Spring 2011 Unity Magazine

SPRING 2011

ENVIRONMENTAL DIVERSITY Charting a Course for the Future Alumni’s Lifelong Connections to the Environment Connecting Quaker Hill to Town of Unity Mapping Campus Progress

From the President In the five years since I started as president of Unity College, I’ve witnessed an inspiring and extraordinary transformation of the environmental landscape. Just as the threats to the biosphere have become more severe—resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, habitat fragmentation, climate change, and ocean acidification—so, too, have the responses become more effective and coordinated. I’m referring to the spectacular rise of the sustainability movement.

Sustainability is the new environmental studies. It brings together new coalitions of people who understand that the pathway to ecological balance must coordinate economics, equity, and ecology, the so-called triple bottom line. Consider how the sustainability movement has grown in the last five years.

We’ve seen the impact and importance of climate action planning, green building, campus-wide green initiatives, local food efforts, and an emphasis on clean energy. These are crucial, solution-based responses to the planetary challenge.

I am pleased that Unity College is now an important regional and national voice in support of these efforts. Our campus is a learning laboratory for how to implement sustainability initiatives throughout the curriculum and infrastructure, what we call real-time, frugal sustainability. We are honest about our accomplishments and mistakes, about our struggles and successes. I am delighted when I learn about a new student sustainability initiative. That’s when I know that our educational process has had an impact.

As Cindy and I prepare for our next adventure in life, we hope that we leave behind a sustainability legacy that

Sustainability is the new environmental studies.

will inspire future generations of students, alumni, staff, faculty, board members, and senior leadership. We are grateful for how much we’ve learned about the true meaning of sustainability by virtue of our time at Unity College. Our best memories will reverberate in the meaningful relationships we’ve developed, the friends we’ve made, and the challenges we have encountered. Cultivating nurturing relationships is the essential foundation of sustainable living.

Please know that we will carry the Unity College spirit wherever we go, and that we will tell our friends and colleagues about the intriguing, innovative college in a remote corner of rural Maine. It is a college that has a message of interest and importance to anyone, anywhere, who cares about place and planet. This work continues wherever we go.

Meanwhile, we look forward to watching Unity grow and thrive, to the gifts of a new leadership team, and the wonderful new chapters of Unity College’s exciting emergence.

Mitchell Thomashow President, Unity College 2

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america’s environmental college

SPRING 2011

FEATURES 14

Thinking Broadly Makes All the Difference Considering What’s True and Taking Cues from the Whole Earth Catalog

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Living With Purpose Room for Your View: Diversity in Unity’s Curriculum

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“I Am Who I Am Because…”

Bugs in the Driveway, The Development of My Environmental Perspective

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Alumni Changing the World Respect for Diverse Ecological Perspectives an Aspect of Unity Approach

PERSPECTIVES Moving Forward with Confidence Continuing the Good Work of an Exceptional President

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Wheat from the Chaff, Knowing What Matters Most College Bids Farewell to Thomashow and Knisley

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The World Is Our Oyster Murphy Conveys Love of Exploration and Travel

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“Imagineering” Student Housing 10 Campus Continues Transformation with TerraHaus

IN OUR ELEMENT 31

A Leg Up on Law Enforcement Career Unity College to Offer Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program

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More to Do, More to Share Student Government Association Touches Entire Community

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Tomorrow’s Possibilities Taking Shape Campus Takes Leaps Forward with Sustainability Fellow

ALUMNI Beyond Bricks and Mortar Celebrating the Contributions of Alumni 40 Class Notes Alumni Profiles 31

42 Paula Jean Meiers ’79 49 Audrey Laffely ’08

On the Cover President Mitchell Thomashow marches in the commencement procession. Photo by Mark Tardif

FROM THE EDITOR

Unity Magazine Volume 25, No. 1

Managing Editor Mark Tardif

Production Manager Kate Grenier

Designer Camden Design Group/Anneli Skaar

Student Editor

Encircling a World of Environmental Thought As the warmth of the sun melts the mountains of snow from one of the most challenging winters in memory, seniors’ thoughts turn to Commencement and life beyond Unity College. The campus community also readies to bid farewell to President Mitchell Thomashow and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Amy Knisley.

Just as faculty and staff are glad to see students receive their diplomas and make their way into the world to chase their dreams, so too are members of the College community pleased for Mitch and Amy as they turn the page to new chapters in their lives.

This issue of Unity Magazine explores the diversity of environmental perspective both on campus and in the world at large. A feature article by Knisley takes a comprehensive look at how a wide range of environmental perspectives is conveyed to students through the curriculum. Thomashow explores the range of environmental thought playing out on the world stage. Another feature article explores the environmental perspectives of Unity faculty and alumni. Bringing this theme full circle, Jean Altomare ’12 shares her own intellectual and experiential journey to developing a personal environmental philosophy.

As with every issue of Unity Magazine, the vibrancy of the College community shines through its diversity of achievements, projects, awards, internships, and initiatives, many of which are presented in this issue.

In a commentary about the search for the next president and nod to the optimism that exists within the College community about Unity’s future, Trustee Margot Anne Kelley outlines the search process for a new president and explores the reasons why this is a special time. An expedited search process, made possible in part by the national reputation that President Thomashow cultivated, is expected to bring a new president to Unity College by the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year.

With its focus on sustainability, strong and effective curriculum, and list of achievements attained, Unity College will not only attract the right person to lead the path forward at this juncture in its history, but will most assuredly capitalize upon opportunities that are as yet not evident.

The stories told and perspectives shared in this issue serve as testament to a College ready to face the challenges of a complex world in need of visionary environmental leadership. We hope you enjoy this issue and consider reaching out to share your environmental perspectives and achievements with us.

Lindsay Certain ’12, Megan Laferriere ’11, Frances Roth ’14, Katie Schoeber ’14, Zachary Small ’14, Kendra Vyr ’14

Class Notes Editors Kate Grenier, Debora Noone, Dot Quimby

Editorial Assistants Reeta Benedict, Robert Constantine, Joseph Galli, Cynthia Schaub

Contributing Writers Reeta Benedict, Jean Altomare ’11, Robert Constantine, Joseph Galli, Timothy Godaire ’12, Ms. Margot Anne Kelley, Dr. Amy Knisley, Dr. Diane Murphy, Debora Noone, Jesse Pyles, Marissa Smith ’12, Dr. Anne Stephenson, Mark Tardif, Dr. Mitchell Thomashow, Sara Trunzo’08, Catherine Van Amburgh’14, Dot Quimby

Contributing Photographers Arielle Arsenault, Patrick Burnham, Seth Wotton, Lindsay Certain ’12, Dr. Emma Creaser, Peter Finger Photography, Andrew Gagnon ’11, Elisabeth Handler ’12, Olivia Hanson ’11, Juliana Jakubson ’12, Chris Kein, Molly Lindh ’12, Megan Mallory ’14, Sandy Olson, Brittany Snyder ’14, Kelly Swart ’12, Mark Tardif, Sara Trunzo ’08, Nancy Zane ’88, Dr. Mick Womersley

Contributing Photographers for Winter 2010 Issue Not mentioned among the photographic contributors for the 2010 Issue were Alexander Kennedy ’10 and Kristie Smith ’12

Board of Trustees Mr. William Glidden, Chair; Mrs. Martha Dolben, Vice Chair; Mr. Donald Foster, Treasurer; Ms. Juliet Browne, Secretary; Ms. Sharon Bloome; Mr. Pete Didisheim; Ms. Margot Kelley; Mr. Frederic McCabe; Mrs. Nadine Mort; Mr. Robert Pollis; Mrs. Arlene Schaefer; Ms. Gloria Sosa ’83; Dr. Mitchell Thomashow; Mr. Robert Tonge; Mr. C. Jeffery Wahlstrom; Mr. Kenneth Winters; Mr. William Zoellick; Mr. James Horan, Faculty; Ms. Hannia Candelario ’11, Student.

We want to hear from you.

Letters to the editor, story ideas, or address changes may be sent to: Email: editor@unity.edu Mail: Letters, Unity Magazine 90 Quaker Hill Road Unity, Maine 04988 Web: www.unity.edu

Mark Tardif Managing Editor

We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, clarity, and style. Submissions should be no longer than 250 words.

Unity Magazine is printed by Franklin Printing, Farmington, Maine, an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified printer and printed on Rolland Enviro 100, a 100% post-consumer paper manufactured using biomass energy.

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PERSPECTIVES

Continuing the Good Work of an Exceptional President

By Margot Anne Kelley Mitch and I are sitting in the living room at Unity House, the winter afternoon light fading to gray beyond the bank of south-facing windows. Though it is another blustery day, the snow falling and blowing wildly, we are warm and comfortable as we compare new iPad apps.

Trustees Robert Pollis and Margot Anne Kelley greet students during a campus tour. President Mitchell Thomashow offers his congratulations to a graduate.

“Have you seen this one?” Mitch passes his iPad over, excited to share an application that turns the tiny computer into a musical instrument.

I haven’t seen it before—which is not a surprise. Whenever we do this, Mitch is always at least two cool apps beyond me. Indeed, I think he is two steps ahead of most of us, most of the time.

Such curiosity and enthusiasm are evident in everything that Mitch does—be it as small as app surfing or as large as awarding diplomas at graduation. And over the five years that he has served as president of Unity, his energy and passion and excitement, his belief in the absolutely crucial nature of the work of the College, have infused the whole community with a sense of renewed adventure and a desire to keep working for greater and greater goals for the College and the planet. During this relatively brief time, he has guided the College toward a number of significant achievements. Some are obvious—like the house in which we are sitting.

Others are more subtle—like changing from rolling admissions to employing an admissions application deadline. Each of these changes has helped propel Unity onto the national stage, enabling the College to gain recognition for its unique educational program.

“I am immensely proud of the collaborative effort that has catapulted Unity into national prominence as a sustainability leader. Our emphasis on service, sustainability, and science is a compelling combination that is just right for Unity and

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PERSPECTIVES crucial for higher education,” Mitch maintains.

That combination is shaping the new curriculum, which balances Unity’s longstanding strength in natural resource management with its newer emphasis on sustainability, a critical component to an ever-evolving model for environmental education.

As the College embarks on its search for the next president, we are fortunate to be building upon the work Mitch has accomplished, and has catalyzed others to accomplish. Students and faculty are undertaking important research and expanding their creative inquiry. New construction of a student residence that employs passive energy design principles is about to begin.

And the whole College is participating in a moment of deep introspection, as it prepares for re-accreditation.

Indeed, as Mitch notes, the community is poised to work well with a new leader: “Our staff and faculty understand the importance of equipping a new generation of students with the skills and know-how to implement great ideas in a variety of settings. This is challenging, ongoing work that we pass on to the next leadership regime. Whoever comes to Unity next will be buoyed by fine momentum, great spirit, and a missiondriven, highly capable senior staff.”

The search for that new leader is underway. In December, when Mitch announced that he would be finishing his term on June 30, 2011, the College’s Board of Trustees met right away to discuss ways to best plan this transition. The Chair of the Board, Tim Glidden, appointed my fellow board member, Jeff Wahlstrom, and me to chair the search committee. We have hired Chuck Bunting, a consulting partner of the firm Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, to manage the search. Chuck and his colleagues managed the search five years ago that culminated in Mitch’s presidency, so we are confident that they

“Our staff and faculty understand the importance of equipping a new generation of students with the skills and know-how to implement great ideas in a variety of settings.” understand Unity’s special nature and are the right firm to help us find the perfect successor.

Since then, we’ve been busy. The whole committee has been chosen and includes not only several additional members from the Board of Trustees, but also Tim Godaire ’12, Career Consultant/Internship Coordinator Nicole Collins ’00, Dean of Enrollment Management Alisa Johnson, Visiting Assistant Professor Sarah Cunningham, Professor Doug Fox, and Search Committee Executive Assistant Chris Melanson. With Chuck Bunting’s help, we’ve had meetings with many constituencies on campus to get feedback about what qualities we most seek in the next president, and what his or her primary focus ought to be.

Now, candidates are applying. By early April, we will narrow the pool of candidates to 10, whom we’ll invite for initial interviews. Then, later in April, we’ll bring three of those candidates to campus so that everyone will have a chance to meet them. And by mid-summer, we hope to be introducing a new president to the campus, someone who will, no doubt, inspire us (and also keep us scrambling to keep up!) as Unity College takes its place on the world’s environmental education stage.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees William Glidden (left) at the traditional breakfast gathering prior to commencement exercises.

Trustee Margot Anne Kelley enjoys attending commencement exercises each year. She particularly enjoys learning about the future plans of newly minted graduates.

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PERSPECTIVES

President Mitchell Thomashow has been a dynamic, approachable leader whose zest for life was conveyed to all those whose lives he touched. Students frequently remarked on his engaging personality and genuine interest in their concerns, activities, and aspirations. His outgoing personality attracted many to the College for a variety of endeavors, including United States Senator Susan Collins (top row, second from left facing), who served as the 2009 commencement speaker.

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PERSPECTIVES

College Community Bids Farewell to Thomashow and Knisley A Self-Effacing Leader, Amy Knisley Cherishes Unity’s Mission She is among the most self-effacing individuals at Unity College, preferring to frame her significant achievements in four plus years as the senior vice president for academic affairs as fruits of collaboration.

However, a careful analysis of her leadership points to a pattern of successes made possible by the strong leadership of Amy Knisley.

“Unity made great strides toward improving the level of academic challenge (during Knisley’s tenure),” said Professor John Zavodny. “It created five academic centers for education, research, and outreach.”

He added that Unity also improved its student retention and developed important administrative policies.

“Amy has been the most remarkable chief academic officer that I have ever worked under,” said Professor Doug Fox. “The center system that she and the faculty created is functioning much better than any other system the college has tried.”

Knisley leaves a legacy of collegiality and administrative stability.

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Their announcements came close together, befitting their close working relationship. Within weeks the Unity College community learned of the planned departures of both President Mitchell Thomashow and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Amy Knisley.

Thomashow stressed that he had always intended to serve five years, and his future plans include a move to the West Coast to be closer to his adult children.

Knisley had always intended to relocate her family back to her home state of North Carolina. Family issues back home hastened her departure.

Though a thorough overview of their achievements is simply prohibited by space restrictions, some general themes emerge for each.

Thomashow brought a spirit of collegiality and inclusiveness to the College. Whether chatting with a firstyear student or senior faculty member, Thomashow processed information with a seriousness of purpose and genuine interest that validated each person with whom he came into contact.

Knisley was also a people person who came to the College at a time when it was beginning the serious process of evaluating its curriculum. She deftly negotiated what might have been charged

discussions leading to both the creation academic centers and the sharpening of its curriculum.

By any measure the adoption of sustainability as a core value will be Thomashow’s legacy.

The result is that Unity College is now nationally recognized in campus sustainability circles, says Professor Doug Fox. “The Unity House, the Student Passive House (to be officially named TerraHaus), and the many national awards we have received are testimony to Mitch’s work,” Fox said. “He has also developed a Board of Trustees with more leadership experience than we have ever had before. One of Mitch’s finest accomplishments was to help bring Amy Knisley on board.”

Vice President for College Advancement Rob Constantine sees Thomashow’s top achievements as improving the reputation of Unity College while strengthening its approach to sustainability and overall academic profile.

Constantine also pointed to Thomashow’s leadership role in national organizations like the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment as pivotally important to the success he achieved in leading the College forward.

President Mitchell Thomashow (left) and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Amy Knisley.

STUDENT PERSPECTIVES

Public Service is a Calling for Mackenzie Kelsey ’12

By Reeta Benedict, Annual Giving Officer Mackenzie Kelsey ’12, a conservation law enforcement major, has a passion for helping others. Growing up in Connecticut, Kelsey knew she wanted to work in public service, but didn’t necessarily like the idea of living and working in an urban area. Unity College stood out. “I didn’t even look at the cost,” Kelsey smiled. “I handed the pamphlet to my father and said, ‘This is where I want to go!’”

As a Unity student, Kelsey takes full advantage of every opportunity to enrich her college career. A Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) participant, the conservation law work study supervisor, a volunteer fire fighter, and taking on a minor in psychology, Mackenzie is already on a fast track to a successful conservation law career. “At first, I was positive I did not want to pursue

a federal career,” said Kelsey. “Knowing a job is waiting for me after I complete my degree convinced me pursuing a federal job is a plus.”

After attending class for just a short time, it became apparent to Kelsey that the majors offered by Unity attracted a diverse population of students. “I found it interesting that the adventure education students and the conservation law students at times seemed at odds,” noted Kelsey. “My experience at Unity taught me to see both sides. Through my friendships with both ‘sides’ I have a truly holistic view of the entire student population’s goal: to bring positive change to our environment.”

Kelsey is majoring in a program traditionally dominated by males. She has consistently proven the discipline

is not about gender, it’s about initiative and hard work. “I believe anyone can do anything they put their heart and mind to, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman,” stated Kelsey. “There was some resistance from the men on campus about my career choice, but they adjusted when they saw that I am indeed capable.”

She hopes to enter Husson’s 4 + 1 program to earn a master’s in criminal justice administration.

Mackenzie Kelsey on the job.

Ryan Green ’12 Brings Culinary Experience to the Garden

By Sara Trunzo ’08, Food and Farm Projects Coordinator Ryan Green is no stranger to fennel, chard, or radicchio. However, he wants to know more about soil fertility, pest management, and permaculture.

With a culinary arts education background and five years of professional cooking under his belt, Green entered Unity College’s agriculture, food, & sustainability program to make a career change.

“Learning to grow food is a natural next step in my love of food and cooking,” says Green, a non-traditional student originally from Bradenton, Fla. who will graduate in the spring of 2012.

Green was attracted to Unity because it is “situated in a hot-bed of small, organic farms, embraces sustainability principles and practices, and is right around the corner from MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association).”

During his first year at Unity, Green

has emerged as a valuable volunteer to community programs, such as Unity Barn Raisers’ Community Meals and Veggies For All. “Sharing meals with friends and family is part of being human. I enjoy nourishing people; it’s an important part of community.”

Great food isn’t just for the elite, says Green. “I’d like to help those living in urban centers have more access to fresh, nutritious, organic food. Having lived in several neighborhoods that you could call ‘food deserts’ I recognize that access to good food has a huge impact.”

This summer, Green will get experience in the field as an intern with Cultivating Community, a Portland-based food justice organization that serves youth and low-income populations. As youth cooking and community garden coordinator, Green will use his well-

honed culinary skills and his developing agricultural sense to help city kids get a taste of growing and preparing healthy, sustainable food.

Ryan Green in the Sustainability Office.

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PERSPECTIVES GLOBAL

Murphy Conveys Love of Exploration, Encourages Students to See the World

by Marissa Smith, ’12 Unity College graduates students who travel the world and employs faculty with those same curiosities. Diane Murphy, a professor of humanities at the college, has wandered more than most of them.

Professor Murphy has flown in and out of Europe for over 12 years. Her prime location is Ascoli Piceno, Italy, an ancient town full of detailed architecture and citizens with a strong sense of legacy. Every year on the first Sunday of August, the city bursts into color. Clouds of people dressed in traditional Renaissance attire parade in celebration of Saint Emidio, the city’s protector. For Murphy, a medievalist at heart, it’s like Disneyland.

But it’s not all about festivities. Murphy’s experiences have shaped her life in and out of the classroom.

“Traveling helps me make bigger connections with students,” she said. “It’s not just about history and literature; it’s about communicating with people.”

Building connections with people outside the United States is the best way to understand global perspectives, especially about environmental issues.

During her trips, Murphy discovered that many other countries are, “reluctant environmentalists.” They conserve energy because it saves money, not because they’re worried about the planet.

However, she also noted that these so called reluctant environmentalists use very simple, and very green, methods for saving their paychecks. Normal people don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on energy star appliances. For example, water heaters do not run all day long, and timed lights are popular in bathrooms and hallways.

Most citizens also don’t bother with lawns because they live in such populated cities, essentially cutting down on water use and commercial fertilizers.

Murphy urges her students to experience the world and understand 8

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different motivations. A wider perspective will help create more flexible ideas that ordinary people can use in daily life. Not to mention, it dissolves stereotypes and misconceptions.

Travelers, according to Murphy, should stay in one spot with a family if possible and try to live the local life. Resorts do not count because, “You’re just taking America with you.” Staying in the hotel room defeats the purpose of visiting other countries.

“Students need to see the world outside their own limited sphere of experience.

Not read about it or watch movies about it. They need to be there,” says Murphy.

“Eat their food, attend their celebrations, and learn their languages.”

“Traveling helps me make bigger connections with students,” she said.

“It’s not just about history and literature; it’s about communicating with people.”

Professor Diane Murphy has travelled the world, though spends more time in Italy than other countries. She is a student of cultures and frequently uses her time off from teaching not only to experience different cultures, but immerse herself in cultures and languages. Clockwise below: Castel Trosino is a well preserved medieval village near Ascoli, Italy. Professor Murphy in the classroom. The biweekly farmer’s market in Ascoli, in the piazza dominated by a 15thcentury palazzo.

COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES

Even before it was completed, the new trail was seeing use from students and even a cross country ski class. The bridge across Sandy Stream is closed during the winter months.

Unity College Campus and Town Linked by New Trail, Culmination of 10 Year Process During the spring 2011 semester, the greater Unity community will be linked to the College campus on Quaker Hill Road in a dynamic way. Construction of a walking trail began during the fall semester and will soon be completed.

The trail starts at the rear of Eastview Residence Hall, shadows the Woodsmen’s field, and crosses Sandy Stream over a new 120-foot, 40-ton bridge with an attached 200 foot boardwalk on each side. Emerging on Route 202 in the town of Unity across from New Horizons Health Care, the walking trail and bridge were built using eco friendly approaches in keeping with Unity’s core values of sustainability.

Unity College approved an easement for the trail to the town. The trail will be open from the spring through autumn.

Maintenance will be done by both the Unity Barn Raisers and the town of Unity.

The project received $585,000 in Federal funds and $60,000 from Unity College.

Students benefit from easy walking access to downtown businesses and the CommUnity Trail System. Local community members have easier access to campus facilities such as Quimby Library and the Unity College trail system.

The planning process, long and complex, began in 2000 with an idea advanced by former Executive Director of the Unity Barn Raisers John Piotti. Through the process a host of organizations and individuals became involved.

Formerly a Unity College Chair of the Board of Trustees, Piotti involved the College, the Town of Unity, and eventually the State of Maine Department of Transportation. Guidance and support was received from Congressman Mike Michaud of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

Tess Fairbanks Woods ’95, the executive director of the Unity Barn Raisers, has overseen the project for the past five years. Woods noted that it is especially satisfying to reach the final stages of such a complex, labor intensive project to benefit the entire Unity area.

“The finish line is in sight,” noted Woods. “We have reached this point thanks to the support of many individuals and organizations including the Town of Unity, Unity College, the Maine Department of Transportation, Plymouth Engineering, Congressman Mike Michaud and his staff, Bangor Savings Bank and the Unity Foundation.”

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PERSPECTIVES CAMPUS

Three Student Residences Planned, TerraHaus Ready for 2011-2012 Academic Year If there is ever a time when the majority of college residence halls in the United States are built to Passive House standards, Unity College will be looked to as the trailblazer that started a movement.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, Unity College has been working closely with GO Logic of Belfast, Maine, and landscape architect Ann Kearsley of Portland, Maine, to design and build the first college residence hall built to the Passive House standards. This is the most energy efficient performance standards for building.

Taking part of its name as a nod to the Passivhaus approach developed in Germany, TerraHaus will be completed and ready for 10 students to take up residence for the 2011-2012 academic year. It is one of three student residences planned for the coming years. With groundbreaking for the first, TerraHaus, at the current location of the student cottages, the area name will change to SonnenHaus Village (Sonnen is the translation for solar).

In February, TerraHaus was featured as an Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Member Spotlight in its weekly newsletter online www.aashe. org/node/25850

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Ann Kearsley of Ann Kearsley Design of Portland, Maine and Professor Doug Fox lead a TerraHaus planning session. At right is Hannah Kreitzer ’12, an environmental writing major.

CAMPUS PERSPECTIVES

The Changing Face of Unity’s Campus

Unity House (2008) One of the most high profile building projects in the history of Unity College, Unity House is an experimental solar design that produces more energy than it consumes. It was designed through collaboration between Bensonwood Homes of New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture.

Built by Bensonwood in their Walpole, New Hampshire facility, the 2,000 square foot pre-fabricated home was disassembled and transported to its current site on the Unity campus.

Unity House influenced three designs that are being marketed nationally by Bensonwood.

Health and Wellness Center (2006) The 1,900 square foot Health and Wellness Center was built to energy efficient standards with exceptional insulation and radiant heat. It has a large conference area that doubles as an exercise room, examination rooms, and offices.

Maplewood (2006) At 6,800 square feet, this single floor, 27 bed residence hall is energy efficient with radiant heating. Its location between Cianchette suite style residencesand the future location of SonnenHaus Village created a residential corridor on the south side of campus.

ON THE HORIZON IN 2011 TerraHaus Ready for occupancy during the fall semester of the 2011-12 academic year, the ten bed TerraHaus will serve as Unity’s most energy efficient building project to date. Based on the Passive House concept, the highest energy performance standards for building, TerraHaus will serve as a first for college and university campuses. The advanced design will further solidify Unity’s growing national reputation as a leader in campus sustainability, with student curricular and co-curricular programs taking place throughout the year. The project was significantly funded by the Kendeda Fund.

Thomashow Science Center (to be officially named by the fall semester) Named in honor of Mitch and Cindy Thomashow (2006-2011), the 2,500 square foot science center is expected to be completed by the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year. Constructed adjacent to Koons Hall with an enclosed walkway connecting the two buildings, the science center will have two labs, prep labs, and faculty offices. The center will have high performance energy and heating. The project was partially funded by individual and corporate donors.

Wood Pellet Boiler, Dorothy Webb Quimby Library (2011) The new wood pellet boiler installed in the Dorothy Webb Quimby Library during the spring semester replaces an antiquated oil fired boiler. The highly efficient, new boiler will save money while also helping the College reduce its carbon emissions. The project was completely funded through Efficiency Maine and a private foundation.

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PERSPECTIVES SERVICE

Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement Classification Is Important Step Forward During the fall 2010 semester Unity College learned it had attained another milestone on the path to achieving a national profile among top environmental colleges. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected Unity College for the Carnegie 2010 Community Engagement Classification. Unity College was among only two institutions of higher learning in Maine named among the 112 U.S. colleges and universities listed.

“This national recognition on behalf of the Carnegie Foundation is a testimony to the exemplary service orientation of Unity’s culture, and reinforces the importance of the college’s commitment to working with communities to collaboratively address the issues of the day,” noted Jennifer Olin, community-based learning coordinator.

“This designation is a real honor that we as a campus community will continually strive to uphold and improve upon.”

First offered in 2006 as part of an extensive restructuring of The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, colleges and universities with an institutional focus on community engagement were invited to apply for the classification. Unlike the Foundation’s other classifications that rely on national data, this is an “elective” classification— institutions were elected to participate by submitting required documentation describing the nature and extent of their local or global engagement with the community.

This approach enabled the Foundation to address elements of institutional mission and distinctiveness that are not represented in the current national data on colleges and universities.

“The Carnegie Classification is the second national recognition the College received this year for Unity’s dedication to community engagement,” said Alisa Johnson, Dean for Enrollment Management (the other was from the Washington Monthly). “Recognitions like these affirm the College’s dedication to providing students with real world learning experiences.”

Helping Guide Unity College, Wahlstrom Lives His Environmental Values Unity College Trustee, Jeff Wahlstrom, can remember the first Earth Day and how important it was, and will always be, for the environmental movement. Now, he recognizes Unity College’s importance in that same movement.

“Unity is training the next generation of environmental leaders,” said Wahlstrom, president and managing director of Starboard Leadership Consulting. “And it’s exciting to be involved in that.”

Wahlstrom started at Unity College as a hired consultant to help facilitate the new presidential turnover, when Mitchell Thomashow was the “new” president. He helped Unity’s Board of Trustees develop the roles and responsibilities for Thomashow’s position.

In a rather atypical move, Wahlstrom accepted a position at Unity College on the Board of Trustees despite having turned down the same offer at various institutions.

“I fell in love with Unity,” he noted. That includes “its people and its mission.”

From the first Earth Day celebration and

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especially now, these are and have been exciting times in eco-history. As a member of the Unity community, Wahlstrom finally feels like he is playing a role in the growing, upand-coming environmental world.

Wahlstrom is playing an integral role in the current Unity presidential search, serving as the vice chair on the search committee.

He has been in the non-profit leadership business for more than 25 years and has already played a major role in the development of the College.

Vice President for Advancement Rob Constantine sees Wahlstrom’s contributions and leadership as key to Unity’s future.

“Jeff has a track record of success in a variety of endeavors,” noted Constantine.

“His energy, vision, ability and commitment are exemplary. When one thinks of the role of trustee, Jeff is precisely the type of individual you would want to fill that important role. Unity College is most fortunate to have Jeff as a trustee and serving in a leadership capacity in the search for the next president of Unity College.”

Trustee Jeff Wahlstrom outlined the process for selecting a new President during the spring semester faculty and staff convocation.

SERVICE PERSPECTIVES

Marine Biology Club Emphasizes Community Service During the last weekend of April, members of the Marine Biology Club will help ready the Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay Harbor, Maine for the tourist season. The volunteer activity is a community service project that offers hard-working club members the opportunity to gain insight and experience.

“We clean the viewing tanks,” said Ashley Van Riper ’12, president of the Marine Biology Club. Club members also work in shifts to transfer animals from the holding area, where they are kept during the winter months, to the public viewing tanks.

At times they will roam the waterline collecting material for use in the exhibits. The experience offers students insight into the functioning, organization, and structure of an aquarium.

“You get to know what habitats are supposed to look like for each animal,” Van

Riper explained. “Each tank is set up with little Post It notes that tell you what the tank is supposed to look like and what it should have within it, like what different gravel sizes and substrates to use.”

Van Riper and Joy Sheehan ’11, the club’s vice president, look forward to handling a variety of animals. They say that a highlight of the service trip last year was transporting a 20 lb. lobster.

“Participants will enjoy overnight accommodations at an island “bunk house” owned by the aquarium,” noted Rachel Crane ’12, club secretary.

Last year students from the University of New Hampshire and University of Maine participated. “This is a good opportunity to meet people who are working in the marine biology field and work with students from other colleges,” said Elisabeth Handler ’12, club treasurer.

Joy Sheehan ’11 (left) caps off an exceptional day on the water by displaying her catch. She is joined by Kelly Swart ’12.

When The Call Comes, EMT’s and Fire Department Volunteers At The Ready It happens dozens of times each year, Unity students racing from class to respond to emergencies in the Unity area. The long standing ethic of emergency service among the student body, with the Unity Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Unity Volunteer Fire Department perennial beneficiaries.

“I became an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) because I like helping people,” said Amy Burgess ’11, a Unity volunteer fire fighter and EMT. She is also an EMT at the Tunxis Hose Fire Department Company 1 in Unionville, Connecticut.

For Burgess, the first steps to gaining experience was the course she took to become an EMT. “Once I completed the class and put my learning to good use, I saw how much I could do in order to help someone in need,” she explained. “Being an EMT and firefighter, you realize that you are not invincible and that anything can go wrong in a split second.” Despite the challenges she regularly

Amy Burgess ’11 at the Unity fire house.

faces in Unity and in Connecticut, Burgess has set her sights on pursuing firefighting as her career.

Jason Hall ’13, a conservation law enforcement major from Wakefield, Rhode Island, is an EMT with the Charlestown Rescue Ambulance Corps in his hometown of Wakefield, R.I. As a lifeguard Hall quickly realized his limitations providing emergency aid. He became an EMT, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

“Having knowledge and being able to use

it are two different things,” Hall stated. “You realize how little you know when you get out in the field.” He has gained significant experience since earning his EMT certification and is in the process of transferring his license to serve in Unity while college is in session.

Travis Courser ’13, is an EMT for Unity Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

“Being an EMT has been life changing for me,” Courser said. “It feels great to be able to help and that makes me get out of bed at 2 a.m. when I get the call.”

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Considering What’s True and Taking Cues from the Whole Earth Catalog

By Mitchell Thomashow, President

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When the Whole Earth Catalog came out in the late 1960’s it became a template for what we called “environmentalism.”

Find yourself an old copy (they are all available on the web), and flip through the pages. Note in particular the section headings and themes. There are resources for land use, organic agriculture, natural history, bioregionalism, alternative energy, appropriate technology, participatory democracy, and social justice. The word “sustainability” had not yet come into favor, but surely the Whole Earth Catalog was a wonderfully helpful, imaginative, and inspiring sustainability primer. Talk to anyone who was around in the late 1960’s and they will all smile when you discuss what you were thinking when you first discovered this great book.

Stewart Brand, the primary guiding visionary of the Whole Earth Catalog, and all of its many subsequent forms (Coevolution Quarterly, Whole Earth Review) has recently written a new book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto.

Brand, in his refreshing irreverent, crispy, open-minded style, presents a challenging and controversial argument. Essentially he suggests that although the main underlying tenet of environmentalism was correct—the need to preserve species, habitats, and biodiversity—much of environmentalism was misguided, especially its relatively anti-scientific predisposition against nuclear power, genetic engineering, geoengineering, and cities. For example, Brand claims that had we supported nuclear power, we would have burned way less carbon, and climate change would not have been nearly the problem it has become. Brand concludes that issues of population, resource extraction, climate change, and species extinction are so severe that we need radical alternatives. We should endorse what are actually safe technologies that can make a huge, rapid difference in prosperity, efficiency, and ultimately sustainability.

His argument is persuasive and whether or not you agree (I am ambivalent, but open-minded), his book is a must read, simply because he changes the way we think about humannature relationships. Forty years have passed since babyboomers like me cut their teeth on the Whole Earth Catalog.

Without debating the relative merits of Brand’s solutions, I am grateful that he opened the prospect of thinking differently about the urgency of confronting global environmental challenges. More importantly, he persuasively suggests that the profile of environmentalism must change, necessitating a wider view, reflecting the state of the planet in 2011.

We should endorse what are actually safe technologies that can make a huge, rapid difference in prosperity, efficiency, and ultimately sustainability.

In the last year I had the good fortune to visit Cambodia and China. These were my first visits to Asia. Both trips were profound learning experiences. I was shocked at my stunning naivete. No matter how much I thought I comprehended the statistical and conceptual necessity of global sustainability, my visits enabled me to grasp first-hand the human dimension of resource extraction and economic growth.

When you fly from Bangkok to Phnom Penh the view reveals a totally settled landscape of rice fields, small and medium sized cities, and a few degraded wilderness areas. On the streets of Phnom Penh, you observe that half of the population is under the age of 20, people scrape out a living in whatever way they can, and the great majority of the population lives close to the earth (even in the cities) out of utter necessity.

In China, when you travel a one hundred kilometer radius of Beijing, and then to points Southeast, you see the limitless new construction of residences and office buildings (many bearing solar panels), with a few pockets of run-down urban neighborhoods, interspersed with strips of intensive cultivation.

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Going Native: An Environmentalist In Training Finds Herself

By Catherine Van Amburgh ’14 When I stepped out of the car and onto the Unity College campus seven months ago, I was a profoundly different person. I had romantic dreams of what ‘being an environmentalist’ meant, and how I was going to live just like the Native Americans. Seven months ago, I had no grasp of the scale that this climate change phenomenon has over our world.

Seven months ago, I had fantasies of living barefoot in the woods and stopping climate change by preaching about recycling.

Fortunately, I’ve pulled my head out of the sand since then.

We are living in times of environmental crisis, and all too soon it will be knocking, not so quietly, on all of our front doors. We can no longer prevent climate change; we can only adapt our lives to its inevitable effects and work towards future mitigation of this problem. As a species, we need to embrace sweeping changes of global energy policies, personal consumption methods, and conduct towards the planet we’re all sharing. We can no longer push these issues off the agenda, we can no longer wait for these problems to “work themselves out.” If we leave Mother Nature to solve this problem herself, she will eradicate us surely.

For these changes to happen, for our world to turn its course around and avoid certain disaster, we are going to need an immense number of people in places all around the globe speaking very loudly about the same thing.

I’ve got my speech ready.

Catherine Van Amburgh ’14 signs a solar panel that went to the White House.

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It’s often said that China’s national bird is the construction crane. Picture the New Jersey Turnpike on steroids.

Beijing is intensely polluted, congested, and dense.

Environmental regulations, investment in green energy, and a new approach to ecological planning is a visceral necessity.

You perceive this gutturally.

Both cultures were dynamic, invigorating, and full of economic and ecological possibility. In China we visited the solar products factory of China Himin Solar Co., Ltd., where Huang Ming, the Board Chairman /Senior Engineer, is building a solar city, complete with factories, residences, a hotel and conference center, a university, a museum, and gardens. I attended an alternative energy fair observing dozens of vendors offering new technological solutions.

When I returned to rural Maine, I felt like I was living in a backwater, a refugia, out of the orbit of global environmental change, a twentieth century relic. The amount of open space that we enjoy in Northern New England is rare, especially in such a temperate climate. And I wondered whether my Whole

Earth Catalog, bioregional vision of an ecological future was outdated, a similar intellectual relic.

Don’t get me wrong. Local solutions make great sense, especially given the intractability of national politics. I’m all for organic agriculture, bioregional communities, windmills, local food, and treks through the woods, as well as the wonderful spirit that inspires and nourishes those efforts. But it’s 2011, and the world is now, as Thomas Friedman suggests, hot, flat, and crowded.

In 1970, the world population was 3.7 billion people. In 2010, it hit 6.8 billion, and it’s projected to be 7.4 by 2020, an effective doubling in 50 years. Study the breathtaking January 2011 issue of National Geographic. Some highlights: “The less developed world will account for more than 95 percent of future population growth.” “Wealthy nations use the most resources now, but emerging economies are catching up fast.” ”People packed into slums need help, but the problem that needs solving is poverty, not overpopulation.”

We live on an urban planet.

I’m all for “leaving no child inside,” but it’s even more important to insure that all children have access to shelter, food, water, and opportunity. I’m all for backpacking and birdwatching, but it’s a very small percentage of people who can afford binoculars and outdoor gear.

The bottom line is that sustainability has usurped environmentalism. People who will never go for a hike understand why a solar panel powered cell phone is more likely to change their world than identifying an endangered insect, as much I wish it were otherwise.

We start where people live and that’s mainly dense settlements in urban centers. That’s people who live in downtown Los Angeles, Beijing, Mexico City, Lagos, Bombay, and countless new cities of 10 million or more hope that most of us have never even heard of.

Our environmental awareness must extend beyond conservation to survival, and that means a coordinated effort to encourage sustainable, international urban solutions.

(clockwise from left) Whether it is maintaining trails, participating in a community event, attending a basketball game, or interacting with nature as part of a class, Unity College students are engaged, committed to the environment, and part of a warm community.

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It requires extraordinary constituency building, including international corporations, small businesses, civic and grassroots organizations, ethnic and cultural associations, heads of state and small communities, people you’ve never met, encountered, or understood. The local/global matrix transcends pithy aphorisms. We are all neighbors now. That should be the new rallying cry for anyone who cares about the future of the planet.

The fastest growing environmental organization in the United States is AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education). Why? It builds coalitions between businesses, campuses, infrastructure, and curriculum.

It emphasizes social justice and economic opportunity along with ecological awareness and sustainable solutions. Similarly the ACUPCC (American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment) has grown to 700 campuses that have pledged carbon neutrality. Why? These campuses understand that higher education must take a leadership role in broadening

the constituencies for sustainability. The ACUPCC reflects a seamless partnership, linking economic opportunity, green business, corporate sponsorship, and educational leadership.

Both of these organizations are spawning international higher education partnerships.

What does this mean for Unity College? We should stay on our path to becoming an exemplary sustainable campus, and pursue this goal with even more discipline and rigor. However, we also must do a much better job preparing our students for the global neighborhood. That means we need more international and urban partnerships and exchanges, more teaching and learning about the state of the world, more discussion of how we link place to planet, the natural world to the built environment, individual action to collective opportunities.

A twenty-first century Whole Earth Catalog can build on the brilliant bioregional vision of 1970 and develop a meaningful, global, and urban vision. Otherwise our ecological awareness is merely the province of nostalgia. It’s a much different world,

By Timothy Godaire ’112 Unity College is standing at a fork in its journey with two roads to choose from. Last semester, I was hired by the Sustainability Office to untangle years worth of utility tracking data (in several different formats) to construct and institutionalize an Excel workbook to track campus utilities, BTU’s and emissions from buildings on campus. I also created a data file to track these values from year to year.

I am currently working in coordination with Jesse Pyles, sustainability coordinator, with these two data files to monitor energy usage on campus, and to understand the implications of various energy conservations measures.

But is all this work making a difference in the world?

This effort is a giant undertaking for the College and it has been a long time coming. Despite the College’s status as having one of the lowest emissions in the nation among colleges and universities, we are in position to make a name for ourselves.

The College is now at a crossroad between leaving behind the small, rural college that few have ever heard of to a college leading the country in innovative and sustainable projects like the Passive House. New college leadership will be pivotal to the continuation of this effort and picking up where Dr. Thomashow is leaving off.

My work and the effort the College is making is part of

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a larger movement; a movement necessary for ecological life on earth. A global movement towards carbon neutrality through sustainable development can only be done through cooperation; we can only work towards a common goal, if we make the path less traveled … more widely.

Timothy Godaire ’14 atop Mt. Kathadin

Room for Your View: Diversity in Unity’s Curriculum

By Amy Knisley, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

When a student comes to college, what is she or he coming for?

It’s sometimes suggested that there are as many answers to this question as there are students coming to college. But that’s a pretty unhelpful answer for those who seek to understand the matter. College is different things to different people, and colleges do vary considerably one from another. But all colleges have one fundamental, crucial trait in common: they have a curriculum. You can have a college without residence halls and athletic teams, you can have a college without financial aid and student clubs. Colleges don’t have to have buildings, or even be accredited, to be colleges. But you can’t have a college without a curriculum.

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Whether or not a given student is choosing a given college because of its curriculum will depend. But it’s a fair bet that she or he is interested—explicitly or implicitly—in a post-secondary educational program, whose main form is the curriculum. And the curriculum is a powerful defining characteristic for any college. Does it include master’s and doctoral degrees? Does it emphasize a particular area, such as the arts, or medical professions? The Colorado School of Mines for instance, while it does offer a major in humanities, is all about science, technology and engineering. What is the role of liberal education? There is a national organization for those state campuses that are the “liberal arts” institution in their state system. Within that realm the University of North Carolina at Asheville has more in common with the University of Maine at Farmington, than with the UNC campus at Chapel Hill.

How much latitude exists within the curriculum for individual divergence? St. John’s College, with campuses in Annapolis and Sante Fe, is famous for having a single unified curriculum— based on “great books” such as Plato’s Republic—that every

single student takes without variation. On the other hand, Harvard and Hampshire distinguish themselves by having few to no required courses, with each student’s goals playing a key determining role in his or her coursework over four years.

A college’s curriculum goes a long way toward making that college what it is, in the eyes of students, and the rest of us.

The first and most immediately striking thing about Unity College’s curriculum is that it is “environmental.” Each major has an environmental dimension. The general education component of our curriculum—the “Unity Environmental Stewardship Curriculum”— includes a required sequence of four courses, each with strong environmental content.

Compared to many small residential colleges in the country, with majors in accounting and business, performing arts and nursing, philosophy and mathematics, Unity’s seems a bit homogenous. From the outside, it looks anything but diverse.

But from the inside, we see that like any healthy ecosystem, our curriculum accommodates many and diverse modes of environmental thought.

The first and most immediately striking thing about Unity College’s curriculum is that it is “environmental.” Each major has an environmental dimension.

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This Land is Whose Land?

We are a college deeply involved in the study of natural resources—resources in land, water, air, plants, and animals.

In the history of American environmental thought, two broad approaches to natural resource protection have emerged.

The “preservationist” approach values preserving the natural environment in a pristine state. Preservationism argues for things like wilderness areas where humans leave no trace, or protection of species even when such species provide no evident benefit to humans. On a stereotypically preservationist view, the very idea of “managing” nature has little footing—just let it be! The “conservationist” approach, on the other hand, accepts human use of natural resources, and argues for responsible, sustainable use. At Unity, our curriculum accommodates both approaches.

In policy classes, students will learn about federal laws protecting wilderness and endangered species. In wildlife classes, students will learn about managing game species and their habitat. And overall, students will find that both approaches have a place in preparation for work and citizenship as an environmentallyaware person.

Teaching As Way of Life and Vocation

By Diane Murphy, Professor The faculty of Unity College is proud of our graduates who choose to become teachers themselves. Sometimes alumni know as soon as they enter the door that they want to enter the teaching profession. Others discover later that they have the passion and skills for molding the next generation of environmental leaders. What these two groups have in common is a commitment to experiential education and a shared love for the natural world.

Kelly Lavertu ’09, affectionately known as KB, has recently started teaching at Cony High School in Augusta. She spent her first day on the job creating a sense of community among her students by using techniques learned in her adventure education courses. She has also found that there are direct applications from Project Learning Tree, Project WET and Project WILD that fit perfectly into the curriculum for her environmental science class.

Another graduate, Gayle Bodge ’05, has been working at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute since 2005 and is currently a science learning specialist overseeing programs designed for Maine’s middle school teachers and their students. She states that “getting out of the four walls of a classroom into the real world has been key to my professional growth.” The contributions that she is able to make to the institute’s programs build on the same pedagogies emphasized at Unity College, with the result that her students become engaged in environmental education through hands-on, inquiry-based science activities.

These two Unity alumni, along with the others who have chosen a career in teaching, would probably agree with KB that “Experiential education isn’t just about the outdoors but DOING science.” Hats off to all of you!

(photo right) Gayle ’05 and Nate Bodge kayaking in Florida mangrove tunnels. Kelly (Safford) Laverteau ’10 in the Mount View Middle School teaching a lesson on adaptations in fish.

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Animals: Human and Otherwise

Left, Right and Center

Many of our students have followed their passion for animals—wild and domestic—to Unity College. While these students may all agree that animals are deserving of moral consideration, they may disagree amongst themselves as to what this really means. Using a very broad brush we can distinguish two basic approaches here: “animal rights” and “animal welfare.” The animal rights approach argues that non-human animals have equal moral standing with human animals, and so aims to end any human interaction with animals that may be considered “use” of them in violation of their rights. This can range from capturing and killing animals, to selective breeding, to raising animals for food. In contrast, the animal welfare approach accepts a difference in moral standing between humans and other animals, and emphasizes the responsibility to treat animals humanely, even as they are being controlled and used for human purposes. While it is fair to say that Unity has heavier emphasis on the welfare approach, there is certainly room for the animal rights point of view. Students can study it in various humanities and other classes, develop projects around it, and envision careers related to it. A lively fall 2010 student debate on whether animals have rights under the Constitution made clear that plenty of our students can forcefully articulate the animal rights point of view, and be respected for it.

American environmental issues have historically wound up associated with certain bands along the political spectrum.

Environmentalism has pushed changes in our laws, and in everyday choices and actions, usually perceived as antagonistic to the political right, and friendly to the political left. But those waters have gotten muddied through recent waves of environmental thought and work. Abhorrence of littering and advocacy for recycling have no politics anymore. Global climate change is a matter for the scientific, not the political, community to sort out. “Big oil” is in the solar and wind power business, and protecting wilderness on private—rather than public—land is all the rage. As an environmental college Unity’s insistence that all reasonable points on the political spectrum have equal opportunity for voice is critical to our identity and mission. Whether on environmental issues like local wind turbine installation and development on Moosehead Lake, or social issues like same-sex marriage and gun control, Unity’s students and employees are spread across the spectrum.

All respectfully-expressed views shall receive respect in return, and when that reciprocation fails, the community responds, clamoring for correction.

Both Formal and Informal, Community Meetings An Important Element of College Life It was one of the largest College-wide meetings in recent memory, and only one example of Unity College community meetings held year round. During the runup to Maine’s gay marriage referendum in 2009, Professor Jim Horan organized a public forum with a guest panel for his Unity Experience class.

The event filled the gymnasium to near capacity with faculty, staff, students, and guests.

Though emotions on both sides of the issue at times ran high, the tone remained respectful and all sides were given a fair hearing.

While public forums at Unity College do not always attract such large crowds, virtually every day meetings help to foster the sense of inclusiveness that is a critically important element of campus life.

Few members of the College community could fail to cite the different types of community meetings held on a regular basis. From the most informal type of floor meetings in residence halls to the more formal beginning of the semester faculty and staff convocation, Unity is a place that not only encourages free and open dialogue but makes time for it.

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Whenever major decisions are at hand, opportunities are many to learn and participate. Recent examples include public forums for community members to meet the finalists for the vice president for academic affairs position, and a very well attended presentation during the Lapping Lecture Series at the Unity College Centre for the Performing Arts by the designers of the Student Passive House, recently named the TerraHaus.

Information about TerraHaus is available on the Unity College Sustainability Monitor web page at sustainabilitymonitor.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/newresidence-hall-huh

Today’s and tomorrow’s environmental challenges need us all, and Unity’s curriculum has a place for each and every one of us.

Tinkers, Tailors and Candlestickmakers Some, perhaps many, Unity students have a “dream job” in mind as they start college. They may picture themselves as zookeepers handling reptiles, or game wardens citing poachers; perhaps they are implementing corporate sustainability policies, teaching middle-school science, running a small farm business, or leading a non-profit. The images vary but here’s one thing all these students can count on: by the time it is their turn to step into these professions, both they and those jobs will have changed. That we live in a rapidly-changing world is cliché; at Unity we understand the difference this makes. Globalization, boom-bust economics, climate change, political upheaval, technological turnover, and more will change the environmental scene—what the issues are, how we understand them, and the jobs needed to respond to them. What’s more, college changes people. A student’s views, aspirations and abilities can evolve considerably between Nova and graduation. We understand this, and we emphasize the core skills and knowledge that will enable students to roll with the changes. A graduate’s capacity to express herself in speaking, in writing, and using visuals is as vital as her understanding of the scientific content of her major.

A graduate’s facility with quantitative analysis and how to define

a problem will serve him just as much as his knowledge of the key law and policy necessary in his major. That dream job will be different in a few years, and our curriculum accommodates, and anticipates, those changes.

This is my last semester at Unity. As I did during my first spring, I am teaching PH1003, introduction to philosophy.

What’s a generic course like that doing at an environmental college like Unity, you wonder? Exactly what the rest of the curriculum is doing—engaging the diverse minds and attitudes and abilities of our students in the business of getting educated. In one class session, I invited students to offer a freewrite response to a poster depicting a particular environmental message. One student’s thoughts are especially apt here. Cody Jackman, sophomore conservation law enforcement major, wrote that “[w]ildlife and natural resources need people like us here at Unity College—the naturalists, the rehabilitators, the biologists, the wardens, everyone working together to accomplish our goal of protecting natural resources and preserving them for future generations.” Cody is right. Today’s and tomorrow’s environmental challenges need us all, and Unity’s curriculum has a place for each and every one of us.

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Bugs in the Driveway, The Development of My Environmental Perspective

By Jean Altomare ’11

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Growing up, my driveway was unpaved. A 30 foot stretch of North Carolina clay, dirt and rock, where the most intrepid weeds found themselves quickly starved of nutrition. It was the Sahara desert, a stretch of land which few creatures were brave enough to cross, much less inhabit. Yet every day, without fail, I would find the invisible path where, led by the scent of their predecessors, ants would walk through on important business. Each ant would barely seem to register the fact that I was carefully impeding their progress with stacks of pine needles, traipsing over it or around it as if they had planned for this in biannual emergency human drills. I was fascinated by the ants. Also fascinating, the antlions which preyed upon my playthings by sculpting cones of death into the soil, pouncing upon the unsuspecting ants, dragging them down into the soil as I watched. I was, fairly often, the reason that the ants found the sand traps.

My early years of sending ants to their demise was not an indication of a troubled childhood or mental distress. I was curious about the world, and fascinated by it, and I had discovered I couldn’t dig up the antlion if I didn’t see them attack prey first.

As it turns out, antlions are rather small yet ferocious looking bugs who hate running around in the top of a peanut butter jar.

Unsurprisingly, my mother was as irritated as the antlion with my use of household dishes.

It wasn’t only antlions I spent time investigating. The ducks at the pond and the grey squirrels also had some stressful events as I tried to investigate their ways of life. Nowhere in my early exploring did I learn the latin names of the creatures, or any major facts about their natural history. I only knew what I learned from watching them, but that was enough to make me want to know more. There’s no magical ingredient that convinces kids that nature is worth exploring. But I think, if given the opportunity, nature will convince kids of its value without any help at all.

Each holiday my family drove past Hartford, Conn., and the tremendous trash mound disguised as a hill. I was at the age where I dreamt of exploring, and this big, barren hill begged to be mapped and investigated. There were no trees on the hill, and there aren’t now. They refuse to grow on such polluted, shallow soil. I didn’t know that at the time though; every time we drove past the hill I imagined climbing it, building a hobbit-home into the side of it, planting a garden to feed myself. I appreciated the idea of self-sufficiency long before I had a name for it.

Later I was informed that the mound grew every year because that’s the city dump, that no trees will ever grow there and that the city is running out of room for all the trash. My idyllic spot was no longer idyllic. More so, I realized that some of my trash had ended up there. Recycling became important to me, because this spot of land didn’t need to get any bigger. I was consciously aware that my trash ended up someplace else, and I still am. One thousand years for plastic to decompose, if it’s buried. Gas stations sell slushies, any size, for 79 cents. For 79 cents I can buy something that will be around for more than 900 years after I die. Some gravestones don’t even last that long. We immortalize ourselves every single day.

Since fourth grade or so, when the hill changed to a trash heap, I was aware of the fact that I determine the health of the earth.

Although we all contribute such a small part of the total, the sheer mass that each of us produces is no small matter at all. All of my slushie cups, plastic bags, packaging, discarded clothing, broken toys, electronics, food wrappers... all of that adds up to be a massive pile of trash I will never be able to reclaim and take back. I can’t fix the damage I’ve caused, and the earth has barely begun. A fourth grader can recognize this. Adults shouldn’t be having such a hard time with these concepts.

Since fourth grade or so, when the hill changed to a trash heap, I was aware of the fact that I determine the health of the earth. Although we all contribute such a small part of the total, the sheer mass that each of us produces is no small matter at all.

My outlook didn’t change much between 4th grade and college. Minimize waste, care about the planet, recycle. I didn’t go above and beyond to find ways of caring or repairing the damage. I did, however, want to work with animals, which resulted in two summers spent in wildlife rehabilitation clinics.

Cleaning cages, holding patients during exams, feeding baby birds every 20 minutes and explaining to the public what to do the next time they see a turtle crossing the road.

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Marveling over nature is step one. No environmentalist will be worth their salt if they don’t find the earth to be a crazy, wonderful place worth fighting for. And it only takes a dirt driveway to make step one happen.

With few exceptions, the majority of wildlife rehabilitation patients are results of human interaction with nature.

Our cars, pollution, windows, children, cats, dogs, window wells, lawn equipment, fishing lures, fishing line, and bullets often leave wildlife injured and in need of care. For two summers, I faced the fact that my impact on the world isn’t restricted to decomposition rates, and that the things I do now, affect the world now.

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Somewhere in the two thousand or so animals I worked with, the knowledge of my impact became ingrained. It’s not an optional awareness anymore. Just as my love of quiet spaces became a part of me, so did my understanding of impact.

Marveling over nature is step one. No environmentalist will be worth their salt if they don’t find the earth to be a crazy, wonderful place worth fighting for. And it only takes a dirt driveway to make step one happen.

Respect for Diverse Ecological Perspectives An Aspect of Unity Approach

By Mark Tardif, Associate Director of College Communications

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Each spring new graduates pose for commencement photos, plan celebrations and well deserved vacations. They also step into a world in dire need of environmental professionals.

While many Unity graduates venture forth to pursue environmental careers, others do not pursue careers directly in service to the natural world. However, even those alumni maintain their connection to the core values of Unity College.

Both the Unity curriculum and culture encourage dialogue and acceptance of a broad range of environmental perspectives.

In turn, all of Unity’s Alumni, whether or not they are in service to the environment, are equally valued for their environmental knowledge.

Thinking Deeply, Considering Widely The broad environmental perspectives that are found on campus extend to the ways in which Alumni see their role in the big picture, because service to the natural world extends far beyond career. Upholding the values taught at Unity College is a broad-based task, one that is comprehensive, day-to-day, and beyond one’s job description.

“Most of our students and faculty know environmental conflicts firsthand because we live so close to the natural world,” said Assistant Professor Alysa Remsburg. “We hunt, hike, paddle, farm, or burn wood. This makes us passionate about the natural resources we use and love.

Unity’s Diverse Education Leads to Life of Service

By Debora Noone, Alumni and Parent Relations Coordinator Jeff McCabe ’00, like so many Unity graduates, took what he learned at college and chose a lifetime of service, giving back to his community through volunteerism and a communitybased career.

In his second term as a Maine State Representative for Skowhegan District 85, McCabe serves on the Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee.

“I gained a great deal from the community service I did at Unity,” he said. “I think my time at Unity helped me to recognize there are two sides to an issue. I made some of my strongest connections with the Unity staff, and that connection taught me to be able to work with all people in a community.”

In Maine, the House of Representatives is considered a part-time, citizen-based position. In addition to his public service commitments as chair of the Skowhegan planning board, McCabe is the director of the Lake George Regional Park.

Each of his positions utilizes his Unity major in environmental education. “As a citizen legislator, I see first-hand through my

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job how my education connects with making laws work for the State of Maine.”

Originally from Arlington, Mass., McCabe was attracted to pursuing his Unity education because of the rural area, the small campus and student body, and the hands-on-education.

“The classes with a field component always seemed to be my favorite and the ones I got the most out of,” McCabe said.

“Unity classes were significant influencers in the career and volunteer choices I made.”

Representative Jeff McCabe ’00 is front and center at a legislative press conference as now former Maine Governor John Baldacci (right facing) looks on.

This plays out in the classroom each day.

“Classroom discussions often build on this firsthand knowledge of the environment, with students who use natural resources in different ways contributing different types of stories and beliefs,” Remsburg noted. “Respect for multiple uses of our natural resources is a unique strength of Unity’s learning community.”

The process is in direct service to the natural world, says Remsburg, because professionals in any environmental field (or related, or just exceptional eco citizens) must be ready to deal with a wide variety of human perspectives.

“Like it or not, even wildlife biologists regularly address fundraising, public opinion, and legal issues,” Remsburg stated.

“Graduates who demonstrate experience in defending or explaining their perspectives will have an advantage over those who only know the science.”

Alumni serve community organizations as volunteers, participate in the political process as environmental advocates, and advocate for “green” approaches in a variety of industries.

The professional diversity of Unity College Alumni and lifelong connections to the environmental mission of the College are the natural outcomes of a curriculum that values diverse environmental perspectives.

(clockwise from top) David Legere ’98, owner of Aquaterra Adventures of Bar Harbor, Maine, Jason Reynolds ’05, owner of Jbuilt, and Robert “Beau” Doherty ’78 (right facing) with a colleague.

Timeless Values Know No Boundaries Former Student Government President Jason Reynolds ’05 of Skowhegan, Maine, is an alumni with strong environmental values who pursued a career outside the environmental realm. A carpenter by training with a good deal of experience in the field, Reynolds started his own carpentry business, Jbuilt, now online at www.jbuilt.me/jbuilt/Home.html.

He validates the environmental ethics learned at Unity College in varied and surprising ways, by fashioning recycled materials into dynamic and eye catching elements of his projects.

While visiting a used furniture store in Bangor, Reynolds recent projects as contractor to refurbish the Belfast, Maine, home of Professor John Zavodny and Director of Student Health Services Anna McGalliard, took on a unique twist when Reynolds found 50’s era diner stools designed to be screwed to the floor.

One quick cell phone call to Zavodny for approval and Reynolds had a plan in place to turn a portion of Zavodny and McGalliard’s kitchen into a rustic diner with the recycled stools as centerpiece.

A photo of the completed project is on a Jbuilt gallery page online at www.jbuilt.me/jbuilt/Gallery.html David Legere ’98 became an entrepreneur with strong environmental ties that were nurtured at Unity College.

Originally from Jay, Maine, but now living in Lamoine, Maine, Legere earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Outdoor Recreation Administration. He owns and guides sea kayak tours for Aquaterra Adventures of Bar Harbor, Maine.

“I believe everyone needs to do their part in making their business sustainable financially without compromising the environmental sustainability of it,” Legere said. “I see many businesses claiming to be green and environmentally friendly, but they are paying for their sustainability by purchasing or donating money to offset their carbon footprint. That’s taking the easy way out.”

Legere advocates for businesses to look deeper into their environmental practices.

For Legere being a responsible

One of the best ways that Unity prepared me for starting my company was by pushing me to look at the big picture,” Legere said. “By big picture, I mean networking with other businesses and people in the field. Unity College allowed me to see that in giving you receive.”

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entrepreneur means viewing the big picture of how one’s actions are effecting the environment, not just acting in ways that are expedient.

“One of the best ways that Unity prepared me for starting my company was by pushing me to look at the big picture,” Legere said. “By big picture, I mean networking with other businesses and people in the field. Unity College allowed me to see that in giving you receive.”

Legere lives his environmental values through his service to the Board of Directors of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, as a long-time volunteer who has held virtually every office position with the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors, and by serving on several committees within his local community.

Standing Up for the Environment Robert “Beau” Doherty ’78, a former Trustee, is President of Special Olympics Connecticut, a position that he has held since 1993. He has been working for the Special Olympics since 1979.

Doherty was drawn to Unity through a lifelong interest in wildlife. He thought that his dream job would be working for a nature conservancy.

Though his current job does not directly relate to environmental affairs, he nevertheless has ample opportunities to advocate for green business practices.

Aside from helping the Connecticut Special Olympics to become among the most “green” in the United States, Doherty urges the many chief executive officers and celebrities with whom he has contact to value the environment both as a moral issue and just good business practice.

Long before global warming became a crisis, Doherty learned about its existence from Unity faculty members. He in turn conveyed the details and facts about this growing crisis to high placed individuals in business and the world of entertainment.

“I was telling them ‘it’s coming, global warming is real,’” Doherty said. “Now I can say ‘I told you so’ and they recognize what I was telling them way back when was true. I understood about Global Warming because of Unity College and its faculty.”

Though Doherty’s professional universe revolves around service to individuals with intellectual disabilities, his service to the environment has been indirect but significant.

“It is sometimes good to have people like me influence people like CEO’s and celebrities,” Doherty said. “I love the fact I’m able to talk about Unity and advance its mission with a group of people that have significant resources and in some cases guide entire industries.” He has recruited titans of industry to his Board of Directors, including the second in charge of United Technologies.

Doherty’s experiences serve as testament to the notion that Unity’s environmental mission is sprouting in fertile soil, lending a bit of green in the most unexpected of places.

Unity Education Catalyst for Commitment to Conservation

By Debora Noone, Alumni and Parent Relations Coordinator “Protecting our natural resources isn’t just a job for me, it’s a passion,” Chris Schoppmeyer ’77 said.

Schoppmeyer’s dream, since high school, was to pursue a degree tailored to conservation law enforcement. “Unity gave me more than that. It reinforced my commitment to conserve our natural resources for all and future generations, and introduced me to lifelong friends.”

Crediting Unity’s combined classroom lectures and hands on field experiences, Schoppmeyer is well prepared as a special agent for NOAA Fisheries Service Office for Law Enforcement in New Castle, New Hampshire. “I have incorporated many of the concepts and applications learned at Unity in my daily activities, especially in dealing with the public on contentious issues.”

One of Schoppmeyer’s more memorable classes, an elective on maple sugaring, heightened his interest in living off the land, sugaring, and growing Christmas trees.

“Unity provided a foundation in interpersonal, writing, and organization skills for leadership and volunteer pursuits,” said Schoppmeyer. Ten of 12 years on the Newmarket, N. H. Conservation Commission was as chair.

Schoppmeyer served on the Lamprey River Wild, Scenic, and Recreational Advisory Committee, Newmarket’s Forensic Audit Committee, and Newmarket High School Career Partnership Steering Committee.

Diverse commitments allow Schoppmeyer to be proactive in environmental education and advocacy, including regularly speaking to Unity conservation law enforcement classes and participating in the College Career Fair. “I believe in giving back to Unity College by sharing my professional knowledge and experiences in an effort to better prepare students for their careers.”

Chris Schoppmeyer ’77, Special Agent for the National Marine Fisheries Service and Office of Law Enforcement for NOAA, stands with daughter Erin ‘11 and Dot Quimby at the 2010 Unity Environmental Career Fair.

CAMPUS NEWS IN OUR ELEMENT

Unity College to Offer Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program Beginning in September of 2011, Unity College through its conservation law enforcement will be offering a seasonal law enforcement training program in conjunction with the National Park Service at the Schoodic Education and Research Center just outside Winter Harbor, Maine. Successful graduates of the program will be Level II law enforcement officers, the requirement to attain a seasonal law enforcement ranger position with the National Park Service.

“Individuals with this training will be qualified to hold a seasonal law enforcement position at Acadia National Park (Maine) or any other national park in the United States,” said Tim Peabody ’81, an associate professor of conservation law enforcement and former colonel of the Maine Warden Service.

Peabody helped to plan the program with input from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, and a variety of Maine state law enforcement agencies such as the

State Police.

The first class is open to 20 qualified applicants with preference given to students enrolled in a Unity College degree program. Peabody expects the majority of participants from Unity College will be conservation law enforcement majors, though that is not a requirement for participation. The 400 hour course will run for 10 weeks with participants pursuing eight hours of training each day. Once the number of Unity College students accepted to the program is known, Peabody says the difference between that number and the 20 person maximum class size will determine available spots for nonUnity students.

“This has been in the planning since 2008,” Peabody noted. Retired Professor of Conservation Law Dr. G. Patrick Stevens had long wanted to found such a program for Unity students, many of whom pursued this type of training elsewhere.

As fate would have it, Unity College

Trustee Bill Zoellick, program director for Acadia Partners for Science and Learning, a non-profit organization that partners with Acadia National Park to manage the Schoodic Education and Research Center, solicited training program ideas from Unity faculty. Peabody immediately championed the idea of beginning a seasonal law enforcement training program at Schoodic.

Conservation law enforcement has traditionally been one of the largest and best-known degree programs at Unity College, so forming the program made sense as a logical step forward, essentially creating an “in-house” opportunity for Unity students who frequently pursued this training elsewhere.

“It’s just a win for students because they get this advanced law enforcement training and as a result have the chance to take a summer position with the National Park Service,” Peabody stated. “Well qualified students will be sought after.”

Associate Professor Tim Peabody ’81 (right facing) guides students in a fingerprinting lab.

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IN OUR ELEMENT CAMPUS NEWS

Diversity of Athletic Interests Unity College enjoys a rich athletic tradition with club and varsity teams experiencing success on a regular basis. The 2010-2011 academic year has featured strong involvement from students, with club sports like martial arts enlivening the overall athletic culture, while varsity athletics have posted significant gains. “We have strong interest in varsity athletics with a good number of multisport athletes,” said Chris Kein, director of Athletics. He oversees varsity athletics while club sports fall under the Student Government Association.

In the past decade Unity College varsity athletics has sent teams to national tournaments and seen numerous undergraduates named All-Americans.

Athletics is an important part of life at Unity College. Each day athletes are participating in athletic practices and games. Intercollegiate athletics such as men’s and women’s soccer are perennially competitive, while interest in and commitment to club sports is at an all time high.

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CAMPUS NEWS IN OUR ELEMENT

Community Service Part of Unity Culture

By Sara Trunzo ’08, Food and Farm Projects Coordinator Environmental citizen students Kara Chester ’12, Cynthia Cordova ’12, Thomas Coyle ’12, Megan Joy ’12, Megan Mallory ’11, and Ed Mortimer ’11 got their citizenship on with the local food pantry by installing a wall-mounted visual timeline.

The environmental citizen is an interdisciplinary community-based learning course designed to build confidence, professionalism, and problem solving skills in sophomore level students.

“Our goal is to give students that ‘We did it!’ feeling,” said environmental citizen instructor John Zavodny. “Developmentally, our second year students are ready to have a moment of success. Working on a real community need gives students real challenges, with a real sense of accomplishment.”

Student groups work with community partners, in this case the Volunteer Regional Food Pantry (VRFP), to address an identified need or challenge.

“The social justice orientation of this project and mission of the pantry made for a perfect fit. The students were truly invested in the outcome and were able to

use innovation to meet their goal,” said Zavodny.

The VRFP is a non-profit hunger-relief agency that provides supplementary food to 750 local people at risk of hunger.

This pantry, which is staffed by over 40 volunteers, also offers gardening, cooking, food preservation classes, and is unique for its highly efficient “drive-thru” distribution system.

The organization wanted to celebrate the mission, volunteers, and history with a “history wall,” but never had an opportunity to complete the task.

Students sorted, selected, and printed items from the VRFP’s extensive photo collection and created an installation on the walls of the VRFP’s multi-purpose room. In preparation, students cleaned and painted the space; afterward students held an open house and reception to celebrate the unveiling of the work and raise awareness about local hunger and the work of the VRFP. Material costs were covered by a grant that the group received from the Unity Foundation.

The environmental citizen students won the Unity Award at the Student Conference in December. The Unity Award is given for a project that exemplifies the “spirit of Unity” and it includes a $250 cash prize, which this crew of citizens donated to the VRFP. Unity College students harvest carrots to be distributed by the Volunteer Regional Food Pantry

Fall Semester Student Conference Provided Overview of Arts and Sciences At the end of each semester the Student Conference is an exceptional opportunity to gain insights into the depth and range of student research, service, and creativity.

“The student conference is an opportunity to celebrate excellence in academic and artistic work created by Unity College students,” noted Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Amy Knisley.

Conference Awards: Conservation Award— is presented to the student product that best reflects a sound understanding of the principals of resource management and protection research and practice.

Creativity Award— is presented to the student product that best challenges perceptions of and/or attitudes toward the environment.

Environmental Professionals Award— Award is presented to the large group product that demonstrates the highest standard of professionalism in an environmental field or area of study.

Institutional Awards:

Education Award— is presented to the student product that best exemplifies an understanding of commitment to experiential, environmental, and engaged teaching and learning.

Unity Partnership Award— will be presented to the submission that demonstrates the highest quality of community engagement.

Award for Academic Excellence— will be presented to the submission that demonstrates the highest quality of academic scholarship.

Research Award— is presented to the student with the most professional example of a research product.

Unity Award— will be presented to the submission that best represents the mission of the college.

Sustainability Award— is presented to a project which has a welldefined problem relevant to sustainability.

A list of the Fall 2010 Conference Award Winners, with full descriptions, is online http://sites.google.com/site/ ucstudentconference/conference-news-and-announcements/ fall2010awardwinners UNITY SPRING 2011 |

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IN OUR ELEMENT CAMPUS NEWS

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION TOUCHES ENTIRE COMMUNITY Each year the Student Government Association (SGA) charts a course for the 19 clubs on campus, as well as the student activities fund. The key to providing that direction is engaging in a collaborative partnership that matches funding with student needs and aspirations.

Advised by Student Activities Coordinator/Assistant Director of Residence Life Rebecca Neville, SGA is a lifeline for student engagement and involvement.

“SGA deals with a variety of different issues,” noted Hannia Candelario ’11, SGA president. The 14 elected SGA members meet regularly and are often sought after as student representatives for a variety of committees and to the Leadership Council, the latter among the many committees and groups that Candelario serves.

“The administration regularly comes to SGA and asks us to appoint several students to serve on search committees or ongoing

committees,” Candelario explained. “We meet on a regular basis and discuss who among us would be best to meet the needs expressed to us by the administration.”

During the spring semester Candelario is serving on the vice president for academic affairs search committee. She is the student representative to the Board of Trustees.

Though the list of Candelario’s activities may sound like she is a one person SGA, the 13 other elected student leaders are just as active.

The SGA fosters a level of administrative transparency that serves students well.

The result is a student body connected to every level of the college decision making process.

Hannia Candelario ’11 discusses a college event with a student working on a class writing project. The Student Government Association is involved in virtually every aspect of student life.

Financial Aid Successfully Transitions to New Federal Stafford Loan System In his 20 years as Unity’s director of Financial Aid, the past year has been one of the busiest for Rand Newell. A change in the federal Stafford student loan program required an overhaul of virtually every part of the financial aid process, adding a far greater administrative burden.

The transition from the previous to the new system was no walk in the park either.

Stafford loan money no longer flows through private lenders.

Instead, beginning with the 2010-2011 academic year, all federal Stafford student loans are distributed directly through the federal government. Though Unity College students may not have noticed significant changes, Newell oversaw an intricate, labor intensive transition that included software upgrades, training, and procedures at every stage of the loan process.

“Administratively we had to do a tremendous amount of training to learn the new program, and get the necessary procedures in place to be able to manage the program,” Newell said. “It’s a much more comprehensive system in terms of the number of items you have to do to get the funds.”

The improved system has validated the efforts required to get it up and running.

“Because of the hard work and dedication of the financial aid staff, the results of the transition have been positive, with students receiving improved service in the delivery of their aid re-

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sources,” Newell stated. “This achievement was accomplished in large part because of the additional half-time person to the staff, which has been needed for many years due to significant previous increases in the regulatory / compliance workload.”

The financial aid office staff members are (Left to Right facing) Faith Weymouth, Administrative Assistant/Work Study Coordinator, Rand E. Newell, Director of Financial Aid, Barbara Adams, Office Assistant, and (not pictured) Carol Bradstreet Associate Director of Financial Aid.

NEWS & NOTEWORTHY IN OUR ELEMENT

Unity Foundation, Trustees Build Capacity at Unity College

By Rob Constantine, Vice President for College Advancement The Unity Foundation prides itself as a capacity-building foundation, which means that it seeks to help organizations position themselves for long-term success. Unity College was recently selected to receive one of the largest grants in the Foundation’s history to do just that at the college. The grant will fund two positions and operating support to grow the college’s fundraising capabilities, with a special focus on Annual Fund support.

The grant allows the college to implement the first stages of a development plan prepared by the Development Committee and approved by the board of trustees in February 2010. At that time, the board of trustees also lent their financial support to the initiative, spontaneously committing nearly $45,000 in individual gifts to fund a match-

ing requirement of the grant. That effort was led by trustee and Development Committee member Eleanor Briggs.

The plan calls for ambitious fundraising goals for the college in coming years, beginning with the Annual Fund. “Unity College has made tremendous strides over the past few years,” said Rob Constantine, vice president for college advancement. “But sustaining those gains and continuing to transform requires a steady stream of operating support from the Annual Fund. A vibrant Annual Fund will also help us identify and attract potential donors to provide significant capital and endowment gifts.”

The biggest contribution from the grant is the addition of two new staff members, Joe Galli and Debora Noone, introduced on page 40. Their experience and energy have been

COMMUNITY FOOD IN FOCUS WITH JANE’S TRUST SUPPORT

den knowhow. Often, food produced in our campus gardens that could not be used in our cafeteria was donated to the Volunteer Regional Food Pantry for distribution to their clients.

Last year, students in Professor Mick Womersley’s environmental citizen course built a barn near the main campus garden, providing some temporary storage and processing capacity for food produced on campus. Also students in Adjunct Professor Jim Merkel’s section of environmental citizen built a campus root cellar this past fall to increase cool storage for our own crops and others. These projects have increased our capacity to produce and distribute food on campus and in the community, but nothing has bolstered our food program more than last growing season’s introduction of Veggies For All. A project of Unity Barn Raisers now hosted at Unity, Veggies For All is a community agriculture project that works to relieve hunger by growing vegetables for those in need. Project Manager Tim Libby started Veggies For All in 2007 and moved the project to Unity College in 2010, digging in two new plots on campus and two elsewhere in town. All together, this combined acre in production yielded over 15,000 pounds of squash, cabbage, carrots, and more for distribution through the food pantry.

By Jesse Pyles, Sustainability Coordinator Unity College recently received a $75,000 grant from the Boston-based Jane’s Trust to support our efforts to grow a community food network in Unity. The funds will be used to increase campus and community food production by investing in infrastructure upgrades and personnel.

In recent years, on-campus food production has increased with a focus on providing high-value produce for use by Dining Services for Summer Programs and fall special events. These efforts have developed alongside a renewed academic interest in food and farming as our agriculture, food, and sustainability major has taken root in the Center for Sustainability and Global Change.

Summer garden positions have been filled by students for the past few seasons, and a number of campus departments – notably Dining Services, Facilities, and Academics – have strengthened the Summer Program with budget support, sweat equity, and gar-

a great addition to the office, and will help us make progress in this important area.

The Unity Foundation is located across the street from Clifford Commons, a complex of brick buildings that house the U.S. Post Office and Bangor Savings Bank in Unity.

The integration of Unity’s campus garden program with Veggies For All is a natural fit.

Veggies For All provides more opportunities to engage our students in sustainable agriculture and connects our campus to the broader community in meaningful ways.

Unity College offers Veggies For All administrative support and access to infrastructure, volunteers, and resources that allow the project to serve more people.

The Jane’s Trust gift recognizes the success of several seasons of hard work and this flourishing new partnership. Funds will be used in the coming years to purchase a tractor, construct a more permanent washing and processing facility, and increase storage capacity on campus. Additional funding will support staffing and administration of the project at Unity College, Unity Barn Raisers, and the Volunteer Regional Food Pantry.

Jesse Pyles, sustainability coordinator, reviews data on the energy consumption of Unity House.

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IN OUR ELEMENT NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Campus Takes Leaps Forward with Sustainability Fellow

By Anne Stephenson, PhD, LEED AP, BPI Building Analyst Sustainability Fellow Over the past decade, significant work has been undertaken to build new buildings to the highest possible energy performance and to reduce the energy intensity of older campus buildings. But Maintenance and Sustainability staffers knew that energy conservation and efficiency opportunities remained, yet lacked the time for a comprehensive study of campus buildings. After successfully applying to the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Accelerating Campus Climate Initiatives program, a sustainability was invited to campus to evaluate the campus building stock, establish mechanisms for tracking space / building energy use, evaluate lowcost efficiency and conservation opportunities, and bundle projects across campus for ease of financing and implementation.

Lastly, all campus energy projects should be considered in light of educational opportunities for students, staff, and faculty alike.

This was the challenge presented to me when I began this process almost a year ago. Determining energy consumption by building came down to counting every fixture in every building. Energy consumption by a typical student was calculated by the help of resident assistant (RA) directed energy surveys. Building users of all stripes gave tours of building usage patterns, explained quirks, and shared their energy conservation goals. It was a long process of determining what we had before calculating what we could save.

In the end, with the help of Jesse Pyles, sustainability coordinator, Roger Duval, director of facilities and public safety, and many others, we determined that we could save between 10 percent to 60 percent of energy consumed in each campus building with a combination of boiler efficiency upgrades, insulation, air sealing, and modest behavior changes. We found

180 projects across the 20 campus buildings, estimated to cost $700,000, but will conservatively save the campus 25 percent of its energy costs (about $74,000 in 2009). $700,000 is a lot of money, but the investment in campus infrastructure will quickly repay itself as the percentage of fuel costs in the campus’s annual operating budget becomes smaller and smaller. Our hope is that we will find donors, foundations, and corporate partners to collaborate on specific building projects. The administration, with the help of the sustainability office, is also exploring a green revolving loan fund as a funding mechanism for some projects.

If you would like to know more about the energy saving projects on campus, check out our energy assessment on the campus sustainability website. If you have time or resources that you can donate to our energy project, we’d love your help.

Contact me at astephenson@unity.edu.

Jesse Pyles, Sustainability Coordinator (center in red), leads student volunteers in a sustainability activity. All campus trash produced for a single day was gathered, examined, and weighed. The activity offered insights into the effectiveness of recycling efforts on campus. Below is Anne Stephenson, Sustainability Fellow.

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FACULTY NEWS IN OUR ELEMENT Professor Amy Arnett, along with Associate Professor Erika Latty, Assistant Professor Alysa Remsburg, and Instructor Kathleen Dunckel, submitted a proposal during the fall 2010 semester to the Maine Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) for support for the second year of their hemlock-forest study. The study is investigating the effects of hemlock logging intensity on environmental factors and biological diversity.

Visiting Assistant Professor Sarah Cunningham has taken on responsibility for an educational presentation on wildlife rehabilitation developed through a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. The program is designed to help the wildlife rehabilitation community educate the public and increase awareness of their work. This will be an ongoing service that Unity College students will perform for the community.

Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainability and Global Change Doug Fox has been continuing to provide students with opportunities to combine service, science and sustainability through his chairmanship of the committee Energizing a Community. Over 60 students have been involved in the project this year. He is teaching a course on the TerraHaus (see related stories). Fox is also completing a contract with Prentice Hall to develop a PowerPoint slide show for the next edition of his favorite textbook, Booth and Hiss’ Residential Landscape Design. He and Adjunct Pro-

fessor Jean English recently submitted a paper to Maine Policy Review on the economics of home gardening.

Professor Jim Horan presented a workshop at the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning in Florida in April. The session, “Authentic, Meaningful Teaching and Learning: Lectures and Exams not Required,” explored alternative, flexible teaching, and assessment activities that meet course learning outcomes and enhance students’ investment in their success.

Associate Professor Kathryn Miles recently gave two papers at the Association for Writers and Writing Programs conference, where she also represented Hawk & Handsaw: The Journal of Creative Sustainability at the annual AWP book fair. Her essay, “Killing Laughter” has been selected for an anthology of new directions in creative nonfiction. She recently served as writer-in-residence for the Andrews Experimental Forest; she has also been named to the board of directors at Apprenticeshop in Rockland and as head instructor for the Lincolnville Boat Club.

Associate Professor Tom Mullin served as a judge for the Association of Partners of Public Lands and National Park Service’s Media Awards Program. Mullin was elected Northeast Region Director of the National Association for Interpretation and serves on the National Board of Directors.

Dorothy Webb Quimby Library Director Melora Norman is currently chairing the reaccreditation subcommittee for New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) standards 7 and 8 on library, technology, and facilities. In spring of 2010, she led the completion of the Unity College Information and Technology Strategic Plan with former IT Director Bill Morgan. In 2010, she spearheaded a library staff reorganization that led to improved and expanded library services through the creation of two new positions: library media technologist and evening circulation librarian.

Professor Lois Ongley plans to go to Bangladesh to assist the University of Bangladesh as they open their Centre for Environmental Research and develop a new Environmental Science major. Ongley is the secretary for Chemists Without Borders, which is partnering with the University of Bangladesh. She presented an arsenic workshop to the American Chemical Society Mojave Desert section over Spring Break.

Student Tim Godaire ’12 assisted in this venture. Ongley was elected treasurer of the Geological Society of Maine last fall.

Associate Professor and Interim Center Director for the Center of Natural Resources and Protection Tim Peabody has been elected as chairman of the board for Operation Game Thief for 2011.

An accreditation review team from the National Park Service Federal UNITY SPRING 2011 |

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IN OUR ELEMENT FACULTY NEWS Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia was in Maine in January reviewing Unity’s proposed Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program. Unity received a very positive response.

Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Biodiversity Aimee Phillippi co-presented with Assistant Professor Alysa Remsburg a session on using cheese making to teach about enzyme function in biology labs at the Association for Biology Laboratory Educators in May 2010.

Phillippi and Associate Professor Emma Creaser took three students to the National Council for Science and the Environment Conference on Oceans in Washington D.C. in January 2011. Phillippi continues her work on a rockweed harvesting impact study on Sears Island, consults for a local environmental firm on marine invertebrate identification, and works as an editor for the Association for Biology Laboratory Educators published proceedings.

Associate Professor Ben Potter received a Good Idea Grant from the Maine Arts Commission to produce a body of woodcut prints based on patterns found in the landscape. He was named one of “60 of Maine’s Most Collectible Artists” by the magazine Maine Home and Design, April 2010.

Assistant Professor Alysa Remsburg presented a workshop entitled Wetland Ecology and Con-

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servation, at the 2011 Water Conference sponsored by University of Maine, on March 16, 2011. Alumna Stephenie MacLagan ’07, who works for the Shoreline Zoning Unit, Division of Land Resource Regulation for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, wrote to Remsburg, “I love having Unity cross my path.”

Professor Nancy Ross’s Spring 2010 Advocacy class, in cooperation with the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, planned and carried out a campaign to provide Unity students with information about, and alternatives to, toxics in food packaging. The class also organized advocacy on campus for national toxics policy reform. Ross gave presentations on the class’s campaign to the Alliance Steering Committee and at last fall’s Common Ground Country Fair Public Policy Teach In. She and students in the class wrote an op-ed article that was published in November in Maine Today’s central Maine newspapers. Ross served as an evaluator for the 2010 Harward Awards for service learning research and instruction, and gave a presentation at the 2010 Agriculture Food and Human Values Society meeting in Bloomington, Ind. on the practical use of service learning to analyze, make recommendations, and combat local hunger.

Professor Gerry Saunders has published two chapters in the peer-reviewed book The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education and one

online article, “Seeing the Forest for the Trees”, in the Earth Exploration Toolbook. Saunders also served as an external evaluator for Kathleen Ueckert’s application for promotion of full professor at Northern Arizona University and served as chair of the Maine Department of Education’s teacher certification accreditation review team for UMaine Fort Kent. He continues to serve on the board of directors for Maine Science Teachers Association and Sebasticook Regional Land Trust.

Writing Center Director Judy Williams will travel to Guatemala City in June to spend a week volunteering with Safe Passage.

Williams was selected to attend the University of Massachusetts’ Juniper Summer Writing Institute in June for her poetry work that will epitomize her Guatemala experience.

Associate Professor Mick Womersley, with assistance from Fox, Knisley and Vice President for Finance and Administration Eileen Driscoll, was awarded $110,000 of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and other funding, through the Efficiency Maine Trust, for basic wind power research and education in the state of Maine.

Much of the money will be used this and next fiscal year to erect anemometer towers and hold community wind education events around the state. The grant allows for the work involvement of Unity College students, particularly over summer break. His proposal for a paper on “Green Keynesianism” in current American affairs was accepted by the

FACULTY NEWS IN OUR ELEMENT U.S. Society for Ecological Economics biannual conference to be held in June 2011 at Michigan State University.

Professor Barry Woods presented a workshop entitled, “One-Sample Inferential Statistics Using Excel” at the annual AP® Statistics Reading in Daytona Beach, Fla. in June 2010. The session was part of the AP® Statistics Best Practices night and was a result of his sabbatical work in 2006. Woods also

presented “Nonparametric Statistics Using Excel” at the American Mathematical Association of TwoYear Colleges 36th Annual National Conference in Boston, Mass. in November 2010.

Professor John Zavodny has been elected to the Blue Hill, 89.9 FM, WERU Community Radio Board of Trustees. He developed and is now producer and host of “Mid-Coast Currents,” WERU’s monthly program focusing on public

affairs issues, and environmentally and socially responsible programs in Knox and Waldo Counties. Zavodny is completing his 10th year as facilitator of the Maine Humanities Council Literature and Medicine program at Sebasticook Valley Hospital. Zavodny will be returning part-time to academic administration as the next director of The Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities. John is on sabbatical in spring of 2011, as he develops his own and the College’s capacity in new media and environmental communication.

Professor Gerry Saunders Receives Outstanding Mentor Award On January 22, Professor Gerry Saunders received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Association for Science Teacher Educators (ASTE). The award honors and encourages ASTE members who support and encourage pre-service and in-service science teachers / and or new science teacher educators entering the profession. It also seeks to recognize the valuable contributions of members to the profession of science teacher education. In his letter of support for Saunders nomination, Henry W. Heikkinen, professor emeritus at the School of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Northern Colorado, wrote that Saunders mentoring style is “thoughtful and impactful: he seeks deep conceptual growth, encouraging students to build and test their own understanding of ‘best practices’ in classroom teaching.”

Gerald Saunders and Jennifer K. Frisch, one of his doctoral students at the University of Northern Colorado. She nominated Saunders for the award.

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ALUMNI

Celebrating The Contributions of Alumni

By Debora Noone, Alumni and Parent Relations Coordinator

Deborah Noone, Alumni and Parent Relations Coordinator

In a short time, I have connected with many alumni, some through e-mail or by phone, and with others at the fifth annual Alumni Men’s and Women’s Basketball Game, where alumni gathered from around Maine and as far away as New York and Connecticut. It was heartening to see the loyalty and camaraderie. I met many alumni at the Career Fair who are giving back by providing jobs and internships to our students and alumni.

It is evident that Unity alumni are a unique and diverse group of stewards to their environment and community. You are all a part of what this magazine’s theme is all about—diversity in environmental opinion.

You graduated from Unity in a variety of majors, embarked on different life journeys, chose an assortment of career paths, and in your own way have each been change agents in this world.

On these pages, you will read alumni

profiles about how determination, personal choice, and a Unity education influenced change in each life.

Despite the range of experiences, our heart beats as one family—alumni, students, faculty and staff, and friends of Unity College. Please continue to stay involved in Unity. Be sure to check www.unity.edu/NewsEvents for exciting updates on what is happening. Send news to alumni@unity.edu for the class notes section of the magazine and alumni e-newsletter.

Join the Unity Alumni FaceBook page, to connect with other alumni, chat about what is happening in the College community, ask questions, or give feedback. Please consider a donation to the Unity Fund so that the students who follow in your footsteps can fully benefit from a Unity education, as you did.

Your gift makes a difference to the success of the College, its students and graduates.

Experiencing a Dynamic Time in Unity’s History

By Joe Galli, Annual Giving Director We are all fortunate to be experiencing a truly dynamic time in the history of the College, and I for one, am thrilled to be a part of this most outstanding community of environmental stewards.

National and international recognition, significant institutional rankings, a revised curriculum to support an experiential model of education, are but a few reasons why Unity is now regarded as an outstanding small environmental college with a developing national profile.

A number of weeks ago, I had the privilege to sit with a group of diverse student leaders on campus. As we talked about establishing a community of giving, the passion and desire evident in each of their eyes was a testament to the mission of the College.

The cultivation of an Annual Fund is not something that occurs overnight, it is an ongoing institutional commitment made possible through the support of students, trustees, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, corporations, and foundations among others.

‘Giving’ is a continued investment to the future success and growth of an institution.

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People choose to give as an act of support for the vision that shaped their lives.

In the past, the College has financially maintained itself. More than ever, we need an Annual Fund that fills the gap between tuition income and total operating expenses. If Unity is to capitalize its successes and continue to attain a place of national stature alongside the very best small environmental colleges, it must raise more funding to cover a widening financial gap. A vibrant Annual Fund will provide subsidy for other projects such as new buildings and educational programs, refurbishing of existing buildings, revisions to existing curriculum, improvements to equipment, and increased scholarships.

As we begin the work to establish and cultivate a strong Annual Fund, I look forward to working with each constituency, building a stronger brand and legacy for Unity College—and our planet.

Joe Galli, Annual Giving Director

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI 70

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Dave Jordan, retired, enjoys playing golf and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels. His mother, son, and grandchildren reside in Florida with Dave and wife Melissa.

Louis Abramson has taught inner city students, grades Pre-K to 8, physical education for 34 years in Bayonne, N.J. Previously coaching fencing, he now teaches foil, saber and epee to boys and girls teams. He has completed seven marathons.

Bob Eldridge, retired after 25 years teaching at Sewickley School, visited Unity campus in September. He and wife Sarah have four grandchildren.

Charles “Bill” Ross retired in 2009 as Casco, Maine Postmaster. Stationed in Germany from 1973 to 1983, he was an Air Force Sergeant, and an Operations Chief in the Air National Guard from 1983 to 2008. He and wife Glee have two grandchildren.

Harry Agman, an accountant, graduated from Brooklyn College in 1972. He and wife Varda have two children.

Tim Mullins, an Operations and Maintenance Superintendent for the City of Atlanta, Ga. works at wastewater treatment plants. For the last twenty-four years, he has worked in northern New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and many places in between. Married for 28 years, he has a daughter.

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John Bianchi, a technical manager for Shell Lubricants in southern New Jersey, has been married to Angela for 39 years. They have two sons. John keeps in touch with Louie DiLella ’71 and Mike McIntyre.

Linda-Jo (Ferris) Ferris-Andrews graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in 1974 and was an intensive care nurse. Since 1989, she has been a school nurse at Carrabec High School in North Anson, Maine. She and Larry Andrews have two children and two grandchildren.

Kerry Kimball is a Psychologist, conducting psychological evaluations for courts. Prior, he taught for seven years, earned a Doctorate of Education from University of Maine in 1980, and served two terms in the Maine State Legislature. He and Jeanette have been married for 41 years, and have two sons and four grandchildren.

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Frank Millett and wife Sandra work for the State of Maine. After living in Alaska for 20 years, they spend free time on Arctic rivers and visiting friends in Alaska.

Howard Weymouth, a forester in northern Maine, has worked the same land base since graduation. He and wife Pam have four children and six grandchildren. Howard earned his private pilot’s license, flies his own plane, is a member of the Dexter-Aero Club, and often flies over Unity College. Previously, he was a helicopter pilot working to eradicate the spruce budworm epidemic.

Joe Payton is Acting Assistant Deputy Superintendent at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. He is married with five children and 12 grandchildren.

Deborah Plengey raises registered Morgan and Icelandic horses on a 350-acre horse farm in Manchester, Maine.

Kurt Schatz, retired in 2008 after 25 years at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. He is now an Investigative Specialist for the FBI. He is a grandfather of twin boys.

Jay Lippert visited campus in November on his way to teach a leadership class at Acadia National Park. He was amazed at the new development on campus and hopes to return to campus next fall to teach a class.

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Chapman Cole owns a home building business, Cole Ventures Inc., with his brother. He and wife Pam have two children.

Ernie Tarbox, semi-retired, is an electrical consultant. He and Marlene have been married for 32 years and have two children.

Charlie Vandemoer, a Project Leader for the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has three children.

David St. Andre has worked with the U.S. Postal Service for 26 years. He and Linda have five children and two grandchildren.

Kenneth DeVuyst retired as Captain of the Middlesex, N.J. Police Department in 2003.

He serves as local councilman and on the town’s zoning board. He and wife Debra will celebrate 25 years of marriage in July. They have a daughter.

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Dennis Moyer, retired from the US Postal Service, lives summers in Branson, Mo. and winters in Scottsdale, Ariz. He and wife Becky, married for 30 years, have a son, daughter, and four grandchildren.

Alan Raflo, a research associate at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, Va., has a Masters of Science in Water Resources/Limnology from Iowa State.

Alan broadcasts a weekly podcast about Virginia water news and events.

Hedy (Page) Blauvelt graduated from the Downeast School of Massage in 2008, and owns a massage therapy business in Brunswick. She and Paul ’74 have two children and two grandchildren.

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Bob Berongi and wife, Linda, spent time with Tom Shelley ’75 and his wife over Alumni Weekend. Bob is Regional Sales Manager for Lyndex-Nikken in the mountainous region of Matthews, N.C.

Jeanne (Boomhower) Coleman states carrying a gun to work for 32 years is enough. She now owns Jeanne Marie Coleman Photography at The Maine Photo Source. In 2008, she married Gerry Coleman, a retired State Police Lieutenant, who has six children and ten grandchildren.

Nick Caras is a pricing analyst for Hannaford, where wife Laurie is a buyer. They have two children.

Tom Shelley retired in 2007 from the water treatment field. He and wife Linda spend time at their camp on Junior Lake in the Grand Lakes region of Maine.

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Dave Kindquist, retired from the aviation field, started an on-line marketing business. His wife, from Siberia, Russia, has a daughter, and together they have a son.

Diane Byers and husband Charles plan an Australian trip where Diane is a participant in the International Botanic Congress symposium in Melbourne. An Associate Profes-

Sybil Blazej-Yee has written her second children’s book, Beagle Boy Watson, soon to be published.

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ALUMNI CLASS NOTES

Paula Jean Meiers ’79

sor of Biological Sciences at Illinois State University, Diane will conduct modeling on mating systems in fragmented habitats, while on a fall 2011 sabbatical in Scotland.

Scott Ramsay is Director of Off-Road Vehicles Division for the Maine Department of Conservation. Previously, as Supervisor of the Snowmobile Program, overseeing ATV and rail trails, he “completed the Department of Transportation 87-mile multi-use Down East Sunset Trail between Ellsworth and Pembroke”. He and wife Cheryl have two sons. Each summer Scott sees Wood Hall classmates Pete Hryb ’77, Chap Cole ’77, Ernie Tarbox ’77, and Brett Hardacker ’77.

Paula Jean Meiers ’79 developed a passion for her position in Admission Research and Data Analysis at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, from her Unity College work study assignment.

“I like the seasons of admission work—reminds me of nature,” said Meiers. “Going out on Unity Pond at midnight in January to take water samples to study the vertical migration of zooplankton and moonlight, and reading Beowulf in John Sanborn’s class, tying conservation law to politics, were two diverse classes.

Yet in both, I discovered, like nature, I could integrate learning and living.”

Unlike letters Meiers’ received from other colleges, she was attracted to Unity because of the personalized letter from Admissions.

“I wanted to matter, to be someone. I wanted small and personal.”

In her Unity economics class, she read Small is Beautiful, a book that symbolizes her philosophy. Meiers said, “I believe in small, personalized education. I appreciate a handson approach to learning and living.” Living her beliefs, she became involved in getting her hometown of Neenah, Wisconsin, to take on door-to-door pick-up of recyclables. She is thrilled to now live in a recycling-friendly city.

Every day at home she recycles, encouraging student visitors to do the same.

Working with the President’s Office, administrators, faculty, and students on the admissions effort, Meiers credits Unity for instilling in her an interest in admissions work, as well as her on-going personal interest in science and nature. “Learning to work with people at various levels and with different experiences is a skill I learned at Unity and today use in my career and volunteer activities.”

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Fred Trasko, now a Deputy Project Leader, spent 17 years at the Green Lake National Fish Hatchery in Ellsworth. Previously, he worked for the Maine State Atlantic Salmon Commission. Fred and Cricky celebrated 25 years of marriage. They have two children.

Other Unity alumni in the hatchery complex include: Chris ’89 and Cheri (Phillips) Domina ’88, Denise (Beach) Buckley ’94 and Keith Boyer ’89.

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Brad Abbe owns a Powersports business in Roberts, Mont. He and Corina, married 20 years, have a son.

Bill Cooling has a fly-fishing charter business in Chatham, Mass, which he hopes to sell for a move to Stuart, Florida.

Chris Gallagher spent 26 years in the Army Corps of Engineers, managing a visitor center in Sausalito, Calif., north of the Golden Gate Bridge. She serves on a Corps national committee, is immediate past president of Rotary, Chamber of Commerce President, and President of the Volunteers for the Police Department. Last year she traveled to Japan, representing sister city Sausalito.

Stu Hoyt, with the U.S. Forest Service for 30 years, is District Fire Management Officer for the Moose Creek Ranger District in the Nez Perce National Forest, managing a 1.3 million acre fire program. Stu and Karen, married for 27 years, live in Corvallis, Mo. and have two sons.

Sue Cote-Demilia is an Occupational Therapist at the Danbury Hospital. She and husband Carl have two children.

Dan Leduc, an Information Technology Specialist for the US Forest Service in Pineville, La., manages the base camp computer system for fire fighters at large fires. He has traveled to Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and France.

Jeff Ritter is selling his 22 year old jewelry supply business. His wife Sandy (Fletcher) ’81 has a private family therapy practice in Portland and is a therapist at the Collaborative School in Pineland. They have three daughters and plan to move to Colorado in several years.

Fred Miller, in the sheet metal field for over 25 years, was promoted to the Estimating Department at Southern Tier Custom Fabricators at Elmira, N.Y. The company, promoting green building certification (LEEDS ®) concepts, has won many Silver awards. He and wife Sheila have two children.

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Bruce Desmond, a Senior Project Manager and Market Coordinator for New Crystal Restoration Enterprises in New York, has a son, Kevin.

Bill Hurley, a retired Army Major, is an Emergency Medical Technician in the Paramedic Program at Southern Maine Community College.

Bill Keogh is co-owner of Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Camp on Big Pine Key, Florida and owns a kayak guide business. He produces nautical charts of the Keys; reconstructions of the official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) charts. He and his dog live on their houseboat, the Double Exposure.

Sean McKenna is a Fisheries Biologist for the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Wife Laura (Cowan) McKenna ’79, is a Research Technician at the Institute for Coastal and Marine Resources at East Carolina University in Greenville. They have a daughter.

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Mark Caron, with Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for 27 years, has been the Enfield Regional Wildlife Biologist for six years. He is married to Ellen.

Ken Sinapius runs the Adventure Based Learning Experiences program at Delaware Valley Friends School. He and wife Becky have a son.

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI Christopher and Nancy (Rollins) Swanson report that Chris is Orrington Postmaster and Nancy has taught middle school in Orrington for 25 years. They see Mark Caron ’81, his wife Ellen, and Chris Gallagher ’80 who lives in California.

Mike Bias runs Ecosystem Restoration Sciences in Twin Bridges, Mont., and is Executive Director of the Big Hole River Foundation, a non-profit river conservation group in southwest Montana. Mike has a daughter and son.

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Owen Devereux spent 14 days on safari in Africa, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He shot a leopard and a lion.

Dan Doyle is a carpenter in Montville, Maine.

He and wife Carol lobster with a non-commercial license. They have two daughters.

Laura (Doyle) Green, a clinical analyst in the Information Technology Department of Southcoast Hospital Group, works with electronic health records. She received her Registered Nurse in 2000 and her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Bristol Community College in 2003. She has a daughter and a son.

Ingrid Nost married Al Caira, a lifelong friend. Ingrid, a nurse at Newton Wellesley Hospital, has two children and two grandchildren.

Gary Zane, Unity Dean of Students, coached the Annual Alumni basketball game in January.

Doug Saball, an environmental specialist II for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality, recently entered five Chinese Brush paintings in a contest with Oriental Art Supply.

He studied art with former professor Leonard Craig. To view his paintings, go to www. orientalartsupply.com/summerchallenge.

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Everett McLaughlin and wife Sandy live in Gilford, N.H. Everett graduated from Unity at age 43 and spent the next 16 years working as a fishery biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He received a 2010 Volunteer of the Year award from the New Hampshire Audubon Society for monitoring eagles and osprey, and is a member of the local Conservation Commission.

Steve Arnold is in sales for Sanford and Hawley Lumber Company in Farmington, Conn.

He has a son. Steve sees Barry Grady, who attended Unity in 1980-81.

Wayne Berger is Director of Horizons Outdoor Learning Center in Harrisonburg, Va. and Via Ferrata in W.Va. He and wife Deb have a son.

Mark Boisvert works for the U.S. Government Department of the Treasury in Massachusetts.

Christina (Campbell) Bias, a Yoga and Meditation teacher, works full time in a funeral home office. She lives with her son and daughter in Methuen, Mass.

Kathy (Denoncour) Baril works for the New Hampshire Healthy Kids program, providing low income health insurance for children. She also works with dogs at a pet resort. She is training to run a half-marathon at Disney World. Kathy has a daughter, two grandchildren, and a stepchild, daughter of husband, Roger.

Dan and Lynda (Paquette) Despard celebrated 25 years of marriage. They live on a small farm in Jefferson. Dan is Director of Maine Child Welfare Services in Rockland, and Lynda is a social worker for Community Health and Counseling Services in East Winthrop.

David Gerard, attended Unity in 1980. He owns a construction business specializing in custom cabinets, counter tops, and cold climate construction in Homer, Alaska, with his brother. He has a daughter and has been married for 25 years.

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Barbara Drury’s lab became the second canine at Tufts University Veterinary School to have an elbow replaced with a steel and plastic joint.

Rich Etchberger is Professor of Wildlife Science at University of Southern Utah. He and wife Lianna have one daughter.

Jim Ewing is Manufacturing Manager in charge of product development and engineering for Sterling Rope in Biddeford, Maine. He and Cathy have a daughter.

Mike Kaspereen retired after 25 years with the Maine State Police, the last 10 years as head of the Canine Unit. Currently, he is training detector dogs to locate drugs and explosives for private companies. His has one daughter.

Randy and Tracey (Coffin) Mattson both graduated from Radford University in Virginia, Randy with a Bachelor of Science in Business in 1988, and Tracey with a Banchelor of Science in Early and Middle Education in 1990 and a Masters of Art in English in 2004.

Randy manages family business Willow Creek Cottages in Willis, Va. Tracey, after teaching in elementary school for nine years, is Interim Director of the Radford University Learning Assistance and Resources Center. They have four children.

John “Beaker” Murray retired from the police department in 2003. He works at Hannaford and continues to compete in pistol shooting competitions. He and Christine married in 2002, and have a daughter.

Barbara (Hall) Krause owns Growing Like a Weed in Tilton, N.H. She and husband David have three children.

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John Middleton, in outside sales for Wilson Art International, lives in Wilmington, Mass.

Carolyn Jo (Bowker) Meserve reports husband John ’82, is taking good care of her as she recovers from back surgery. They own a horse and three cats.

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Mark Miranda is a graphic artist turned carpenter in Connecticut.

Nick Moros works in Research and Development for Alcoa Technical Center, in the Aluminum Lithium Casting Technology, Primary Metals section. He plays soccer and coaches high school soccer. He has three children.

Jennifer (Johansson) Diesinger lives in Tallahassee, Fla. and is an outside sales representative for an animal health company that sells to veterinarians.

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Kevin DesRoberts is Deputy Manager for the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes Ash Meadows, Desert, Moapa Valley and Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuges. He is married to Jeanne.

Bill Engvall is a massage therapist in Boston.

Dawn (Olson) Sackawitch has spent thirteen years as a National Park Service Interpretive Ranger at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Park in Kinderhook, N.Y. In 2008, she trained in Acadia to become an Interpretive Coach.

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ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Chris Schaum is a Training Captain Fireman at the Santa Fe, N.M. Fire Department.

He owns Chris’s Tree Service. He has two daughters.

Jim Dehner is Director of Preserve Stewardship at the Northeast Wildlands Trust in Duxbury, Mass. He and wife Vickie have two children.

Patricia Stoltenberg is a Rehabilitation Case Coordinator in the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. She works at FEDEX as a package handler. Trish is a member of the National Ski Patrol at Villa Olivia in Bartlett, Ill. Next April she plans a 50-mile walk for World Vision to raise money for Africa.

Ed Hurlburt owns Boat Moving and Storage, a marine consulting and new boat owner education business. During the winter he works for Rockport Marine, a small Maine boatyard specializing in wooden boat construction and repair. Ed and wife Naomi have two children.

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Cindy Dick is Coordinator of Special Events for the Arizona State University Alumni Association. She and her therapy dog volunteer weekly at a local hospital. Cindy spent summer vacation in Scotland and plans a bicycling trip through Austria in 2012.

Robin Farrin has owned Farrin Photography in Bar Harbor, Maine since 1992. She has three children, and plans a three month trip with her daughter to Italy’s Federation of Damanhur.

Steve Nacewicz has worked at the Westfield, Mass. Police Department for 17 years, the last 12 in the Community Police Unit. He and Margaret (Cary) ’89 have been married for 20 years and have a son.

Penni (Pushor) and Jim Porter have two daughters. Penni teaches a transition class at the Bank of America Child Development Center in Belfast, Maine.

Gregg Sands. a third grade teacher at the Gorham, Maine Elementary School, earned his Masters in Curricular and Instructional Technology from Framingham State University in 2010. He has three children.

Andrea (Wallens) Powell volunteers for the Four Winds Environmental Science parentteacher program. She is interested in photography and poetry, and has two children.

Tammy Ciesla is a Wildlife Technician for the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game and a Certified Track and Field Official. Last summer, she vacationed in Alaska.

Ted Goodell is in his tenth year at the Beverly, Mass. Police Department. He and Eileen celebrated 12 years of marriage. They have three children.

Jason Hurd is a Correctional Officer II, State Firearms Instructor, and Senior Instructor for lethal and non-lethal weapons for the Vermont Department of Corrections. Matt Burlew ’92 works at the same facility. Jason sees Ross Farnsworth ’92 several times a year.

Eric Kelchlin, a Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a geospatial course leader at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Lars Knakkergarrd is training in Energy Conservation/Auditing/Weatherization at the Green Enterprise Institute of the Charles River History Museum of Industry and Innovation. He owns Lars C. Knakkergarrd Photography in Jamaica Plains, Mass., specializing in art photography, landscapes, nighttime exposures, and portraits.

Ed McCann is a Project Manager for Tishman Construction in New York City. He traveled to Spain and Italy searching for the correct stone for a lobby renovation project. He and Ann Marie have two daughters.

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Shawn Blanchette works for a large logging operation. He is married and has five children. Last year he built a new home in West Newfield, Maine.

Randy Consla is a staff assistant at the Children’s National Medical Center in Rockville, Md.

Shawn Nordlund is a woodworker making custom and historical doors and windows for a small green wood shop in southern Vermont.

He is active in Living History; French and Indian War, and the fur trade mountain men reenactments.

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Joe Marchiano, a Truck Driver for YRC Worldwide, has been married for 14 years.

Jeff Nichols and wife Kathy announce the birth of their son, born November 5, 2010.

Jeff is a Salmonid Habitat Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Juneau.

Jennie Faison, with a degree in Information Technology, will earn an Associates Degree in Health Information in June 2011.

Jeff Nichols and wife Kathy announce the birth of their son, born November 5, 2010.

Jeff is a Salmonid Habitat Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Juneau 93

Jon Bayer is taking a year off from teaching science to renovate a house he bought on Spaulding Pond.

Joanne Greenwood and John Luft have two sons.

They live off-grid in Brooks. John works for ReVision Energy in Liberty, installing solar hot water and solar electric systems.

Dan Kircheis, a Fisheries Biologist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association National Marine Fisheries Protected Resource Division in Ellsworth, Maine is married and has three children. He has an organic garden and 20 chickens at their farm in Bucksport.

Dan builds boats.

Wayne Stump is Chief Executive Officer of the Schuylkill, Pa. YMCA. He is married to Rosemarie, who has a son.

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John Sahadi is Buyer for North Cove Outfitters in Old Saybrook, Conn. He has twin sons.

Nicole Salotti and partner Joseph Carringer own two businesses, Tiverton House, a booking agent for private Jamaican villas, and Sound Therapy.

Michael Valentin is a U.S. Air Force Medical Technician in San Antonio, Texas. He and wife Lorie have three children.

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Nate Gray, a Scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, has been work-

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ing on diadromous fisheries restoration for 18 years. He is building a log cabin in Troy, N.Y.

Jeffry Chase earned his Masters of Arts in Education and School Counseling from Goddard College, and is a school counselor

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI at Lewiston High School in Maine. He and Carey announce the birth of a son, born August 1, 2010.

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Mark Albanese, a field supervisor for U.S. Infrastructure Corporation in Ohio, is married to Terri.

Sean Dearborn owns an organic gardening business and cooks in a restaurant in Port Saint Lucie, Fla. He volunteers, teaching outdoor education at Savannah State Park.

Sasha (Ellsworth) Dyer, a Fish Health Consultant for Australis Aquaculture in Turners Falls, Mass., coaches swim team and works in the local Women, Infant, Children (WIC) office. She has three children.

Dean Floudaras, a Telecommunications Project Manager for Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Wash, was a back country wilderness ranger in New Hampshire, and a caretaker of two mountain homes in a Utah ski village. Dean is married.

Jennifer (Lapiana) Matheson substitutes at the local schools, works at the local Environmental Education Center, and manages a local supermarket at night. She has three children.

Jim MacMichael has spent 15 years as a Service Journey workman for Central Maine Power Company.

Jamey McNally organized and played in the Alumni basketball game in January.

a Maine State Trooper for 13 years. He and wife own Element Day Spa in South Paris.

Damon Johnson owns Mountain World Media, publishing climbing guides and a children’s book. He is co-owner of Rope Tech Telluride and attained Industrial Rope Access Trade Association Level III. He works six months in Alaska for Remote Access Technologies, rigging for inspectors in energy facilities. He and partner Daiva Chesonis own a Telluride book store and have a daughter.

Frank Tazzara owns Crowsfoot Carpentry in Oregon, and is a certified Green Professional and certified Lead Renovator. He is married to Julie.

Tom Poirier is Town Planner for Gorham, Maine. He and wife Janice have a son.

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Mark Roche and wife Kristi are Fish Culture Technicians for the State of Vermont in Grand Isle.

Meghan (Moriarty) Archibald and Rob Archibald ‘01 married in 2006 and have two sons.

Meghan is an agricultural biotech grower researching crops for biofuel production. Rob is an operating room neurology registered nurse.

Dan and Andrea (Iverson) Reny own Muscongus Bay Lobster Company in Round Pond, Maine. Andrea teaches Math at the Riley School.

Matt Tufts is a Deputy Sheriff and a K-9 Officer for the Cumberland County Sheriff ’s Office in Portland, Maine. He and his canine, Rocky, will soon be certified for drug searches. Matt and wife Kate own an alpaca farm in New Gloucester, Queen’s Land Farm Alpacas. They have two children.

Phil Barrett is an Animal Cruelty Investigator and City of Clean Court Security for the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Cattaraugus County, N.Y. He has one son.

Mike Chavez and his wife celebrated their fifth anniversary and announce the birth of their first son, on August 22, 2010. Mike has been

Jim Newton, a computer technician, was married in July 2008. Jim and Ying announce the birth of their daughter, born on November 24, 2010.

Heidi Cornell, an Emergency Medical Technician in Hudson, N.Y., was promoted to Captain. Heidi also runs a family cat boarding business.

Chris Witkus has spent 13 years as a wild land firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service at the Cherokee National Forest and is Squad Boss of the Cherokee Hotshots in Unicoi, Tenn.

He and wife Meagan have a daughter.

Joy Braunstein is President and CEO of the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte, N.C. and teaches at Salem College.

Matt Mooney spent four years in Australia, working in Information Technology for Dunn and Bradstreet. He is married to Amanda.

Rob Morang is a Patrol Deputy for the Hancock County Sheriff ’s Department. He and wife Brandi have three children.

Ben Nowak owns a property management business, Get-It-Done Property Maintenance. He and wife Christine have three children.

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daughter. He saw Tommy Swearington, former Park Management Professor, now conducting educational programs at his Alabama farm.

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Ryan Harmick owns the Hitching Post, a bar and restaurant in DuBois, Penn.

Chris Hayes is Director of Compliance and Security at a pharmaceutical corporation in the Boston area.

Mark Knapp is a Consultant for a Dom pipe/ tube mill in Youngstown, Ohio. He has a

Jennifer (Thurlow) Rudman is the Director of Occupational Therapy at Play/Learn/Grow/ Express in Norway and will graduate with her Masters in special education from the University of Southern Maine in May, 2011.

She and husband Kevin have two sons.

Crystal (Bowden) Clarke and Jason ’99 have been married for 13 years and have four children.

Crystal volunteers at the children’s school, is a Girl Scout leader, and works with her State Representative to change child predator laws in Massachusetts. Jason is a Forman/Layout Engineer for a building company in the Boston area.

Rebecca (Roy) Phelps and Ethan Phelps were married August 16, 2010 at Sugarloaf. Becky, a conservation educator for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, spent the summer conducting teacher workshops and coordinating State Park interpreters.

Chris Hayes is director of compliance and security at a pharmaceutical corporation in the Boston area.

Matt Mooney spent four years in Australia, working in IT for Dunn and Bradstreet. He is married to Amanda.

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ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Mark Roche and wife Kristi are fish culture technicians for the State of Vermont in Grand Isle.

Tony DaSilva owns Brick & Stone Masonry in Fairfield, specializing in lime mortar restoration, wood fired bake ovens, and masonry heaters.

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Cheryl Barden owns Maine Wood Heat Company in Norridgewock, Maine. She has a son working in the business and has a daughter.

Tony DaSilva owns Brick & Stone Masonry in Fairfield, specializing in lime mortar restoration, wood fired bake ovens, and masonry heaters.

Joe DeCrescenzo is a Microbiologist for the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford, Conn.

Meg (Diviney) Fearing and husband Casey announce the birth of their son, born on June 6, 2010. Meg is on leave from her work with developmentally disabled adults.

Kevin Furlong, a Sergeant in the Milford, NH Police Department, received awards, including: the Merit Award from the Milford Police Department, the New Hampshire Hero Award presented by the Governor, and the New Hampshire Police Officer of the Year Award.

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Christy Aucoin owns Dancing Carrot Farm and a roving farm stand in Cabot, Vt. She and husband Shane Smith have two children.

Ed Spaulding, Executive Director of Northland Adventure in Jericho, Vt., is finishing his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Brian Letiecq is a Soil and Water Technician for Sevee & Maher Engineers in Cumberland, Maine. Wife Paula (McKinney) Letiecq ’98 is an educator at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, teaching local agriculture and farming. They live on Highland Lake in Windham.

Sarah Stephenson worked professionally in theater for the past three years, after earning a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater Design and Technology from Columbus State in 2006 and spending three years working in the field. She was married in March 2011

Karie Merrill is the Science Curriculum Coordinator for the Springfield, Mass. museum.

She and partner Tim live in Connecticut.

Jason Saucier is a Water Laboratory Director for NSF Surefish Laboratory in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Justin Sharpe is a U.S. Forest Service Fuels Planner at the Malheur National Forest in Emigrant Creek, Oregon.

Donna (Hyslop) Furlong teaches Math in the Henniker Community School. She and husband Kevin have a daughter.

Tony Sudnick is a US Law Enforcement Park Ranger at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord/Lexington, Mass. He and wife Renee have two sons.

Amy Hudnor, Senior Planner for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands in Augusta, is married to Jason Fitzgerald. They have a son.

Neil Ward is Director of the Androscoggin River Alliance. He and wife Ann have a son.

Keri (Lane) and Aaron Palleschi ‘97 have four children and a backyard farm. Aaron, a union Ironworker, co-owns P &M Reinforcing.

They visited with Vicki (Brock) Wilcox ‘97 in N.Y. Vicki has a son.

Andrea (Williamson) York played in the Alumni basketball game in January. She teaches grades 7 and 8 math and science in Waldoboro, Maine.

Roy Liard is a Lieutenant for the Millville Fire Department and an Emergency Medical Technician for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Lucas Savoy is a Wildlife Biologist at BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham. He and wife Elayna live in Windham with their daughter.

Shanin Cote graduates from the University of Maine at Presque Isle with a degree in athletic training, May 2011, and plans on graduate school for Occupational Therapy. She is engaged to be married in June 2011.

Hiroshi Okamoto is a manager at Shiretoko National Park in Rausucho Hokkaido, Japan. He traveled to Alaska’s Denali National Park to study park management methods.

Nicole (Shell) Pecori and John ’98 announce the birth of twin daughters on September 13, 2010.

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Nori Ninomiya lives in Japan. He is married, and works at a golf course. In 2001, he received an Masters of Science in Recreation from Western Kentucky University.

Carl Bois is self-employed and living in Connecticut with wife Sarah and their son.

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Ryan Hodgman married Emily Miller on June 27, 2009. They announce the birth of their first child, born in January 2011. Ryan is Southern Regional Development Coordinator for the Maine Department of Transportation. They live in Portland.

James Watts is an Emergency Medical Technician for MedStar Ambulance in Austin, Texas. He plans to open a photography business.

Thad Hutchinson, a correctional officer, is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq as a Military Police Staff Sergeant in the Alabama National Guard. He and wife Laurie have a daughter.

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Misty (Briggs) Charles married Will on September 24, 2005. They live in Monson, Maine.

Bobby Buivid is owner and Chief Executive Officer of Zero Events, a marketing firm focusing on social and environmental responsibility programs. He and wife Helen live in Chicago.

Nathan Davis attends Central Maine Community College in Auburn, studying to be a Vet Tech.

Jan Lovy earned his Ph.D. in Fish Health at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and is currently completing postdoctoral research in fish health at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Tim Fridinger, a Police Officer in Wilton, Conn., is married to Liz. Brad Milne, a Project Coordinator for a large general contractor in southern New Hampshire, is married to Kate. They have a daughter.

Alice (Nelder) Wilbur is a Security Officer for Central Maine Power Company. She has three daughters and three grandsons.

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI Former Unity College varsity basketball players took on the current Unity College Basketball women’s teams during the fifth annual Alumni Basketball Game in January.

Back row Left to Right: Christy (Charters) Kervin ’04, Kristen (Hewitt) Brower ’03, Kelly Young ‘08, Jeremy VonOsen (coach 1999-2008) Front row- Andrea (York) Williamson ’00, Christine Blakesley ’07, Kelly Beth (Safford) Lavertu ’10

Colleen (Waldron) Pelczar teaches English as a Second Language at Embassy CES, Merrimack College, in North Andover, Mass.

Josh Chambers, a Paramedic for five years in Arkansas, now lives in South Carolina. He and wife Shanna have two daughters.

Adrianna Siniawski is in her second year of law school at Western New England College in Springfield, Mass. She will work for nonprofit legal services on a Navajo Reservation in Ariz. during the summer of 2011.

Dave and Mia Clark announce the birth of their second daughter, born October 14, 2010.

Timothy Tracy works for the U.S. Government in the Philadelphia area. He and wife Alana (Donahue) ’01 have a son, and are expecting a second.

Taichi Yamaguchi lives in Japan and has a daughter.

Lorie (Beasley) DePeralta and husband David announce the birth of their son, born December 13, 2010. Lori is a Code Enforcement Officer working for the City of Kansas City, Mo. in the Neighborhood Preservation Department Devon Witherell is employed by Maine Natural Areas Program. Currently she is deployed to Iraq as an Army Senior Instructor.

Bob Cartier is a Probation and Parole Officer for the Maine Department of Corrections and a training officer for the Waldo Volunteer Fire Department. Previously, he was a Corporal/ Training Officer with the Waldo County Sheriff ’s Department. He and Stephanie married in 2006 and they have four daughters.

Jay Seyfried works for Next Era Maine Operating Services in Hallowell, Maine.

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Jason Bosco, a Detective with the Waldo County Sheriff ’s Department, lives in Unity,Maine with wife Rebecca and two daughters.

Shawn Devlin plans to complete his Doctorate in Environmental Science at Wright State University in early 2011. He and wife Hilary have a son.

Rachel (Haverinen) Heiss and Jon ’02 announce the birth of their son, born on June 26, 2010.

They live in Arlington, Va. Sammy (Marchesan) Charytoniuk married Ivan in April 2010. She taught ESL in Argentina, and is now a case worker in Summit County, Colo.

Ashley Messner, a Certified Yoga Instructor for the YMCA and the Restorative Justice Re-Entry Programs, owns an organic baby diaper and clothing business, Little Lennen’s Linens. She and her husband have one daughter and are expecting a daughter in March 2011.

Jasmine Redlevske and Darin Hammond married June 12, 2010 in Roque Bluffs, Maine.

Jasmine is a Maine Forest Service Ranger stationed in Jonesboro.

Becky Traylor works for Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow.

Steve Turbayne is a Manufacturing Associate II for Xcellerex, a company producing biodrugs through disposable technology.

Tony Cardoso is an Associate in the law firm of Sokoloff Stern LLP. Previously he was Deputy Attorney in the Nassau County Attorney’s Office. He and Jess Follansbee are engaged. They plan to buy a farm in upstate New York.

Megan McDonough works for the USDA/Farm Service Agency in Maine and owns a small horse farm. She has a daughter.

Heather Chappel is an ICU nurse at Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital in South Hadley, Mass. and is applying for a Doctorate of Pharmacy degree program. She and Mike Benjamin plan to marry on October 11, 2012.

Kristen Hewitt is completing her doctorate in Exercise Physiology at Springfield College.

She played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Dave and Mia Clark announce the birth of their second daughter, born October 14, 2010.

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Joanne Scanlon works for Hewlett Packard, and volunteers for Audubon conducting studies on coastal bird and turtle mortality.

She has a daughter.

Heather Baker, a GIS Specialist for Washington County, N.Y., will marry Tyson Weller on September 24, 2011. He has three children. .

Nate and Gayle (Bowness ’05) Bodge have two children. Nate works for the Bath Water District and owns a firewood business. Gayle is Program Coordinator for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.

Christy (Charters) Kervin played in the alumni basketball game in January. She and Jeremy Kervin ’05 are expecting a baby in February.

Luke DeDominici is a Law Enforcement Ranger at Fire Island National Seashore. He married Elsy Bonilla in March. 2010 Corey Firth is working in a military uniform factory.

Emily Jones, a Public Relations Representative for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, is responsible for youth and family education, marketing, and public relations. She and Kristopher MacCabe were married on February 12, 2011, at Sugarloaf.

Craig King is a specialist on a Trawl Survey project in Boothbay for the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Greg and Sarah (Foley) Linsmeyer announce the birth of their son, born in March 2010.

Sarah is Aquatic Director at the Henderson, N.C. Family YMCA. UNITY SPRING 2011 |

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ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Noah Schneider, a manager of a group home, trains and teaches at a mixed martial arts school. He is married to Torey. Noah played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Will See, a U.S. Park Ranger at Death Valley National Park in California, is attending a seven month mandatory law enforcement training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Complex in Brunswick, Ga. Louis Turner, a manager of Tractor Supply, has been married to Lisa for 34 years and has five children.

Scott Morrison, a CAD Technician for a large mechanical drafting firm, received his commercial green building certificate in 2009.

Weekends he is a caretaker with the Operations Department at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Scott and wife Tara announce the birth of their second son, born in October 2010.

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Joey Bearce played in the Alumni basketball game in January.

Colleen Corey, a Laboratory Animal Technician working with mice and rats, aims to become a Laboratory Assistant Mike David, living in Hamden, Conn., is engaged to be married to Brianna DiNello. A September 10, 2011 wedding is planned on

Branford Point in Branford, Conn. On January 12, 2011, David, an Energy Consultant, was featured in a New York Times article, “Preventing Heat From Sneaking Out of the House”. David works at New England Conservation Services, Center for Green Design, in Woodbridge, Conn.

Zac Glidden, a Fish Culturist for the Maine Department of Inland fisheries at the Enfield Fish Hatchery, is engaged to Katie Priest, and will marry on October 1, 2011.

Jessi Manty works as a Wildlife Technician for the Massachusetts Department of Wildlife. He and Kim Knower married in June 2009.

Kailyn (Medeiros) Shippee is a dorm parent and activities teacher at the Hampshire Country School in Rindge, N.H. She and Ian were married on August 21, 2010.

Tom Oliva, a Police Officer with the New York City Police Department, took anti-terrorism training with Homeland Security.

Connie (Schuler) Bond and Ben Bond married June 9, 2009 and are expecting their first child in March 2011. Connie is a Manager at Lowe’s in Herkimer, N.Y. Randy Smith is a river rafting guide for Moxie Outdoor Adventures in The Forks, Maine and for Holiday Expeditions in Green River, Utah.

Ben and Kristin (Arris) Vicere announce the birth of a daughter, born on October 15, 2010. Ben is a Forester for Robbo Holleran Forestry in Chester, Vt. Kristin works at People’s United Bank in Springfield, Vt. Kevin “Coyote” Watson designed the first “Eradication of Non-Native Invasive Plants” project for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Kevin is a maintainer at Three Rivers Community College and a Union Steward.

Jason Overlock was featured on Bill Green’s Maine, a local show he also appeared on when he was a Unity undergraduate. Jason, part of a Maine Department of Marine Resources team, is planting 800,000 Atlantic Salmon eggs in the Sandy River section of the Kennebec. The eggs, buried under the river gravel, will mature into juveniles in a natural setting and emerge in the spring, when the river temperature is conducive. To see Jason go to www.wlbz2.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=777394094001#/Bill%20 Green%27s%20Maine%20Atlantic%20Salm on%20eggs/777394094001 06

Joe Hallock lives in Asheville, N.C. His band, Southern Exposure, will tour the east coast in September.

Greg Beck and Stacie Powell married in Killington, Vt. on September 25, 2010. Greg is an Area Manager for Willamette Landscape Services in Portland, Oregon. Stacie is College Resource Coordinator for I Have a Dream Foundation. She is working on a Masters in Science Teaching and a Masters in Education at Portland State University.

David and Linda (Snow) Bedinin ’05 have a son, born in May 2009, and expect their second son in May 2011. David is a Connecticut Police Officer.

Mike Brown, an Ed Tech III at Tripp Middle School in Turner, Maine and is engaged to be married to Meg Creamer ’06.

Alumni representing businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies at the 2011 Environmental Career Fair.

First Row: Nicole (Lazure) Collins ’00, Lyndsey Smith ‘05, Danielle Dyer ‘03, Jeff McCabe ’00, Second Row: Keith Crowley ’07 Sgt. Wayne Cronin ‘98, Daniel Bowker ‘99, Dustin Meattey ‘07, Mike Chickering ‘98, Amanda Hardaswick ’00, Kyle Rosenberg ‘98, Alex Delucia ‘03, Joe Davis ‘93, Erin Amadon ’03, Scott Maddox ’04, Matt Wyman ‘06, Terri Hughes ’02. Third Row: CJ Walke ‘97, Paul Sannicandro ‘99, Fred Mason ‘98, Chris Dyer ’95, Chris Schoppmeyer ’77, Joseph “Salty” Saltalamachia ’94, Glenn Lucas ’07, Craig Morrocco ’88, Scott Davis ’89. Fourth Row: Cristin Bailey ’98, Ed Spaulding ‘01, Dave Clark ‘02, Larry Dvorsky ‘95, Alvah Maloney ‘99

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Mary Jewett, a Teacher-Naturalist for the Lakes Environmental Association in Bridgton, Maine, started as an Americorps intern and continued after her term of service was over.

Tim Miller, a conservation and natural resources management specialist in the Peace Corps, will be in Ethiopia for 27 months.

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI Isaiah Onorato is a wood pellet stove technician and in sales at Damariscotta Hardware. He is completing a solar project with 302 panels.He and wife Ashley announce the birth of twins, born Feb. 5, 2010.

Zak Lehmann, lives in New Haven and is conducting GIS analysis for a non-profit.

Kristin San Miguel works at Ludwig Irrigation and Landscape in Boonville, Ca. Noah Bourassa married Ariana Johnson in July 2010. Noah works on a construction crew for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Gorham, N.H. Kevin Rogers recently changed positions.

Previously at the Florida Fish and Wildlife, and then working with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection on an American black duck telemetry project; Kevin now works at Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge on a salt marsh sparrow study and helping with piping plover management.

In the fall he will help run a bird banding station at Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island.

Sean Coty, a lineman apprentice, is married to Wendy. They have a son. .

Alison Correia, employed by the New England Animal Medical Center, is working toward a nursing degree.

Evan Dudley is a Sawyer for Marlowe Forest Products in Guilford, Conn.

Katie Haase received her Masters of Science degree in Conservation Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, studying moose and climate change in the Adirondacks. She is employed at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in the Hudson Valley region, as a Geographic Information System (GIS) Analyst.

Amanda Hardaswick is a Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the US Fish & Wildlife Service at the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in Calais.

Justin Hart, a professional fisherman in Maryland from June through October, spends winters as a waterfowl guide in southeast Texas Nikki Lee, a Vet Assistant at the Woodbrook Animal Clinic in Wiscasset, works with large and small animals.

Stephen Lurvey is employed by Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., in lab animal support.

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Paul Smith is an Arborist in North Yarmouth, Maine.

Christine Blakesley is a Sports and Recreation Teacher for children with special needs at Whole Children in Hadley, Mass.“Skooch” played in the Alumni basketball game in January.

Ryan and Tiffany (Pulli) Caudle expect their first child in March 2011. Ryan is a Passport Support Associate at CGI Federal in Portsmouth, N.H. Holli Cederholm and Brian St. Laurent are the 2010-2012 Farmers-in-Residence at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) in Unity. Their farm, Proud Peasant Farm, produces organic mixed vegetables and tempeh for sale through a CSA and farmers’ markets.

Alisa Christopher, a Law Clerk at the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, received her J.D. degree from the University of Maine Law School in May and awaits results of the bar exam. She and David Ross ’06 married in August 2009. Dave is a Maine Game Warden in the Fryeburg.

Audrey Laffely ‘08

Patty (Madden) and Phil Mascia ’08 were married April 25, 2009. Patty is schedule editor for West World Media, a movie listings company. She plans on attending school this fall for high school biology certification.

Justin Merrill, a Geographic Information System (GIS)/Global Positioning System(GPS) Specialist, is in charge of pest management for Cherryfield Foods in Cherryfield, Maine. He is a columnist for Outdoors Magazine.

Rob Mitchell and Michele Rinko announce the birth of a daughter, born September 25, 2010.

Rob, a project manager at Kojawk Northeast Marine Division, played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Tom Paine and Amanda Gonzales ’08 married on June 28, 2010. Tom is Trail Maintenance Supervisor for the city of San Antonio, Texas at Medina River Natural Area. Amanda, with a Vet Tech degree, works in a veterinarian hospital.

Megan Schwender is a graduate student in the Wildland Resources Department at Utah State University in Logan.

How many alumni can claim a Hawaiian vacation led to their Unity education? For Audrey Laffley ’08, when she met a park ranger at the lava flows, the decision was instantaneous.

“That’s what I want to do with my life,” Laffely said. “I knew Unity was the perfect college to help me attain my dreams of being outside and working in some of the most beautiful places in the world.”

That one touch point with a stranger, led her home to Maine and to Unity, where her dreams were molded and changed.

A parks, recreation, and ecotourism major, Laffely added a landscape horticulture major when she took Doug Fox’s plant health care class. After graduation, she took a position at Elk Grove Village Park District.

Upon learning her mother had a Multiple Sclerosis, Laffely channeled her education and outing club experience to organize a fundraising cross country bike trip for Can Do Multiple Sclerosis.

Now on leave of absence from her job, Laffely will communicate with Unity friends through her blog, www. crosscountryaudrey.org, while biking from San Francisco to Brunswick, Maine, her hometown.

Laffely credits Unity, her major, and Professor Tom Mullen, among others, for instilling confidence, focusing her desire for continuous learning, and improving her skills to achieve common goals. Mullen inspired Laffely to hike the Appalachian Trail, a childhood dream, one of the best experiences of her life, and the inspiration for her bike trip. When Laffely finishes her journey, she says, “I hope to use the same determination and skills I learned at Unity to advocate for community gardens and environmental stewardship.”

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ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Benjamin Smith is a Forestry Technician/Recreation for the U.S. Forest Service in Conway, N.H. from May to October and works as a ski lift operator for Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway.

Sarah Snyder is in her fourth year in a Doctorate program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology at the University of Nevada/Reno, studying the effects of fire on desert tortoise thermal ecology in the Mojave Desert.

Ben Stochmal enlisted in the Army, went to airborne school, and now jumps out of planes at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Ben and Kayte married in April 2010.

Colby White is a Human Resource Representative, organizing special community service projects and food banks, for C&S Wholesale Grocers in Brattleboro, Vt. She is a certified Hunter Education instructor.

Tara (Morgan) and Cordial Di Ruggiero married in September 2010. He is a Public Safety Officer at the Stamford, Conn. Town Center and she is a Sales Associate at Petco in Norwalk.

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Samantha (Chisholm) and Andrew Fleming married on August 7, 2009. Both work for U.S. Fish and Wildlife, in southern Illinois. Sam is a Federal Game Warden. Andrew is a Biology Technician and is working on a Masters in GIS. Brandon Carroll played in the Alumni basketball game in January.

Brandon Coones, an Assistant Wildlife Biologist for the BioDiversity Research Institute , works in the Gulf of Mexico. He played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Bob Costa, works for the National Park Service in park maintenance at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Mo., and worked as a visitors use assistant at Big Cypress National Preserve in Fla. He seeks a Wildlife Biologist and Biologist Tech position.

Jared Erskine, manager of the Acadia Bike and Kayak in Bar Harbor, coaches Bar Harbor Middle School basketball. He played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Tom Freedman is a Hatchery Technician at Phoenix Salmon in Oquossoc, Maine.

Charlie Alves is a Police Officer for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections in Norfolk, Mass.

Alex Johnston is in the seasonal furbearing unit at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Chris Ames works in Production at Verso Paper Corp. in Bucksport, Maine.

Caty Jones is an Education Interpreter at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.

Tori Arnold is earning a Masters of Education in biology at Lehigh University and is teaching science in a nature-centered pre-school.

Nichole Nageotte is Zookeeper at the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Gulf Breeze, Fla.

Rachael Bahre is in sales at Columbia Sportswear in Seattle, Wash. She volunteers with a local environmental nonprofit, focusing on youth service learning and habitat restoration.

Shawn and Heather (Swieneicki) Brassard are employed at Muscongus Bay Aquaculture in Damariscotta, Maine. They celebrated their first anniversary.

Hannah Brzycki received her Masters in Business from Husson in May 2009. She is an Assistant Manager at the Body Shop in Freeport, and a landscaper.

Dan Cavanaugh, a Field Biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit in Naples, Fla., is observing behavior of kites, a federally endangered bird, in the Everglades.

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Tirzah Nichols is Senior Zookeeper at the Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville, Ga. Mary Peebles is a Zookeeper at the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, Del., working with hoofstock, birds, small primates, big cats and other small mammals and reptiles.

Jenny Smiechowski is an interlibrary loan tech and copy cataloger at the Westmont Public Library in Downers Grove, Illinois. She volunteers as a Development Associate at the non-profit DuPage PAWS Inc. Amanda Sousa studied radio broadcasting and graduated from the New England School of Communication in May 2010.

Isabel Streichhahn-Demers is working on a masters in Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture at the New England School of Acu-

puncture. She farms with husband Tyson, in South Berwick, Maine.

Sarah Woodward assisted on a graduate research project with American Oystercatchers in South Carolina this summer. Currently, she works for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection on avian influenza surveillance.

Christine (Wright) Reece, a Freelance Editor, lives with husband Jonathan in Ontario, Canada.

Kelly Young, an Assistant Wildlife Biologist for the BioDiversity Research Institute, works in the Gulf of Mexico. She played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Jeff Ruckert, a paramedic for Delta in Waterville, Maine, is working on certification.

While at Unity, he was a volunteer for the Unity Ambulance. Jeff is considering a move to West Virginia.

Katharine (Musolff) Chornyak is an Instructor of Holistic Yoga. She and Josh expect their first child in March. They are living in Sturgis, Mich., Katharine’s home town.

Audrey Laffely and her husband, Scott Tomlinson, began a fundraiser cross country bike trip in early March to raise money for Can Do Multiple Sclerosis in honor of her mom, diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2009.

On her blog www.crosscountryaudrey.org you can follow their trip across the country.

Nate Williams, a Heavy Equipment Operator, has been in the U.S. Army for eight years.

He played in the alumni basketball game in January.

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Roni (Fein) Etheridge is a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer at the Huron Manistee National Forest in the lower peninsula of Mich. She married Jeff in May 2009.

Megan Anderson, an organic gardener at Peacemeal Farm in Dixmont, Maine works at Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow in the off-season.

Katy Brackett, a Hut Master for Maine Huts and Trails in Carrabassett Valley in western Maine, is planning to go to graduate school.

Andrew and Danielle (Warner) Cilley were married on October 11, 2008 and live in Hebron, Conn.

CLASS NOTES ALUMNI Aaron Cross and Cassie Craven plan to marry in July 2011. Aaron is a Corporal with the Maine Warden Service.

Molly Kiff attends Prescott College in Ariz., and is Assistant Managing Editor of the college literary magazine, Alligator Juniper.

Mike Desjardins is a Wildlife Management Intern in Chincoteague, Va.

Julie Lachance, a Youth Development Volunteer in the Peace Corps in the Ukraine, lives in a small village 30 kilometers from the Russian border. She teaches English and runs a service learning group.

Jake Deslauriers, formerly a field supervisor for the Southwest Conservation Corps in Durango, Colo., is leading conservation crews for CREC in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Ryan Dinsmore, a part-time police officer, attends Correctional Officers Academy for the Maine State Prison in Warren, Maine.

Justin Douglas works for Dick’s Sporting Goods in South Portland.

Andrew Durgin, a part time police officer in Old Orchard Beach, received his Masters in Public Administration, Criminal Justice Administration, from Ave Maria College in Paxton, Mass. in May 2010.

Bradley Eklund owns Entwood Crafts, making handmade wooden puzzles, and owns a landscaping business. He and wife Hazel live in North Carolina and have a son.

Eric Fluette, a conservation officer for the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, graduated from the police academy in 2010.

Nate Jack, working for the Knox County Sheriff ’s Office, graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in December, 2010.

Nate Kelly played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Dana Mark is a trip leader and outdoor classroom instructor at Chewonki in Wiscasset, Maine.

Erin Milligan is an Animal Caregiver/Adoption Counselor at the Lowell Humane Society in Massachusetts.

Patrick Milligan is a Somerset County Corrections Officer in Skowhegan, Maine.

Adrienne Patenaude is Logistics Coordinator for Outward Bound in Newry, Maine.

Patrick Robinson helps run the family farm in South Hero, Vermont.

Brian Schaffer, a graduate school research assistant at South Dakota State University, is working toward a masters in wildlife sciences. His thesis is entitled “An Evaluation of the History Parameters and Management of White-tailed Deer in North Dakota”.

Amanda Walker, formerly a Park Interpreter for U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Wisconsin, starts an internship at the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, Vt. conducting education programs.

Sarah Woodman, formerly a field biologist working with threatened and endangered shorebirds on a Nantucket, now works in an afterschool program in the inner-city school.

She has applied for the Plymouth State University Masters of Arts program for teaching science.

Justin Blouin works in hunting/fishing department at L.L. Bean. He is producing an all Maine hunting video which includes other Unity alumni. He and Chelsea plan to be married in October, 2011, and own a home in Greene.

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Kristin Grivois works for Sprigs and Twigs, a landscaping company in Connecticut.

Michael Curran graduates from Police Academy in February 2011 and will start field training as a Conservation Officer for the Connecticut DEP. Erin Balcom works at Target and teaches skiing at Pat’s Peak.

Kris Segars, a Behavioral Specialist working for Ironwood, played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Lucas Benner teaches chemistry and physics at Georges Valley High School in Thomaston, Maine.

Megan Suplinskas teaches 4- and 5-year olds at the Lutheran Church in Grant, Mich.

Charlotte Berry is working toward a masters in marine biology at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Zoe Turcotte conducts horseshoe crab research for the Massachusetts Audubon Society Citizen Science program at Edgartown, Mass.

Alicia (Billman) Hulbert married in October 2010. She is an Americorps volunteer, first aid/cpr and wilderness first aid instructor, for

Former Unity College varsity basketball players took on the current Unity College Basketball men’s teams during the fifth annual Alumni Basketball Game in January.

Left to Right Top Row: #22 Sidney Negron ’12. Second Row: #14 Clover Street ’11, #42 John Crowe ’13, #10 James Benvenuti ’11, #20 Nate Kelley ’09. Third Row: #52 Jamey McNally ’95, #42 Brandon Carroll ’08, #30 Greg Sands ’89, #34 Kris Segars ’09, # 22Ned Girard ’09, #24 Nate Williams ’08, #10 Brandon Coones ’08, #14 Rob Mitchell ’07, #32 Joey Bearce ’05, #30 Onassis Porto ’14, #34 Logan Morin ’12, #32 Kyle Bruetsch ’12. Bottom Row: Jeremy Kervin ’05, #14 Jared Erskine ’08, #44 Noah Schneider ’04, #12 Ben Bouchard ’11, #20 Gareth Smith ’14.

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ALUMNI the American Red Cross in Wheeling, W.Va. She and husband George plan to move west this summer to work as hunting guides.

Jessica Brummel works at the Unity House of Pizza while applying for zoo keeping positions across the country.

Ethan Buuck completed Advanced Warden School in August and graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in December 2010. He is a Game Warden with the Maine Warden Service working in Aroostook County.

Lisa Casagrande is working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department as a Refuge Officer and will be stationed at Cape May, N.J. Whitney Corbran works as a lab assistant at NorDx Labs in Scarborough, and as a game advisor for GameStop. She is studying for the GREs, and plans to return to Africa to work with big cats.

Kemper (Tiffany) “Shorty” Dorsey hiked 789 miles of the Appalachian Trail from Katahdin to Bear Mountain, N.Y. She plans to resume the hike in August, 2011. Tiffany changed her name to Kemper.

Addison “Addey” Edmunds completed a preemployment training course for the National Park Service at Skagit Valley College.

Chris Gerhard works for Yellowstone Dog Sled Adventures in Montana.

Ned Girard played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Lincoln Holt is interviewing for a position in a group home for the severely developmentally disabled in Missoula, Mont.

Xander Kennedy is working at Cabela’s in Portland, Maine.

Colton LeBoeuf, a Patrolman for the Barre, Vt. Police Department and a Deputy for the Caledonia County Sheriff ’s Department, is finishing his field training for the Sheriff ’s Department.

Kelly (Safford) Lavertu played in the alumni basketball game in January.

Casey Smith is deployed in Afghanistan as an Army Combat Military Police, working the personal security detail, escorting VIPs.

Melinda Madsen is working at the Maine Department of Marine Resources as a Seafood Technologist in the Bureau of Resource Management, Public Health Division. She has a son.

Dave Stillsom is working toward a masters in biology at Adelphi University, writing a thesis on the stabilimentum structures created by the garden spider.

Lauren Mazurkiewicz is a certified medical assistant.

Steve Swartz is an Energy Auditor in the energy efficiency/alternative energy field.

Felicia Medeiros and John Mahoney married on September 18, 2010 in an outdoor wedding at Lake George Regional Park in Skowhegan, Maine. Felicia is applying for jobs in her field, and looking into taking classes towards her Masters. John is working at Toys “R” Us in Bangor.

Matty Zane finished six months of trail work in the White Mountains. He is in Mexico for the winter, rock climbing and doing trail work.

Andrew Michael, a Seasonal Fisheries Technician for Next Era Energy, owner of the Lockwood, hydroelectric project, in Waterville, Maine, operates the fish lift. In the winter he is night librarian at Quimby Library.

Krista Newell bottle feeds fawns on a deer ranch in Hondo, Texas.

NEWS OF FORMER FACULTY AND STAFF

Robin Lowe is a faculty member and art gallery director at Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo.She works with Bachelor of Fine Arts senior capstone students.

Pam Proux-Curry has a new position as Dean at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

Allison O’Connor attends the Police Academy in Rhode Island.

Charlie Rabeni and wife Jane completed an Elderhostel trip to Costa Rica in February.

Charlie traveled to China.

Matt O’Neal worked as a Loon Biologist this summer in Stratton for BioDiversity Research Institute, catching loons and eagles.

He is looking for a new position.

Pat Stevens, an adjunct professor in North Carolina, has conducted research about the Sons of the American Revolution for books he is working on.

Deidre Ousterhout is working seasonally as an animal show assistant at the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Anna Peabody is a snowboarding instructor at Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado.

IN MEMORIAM Professor Emeritus Florence Noonan died on November 3, 2010 after a courageous battle against cancer. She had traveled all over the world, enjoying Europe, the Middle East, India and Bali, and kept up her interest with her international stamp collection. She received a Bachelor’s of Art from Temple University and a Master’s of Art in Philosophy from Boston College. She started teaching at Unity in 1968 and retired in 1992, at the rank of Professor. Donations in her memory can be made to the Unity College Scholarship Fund or to the Waterville Humane Society.

Brian L. Wheeler ’81, died on November 24, 2010 in Louisville, Colo. from a brain tumor. A celebration of his life took place on January 10, 2011 in Louisville. He is survived by his wife Marnie, and their two children.

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Richard J. Baker ’85 died on October 4, 2010 in Brookline, Mass. from a brain tumor. Rich studied photography at the Art Institute of Boston, receiving an award for excellence in visual arts. He was an instructor at the Art Institute of Boston and taught photography to underprivileged children from the Boston area. A memorial service was held in Canton, Mass. on October 8, 2010.

Unity Fund Be part of the Change.

We live in a world of change. As part of this special community, we share a passion, a commitment, a bond – the environment.

We are leaders of change, forging new directions each day for the betterment of a planet— full of passion, a legacy of stewardship and the desire to pass to the next generation, a more sustainable environment.

Thanks to you, you are part of the change.Your efforts have helped Unity become a notable force on an international and national level—elevating its contributions to the world. Over the past year:

Unity College was ranked among 18 U.S. colleges and univerisites named to the Princeton Review’s 2011 Green Rating Honor Roll

YES! I want to become a Change Agent and this is how!

DONATE BY MAIL USING THE ENCLOSED RETURN ENVELOPE

DONATE ONLINE AT WWW.UNITY.EDU

DONATE BY PHONE SPEAK TO AN OFFICE OF COLLEGE ADVANCEMENT MEMBER AT 207.948.3131 EXT. 303

Unity College was included in the top 30 colleges and universities on ‘Washington Monthly 2010 College Rankings’, the highest placement for a Maine college on the baccalaureate colleges list of rankings Unity College was selected by the Carnegie Foundation for its 2010 Community Engagement Classification These rankings are testament of the positive changes and hard work being done at the college –

You can help support the change.

Become a Change Agent.

AMERICA’S ENVIRONMENTAL COLLEGE 90 Quaker Hill Road Unity, Maine 04988 www.unity.edu 207.948.3131, ext. 303

90 Quaker Hill Road Unity, Maine 04988

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