitation to attendees to come to 乐播传媒, walk on the beautiful campus, visit the museum, and attend theatrical and musical performances as well as athletic competitions.

Among the 乐播传媒 community members who joined Jenkins at the event were recent graduate Davina Kabantu 鈥�24, who is a trainee in a bank management development program, Professor Emerita of Politics Leslie Hill, and Morgan Kinney and Mohamed Awil of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. The Portland Press Herald .

Joe Hall, an associate professor of history at 乐播传媒 whose course offerings include Native American history broadly and also specifically 鈥� that of the Indigenous people of Maine 鈥� got a call for help in early August. His expertise was needed to correct, or deepen, the record about how two Maine landmarks came to be.

Both stories covered the history of places as they related to European settlers. And that caused concern for members of a group Hall belongs to, the Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project, which has been working to record the history of the Brunswick area as home to Indigenous people.

Concerned that the stories recounted history within a vacuum, leaving out the stories of the Wabanaki people, they asked Hall to write to the papers鈥� editors to provide more context. 

Two stories about the development of Brunswick had just appeared in the Portland Press Herald and Times Record, intriguing pieces explaining how a Brunswick swamp had been developed in the early 19th century, and why one of the town鈥檚 other claims to local fame, its (according to the author, to create a buffer 鈥渋n case of an ambush鈥�).

Hall, the volunteer historian of the group, quickly wrote two responses and within days of the first story (the one about the Brunswick Mall, as the town green is known), his guest column, “,” appeared on the papers鈥� sites. (His second response, about the origins of Maine Street, has not yet run.) 

For starters, the colonists found that swampy area unsightly and inconvenient 鈥� the cattle they had sold at the market on the shores of the Androscoggin River and were taking to Maquoit Bay to be loaded on ships for trade kept getting bogged down in the mud. Plus, mosquitos abounded. But for the people who came before them, who had walked the route of Maine Street before it became a street, that swamp had true benefits, Hall wrote:

In the centuries before Brunswick, Wabanaki lived in the area, fishing at Pejepscot Falls, farming along the banks of the Androscoggin, gathering blueberries on the pine barrens, and digging clams at Maquoit.

The swamp also provided for these residents and travelers. It fed a reliable stream of water that saved thirsty Wabanaki the trouble of a steep descent to the Androscoggin. It grew cattails, which have edible roots, leaves that can be woven into mats or bags and downy seed pods that can wrap infants for warmth. It grew fiddleheads, which are the spring shoots of ostrich ferns, providing food at the end of long winters. To be sure, it also bred swarms of mosquitoes that plagued Wabanaki as well as later colonists, but a swamp is more than its nuisances.

The Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project is working to create a digital map of the Brunswick area as the Wabanaki people used it.  For the last three years, Hall has been contributing his historical perspective to the group effort and finding it deeply rewarding. The group includes non-Indigenous and Wabanaki people from the Brunswick area who are interested in highlighting the Wabanaki history of the area.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really interesting mix of people,鈥� Hall says. 鈥淲hich is a fun way to do scholarship. To be involved is really gratifying. I feel like I鈥檓 doing something that is not going to end up on a shelf. You won鈥檛 find it in a library. It鈥檚 not some big scholarly thing, but I hope people are going to read it and think, 鈥極h I didn鈥檛 realize that was part of the story.鈥欌��

These places, including Maine Street itself, are 鈥渇undamentally defined by Native history,鈥� Hall says. It鈥檚 true that Maine Street was built 鈥渢welve rods鈥� wide to avoid ambushes by Native people. But they were being blocked from using their traditional fishing grounds by settlers, who built a fort there to claim it.

Moreover, Maine Street also travels the same path the indigenous people used as a portage, walking from the falls to the waters of Casco Bay carrying their canoes. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a Wabanaki foundation to all of this.鈥� (On Oct. 6, Hall will participate in a historical walking tour centered around that portage with , which is in the process of completing seven guided walks of old Native areas in Maine this year.)

Because the Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project seeks to highlight Wabanaki history of the region, the group has also consulted with a variety of Wabanaki educators over the years. Hall and his partners have found the conversations vital for framing their work. They have learned important information, and they have also gained a sense of which lessons Wabanaki find most meaningful.

The project is educational, but who knows where raising awareness might lead. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little humbling to feel like my partners and I are part of something with an unknown destination or end-point. Wabanaki history is interesting, sure, but what does it mean? Reparations in the form of giving land back? This work raises hard questions, fundamental questions. There鈥檚 a reason why it鈥檚 a lot easier if colonial peoples like me don鈥檛 know that Maine Street was a portage, and that an old swamp was actually a place of sustenance, as opposed to just an eyesore where cows got stuck in the mud. Which is what a newspaper article I read from 1853 was saying. Basically, 鈥榩oor cows.鈥欌�� 

Earlier: In 2019, during the celebration of Auburn鈥檚 150th birthday, Hall , addressing Native history within a commemoration of the era of settlers.

During Orientation, a group of first-year 乐播传媒 students paid a visit to a remote stretch of Maine wilderness.

In some ways, it was a return trip for 乐播传媒.

Starting in 1938, student members of the 乐播传媒 Outing Club, working with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, have regularly traveled to western Maine to help maintain a specific section of the Appalachian Trail.

The so-called 乐播传媒 section extends from an old railroad line, known as the Bemis Track, to a permanent lean-to on Bemis Mountain, a stretch of about 3.7 miles. (The entire trail in Maine is 282 miles.)

In 1940, The 乐播传媒 Student described 乐播传媒 students helping to 鈥渃lear the trails, blaze trees, replace signs, and repair lean-tos and foot bridges.鈥� Eighty-three years later, the volunteer work remains the same and remains important, says Sander Katz 鈥�25 of Wilmington, Del. 

Katz and fellow junior Fiona Wilson of Barnstead, N.H., led seven first-year students to do trail maintenance on the 乐播传媒 section around Bemis Mountain and the nearby Bemis lean-to. The trip was one of 57 student-led trips this year sponsored by the Annual Entering Student Orientation Program (AESOP).

Katz explains that hikers sometimes 鈥渢ake for granted that the trails we hike on will be in working order, and don鈥檛 think about the work that goes into maintaining them. It takes a lot of time and effort to clear the trail as well as bring the gear in to maintain it.鈥�

During the AESOP trip, the 乐播传媒 group met with Ron Tebbetts, who is one of six district managers for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. 鈥淚 really enjoyed my time with the students,鈥� Tebbetts said. 鈥淭hey treated this old man very well!鈥�

From Georgia to Maine, maintenance of the Appalachian Trail depends on strong collaboration among various organizations, led by the non-profit Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and on the work of volunteers.

鈥淲ithout volunteers, the trail wouldn’t exist,鈥� Tebbetts said. 鈥溊植ゴ解�� association with the MATC and trail maintenance started many years ago and the MATC hopes that it continues for many more.鈥� 

The work goes beyond trail aesthetics. Trails need to be marked so hikers don鈥檛 get lost. Bridges and boardwalks need to be in good shape so hikers don鈥檛 trip or fall. Shelters and campsites need to be clean and safe.

鈥淰olunteers maintain signage, paint blazes, and clear the treadway of blowdowns and vegetative ingrowth,鈥� Tebbetts said. 鈥淎s a through-hiker, I really appreciated having a clear trail to hike 鈥� not having to maneuver over, under or through blowdowns, which takes a lot of unnecessary effort and energy.鈥�

The arrangement for 乐播传媒 to help with trail maintenance was announced in the Student in December 1937. Myron Avery, a legendary figure in Appalachian Trail history who chaired what is now the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, said the new volunteers would 鈥渁id the problem of maintaining the entire trail in Maine.鈥� (Originally, the 鈥溊植ゴ� section鈥� was nearly 40 miles, not 3.7 miles as it is now, and maintenance of the whole length was a four-year process, “by senior year, a student was likely to have experienced the whole thing,” recalls retired BOC adviser Judy Marden ’66.)

Starting in 1938, the 乐播传媒 Outing Club did its work under the direction of another important figure in the history of the AT in Maine, William H. Sawyer Jr. of the Class of 1913, a longtime 乐播传媒 biology professor and Outing Club adviser. Today, one of the Outing Club鈥檚 two annual student leadership prizes is named for Sawyer, the other for Harold Norris Goodspeed, Class of 1940.

(Side note: Some historical accounts credit Sawyer and students, in 1934, with scouting and blazing the final section of the trail in Maine. Notwithstanding Sawyer鈥檚 contributions to the Outing Club and the AT, that account is disputed.)

This film clip, from around 1939, shows Sawyer (in the Panama hat leading the group) and students doing maintenance work on the Appalachian Trail.

After viewing the 1939 video, Katz had a couple reactions. One, gear has come a long way. “Our backpacks are a lot more advanced than the ones that they had,” he says. “We now have very nice sleeping bags and sleeping pads and a shelter pre-prepared for us.鈥�

What hasn鈥檛 changed all that much are tools. 鈥淲e used saws, loppers, and pruners.鈥�

The 1939 clip shows a frying pan filled with bacon. During the 2023 trip, dehydrated meals were used . The clip of the back then shows the students applying old-school bug repellant 鈥� nasty stuff made from pine tar 鈥� while the current students used DEET-based repellent.

During their stay, the 乐播传媒 crew met a section hiker (someone who completes the AT in a series of multi-day trips over a period of time) at the Bemis lean-to. He told the 乐播传媒 group that he was in charge of maintaining a trail system back in Louisiana.

鈥淗e said that we now owned that section of trail that we maintained. When we come back someday, we could say we took care of this trail.鈥�

Additional reporting by Hannah Kothari 鈥�26

On a recent early September afternoon, a spirited group of a dozen 乐播传媒 students rambled along the Androscoggin Riverwalk in downtown Auburn, listening to music turned low on a hand-held bluetooth speaker carried by Alexis Gonzalez 鈥�26 of Hanford, Calif.

The group had just come from nearby Crescent Beach in Auburn, where they threw a Frisbee, waded in Taylor Pond, and sang karaoke songs. Beside the edge of the rushing Androscoggin, they stopped for photos, while some danced. 

Just one day earlier, the nine first-year 乐播传媒 students in the group were strangers. Now, as they enjoyed one of roughly 50 orientation trips offered to the entire Class of 2027, the strangers had accomplished what their trip leaders were working toward: creating their own sense of 乐播传媒 community.

鈥淭hey were able to really connect with each other,鈥� said Gonzalez, a co-leader of the Lakes Chillin鈥� trip with J.J. Mariscal 鈥�26 of Mission, Texas. 鈥淭hey learned each other鈥檚 names very fast. They鈥檙e comfortable with each other.鈥� 

And the karaoke? 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really good singers, actually. The energy was just really cool.鈥�

Outdoor orientation trips for first-year students are not unique to 乐播传媒, nor are they new. But in recent years, more has been done to hone and develop 乐播传媒鈥� long-running program, known as AESOP (Annual Entering Student Orientation Program). 

In the late 1800s, for example, first-year students were welcomed to 乐播传媒 with a bird walk and picnics. Then, through the mid-1900s, the Stanton Ride tradition took hold with a hike, picnic, and 乐播传媒 stories told by beloved dean, Harry Rowe. 

In the late 1980s, AESOP emerged as a multi-day, outdoor experience run by the student Outing Club. Similar to other colleges鈥� programs, AESOP carried a strong outdoor-education component, with physical challenges in nature being a key part of the program鈥檚 focus.

By the late 2010s, as 乐播传媒 began to examine the totality of its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, hard questions were asked about a predominantly white program at a predominantly white college engaged in a historically white activity, that being outdoor recreation, mostly in the backcountry. 

In response, student leaders and 乐播传媒 staff teamed up to make mission-driven changes, taking a deep dive into data from student surveys and national best practices to help them more effectively design an array of trips that adhere more closely to the AESOP goal: An inclusive and welcoming experience that gives first-year 乐播传媒 students a sense of their place on campus, in Lewiston, and in Maine, and to help them feel an integral part of the 乐播传媒 community.

鈥淭here is a lot of experiential education research we鈥檝e looked at,鈥� said Blake Reilly, associate dean of students and director of operations and administration. A successful orientation trip is 鈥渘ot necessarily about an outdoor experience, it鈥檚 about having a shared experience and working together toward something.鈥�

To that end, AESOP can鈥檛 be one size fits all. Students should be able to choose whatever level of challenge they want, Reilly said, since many already have had their fair share of challenges just getting to 乐播传媒. 

鈥淎ESOP should be challenge by choice,鈥� said Reilly. 鈥淲hen students come to campus they are coming from all over the country and world, and some have never been to Maine before. If you’re dropped onto the 乐播传媒 campus for the first time, you are already facing a challenging situation.鈥�

AESOP offerings are more creative and varied than ever. While a range of trips still afford traditional outdoor excursions to the backcountry of Maine and New Hampshire (like backpacking in Grafton Notch or canoeing on Moosehead Lake), today about a third of the roughly 50 AESOP trips focus on some sort of city or campus experience. 

One local trip gave students a chance to produce a film. Another explored downtown Lewiston landmarks. Another taught students woodworking skills in the theater department鈥檚 scene shop, while Wool and Waves traveled to Popham Beach for surfside fun and knitting (no experience required).

Another major change is offering multiple versions of some trips for affinity groups: women, women of color, international students, and students who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). 

For example, the Lakes Chillin鈥� trip led by Gonzalez and Mariscal was a BIPOC student affinity trip. The two leaders didn鈥檛 know they would be leading an affinity group until they were assigned one. When that happened, both said they wondered whether offering affinity groups might be limiting by preventing the first-year students from meeting students from more diverse backgrounds. But as they watched their group bond quickly, they saw the merit in this new option. 

鈥淲e kind of realized that the whole AESOP statement is about making sure students are feeling included in everything; making sure they have a safe and comfortable environment,鈥� Mariscal said. 鈥淚ntroducing them to 乐播传媒 through a BIPOC group, they will have a strong connection with the group. And later on if they need someone to talk to, they鈥檒l always have someone they met in AESOP who they feel comfortable talking to.鈥� 

Together, Gonzalez and Mariscal helped forge that strong connection. They planned a surprise birthday cake for one of the new students, and invited the first-years to contribute songs to a Spotify playlist. Within a day the playlist held 24 hours worth of music. 

About 50 miles to the northwest, AESOP trip leader Verina Chatata 鈥�26 was climbing a steep, rocky trail to the summit of 3,200-foot Mount Blue with deep breaths and a smile that stretched all the way back to last year, when Chatata climbed the same peak for the first time as a first-year at 乐播传媒 with nine other women of color on an affinity trip.

The experience was positive and powerful because it leveled the field, Chatatas said, making it more inclusive and less intimidating. 

鈥淚 absolutely loved it. I liked hiking with the affinity group because it made the environment a lot more comfortable for me, even though I didn鈥檛 have an incredible amount of hiking experience,鈥� said Chatata who is from Lilongwe, Malawi, in southeast Africa, and grew up camping, but not hiking. 鈥淲e shared a certain level of understanding across the different conversations we were having, which thus contributed to the comfort level.鈥�

Catie Luedee works closely with AESOP student leaders as the college’s coordinator of outdoor education and programs. She also advises the Outing Club. The ability to be comfortable in the outdoors, she admits, was never a question for her growing up.

鈥淭he more I work in outdoor education, the more I think am so privileged: upper-middle class, white girl from small-town Maine. I鈥檝e always felt safe outside 鈥� my dad is a boat captain,鈥� said Luedee, who is from the coastal town of Phippsburg, an hour from campus.

鈥淩emembering that for a large population of people, the outdoors is not a place they feel safe is very important 鈥� and it鈥檚 very important for AESOP.鈥�

The changes to the program seem to be working. By 2019, post-AESOP student surveys showed that 86 percent of respondents said the experience was 鈥渆njoyable鈥� or 鈥渟omewhat enjoyable.鈥�  In 2021, after COVID canceled the 2020 trips, AESOP scored a 96-percent approval rating. Last year, it hit 99 percent. 鈥淚 was pretty happy with that,鈥� Reilly said, 鈥渂ut the goal is 100 percent.鈥�

Another improvement added this year in the name of inclusion is a program to educate trip leaders about the history of the Indigenous lands they and their first-year students visited. 

During one of their many training sessions, AESOP trip leaders on Aug. 28 heard from Associate Professor of History Joe Hall, whose scholarly interests focus on Native American interactions with Europeans during the colonial period and who teaches a Short Term course on the history of the Wabanaki, the collective term for the Maliseet, Micmac, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in Maine.

During his talk to the more than 100 AESOP leaders, he played a video made by three students from his Short Term course that raised hard questions about what the students knew about Wabanaki history. Then Hall asked the trip leaders to ask themselves those same questions.

鈥淥ne of the things that I want to have us think about is the way that outdoor experiences is not just going for a hike, which has all sorts of histories of really intense privilege rooted in that,鈥� Hall explained. 

鈥淏ut those so-called classic experiences are rooted in a certain tradition of relatively rich white people enjoying the spaces that their ancestors had conquered from other people. And there are politics about who feels welcome where and what those spaces mean.鈥�

For Mitchel Soederberg 鈥�25 of Bedford, N.H. who knew little about Indigenous lands in Maine, Hall鈥檚 discussion 鈥減lanted a seed.鈥�

“It just shocks me how little I know about鈥� the history of the people who lived in this space,” said Soederberg, who helped lead the backpacking AESOP trip in the Bigelow Range. 鈥淚 love hiking and backpacking to these places. I want to learn about the people who (lived) in these places.鈥�

Four days later 鈥� following the traditional, raucous welcome to first-year students at the Keigwin Amphitheater 鈥� Soederberg and his fellow trip leaders gathered their first-year charges and fanned out across Maine and into New Hampshire to lead 57 trips. 

With the help of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, one AESOP trip offered new students a chance to engage with the Lewiston community to get a sense of the rich experiences that await them if they venture beyond campus.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the hope for these local community engagement trips,鈥� said Darby Ray, the center鈥檚 director. 鈥淭hat they welcome students into the local community, expose them to the work of several local organizations, and give them an opportunity to get involved in that work.鈥�

One of the AESOP community engagement trips this year went to the Montello Heights assisted living community, where the students played games with the residents, including one that revealed the cost of everyday things 70 to 80 years ago.

Trip leader Gail Curtis 鈥�26 of Rockport, Maine, called it moving and unexpected.

鈥淲hat we learned is that service is not one-sided. We鈥檙e also gaining something from the experience,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淭hat really came to fruition right before our eyes when we went to Montello Heights because they gave us stories and advice from their lives. 

鈥淭hey said other 乐播传媒 students have gone there and written their life stories. As an English major, that really resonated with me. That would be such an honor to write someone鈥檚 life story to pass on to their children. We learned so much there. I just feel really lucky.鈥�

“It’s just a beautiful place,” says Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences Beverly Johnson, offering a simple but apt description of a coastal marsh where she and 乐播传媒 students have done research for more than two decades.

In recent years, Johnson’s summer research, done alongside 乐播传媒 students, has been studying blue carbon sinks at four Maine sites, including 乐播传媒 Morse-Mountain Conservation Area, the aforementioned “beautiful place,” which 乐播传媒 oversees as a place for conservation, preservation, research, and education.

Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College

Johnson’s research recently contributed to a groundbreaking report from the Environmental Protection Agency on blue carbon 鈥� the carbon sequestered in vegetated coastal areas.

The EPA report that Johnson co-authored was the first-ever regional assessment of blue carbon sinks from Long Island, N.Y., to Maine. The Maine data comprised 25 percent of the overall assessed habitat in the report, and 80 percent of that data came from Johnson鈥檚 lab. 

“I’ve been studying in BMMCA for 22 years, and it’s always quite different when I go in. I learn something new every time.”

Beverly Johnson

This summer, Johnson鈥檚 team measured greenhouse gas fluxes in salt marshes, looking at carbon dioxide going into plants and soils in healthy marshland 鈥� as well as methane, a greenhouse gas released from degraded coastal systems.   

鈥淲e’re trying to understand these degraded parts of salt marshes, if there’s an opportunity to restore them,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥�If we restore a salt marsh that is degraded right now, can we turn it back into a carbon sink? Because healthy salt marshes are very valuable.鈥�

Engaging students as research colleagues reflects a guiding philosophy for many 乐播传媒 professors. “Hands-on activities, hands-on research with students up through senior theses prepares students very well for a world and life beyond 乐播传媒.”

And it never gets old. “I’ve been studying in BMMCA for 22 years, and it’s always quite different when I go in. I learn something new every time.”

This article was prepared by 乐播传媒 College using Federal funds under award NA22OAR4170121 from the University of Maine System/Maine SeaGrant, U.S. Department of Commerce.  The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Maine System/Maine SeaGrant or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Five 乐播传媒 students jumped out of a pair of Subarus at Sprague Marsh in the midcoast Maine town of Phippsburg on what promised to be a hot day in mid-July. Expecting to be swarmed by biting black flies and mosquitos, they came prepared.

In an instant they pulled on pants, shirts and hoods 鈥� all made from bug netting 鈥� and  grabbed equipment. As her classmates recorded notes in yellow field journals, Fiona Wilson 鈥�25 of Barnstead, N.H., stood in the marsh and struck a pose, hands on hips, like the lead explorer on an expedition.

This summer, these intrepid students are working with Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences Beverly Johnson to gather sediment cores from four Maine salt marshes to help inform the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 ongoing study of blue carbon 鈥� carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that is sequestered in vegetated coastal areas, including salt marshes and seagrass meadows.

The students are among the first in the state to use a state-of-the-art greenhouse gas analyzer that will tell a more complete story of blue carbon 鈥渟inks鈥� in Maine salt marshes. That, in turn, will provide further evidence to show whether marsh restoration could significantly help mitigate the effects of climate change by increasing carbon sequestration in salt marshes. 

It鈥檚 work Johnson has done for the past decade to help scientists, stakeholders and policy makers, including the EPA, better understand the potential of blue carbon in the Northeast.

Blue carbon is an especially 鈥渉ot topic now that seems to capture the imagination of the general public,鈥� said Phil Colarusso, a biologist at the EPA鈥檚 Boston office. That鈥檚 because scientists only discovered recently that blue carbon sinks are far more efficient than forestland (called green carbon) at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. 

鈥淚f you compare the same area of forest to salt marshes and other blue carbon systems in terms of how much carbon is going into the ground, blue carbon systems are moving four to 10 times more carbon into the ground than forests. So they are very effective at photosynthesis and then sequestering and storing that carbon for a long period of time,鈥� said Johnson, who is at the forefront of this research in Maine and one of the region鈥檚 top salt marsh experts. 

Johnson is a founding member of the Maine Blue Carbon Network, which provides a forum to discuss Maine鈥檚 blue carbon resources, as well as a member of Gov. Janet Mills鈥� Maine Climate Council. 

This summer, Johnson鈥檚 five 乐播传媒 student researchers worked in marshes between Wells and Phippsburg looking at historic features that restrict carbon sequestration in salt marshes, like century-old dikes with roads built across them. They also looked at the amount of carbon being stored in the marshes in real time, using 乐播传媒鈥� powerful new greenhouse gas analyzing tool, the LI-COR device. 

Specifically, the 乐播传媒 team is looking at how unhealthy marshes, or those where the tides are restricted due to development, not only function less effectively as carbon sinks, but also produce methane, a greenhouse gas, in the rotting, decomposing areas of the restricted marshland.

鈥淚f we open up the tidal restrictions and get the tides back to where they need to be, you could conceivably reduce the amount of methane coming out of (restricted salt marshes). That鈥檚 the prevailing thinking,鈥� Johnson said as she scanned Sprague Marsh.

Restoring coastal marshland in Maine also could allow more of it to serve as carbon sinks, she said. Other benefits of restoration include improving habitat for fish and birds, providing nutrients for nearshore fisheries, and offering protection from storm surges and coastal erosion. 

This summer, Johnson鈥檚 research interns used her new portable greenhouse gas analyzing system to measure the fluctuation in greenhouse gasses in designated areas in the four marshes 鈥� both in areas where the marshes are restricted and where there are no restrictions. It鈥檚 work that used to take six hours to attain a single measurement back in her lab but now, thanks to the LI-COR device, takes minutes. 

Johnson鈥檚 lab is among the first in Maine to use the state-of-the-art greenhouse gas analyzing system, producing this kind of blue-carbon data.

鈥淲ith the LI-COR, you’re getting the CO2 and methane and greenhouse gas flux readings in real time. It is brand-new technology. We are the first to use it in Maine salt marshes. That is so exciting,鈥� said Anna Sarrazin 鈥�24 of Berlin, Conn. 鈥淚 feel at 乐播传媒 we have a unique opportunity as undergrads to be a part of something that at larger institutions would be available only to graduate students.鈥� 

On that hot mid-July day at the 乐播传媒鈥揗orse Mountain Conservation Area, Kate Dickson 鈥�24 of Princeton, Mass., hiked into the marsh with some of that technology on her back: a 40-pound case containing part of the LI-COR device which is operated from an app on her phone.

When Dickson reached the first flagged sample area, a cylinder 10 inches in diameter was placed in the marsh and the LI-COR device placed on top of it. Soon air was cycled through it and the device started reading the amount of carbon dioxide and methane in the cylinder. After a few minutes, the readings were used to determine the amount of greenhouse gasses either taken up by the plants or released from the soils into the atmosphere at that location.

The data, at first, was slow in coming. It was supposed to appear on Dickson鈥檚 cell phone, but a momentary technological hiccup prevented the data from loading. Together Dickson and Johnson worked to sync the apps on their phones with the LI-COR system on Dickson鈥檚 back. They worked as a team, literally with their heads together, as Johnson addressed the problem with aplomb.

Dickson sought a summer research position in Johnson鈥檚 lab to provide fodder for her senior thesis. But the All-American rower said learning about the threat posed by restricted marshland gave her summer work at 乐播传媒 new meaning.

鈥淭idal restrictions and human involvement in marshes not only stops (the marsh) from being a carbon sink, but it actually releases a ton of methane, which is a greenhouse gas that is about 25 times worse than carbon dioxide. So unhealthy marshes are a double-edged sword,鈥� Dickson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real privilege to be out there walking around in the marsh and doing some good work.鈥�

Right back at you, Johnson indicated, with a nod to her student. 鈥淭his is the most productive summer I have ever had with students. It is one of my best teams,鈥� she said.

The students started that day with Johnson taking these readings in the healthier part of the marsh, on the side closest to the ocean. In the afternoon, they took readings on the inland side of the marsh, where an 80-year-old gravel road built during World War II restricted the tides. 

As she knelt in the Sprague Marsh in mid-July collecting water samples, Sarrazin was all-in on helping Johnson pursue different lines of inquiry into blue carbon sinks. When told that the data she gathered might contribute to a future EPA blue-carbon report, the rising senior was delighted, but not surprised. 

鈥淚 think this work is really groundbreaking and I鈥檓 really excited to turn that into a senior thesis that is going to have meaning outside of an undergraduate thesis at 乐播传媒,鈥� said Sarrazin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely relevant.鈥�

The student research team was funded by grants totalling around $330,000 from the Maine Sea Grant and Maine Community Foundation, as well as from smaller grants from the Maine Climate Science Information Exchange and Maine Coast Heritage Trust. 

Johnson said time is of the essence when it comes to restoring and preserving Maine salt marshes that serve as blue carbon sinks because of the threat of sea-level rise. While salt marshes can adapt to smaller increments of sea level rise, too much too quickly can literally drown them. 

鈥淭he predictions for sea level rise due to continued warming over the next 20 years will result in the loss of salt marshes unless something is done,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淓nhancing blue carbon habitats and employing other natural climate solutions, while decreasing our dependence on carbon-based fuels, will slow the warming of our planet and reduce the amount of sea level rise. But time is short and we need to act now.鈥�

This article was prepared by 乐播传媒 College using Federal funds under award NA22OAR4170121 from the University of Maine System/Maine SeaGrant, U.S. Department of Commerce.聽 The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Maine System/Maine SeaGrant or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The clouds above Maine on April 23 were dark, swirling, and undulating, perhaps suggesting a psychedelic landscape painting 鈥� Salvador Dali meets Frederic Church?

The eerie cloud formations also provided a moment for Associate Professor of Biology Andrew Mountcastle to create this year鈥檚 鈥淏est in Show鈥� photograph for the annual Employee Photo Contest.

While visiting Wolfe鈥檚 Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment, a sustainable farm in Freeport, with his family, Mountcastle captured this image of his son Oscar 鈥渞unning and jumping on the rock outcrops behind the farm鈥� with his brother.

Like so many other skygazers on April 23 (social media was awash with photos of the clouds), Mountcastle said he was 鈥渃aptivated by the beautiful, dreamlike cloud formations.鈥� He took the photograph with a Fujifilm X-S1 camera.

Many cloud names, like cirrus or cumulus, are well-known and understood. For that, we can thank the 鈥淕odfather of Clouds,鈥� Luke Howard, an amateur British meteorologist who proposed a naming system for clouds based on Latin words in 1802.

While many familiar cloud names are now over 220 years old, the cloud formation above Maine on April 23 was officially named just six years ago. The cloud is known as 鈥渁speritas,鈥� which draws from the Latin verb aspero, to make rough or uneven, and it’s the since 1951. The atlas notes the formation’s 鈥渨ell-defined, wave-like structures in the underside of the cloud.鈥�

Like most distinctive cloud formations, asperitas take their shape thanks to wind currents and turbulence in the atmosphere. As a scientist who studies insect flight, Mountcastle knows something about air dynamics, and the clouds made him think of “the unsteady, turbulent air flows that often buffet insects during flight,” he said.

Unpredictable wind gusts frequently cause foraging insects to collide their wings against leaves and flower petals 鈥� a phenomenon that is a central focus of Mountcastle’s research. 

The month of June leaves spring behind. As summer arrives, we touch base with final academic outings and athletic contests, jump into Reunion, and welcome new visitors to campus. Take a look at a few scenes from This Month at 乐播传媒, and get ready for a review of July and August when we return in eight weeks. See you soon.

Cl’awesome!

A European green crab dangles from the gloved finger of Wil Dewey 鈥�24 of Ithaca, N.Y. As part of the Short Term course 鈥淏iological Skills: Invasive Green Crab Inventory and Monitoring,鈥� taught by Lecturer in Biology Jesse Minor 鈥�02, Dewey and13 other students searched the shoreline of Sandy Point Beach in Yarmouth for the crabs, an invasive species linked to a decline in New England鈥檚 soft-shell clam industry and the loss of salt marsh habitats. You can read more about their findings in our 乐播传媒News story.

Bronzed and Buoyant

The 乐播传媒 College men’s rowing team’s first varsity eight captured their first medal at the IRA National Championship in program history, taking third place in their grand final on Saturday, June 3, 2023.

Star Power

Year after year, alumni say that connecting with 乐播传媒Stars is a highlight of their Reunion experience.

From left, Bora Lugunda 鈥�25 of Kinshasa, Congo, Jeremy Schrieber 鈥�24 of Denver, and Rosina Makwabe 鈥�26 of Arusha, Tanzania, were three of 31 乐播传媒Stars who made things flow smoothly during the Reunion, held on campus June 8-11.

Golden Reunion

President Clayton Spencer (center) joined the Class of 1973 鈥� who were celebrating their 50th Reunion 鈥� in the Gray Athletic Building for a hearty breakfast on June 9, following welcoming remarks by Spencer.

Fireworks and Friends

乐播传媒 alumni old and young enjoy a dazzling light show of fireworks on campus on June 9 after a day full of Reunion activities.

Pride in Numbers

Alumni gather on the Historic Quad on June 10 for the annual Alumni Parade and the chance to show off their class pride to lauding members of the 乐播传媒 community. A grand total of 807 alumni attended Reunion this year, representing 14 class years from 1953 to 2018.

Key Connection

Ben Hughes ’12 (left) talks excitedly with Associate Dean for International Student Programs James Reese during the 10th Reunion BIPOC Community Breakfast, held for members of the Class of 2013 in the Chu Dining Room in Commons on June 10. Hughes is the secretary for the executive committee of 乐播传媒’ College Key, a group of alumni dedicated to supporting the general welfare of the college, including recognizing outstanding 乐播传媒 students and faculty and supporting academics, student life, and campus improvements. The College Key held their annual meeting on campus on June 9.

Getting Crafty

Ron Bosse, a 乐播传媒 custodian and accomplished artist, taught “Painting with Acrylics” in the Benjamin Mays Center on June 14, as part of 乐播传媒’ annual Employee Enrichment Week. Other programming led by 乐播传媒 staff and community partners delved into topics covering “digital detoxing,” financial wellness, Buddhist meditation, and the basics of pickleball. It ended with the traditional B Well 5K Walk/Run.

On Your Mark…

乐播传媒 community members gathered in between rain showers for the annual B Well 5K Walk/Run, capping off 乐播传媒’ Employee Enrichment Week.

Pit Stop

Cyclists participating in the 39th Trek Across Maine, the annual American Lung Association event, stopped at 乐播传媒 for the night on June 16, where they were greeted with a hearty welcome from the 乐播传媒 community. They enjoyed a baked potato bar and beer garden, before heading on to Saint Joseph鈥檚 College in Standish early the next morning.

Kindling Community

Hallie Herz 鈥�11 (right) and their partner, Eva Fury, opened the nation鈥檚 first queer-focused outdoor gear-lending library, Kindling Collective, with an open house in Portland’s Equality Community Center on June 10. Herz, an outdoor enthusiast and former member of the 乐播传媒 Outing Club, wants to provide a space where queer people can “be themselves and find connections to things that sustain them.”

“We feel it’s important to focus on joy and focus on queer joy especially right now with all of the hateful anti-trans laws and rhetoric,鈥� Herz said. “We really think about it as a resilience practice, a refilling and recharging. We see this work as liberation work.”

You can read more in our 乐播传媒News story.

Puddle Politics

Broods of fluffy Mallard ducklings herald the moment when spring turns to summer at Lake Andrews, and this year we counted 12 ducklings, led to and fro by two female Mallards. The mallards commonly share the ecosystem with various neighbors such as goldfish, painted turtles, red-winged blackbirds and even the occasional osprey.

Headed for Greener Pastures

Garcelon Field is getting a new playing surface, courtesy of R.A.D. Sports, the Massachusetts-based company that covered the field with FieldTurf 13 years ago. The new surface will be a Shaw Sports Turf product called Legion, consisting of a grass-like plastic matrix buffered with a mix of sand and crumb-rubber particles. Read more in our recent Campus Construction Update.

Break for Lunch

From left, Gordon Research Conferences participants and biologists Madison (“Maddy”) Meuler of the Allen Institute (current)/University of Washington (former), Omar Quintero of the University of Richmond, and April Hill, 乐播传媒鈥� Wagener family professor of equity and inclusion in STEM, head to lunch in Commons after a morning session in the Olin Arts Center.

The 14 乐播传媒 students poured out of vans, stretched briefly, and got to work handing out plastic buckets, clipboards, work gloves, PVC pipe, and other odds and ends. 

They had trekked from Lewiston to Sandy Point Beach in Yarmouth, Maine, in early May, not for a day at the shore but to help with an ongoing project to monitor an invasive crab species that’s blamed for a massive decline in New England鈥檚 soft-shell clam industry. 

Most wearing soon-to-be-muddy boots, the students in the course 鈥淏iological Skills: Invasive Green Crab Inventory and Monitoring,鈥� taught by Lecturer in Biology Jesse Minor 鈥�02, were met at the beach by Jessie Batchelder, a fisheries project manager at Manomet, a nonprofit conservation organization .

Manomet’s data-collection work requires a lot of helping hands, which is partly why the 乐播传媒 crew joined the work. Another reason is suggested by the phrase “Biological Skills” in the course title.

In recent years, the biology department has designed several new Short Term courses to 鈥�give students specific, marketable training that they could highlight in applications for internships or jobs,鈥� said Don Dearborn, a 乐播传媒 professor of biology and associate dean of the faculty. 

Skills taught this year included everything from PCR (鈥嬧�媋 technique to amplify specific sections of DNA) and 16S microbiome sequencing, which identifies microbes in the human body, to tree and shrub identification and how to design a behavioral experiment.

For his skills course, Minor assigned a variety of roles and tasks to each student, from photographer to gear caretaker. He switched the roles around for each field trip to ensure that skills training was passed all around, and to give the students a chance “to think and reflect about the science they are doing and also their role within the group.鈥�

Minor鈥檚 speciality is in field-centered pedagogy, which he first experienced at 乐播传媒, learning geology field techniques from Dyk Eusden 鈥�80 and other geology professors. As a senior, Minor completed an honors thesis that involved extensive fieldwork in the Presidential Range. 

His course extends the work that Minor did at the University of Maine while teaching an honors course focused on green crabs. 鈥淭hey represent a Maine-based environmental problem that provides an accessible and interesting topic for a skills-based Short Term,鈥� he said.

European green crabs are thought to have arrived on the East Coast in the 1800s, brought over in the ballast water of ships from Europe. In the past 50 years, the crab population along the New England coast has been steadily rising, coinciding with warming ocean waters.

鈥淭hey’re voracious predators of shellfish,鈥� said Batchelder, and they are here to stay. 鈥淭here’s been a lot of efforts to trap and remove populations, and people trap thousands of pounds of crabs and it doesn’t make a dent on the population.”

With that in mind, current strategies focus on understanding the crab population, finding ways use the crabs 鈥� in food, as fishing bait, or as , something a New Hampshire distillery is trying 鈥� and on understanding “how to manage the resources that are impacted by the green crab populations,” said Elizabeth Schueler, president of Manomet.

The crab information collected in Yarmouth will be added to Manomet’s , one that will help researchers better understand the green crab population, including where the crabs find food, when they鈥檙e most active, and what other environmental factors affect them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have the data that the 乐播传媒 students are collecting,鈥� said Batchelder.

After the students geared up, they hiked down to the beach, under the bridge, and over to the rocky shoreline. The tide was falling 鈥� an ideal time to start collecting the data. 

Katie Ney 鈥�25 of Baltimore carried a camera to visually document the work. Sandy Point was the most navigable location that they monitored. Hermit Island in Phippsburg, and Five Islands and Robinhood Cove in Georgetown were more rocky and muddy. 鈥淭his is the nicest one so far,鈥� she said with a laugh.

A few students got to work measuring the intertidal zone, stretching a tape all the way from the receding waterline into the brush at a point where the beach meets the hill. Minor took a few students to the other end of the beach, and Ney鈥檚 group began their data collection.

First, they set out a quadrat, a one-meter frame made out of PVC pipes meant to isolate an area for collecting data. After setting it up along the shoreline, they began looking for crabs. 

鈥淲e also use [the quadrats] in our site assessment,鈥� explained Lindley Friedman 鈥�26 of Park City, Utah. 鈥淲e’ll lay it down and we’ll kind of be like, 鈥極K, what percentage of this area is mud, rock, or bedrock?鈥� and we use it to collect that data.鈥�

The group probed the area, lifting up rocks and swaths of half-dried seaweed in their search for the crabs. They found plenty of periwinkle snails clinging to the rocks, but crabs were small and scarce. Green crabs can grow up to four inches in width and are identified by the five small spines on either side of their eyes. 

They carefully measured each tiny crab they found, dead or alive, with a caliper, marking down the size, the number of claws, and if it was a female, with a wide abdomen, or a male, with a more narrow abdomen. Even the liveliness of the live crabs was evaluated and recorded.

After collecting field data on the green crabs, the students selected a few to take back to campus. In a Bonney Science Center lab, guided by Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams, they learned another skill: DNA haplotyping, which they used to trace the crustaceans’ historical geographic origins back to the Mediterranean.

As Short Term drew to a close at the end of May, the 乐播传媒 students created research posters and presented their findings to Manomet and the 乐播传媒 community.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 one of the skills, too,鈥� said Minor. 鈥淵ou learn how to tell the story of your work.鈥�