2018 Maine Student Water Challenge

In partnership with Maine EPSCoR, Maine Campus Compact is pleased to announce that we are accepting graduate and undergraduate student applications for the 2^nd Annual Maine Student Water Challenge. This Challenge will award $100 stipends each to 40 higher education students in Maine, organized in 2-4 person campus teams (or you can sign up as an individual participant), to participate in a challenge aimed at solving a water-related problem.  The registration deadline to register is October 12, 2018. Each student team will develop an innovative Water Action Plan that addresses a water challenge in one of these topic areas:

1. Develop a curriculum that can be taught to K-12 students addressing local water issues such as water quality or storm water runoff. Maine Campus Compact will collect these curricula with the goal of implementing the most robust ones in the future;
2. Develop a plan to help educate and empower people in low-income communities about a local water quality issue. Identify a community partner who could work with you to implement this plan; or
3. Send a description for pre-approval of your team’s own plan, curriculum, or project that addresses one of these following water-related topic areas:
4. Water quality
5. Ocean Acidification
6. Aquaculture
7. Aquaponics
8. Ocean-Related Research
9. Storm Water Runoff

Teams will be required to participate in a kick-off training webinar, submit their water action plans by November 26, 2018, and encouraged to attend the final Student Water Challenge Palooza on December 1st, 2018. Travel reimbursements of $50 to cover travels costs to the December 1st event are also available. 

Apply in three easy steps!

1. Read the Project Guidelines(Attached)
2. Register Here–one representative from the team registers the whole team  https://goo.gl/forms/Rlfz9Sj8l7ZRxVlK2
3. All team members must sign this Commitment Agreement https://goo.gl/forms/N90LBIkzwI7u2VSc2

Please forward this onto to any students who you think might be interested or to faculty who could help disseminate to their students.

Please contact [email protected] or (207) 753-6626 with any questions.

Kayla LaVoice
STEM Collaboration VISTA
Maine Campus Compact
207-753-6573

Biodynamic Beekeeping talk & Workshop with Gunther Hauk
Maine Coast Waldorf School and co-sponsors Avena Botanicals and Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment are pleased to present two wonderful opportunities to hear biodynamic beekeeper Gunther Hauk of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary in Virginia speak and to attend a workshop with him.

Public Talk by Gunther Hauk: 
The Honeybee Crisis: Real Causes and Solutions
Friday, October 12, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Maine Coast Waldorf School, 57 Desert Rd, Freeport
$10 suggested donation at the door
In this talk on Friday evening, Gunther will present a deeper picture of that being we call the honeybee and what brings it so close to our hearts. He will put the bee crisis into a larger context historically, as well as its connection to other crises we are in – agricultural, economic, social, and spiritual. Gunther will then give indications of what will help us overcome the crisis.

Biodynamic Beekeeping Workshop with Gunther Hauk:
Saturday, October 13, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Maine Coast Waldorf School, 57 Desert Rd, Freeport
$60.00 per person. Snacks will be provided but lunch is BYO.

In this workshop Gunther will begin with a brief look at the development of beekeeping in the last 2000 years. Understanding the complexity of this creature’s instinct from a spiritual point of view will let us regain the awe and wonder inherent in this highly evolved insect. We will search for what actually has driven all the inventions on which current professional and most hobby beekeeping rely.  A logical examination of these practices in view of the impact on the honeybee’s health, will let us arrive at beekeeping methods that respect the honeybees’ very own needs and further their health. Through their suffering, the honeybees are calling us to radically change our relationship to all the animals we raise, and challenging us to become stewards of the kingdoms of nature rather than exploiters. Topics will include:

• A brief historical sketch: from the sacred to the mundane
• Understanding the colony as one organism
• The vital importance of swarming and having naturally raised queens
• What is wax really? Working without foundations
• Mites, hive beetles, foulbrood, etc.
• Treatments and teas
• Pros and cons of different hive forms and materials
• Bee forage, care of the land

REGISTRATION & PAYMENT FOR WORKSHOP: The cost for the workshop is $60/person. Snacks will be provided but lunch is BYO. Registration is not considered complete until payment is made.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER & PAY FOR THE WORKSHOP

Gunther Hauk has been a biodynamic gardener and beekeeper for over four decades. In his book “Toward Saving the Honeybee” (2002) he called for a radical change in beekeeping methods to help avert a great crisis. Gunther has been featured in two full-length documentary films about the honeybee crisis – “Queen of the Sun” (2010) and “Vanishing of the Bees” (2009), and he also produced his own educational film “Hour of Decision” (2015). In 2006 Gunther and his wife Vivian co-founded Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary now located in the Blue Ridge Mountains on 25 acres near Floyd, Virginia. Their workshops and training in Sustainable Biodynamic Beekeeping serve beekeepers throughout the USA and Canada .

Monday, April 23rd, 6:30-8 PM
Curtis Memorial Library(organized by Bridger Tomlin, ’17, Sustainable Bowdoin/ Americorps

Save money and adapt to climate change all from the comfort of your living room! Learn about DIY home weatherization projects and energy efficiency tips that will cut back on heating and energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint. Speakers include:

• Steve Ward, Maine Climate Table: “Maine’s Energy Efficiency Legislative History and Future”
• Nat Blackford, Efficiency Maine: “Energy Efficiency Programs and Incentives”
• Jen Hatch, Revision Energy: “Solar Energy and Installation”

Hello Maine energy friends and colleagues,

I hope you’re all doing well and having a good start to Spring! I am writing to invite you to this year’s Island Energy Conference coming up on May 3-5. I have attached a current agenda. There is a fantastic line up this year, with presenters from Maine, Hawaii, Alaska, Europe and elsewhere coming to discuss energy system resiliency in their communities. You can click here to register. The deadline is Friday April 27, this Friday, but you can also register the day of.

We would very much appreciate you taking a moment to spread the word about the conference on any relevant island email lists and Facebook groups. There is a Facebook event you can share as well. We would love to have strong attendance from Casco Bay communities! I have included a description of the event below that you can share via email or post.

Conference Description:

For the past eight years, the Island Energy Conference has brought together island leaders and energy experts from New England and beyond to discuss common energy challenges and the resources and techniques available to address them. This year’s event will highlight what island communities are doing to increase the resilience of their energy systems and communities in the face of an increasingly unpredictable world. Join us to connect with leaders and experts from the field at the region’s premier forum on community-based energy solutions.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out or share my contact with others.

Thanks very much,

Brooks
Brooks Winner (Bowdoin class of 2010)
Community Development Officer
Island Institute
207.594.9209 x 148
207.358.0219 cell
www.islandinstitute.org
@brookswinner2 | LinkedIn

Need grant support for your community energy project? Check out the Spark! Fund!