Cover: Ilham Santoso ’24 and Lydia Burnet ’25, COA students who participated in a “monster course” in Japan last fall, enjoy an outing with fisherman Nakamura Moriyuki, (aka Mori-san). Lydia went on to do a micro-internship with Mori-san; read more on page 10. Photo by Yoichiro Ashida ’20
Dear friends,
The past academic and fiscal year will be remembered as a year of transition for COA. We celebrated the extraordinary presidency of our first alum president, Dr. Darron Collins ’92, and completed a successful search for our eighth president, Dr. Sylvia Torti.
As we enter this next chapter under Sylvia’s leadership, COA is poised to deepen its commitment to our unique human ecological approach to education as we create an even greater impact locally and globally through our community of students, alumni, faculty, and staff. And like our first 52 academic years, this next chapter will require the generosity of you and other friends whose support has made this educational model possible.
This year we have made some significant changes to the report:
To reduce paper, printing, and mailing costs, we have trimmed the length of the printed version by moving the endowed chair, scholarship, and fund reports to the full-length online version. I hope you will take the time to read these reports online, which are written by faculty who hold academic chairs and staff who manage our endowed scholarships and funds.
We have added a section highlighting restricted gifts
and grants that fund programs and initiatives to illustrate the importance of support for special projects beyond the endowed funds, which have been the focus of previous philanthropy reports.
On page 10, you’ll find a feature on a monster course held in Japan—no, students didn’t study Godzilla; they had an immersive, interdisciplinary 10-week experience that embodies what COA is all about.
These changes to our report will help paint a more complete picture of philanthropy at COA and are intended to give you a better understanding of how donors are driving our success.
The report still includes our donor lists and the Davis United World College Scholars report on page 3, which should not be missed, as it continues to be the college’s largest philanthropic investment. Through this transformational partnership, which is nearing its 25th anniversary, Shelby and Gale Davis have contributed over $37.3 million in scholarships to 365 students from across the globe.
Whether you contribute to COA’s Annual Fund, one of our special programs or initiatives, or an endowed fund, thank you for being among those who make this remarkable college on the coast of Maine possible.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this report so please reach out with any feedback, questions, or suggestions.
With gratitude,
Shawn Keeley ’00 Dean of Institutional Advancement
OVERALL GIVING AND PLEDGES
2,733 GIFTS
1,334 DONORS
85
40 122 193
FINANCIALS
ANNUAL FUND AND OTHER GIFTS
This fiscal year, COA donors contributed over $1.6 million for the college’s Annual Fund, reaching a new high point. The number of donors also increased from 1,197 in fiscal year 2023 to 1,334 in fiscal year 2024 (7/1/23-6/30/24), thanks in large part to excellent participation in the 24-Hour Challenge on February 6 when 597 donors contributed $304,858. Throughout the year, Broad Reach Capital Campaign pledge payments, new gifts and pledges to endowment funds, and contributions to new and ongoing projects added another $13.2 million for a total of $14.9 million raised. This success is thanks to each and every one of our donors. Thank you all!
OUR EXPENSES
ENDOWMENT
Global financial markets continue to show positive growth with a return of +11% over the course of fiscal year 2024. This performance, along with additional Broad Reach Capital Campaign receipts, moved the COA endowment from the $78.8 million mark on June 30, 2023 to $85.3 million on June 30, 2024. The three- and five-year annualized returns of the endowment stood at 2.1% and 6.8% respectively at the end of June 2024. Our annual endowment draw represents a vital source of funding for program operations, equating to roughly $10,400 in annual revenue per student for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Davis United World College Scholars
Enriching COA, Enriching MDI
“As a new president, I can attest to the intellectual engagement and sense of responsibility demonstrated by Davis United World College Scholars,” says Sylvia Torti, PhD. “During my on-campus interview, some of the most thoughtful and challenging questions came from Davis Scholars. In a glorious diversity of voices, they expressed their hopes and expectations for COA. I’m proud to be at an institution that has benefitted from this program since its inception.”
The Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars program, cofounded by Shelby Davis and Phil Geier in 2000, has always been focused on internationalizing both the colleges it supports and the communities around them. With 21% of COA’s student body composed of Davis United UWC Scholars, representing 41 countries, every aspect of campus life is infused with
$37.3M total scholarship funding for Davis UWC Scholars since program began in 2000
72 Davis UWC Scholars currently enrolled 41 countries currently represented
international perspectives. And this infusion does not stop at the edge of our campus—it extends to organizations in the Mount Desert Island (MDI) region and beyond, where Davis UWC Scholars are actively involved and contributing to local initiatives. Here are some examples from the past fiscal year:
At The Jackson Laboratory, a biomedical research institution located in Bar Harbor, Raheem Khadour ’25, Mustafa Khorzom ’25, and Alsu Shagieva ’24 were selected as 2024 Academic Year Fellows. Khadour and Adel Misherghi ’24 were also contributing authors on scientific papers published in The Journal of Immunology, detailing the creation of genetically engineered mouse models crucial for studying type 1 diabetes.
At Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Sofia Dragoti ’25 participated in a genetics workshop funded by the National Institutes of Health. She also secured a fellowship at The Jackson Laboratory, gaining
21% of COA students are Davis UWC Scholars
293 COA graduates are Davis UWC Scholars 24 years that Davis UWC Scholars have attended COA
world-class biomedical research experience.
The Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Manomet Conservation Sciences, and COA were all hosts to intern Laila Hammoudeh ’26, who worked to support river herring restoration, research, and management in the Gulf of Maine.
In the Cranberry Isles, COA launched an energy outreach program last summer, with Uriel Orozco Brenes ’26 and Rudy Lukasevics ’25 conducting free energy audits and helping island residents make their homes more energy efficient.
COA is proud to be one of the first five colleges to host Davis UWC Scholars, beginning in 2000. Today, 100 US colleges and universities host 4,209 scholars from around the world.
To learn more about the Davis UWC Scholars Program, visit davisuwcscholars.org.
Davis UWC Scholars co-founder Phil Geier welcomes new scholars at the annual celebratory Globe Ceremony held each fall at COA.
These examples of faculty, student, and institutional excellence at College of the Atlantic occurred over our past fiscal year (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024). All of this is made possible by the generous support of our donors.
JULY: Professor Gray Cox published Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth, a book suggesting that AI systems should be redesigned to be wiser, not just more efficient and “smarter.” It offers paths to collaborative wisdom and partnerships with researchers and activists creating solutions to existential threats from ecological collapse, climate change, wars of mutually assured destruction, and out-of-control technology.
YEAR IN REVIEW 2023
AUGUST: COA and National Geographic combined forces to put on another successful Summer Institute. This year’s theme, Reimagining Exploration, featured speakers including “Her Deepness,” oceanographer Sylvia Earle, and Dr. Nirav Shah, who led the State of Maine's public health response to COVID-19.
SEPTEMBER: Artist Andy Goldsworthy spent much of the summer
JUNE: Professor John Anderson was awarded the John A. Goldwater Scholars Faculty Mentor award. Anderson has worked with many undergraduate field ecology researchers, including 16 Goldwater Scholars. He was praised for being “a committed mentor who inspires excellence, diligence, and confidence.”
male seal pup, was rescued by Allied Whale’s stranding team. He was emaciated, dehydrated, and infected, but after rehabilitation, he made a full recovery and was released. COA is authorized by NOAA to respond to marine mammal distress calls from Rockland, Maine to the Canadian border. As the only college in the northeast with a stranding response team, COA provides valuable learning experiences for students and community volunteers.
APRIL: COA announced the selection of its eighth president: author, ecologist, and academic leader Sylvia Torti, PhD, who comes to us from the University of Utah, where she served as dean of the Honors College from 2012–2023. Torti has lived and worked globally, and is a collaborative leader with a passion for experiential, interdisciplinary learning.
OCTOBER: College of the Atlantic was ranked #1 on the Princeton Review’s “Top 50 Green Colleges” list for the eighth year in a row. The list features schools with “superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus” — that’s COA alright!
NOVEMBER: Beech Hill Farm remained open later than previous years, thanks to a large new farmstand that was funded by a generous donor. In addition to providing certified organic vegetables for COA and the wider community, Beech Hill Farm and the Peggy Rockefeller Farm (also owned by the college) serve as living laboratories where students and faculty explore sustainable agricultural practices and gain a deeper connection to the land.
MARCH: Raheem Khadour ’25 was listed as an author of a paper published in The Journal of Immunology, an uncommon feat for an undergraduate student. The paper discusses the development of mouse models for the study of heart disease, providing researchers with more efficient methods for diagnosis and treatment. Khadour’s research was conducted through an academic fellowship in biomedical research at The Jackson Laboratory.
DECEMBER: COA sent a delegation of faculty and students to the 28th Conference of the Parties in Dubai. Students pressed national leaders to stop “greenwashing” ideas like selling carbon credits, and instead address global inequity and the real drivers of climate change.
2024
FEBRUARY: COA celebrated a sustainability milestone when it bought into a new 25-acre community solar farm in Hampden, Maine. The solar array will meet nearly all of COA's electricity needs, saving the college more than $25,000 per year. This achievement was driven by a student-led push for Maine-made clean energy, and is a key step in the college’s commitment to eliminate fossil fuel use by 2030.
JANUARY: As part of “Leaning into Winter,” a student wellness initiative launched through COA’s Outdoor Program, students traveled to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, learning snowshoeing and other outdoor skills.
INSPIRED GIVING
On these pages, we highlight a few of the special gifts and grants made to College of the Atlantic over the past fiscal year that illustrate the transformative power of thoughtful and strategic philanthropy. These contributions—driven by the generosity and vision of our donors—are shaping educational experiences, advancing academic programs, and providing life-changing opportunities.
Enhancing Student Life and Wellbeing
Supported by The Endeavor Foundation ($110,000) and Anonymous ($100,000)
These contributions have transformed COA’s student life program by funding the creation of a full-time Director of Residence Life, expanding mental health services, and enriching student wellness programs. With additional support for outdoor leadership, peer mentorship, and resilience-building, COA is fostering a healthier, more connected campus community.
Thorndike Library Accessibility Project
Supported by Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation ($40,000)
This grant funded key accessibility upgrades at COA’s Thorndike Library, including automatic doors and specialized resources for patrons with disabilities, making the library a more inclusive and accessible space for students and the local community.
Geothermal Assessment
Supported by The Blossom Fund ($127,500)
This gift funded a feasibility study and test well to explore the potential of using geothermal energy for heating and cooling key campus buildings. The study revealed a strong flow rate that could generate electricity. Building a geothermal system will move COA closer to its goal of being fossil fuel-free by 2030.
Gillis Blue Humanities Scholars Program
Supported by Christina M. Gillis ($44,000 over three years)
This gift brings humanities scholars to COA with a focus on marine environments and the human connection to the sea. The program honors historian John Gillis and deepens students’ understanding of human interactions with the oceans.
Mapping Ocean Stories and Frenchman Bay Oral History Project
Supported by Anonymous ($196,900 over two years) and Wendy Gamble ($22,000 over two years)
This multi-faceted project engages COA students in transcribing and analyzing oral histories of environmental changes and fisheries in coastal Maine. Students are creating interactive exhibits to share this knowledge with local communities and policymakers, bridging the gap between community insights and climate adaptation decisions, while preserving an important history for future generations.
Community-Engaged Data Science
Supported by Henry David Thoreau Foundation ($39,873)
This grant established a Community-Engaged Data Science program at COA, pairing students with local environmental organizations to tackle critical issues like water quality and biodiversity. Data science was used to inform community-driven solutions.
North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog
Supported by Scott MacKenzie ($100,356)
For nearly a decade, Scott MacKenzie has supported the expansion of COA’s North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog, a vital resource for advancing research and conservation efforts to protect humpback whale populations. Student researchers benefit from this support and contribute to scientific knowledge as they monitor and study whales in their natural habitat.
Shaw Fellowships
A fund for environmental internships
Internships are a cornerstone of the College of the Atlantic experience, providing students with invaluable hands-on learning in real-world settings. Each year, about 60 COA students complete internships in Maine, the US, and abroad. However, many internships, especially those with nonprofit organizations, are unpaid, creating a financial barrier for some students.
Thanks to a generous gift of $25,000 from David Evans Shaw, three COA students received Shaw Fellowships this past summer to work in Acadia National Park. Under the mentorship of new faculty member Brittany Slabach ’09, the Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies at COA, Nathan Morgan ’26, Sierra Abrams ’26, and Jackie Brooks ’26 contributed to important research on small mammal ecology.
The students learned compass navigation, vegetation sampling, and camera monitoring before they began their research on the home ranges of deer mice and
meadow voles and the impact of revegetation. Morgan focused on field methods and data management, Abrams led outreach and conservation analysis, and Brooks concentrated on educational outreach. The students will continue their data analysis and present their findings at a regional scientific conference in the spring.
David Shaw’s support made these fellowships possible, allowing the students to gain critical experience in conservation research, and advancing COA’s mission to inspire and equip the next generation of change-makers.
DAVID EVANS SHAW
Top: Davis Evans Shaw and Brittany Slabach; left: David Evans Shaw with Shaw Fellows and friends on site in Acadia; above: meadow vole.
Displaced chemists
Recruiting faculty from war-torn regions
In 2022, as the war in Ukraine impacted millions, College of the Atlantic saw an opportunity to provide a safe haven for scientists from war-torn regions while simultaneously addressing the growing demand for chemistry courses. With only one faculty member, COA struggled to meet the rising student interest in chemistry.
Reuben Hudson, the Lalage and Steven Rales Chair in Chemistry, proposed an innovative solution: recruiting displaced chemists to strengthen the program. Securing grant funding typically takes months, but thanks to a generous anonymous gift of $347,000,
COA was able to act quickly. This funding allowed the college to offer a full-time position to Sarah Kheireddine, PhD, a talented chemist from Lebanon, in early 2023.
Since joining COA, Sarah has taught organic chemistry and catalysis, mentored students, and helped expand the chemistry program. The donation also created life-changing opportunities for international students. Syrian students Raheem Khadour ’25 and Mustafa Khorzom ’25 gained critical research experience in 2022, leading to fellowships at The Jackson Laboratory and the MDI Biological Laboratory.
Ongoing support from the donor also facilitated the relocation of two Ukrainian scientists, Vitalii Polubinskyii and Anastasiia Pustovoit, whose expertise has enriched COA’s academic community.
This transformative gift has strengthened COA’s chemistry program and provided crucial opportunities for displaced scientists and international students. By fostering a more diverse and dynamic learning environment, it embodies COA’s commitment to academic excellence and global responsibility.
Chemistry faculty and students at COA (left to right): faculty Sarah Kheireddine, PhD, Ruvan de Graaf ’22, faculty Reuben Hudson, PhD, Ludwin Moran Sosa ’24, Mustafa Khorzom ’25, Raheem Khadour ’25, Red Delelegne ’25, post-doc research faculty Thiago Altair Felleira
Celebrating the presidency of Darron Collins ’92
A legacy of leadership and dedication
After 13 remarkable years that advanced the college in every way possible, COA’s first alum president, Darron Collins ’92, decided to make the 2024-2025 academic year his last as president.
To celebrate Darron’s extraordinary presidency, the community came together in a number of ways. Donors contributed more than $1.6 million to establish the Darron Asher Collins Chair in Music and Sound Studies, an endowed position held by Jonathan Henderson, an ethnomusicologist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. On June 10, the new 46-bed student residence, made possible by the generosity of the
Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund and Andrew and Kate Davis, was dedicated in honor of Darron and his family.
Faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and friends gathered to celebrate these milestones and Darron’s leadership with a joyful gathering on the North Lawn, where stories were shared, and new memories made. Everyone danced, ate, and sent Darron and his family off in style. Thankfully, he will remain in Bar Harbor—Darron is now executive director of the Cromwell Harbor Foundation. We are confident the Collins family will continue to be wonderful friends and advocates for COA.
We extend our deepest thanks to Darron and his family for their enduring commitment to COA, and to our donors for their transformative support.
Human ecology in Japan
A monster course in microplastics and micro-internships
There is perhaps nothing that embodies the uniqueness of a COA education better than the “monster” course—a term long, three-credit class that allows students to engage in a place-based, experiential, interdisciplinary study of the culture, ecology, and history of an area with local residents, entrepreneurs, and experts.
This past fall, 10 students journeyed to Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, for the Human Ecology Lab in Ōsakikamijima course, affectionately known as the Japanese monster course. Their focus wasn’t on Godzilla (Japan’s beloved contribution to world cinema), but on exploring the relationship of people and place
in this far-off locale. The 10-week course was led by Jay Friedlander, the Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business, and marine scientist Abby Barrows MPhil ’18, who owns an oyster farm in Maine.
Based out of COA’s affiliate school, Setouchi Global Academy (SGA), the students became part of the community by doing short homestays and studying Japanese culture and language with SGA founding director Nagao Sensei. With a rich maritime heritage, local farms, traditional culture, and tightknit community, this Japanese island has many parallels with Mount Desert Island.
In addition to studying the language and culture of Japan, students explored the Seto Inland Sea, engaged in terrestrial and aquatic microplastics research (led by Barrows), and did some kayaking, hiking, and
traveling in the area. Each student also participated in a week-long micro-internship covering a range of activities, including working with local farmers and fishermen, studying Zen Buddhism with a temple priest, working in a local high school, and studying with the last maker of traditional tatami mats on the island.
“Students in this course experienced traditional Japanese life on this remote rural island,” said Friedlander. “They made strong ties and the community embraced them with open arms. Approaching this in a human ecological way meant students could interact with and see the richness of Japan and Ōsakikamijima from multiple perspectives.”
Lydia Burnet ’25, one of the students who took the course, was particularly excited to study the impact of microplastics on the environment with Barrows. The two-week module included classroom study and field work such as towing a fine-mesh net from behind a boat to collect samples, and combing beach plots. The students also did a “brand audit”—a citizen science initiative that involves counting and documenting the brands found on plastic waste to help identify the companies responsible for plastic pollution.
From the samples they collected
and processed, it became clear that microplastic pollution was abundant throughout all water sources in the area, regardless of their proximity to urban areas.
“After we finished Abby’s unit, I interned with a local fisherman, Mori-san. We discussed this issue, and he expressed how it was an emerging worry in his career. A few students and I participated in a cleanup of islands around Ōsakikamijima with the local fishermen’s association. Working hands-on in the field and discussing these issues with local stakeholders
like Mori-san provided valuable insights,” said Burnet.
Burnet is now researching microplastic ingestion in herring gulls for her senior project at the COA Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island. “My experiences in Japan remain a catalyst for my studies in plastic pollution,” she continued. “By understanding the local impacts and seeking multi-level solutions, I hope to contribute to the growing movement towards a more sustainable and resilient future, where turning off the tap of plastic production is prioritized.”
ENDOWED CHAIRS
Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Chair in Earth Systems and Geoscience
Chairholder:
Sarah R. Hall, PhD
I am currently on leave as a Science & Technology Policy Fellow, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I’m stationed at the US Geological Survey in the Washington, DC area and am working on the Natural Hazards Mission team, focused on landslides and other geohazards.
Many of my students have benefitted from the Bass Chair, which funds a wide range of field and lab-based opportunities. One of those students is Alba Rodriguez Padilla ’18. Alba tells me that her favorite classes at COA were Geology of MDI and South American Earth Systems, both of which I taught. She is now completing a postdoc in geology at California State University. She and I co-wrote a chapter in the newly released book titled Geoenvironmental changes in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. I’m pleased that many of my former students are in STEM or human-ecologically focused careers.
Above: Alba Rodriguez Padilla ’18; right: Sarah Hall.
2011
Changing, World Changing Capital Campaign.
Established in
by Anne and Bob Bass as part of the Life
Richard J. Borden Chair in Humanities
Chairholder: Bonnie Tai, EdD
My teaching and advising over academic year 2023–24 contributed to the human studies resource area, the graduate program, student participation in college governance, student life wellness and support programs, and the educational studies program—which includes five Maine Department of Education-approved educator preparation programs for students interested in teaching elementary and secondary students in the areas of English language arts, life sciences, social studies, or K-12 visual arts, and a new educational studies endorsement.
In the fall, I taught Culturally Sustaining and Revitalizing Education, which is a new course updating an earlier version called Intercultural Education and designed to better prepare PK–12 teachers to teach Wabanaki studies, required under Maine law, and prepare future educators for engaging transnational students ethically and effectively. I also taught Understanding and Managing Group Dynamics, offered to a broad cross section of students interested in learning how to best harness the power of groups as a group member, facilitator, and/or leader; Curriculum Design and Assessment, a required course for prospective secondary educators and for advanced and graduate students writing curriculum for their senior projects and theses; and an advanced tutorial in Qualitative Program Evaluation Methods, for graduate students preparing their thesis proposals.
I continue to work on a book project with participants in the COA College Opportunity and Access Program, reflecting on their experiences as low-income, racially minoritized, and/or first-generation college students.
Funds from the Borden Chair supported student writing for the book project, a guest for Culturally Sustaining and Revitalizing Education, faculty development with Liz Neptune during Indigenous People’s Week, and several professional development activities, including completing the year-long Inward Bound Mindfulness Education teacher training program and presenting a session at the New England Equal Opportunity Association Annual Conference on “Integrating Mindfulness Education for Self-Knowledge, Compassion, and Executive Function.”
Some recent accomplishments of former students include: Rianna Brooks ’18, who is enrolled in the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Enrique Eduardo Valencia Lopez ’11, who recently completed his PhD in policy, politics, and leadership at UC Berkeley’s School of Education and has started a postdoc with Richard Arum’s lab at U.C. Irvine; and Maria Lis Baiocchi ’07, PhD, who is doing a postdoc with Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas and recently published “Una revisión sistemática de antecedentes sobre la migración venezolana actual en Sudamérica” in International Migration and Immigration Policy Established in 2011 by COA trustees and alumni to honor longtime COA professor and academic dean, Richard J. Borden. Beginning Fund Balance $1,775,235
I directed two undergraduate independent studies, “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages” and “Changing Schools, Changing Society,” for a student seeking an educational studies endorsement. I directed one graduate independent study, a literature review analyzing and synthesizing studies on the development of aversive racism among young children and pedagogical interventions.
Return & Contributions 187,049 Less Allocations/Withdrawals (86,000)
Rachel Carson Chair in Ecology
Chairholder: Suzanne Morse, PhD
Over the 2023–24 academic year, I taught 84 students and mentored 14 advisees. I also directed two independent studies (“Learning Conversational Norwegian” with Bella Salman ’26 and “Bread” with Skylar Bodeo-Lomicky ’26), a residency on homesteading in Greenwood, Maine (Simone Le Page ’24) and a summer research project focused on the identification of pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables (Louis Ricou ’25).
During the first half of my fall sabbatical, I taught several modules in the agroecology program at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and ended my stay with a visioning session for the research group. In addition to teaching, I gave a presentation on the praxis of sustainability in a college/university setting and spent a week at the University of Bergen. Upon my return to the US, I attended the Society of Human Ecology conference in Tucson, Arizona, and moderated one of the education sessions. For the last month of my sabbatical, I met with and interviewed seed savers across the UK.
In the winter, I taught The Art and Science of Fermented Foods, which culminated with a sumptuous and well-attended fair where the students shared their exquisite wares. I also team-taught a new course with ecology and natural history professor John Anderson called The Earth’s Moon: Science, Literature, and Mythology. In this course, John and I, together with teaching assistant Wriley Hodge’24 and 17 students, explored the ways life on land and in the sea are entangled with the changing forces and light of the moon’s monthly orbit. Daily observations on cold, crisp nights as well as throughout the day were combined with films, readings, and research, leading to insights and many more questions.
In the spring term, I co-taught the foundational course Biology: Form and Function with marine science professor Sean Todd. The term concluded with student-designed, mini research projects ranging from foraging behavior studies (from gulls to earthworms!) to responses of organisms to low- and high-wave energy in the intertidal, to tree responses along an altitudinal gradient. In my Theory and Practice of Organic Gardening course, students tasted soil, planted seeds, and finished with designing and establishing three gardens— one for my fall seeds course, a cut flower garden for the
Advancement Office to use for summer events, and a collaborative gardening project with a local Girl Scouts group. Over the summer, Colleen Nelsen ’27 and Lilia Machado ’25 worked extensively in the garden, watering, weeding, and harvesting seeds.
Established between 1998-2007 by many donors to honor the renowned marine biologist, conservationist, and author of Silent Spring.
I continue to serve on the Landscape Subcommittee, Academic Affairs, and the Food Systems Working Group, and manage the community garden. Outside of COA, I serve on the board for Native Gardens of Blue Hill, volunteer for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, advise masters students at the NMBU, and share stories about Rachel Carson.
As always, I am deeply thankful for the institutional support of my work through the Rachel Carson Chair in Human Ecology.
$1,403,800
147,843
Allocations/Withdrawals (68,000)
$1,483,643
T.A. Cox Chair in Studio Arts
Chairholder: Nancy Andrews, MFA
The 2023–24 academic year was marked by a combination of teaching, creative endeavors, public exhibitions, and community engagement. In the classroom, I taught a diverse range of courses that spanned various aspects of studio arts. The Soundscape course (co-taught with marine science professor Sean Todd), focused on the auditory dimensions of art and science, and how sound influences our environment, ecology, and art. The Four-Dimensional Studio course explored the integration of time in art, encouraging students to create dynamic, time-based works. In the winter term, I co-taught Film and Sound with music professor Jonathan Henderson, examining the relationship between sound and visuals in filmmaking. My Animation course introduced fundamental animation techniques, while the advanced Animation II course delved deeper into complex techniques and project development. Lastly, the Creating Motion Pictures as an Art Form course emphasized filmmaking as a practice of creative expression and innovation.
where I explored themes of uncertainty and discovery in my art practice. I invited guest animator Maya Erdelyi for a presentation and Q&A session, providing valuable insights into the art of animation. Additionally, I presented the Ann Arbor Film Festival Touring Program, featuring award-winning films from the latest festival, which exposed the community to diverse and innovative cinematic works.
Established by former COA trustee Tom Cox and hundreds of friends, family members, and trustees who gave to the chair after Tom passed away in 2019.
I used funds from the Cox Chair to purchase new camera equipment, significantly enhancing the resources available for animation and other studio projects. I am proud to report that students from my animation courses were accepted into regional animation festivals.
My artistic work was a significant focus this year. I participated in the group show The House Supports Itself from January 11 to February 14 in Brunswick, Maine. Additionally, my digital video On a Phantom Limb (2009) was collected by Duke University Library. I also performed music in Scotland with Linda Smith from our album A Passing Cloud, with gigs in December at Futtle, Bowhouse, St. Monans, Scotland, Glad Café, in Glasgow, and at Cafe OTO, London. This year, I also contributed to academic discourse with my essay “On the Unknown,” published in the spring 2024 issue of MAJ Magazine,
As the T.A. Cox Chair, I have strived to create a dynamic and supportive environment for students and the broader COA community. I aim to advance the field of studio arts and inspire the next generation of artists. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the generous funders of the T.A. Cox Chair, which has been instrumental in enabling these achievements.
154,079
Allocations/Withdrawals (67,000)
$1,545,904
William H. Drury, Jr. Chair in Evolution, Natural History, and Ecology
Chairholder: John G.T. Anderson, PhD
During the 2023–24 academic year, I taught six courses: Working the Sea and Ecology in the fall, Human Anatomy and Physiology and The Earth’s Moon (team taught with botany and agroecology professor Suzanne Morse) in the winter, and Mammalogy and Animal Behavior in the spring. Of these, The Earth’s Moon was the most challenging as a new and highly interdisciplinary course that pushed Suzanne and I out of our comfort zones as teachers and learners. I also served on the search committee for new biology faculty during the winter term.
In the spring, I worked closely with National Park Service (NPS) personnel in developing protocols for evaluating the impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on gulls and other seabirds in the Acadia region. We were successful at obtaining funding from Friends of Acadia (FOA) and the NPS that allowed us to obtain samples from a number of gulls on multiple park islands, as well as from COA’s own Great Duck and Mount Desert Rock field stations.
In the fall, I took six students to the 47th Annual Meeting of the Waterbirds Society, which was held in Florida this year. I presented a paper on our research here in Maine, and all six students presented their work on our islands. Once again, COA had one of the largest student delegations to the conference, and many colleagues expressed how
impressed they were with the team. I also gave local talks to FOA and the NPS resource management staff, focusing on our work on HPAI and gull habitat selection—the latter building on outstanding work by Wriley Hodge ‘24, whose senior project epitomized the importance of a humanecological approach to issues of conservation.
In terms of senior projects, I also had the delightful experience of working with Georgia Lattig ‘24 in her exploration of faith, science, and her educational journey. Her illustrations of the seven days of creation brought me (and others) to tears and, as with Wriley’s work, epitomized the power of a degree in human ecology. I co-authored (with former student Kate Shlepr ‘13, Hodge, and colleague Liam Taylor) a paper in the journal Conservation Biology that reassesses much of what has been assumed about gulls in the northeastern United States.
Lastly, I was honored to be the recipient of the 2024 Goldwater Faculty Mentor Award for my work with students over the years. I would like to emphasize, however, that at COA many faculty are instrumental in the development of our remarkable students, and I feel that the award, in reality, belongs to the faculty as a whole.
This chair was established in honor of Bill Drury, an eminent ecologist and former research director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, who died in 1992. Bill lectured on evolutionary biology and ecology at Harvard University for over 20 years before joining the COA faculty in 1976. Beginning Fund Balance $1,661,489
175,049
Charles Eliot Chair in Ecological Planning, Policy, and Design
Chairholder: Brook Muller, MArch
In academic year 2023–24, my first year at College of the Atlantic, I developed and taught five new courses related to ecological design and in the process gave shape to the ecological design curriculum moving forward. These classes included three seminars (Ecologies of Cities in the fall, Sustainable Architecture in the winter, and Water, Design, and Environmental Futures in the spring), as well as two studios (Design Research Studio: Water Reuse as Community Development in the winter and Design Research Studio: Campus Paths in the spring). In this initial year, I have been building a proper studio environment which includes the kind of equipment necessary to ensure students are able to hone their design and graphic communication skills. I have also been able to bring some remarkable scholars and leading-edge practitioners to campus to work with students; these include: Timothy Beatley, Teresa Heinz, Professor of Sustainable Communities in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia and lead author in the area of green and biophilic cities; Danny Pearl, architect and founder of Montreal-based L’OEUF architects; and May al-Ibrashy, Cairo-based urbanist and conservationist and recipient of a Prince Claus International Global Impact Award.
Established in 2000 by Dan and Polly Pierce. Dan was a COA trustee, grandson of landscape architect Charles Eliot, and great grandson of Harvard President Charles William Eliot. Beginning Fund Balance $2,073,819
I have been moving back and forth in my classes from the study of cities in the global south (and the potential to incorporate ecological design principles in environmentally degraded and economically marginalized contexts) and places and opportunities closer to home, including the COA campus. My teaching is inspired by and greatly informs my ongoing research and practice centered on creating urban
green spaces in Cairo, primarily for the benefit of women and children. During the 2023–24 academic year, I made two trips there, and my hope is to take a group of students to the city in the next academic year. Thanks to what I have been able to accomplish through the fund, I have secured a Fulbright Specialist Award for the next three years. With this award, I will develop a plan for the ongoing activation and management of groundwater resources in the alKhalifa neighborhood of medieval Islamic Cairo, part of the “Historic Cairo” UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I appreciate returning to the role of a scholar after having stepped down from an administrative appointment to come to COA. During this first year, I have developed an initial draft manuscript for a sequel to my 2022 book, Blue Architecture: Water, Design, and Environmental Futures (working title: Regrowth Architecture: Animating Urban Buildings and Landscapes). I have received the go-ahead from my editor at the University of Texas Press and will complete the formal book proposal this fall.
Above center: Cairo. Above right: student work focused on redesigning portions of the CoA campus path system, making these paths – and bridges – more accessible, attractive, and reflective of campus community goals and values.
218,460
$2,192,279
Andrew S. Griffiths Chair for the Dean of Administration
Chairholder: Bear Paul, Administrative Dean and CFO
The endowment of the Andrew S. Griffiths Chair for the Dean of Administration provides important budget relief to administrative operations, allowing funds to flow to missioncritical activities, initiatives, and capital projects, and aptly recognizes the years of dedication of the chair’s namesake to the institution.
Some of the more exciting developments over the course of the 2023–24 academic year included:
• Close out of the use of funds available from the 2021 MHHEFA bond issuance
• Development of the financial analysis that led to the purchase of the Bar Harbor Bike Shop real estate and accompanying five units of housing associated with the location
• Collaboration with a team to help complete construction of the Collins House residence hall
• Collaboration with a team to plan for and initiate the renovation of the kitchen space in the Seafox residence hall
• Collaboration with a team to contract for and to begin the process of installing three sets of solar arrays on COA-owned buildings
• Initiation of a survey of the campus information technology (IT) system and help beginning the process of refreshing the college’s IT network
I continue to chair the Personnel Committee, serve on the Campus Planning and Building Committee, and lead the budget-setting process. The Andrew S. Griffiths Chair’s primary focus remains that of supporting the college’s ongoing financial and operational health.
Established in 2018 during the Broad Reach Capital Campaign by COA trustees to honor Andrew “Andy” S. Griffiths, the college’s well-respected administrative dean who served for more than 15 years.
Steven K. Katona Chair in Marine Studies
Chairholder: Sean Todd, PhD
Established in 2007 by COA trustees, alumni, and friends of the college to honor COA’s fourth president and founding faculty member.
During the 2023–24 academic year, I taught a total of 101 students in six classes, four senior projects, and four independent studies. Classes taught included Marine Mammal Biology: Field Studies (on Mount Desert Rock), Human Ecology Core Course, Biology Form and Function (team-taught with Suzanne Morse), Soundscape (teamtaught with Nancy Andrews), Introduction to Statistics and Research Design, and Marvelous Terrible Place (co-led with Natalie Springuel ‘91 and Ken Cline). I had an advisee roster of 20 students, including one graduate student, reviewed five human ecology essays, and supervised three internships. I assisted with the management of the COA Edward McC. Blair Marine Research Station on Mount Desert Rock in the 2023 field season. Fifteen students worked on projects at the field station that incorporated marine mammalogy, biological oceanography, intertidal science, underwater passive acoustic monitoring, photography, and marine bird ecology. Four students helped run the field station, and two others served as apprentices in anticipation of the 2024 field season. The island hosted an overnight visit from the Islands Through Time summer course for high school students, as well as a three-week visit from my Marine Mammal Biology: Field Studies class.
This year marked the beginning of the second iteration of the Gulf of Maine Stable Isotope Project—GOMSIP II—a project undertaken by Allied Whale to examine climateinduced changes in whale feeding behavior. We achieved a good sampling rate for animals local to the Gulf. We also wrote up previous findings and we are proud to announce that our foundational work for this project will soon be published in the peer-reviewed journal Aquatic Mammals Our work continues to be funded in part by Katona Chair discretionary funds.
During the 2023–24 academic year I continued to serve on the Faculty Development Group and served as co-chair on a search committee for two new biology faculty. In addition to directing Allied Whale and overseeing operations at Mount Desert Rock, I also worked on the Graduate Committee and assisted with various admissions functions. During school breaks I traveled aboard the expedition vessels Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Sojourn to collect data for humpback whale photo-identification catalogs for Antarctica and Alaska, respectively. I continue to serve on the Maine Coalition for the North Atlantic Right Whale and on the scientific board of advisors for the Shaw Institute.
Funds from the Katona Chair were used to help purchase research equipment for Allied Whale, as well as for operational costs at Mount Desert Rock. Funds also supported virtual attendance for 10 students to join me at the Right Whale Consortium, teaching assistants, equipment purchases, travel costs associated with the Marvelous Terrible Place course, and my own professional development.
Over the course of the year, we successfully raised more than $125,000 for Allied Whale research and our Marine Mammal Stranding Response Program, with thanks to funders like the Davis Conservation Foundation, the Elmina Sewall Foundation and the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program.
Above: Three feeding humpbacks whale seen off a beach in Newfoundland visited by the Marvelous Terrible Place class.
236,324
Allocations/Withdrawals (108,000)
$2,371,628
McNally Family Chair in Philosophy and Human Ecology
Chairholder: Heather Lakey ’00, MPhil ’05, PhD
The 2023–24 academic year was an engaging and memorable one. I renewed and revised five courses: Nature, Humans, and Philosophy, Philosophies of Good and Evil, Animals and Ethics, Buddhist Philosophies, and the Human Ecology Core Course. Overall, I taught a total of 64 students, read 12 human ecology essays, directed two independent studies and two senior projects, and mentored 17 advisees.
To support COA’s commitment to engaged and interdisciplinary learning, my courses frequently include guest speakers and field trips. I invited three of my colleagues—Dorr Museum director Carrie Graham, ecology and natural history professor John Anderson, and marine sciences professor Sean Todd—to Animals and Ethics to share their first-person perspectives working with animals. Their insights and experiences greatly enriched our philosophical discussions. In the spring term, I took students in Buddhist Philosophies to the Morgan Bay Zendo in Surry, Maine for a two-hour workshop on Zen meditation. In addition, faculty member Bonnie Tai and Laura Bonyon Neal, an ordained priest in the Korean tradition of Zen Buddhism, visited class to introduce students to different meditation and mindfulness practices. Finally, it was a special treat to have faculty emeritus John Visvader return to campus to give an excellent lecture exploring intersections between Buddhist thinking and other religious traditions.
In addition to teaching, I assumed a number of administrative service roles. After spending several years on the Steering Committee, I moved over to the Academic Affairs Committee and the Academic Priorities Working Group. It was energizing to work with a dynamic group of students, staff, and faculty on issues central to COA’s academic curriculum. I also served on the Ethical Research and Review Board. In this role, I helped to approve 12 projects involving research with human subjects and I provided feedback on numerous consent forms.
Another notable administrative experience was serving as a member of the Continuing Review Committee for botany and agroecology professor Suzanne Morse. In the spring term, I co-directed the senior project presentations with biology professor Helen Hess. It was a privilege to help 10 talented seniors present their work to the COA community and the Board of Trustees.
Finally, I helped to design a session on COA governance for incoming students during fall orientation and copresented a proposal regarding the Human Ecology Essay during a spring faculty meeting on educational skills and graduation requirements.
In May, I joined the Thorndike Library talk series to present my scholarly work on reproductive politics and philosophical ethics. I read a version of my paper, “Rethinking Regret: Simone de Beauvoir and the Ethics of Abortion,” and I received valuable feedback from students, faculty, and staff. I want to express my deep gratitude to the McNally family for endowing this chair and supporting philosophical studies at COA.
Established in 2019 by Jay McNally ‘84 as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign.
Elizabeth Battles Newlin Chair in Botany
Chairholder: Susan Letcher, PhD
The 2023–24 academic year brought a welcome opportunity to focus on botany in the field and the classroom. In the fall of 2023, I debuted a new advanced course called Plant Systematics. In winter of 2024, I taught Restoration Ecology and team-taught Cellular and Molecular Processes of Life with biology professor Helen Hess. In the spring, I offered Plants and People: Economic Botany and the multidisciplinary course Sheep to Shawl. I also advised four senior projects and two independent studies, serving just over 100 students during the year. I helped a number of undergraduate and graduate students with experimental design and statistical analysis for projects. I worked with my 16 advisees to help them discover and clarify their paths through human ecology.
Students Conrad Kortemeier ’26 and Lucian Vazquez ’25 traveled to Costa Rica with me in November–December 2023 for an intensive field research project studying forest regeneration. We spent three weeks collecting data on tree growth, survival, and mortality in an experimental reforestation project that my collaborator Alex Gilman (EARTH University, Guácimo, Costa Rica) planted in 2009.
year I also volunteered for the Bias Response Team and the Review and Appeals Committee.
Established in 1996 by Elizabeth Battles Newlin’s children, Lucy Bell Sellers and her husband Peter, and Bill Newlin and his wife Louisa (née Foulke) as part of the college’s Silver Anniversary Campaign
Conrad and Lucian had both just completed Plant Systematics, and they honed their plant identification skills in the tropics with a greatly expanded set of families compared to what we’d seen in Maine.
Back on campus for the winter, I co-chaired a search committee with marine science professor Sean Todd to bring in two exciting new faculty members in biology, Kara Gadeken and Brittany Slabach ’09. I had the opportunity to bring another dimension of my work to campus in March, playing the piano to accompany several student groups in a chamber music concert organized by visiting music professor Christina Spurling. Throughout the
As part of the broader scientific community, I published three papers with an international group of collaborators. Masha van der Sande (Wageningen University, The Netherlands) led a paper on different ways to measure the recovery of biodiversity in regenerating forests; Miguel Ortega (Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Spain) led a paper on the impacts of climate change on forests in Central America; and Alain S. Ngute (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia) led a paper on the ways that disturbance and climate change affect the competitive balance between trees and woody vines. I continue to serve as a grant reviewer through the European Science Foundation’s College of Expert Reviewers, where I evaluated 11 proposals in 2023–24.
It’s been another full and exciting year here in Bar Harbor. I am grateful to the Newlin family for their generous support of botany at COA.
Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems
Chairholder: Kourtney K. Collum, PhD Associate Dean of Faculty
In the 2023–24 academic year I stepped into the role of associate dean of faculty and reduced my teaching to three courses annually. It was challenging to reduce my teaching—a practice that brings me so much joy—so I focused my attention on courses that are central to COA’s food and sustainable agriculture systems area of study.
In the fall, I taught Transforming Food Systems to 22 students eager to envision and enact socially just, ecologically sustainable food systems. Students in the course developed theories of change to address pressing problems, from the need to protect the free saving and exchange of seeds in Kenya, to the need to secure food access for vulnerable youth in Portland, Maine. In winter, I worked with 22 students in US Farm and Food Policy, where we examined central policies that shape the US food system, from the omnibus Farm Bill to the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans. You’ve never seen a group of people have more fun debating subsidies and tariffs.
After two terms of guiding students through dense and challenging material, I taught Bees & Society in the spring, in which students learned about the factors driving the decline of wild and managed bees around the world. Though another heavy topic, we found hope in the collaborative work led by folks around the world to protect our vital pollinators, and we found joy as we tasted dozens of unique honey varietals, made
Established in 2008 by Polly Guth, a longterm supporter of COA and Beech Hill Farm, and the Partridge Foundation.
wax candles, visited an urban beekeeper, and learned to keep honeybees on our own Beech Hill and Peggy Rockefeller farms. It was a beautiful end to a beautiful year. In addition to my courses, I advised 22 students and directed six independent studies and four senior projects.
In the fall, the Food Systems Working Group hosted the 17th annual COA Farm Day, and nearly 200 students danced the night away after touring Peggy Rockefeller Farm and eating a delicious meal featuring COA-grown meat and produce. Later in the year, I presented two papers at academic conferences, one on teaching food systems at the Society for Human Ecology conference in Tucson, Arizona, and one on the perils and possibilities for collaborative knowledge-with-action research at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting.
The thing that brought me the most joy this year was engaging students in community work. Students joined me in collaborations to strengthen the COA Community Fridge, the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, Healthy Acadia, the Hancock County Food Security Network, and the Downeast Restorative Harvest Project. Two students—Leo Van Ummersen ’26 and Sarah Whitcomb w’24—built on that work this summer through internships with the food-in-prison project led by the organization Impact Justice. The generosity of the Partridge Chair fund made this work possible by funding conference travel, internships, guest speakers, course materials, and more. I am profoundly grateful.
Left: Louis Ricou 25’ leads a workshop on native bee conservation at a local elementary school. Students in Bees & Society led these experiential workshops at the schools in Hancock County.
Established in 2020 by Emily and Mitch Rales as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign.
Emily and Mitchell Rales Chair in Ecology
Chairholder: Kara Gadeken, PhD
FORMER CHAIRHOLDER, CHRIS PETERSEN:
This was my last active year as a faculty member at the college, and for this report I want to emphasize some transitional work that is happening.
First, I was lucky to be on the Presidential Search Committee that led to the hiring of COA’s new president, Sylvia Torti, who I believe will do a great job. Helen Hess and I were also happy to welcome our new marine biology professor, Kara Gadeken, who came to the island for several days in May and stayed at our place during her visit. We visited a range of field sites and introduced Kara to some of our partners in ecological and policy work. I’m also working to finish writing up multiple projects with student co-authors for publication during this transitional year.
Although I’ve finished teaching, I plan to be involved in many of the local community marine ecological and policy groups, including the Bar Harbor Marine Resources Committee, the Downeast Fisheries Partnership, the Downeast Conservation Network, and the River Herring Network, and am working on ways to continue COA’s strong engagement and support of these groups.
NEW CHAIRHOLDER, KARA GADEKEN:
I received my BS in biology and marine science from the College of William and Mary, and my PhD in marine sciences from the University of South Alabama. After teaching intensive field courses at Shoals Marine Lab and in the interdisciplinary marine studies program at Williams-Mystic, I was hired as faculty of marine biology at COA earlier this year.
I was drawn to COA by its clear mission to do higher education differently, with a focus on developing student’s ability to think broadly and across disciplines, while also engaging with an uplifting community. My hope is that the education and mentoring I offer students at COA will contribute to this mission, beginning with the Intertidal Ecology course I am teaching in the fall of 2024.
(18,000)
Lalage and Steven Rales Chair in Chemistry
Chairholder: Reuben Hudson, PhD
Chemistry at COA has been a growing discipline for several years as we continue to bring in grant-funded equipment and personnel to enable student-centered research and teaching.
I procured a $50,000 grant from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Infrastructure Development (EPSCoR RID) grant from the Maine Space Grant Consortium. We also had support from the American Chemical Society ($70,000), and the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program ($110,000). Students in chemistry classes used a state-ofthe-art gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS) to identify and quantify trace chemicals in plant, tissue, and sediment core samples. We quantified biochemical markers indicative of humans in carbon-14-dated lake sediment cores going back thousands of years. Students who received hands-on training on the GC-MS went directly from their degree into industry jobs as GC-MS technicians.
Our small research group is starting to gain more of an international profile. Brazilian postdoc Thiago Altair is starting his third year at COA. Sarah Kheireddine from Lebanon spent her second year at COA as a postdoc after finishing her PhD in France. After a long ordeal trying
to extract postdoc Vitalii Polubinskyi and lab manager Anastasiia Pustovoit from Ukraine, they finally landed at COA in February 2024. Each of these chemists, along with students I’m co-supervising in their areas of expertise, enable our single-faculty discipline to offer a wider range of projects for COA students. We also welcomed visiting PhD students Selene Cannelli for two months from Shawn McGlynn’s lab in Japan and Mauricio Berazaluce for a month from Eloi Camprubi Casa’s lab at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). They both worked on origin-oflife studies. The EPSCoR RID award funded visits for COA students to other collaborating labs: Ruvan de Graaf, MPhil ’22 joined Eloi’s lab at UTRGV and Kamilah Bundang ’25 continued with Laurie Barge at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab—a collaborative research project that she started with Hudson and Kheireddine at COA.
Established in 2020 by Lalage and Steven Rales as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign.
Red Delelegne ’25 and Nahid Ahmed ’26 conducted summer internships with me at COA, funded by INBRE and the EPSCoR RID grant. Ludwin Moran Sosa ’24 started his senior project (to be completed in fall term) quantifying contaminants in whale baleen samples. Ruvan defended his thesis after also completing his undergraduate degree here. During his time at COA, he co-authored papers in three peer-reviewed journals, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Chemical Education, and Chemistry: a European Journal. His research also contributed to several additional papers that are in preparation, and should be submitted in the coming year or two.
$1,035,534
David Rockefeller Family Chair in Ecosystem Management and Protection
Chairholder: Kenneth S. Cline, JD
My classes this year had a strong emphasis on public lands and national parks. In the fall, I taught Acadia: The National Park Idea. This course introduces first- and second-year students to the history, policy context, and wonders of Acadia National Park. With weekly field trips into the park and guest speakers, this is an immersion learning experience. I followed this up in the winter term with Our Public Lands, an upperlevel course that focuses on the history and management challenges presented by the vast array of public lands. In the fall, I also taught my most difficult course, Advanced International Environmental Law Seminar, to a group of upper-level students who have participated in international negotiations or have done other sophisticated legal work. My final course, Introduction to the Legal Process, focused on domestic legal issues and current social justice debates. We looked at institutional racism within the criminal justice system and ways that law can be used as a tool to reduce those inequities. I directed six senior projects and an independent study related to the Rockefeller Chair. These projects focused on Maine environmental legislation, marine law, New England wilderness, international water policy, and wilderness canoe travel.
I continue to strengthen the Acadia National Park–COA partnership by introducing students and new faculty to opportunities to collaborate with the National Park Service. For the first time, Acadia National Park was able to fund the Acadia Scholars Program, and we placed two COA Acadia Scholar interns with Acadia’s Wildlife Division for the summer. I continue to do advocacy work and submit legal comments on proposed actions in Acadia that will affect park resources. Several students in classes this year also did projects or research in Acadia. Through my position on the board of directors for Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, I am involved in supporting and designing early-career science opportunities in Acadia.
As part of my co-management research and advocacy work, I continue to lead the national Sierra Club’s efforts to improve their working relationships with Indigenous groups in the US. I have participated in a national task force to write and implement a co-management policy for the Sierra Club. Related to this work, I presented some of my research on tribal-federal co-management of public lands this fall at the International Society for Human Ecology Conference in Tucson, Arizona with Sophie Chivers ’24, my research assistant.
I continue to be deeply engaged with national, local, and international conservation organizations. I have worked extensively with the Sierra Club on how it can effectively pursue its conservation mission in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples in the US. I also am part of national Sierra Club efforts to protect legally designated wilderness and support the Club’s 30x30 campaign. To this end, I helped organize a virtual conference for the national Sierra Club on wilderness in the 21st Century.
162,906
Allocations/Withdrawals (75,000)
$1,634,809
Established in 2010 by David Rockefeller, Sr.
Sharpe-McNally Chair in Green and Socially Responsible Business
Chairholder: Jay Friedlander
In the fall I co-led the inaugural, term-long Human Ecology Lab on the remote island of Ōsakikamijima (HELIO) Japan with COA’s partner, Setouchi Global Academy. In this 10-week program, students became part of the community and studied Japanese culture and language, as well as microplastics with Abby Barrows MPhil ’18. They also did short-term internships covering a range of activities, including working with local farmers and fishermen, studying Zen Buddhism with a temple priest, working in a local high school, and studying with the last maker of traditional tatami mats on the island.
In the winter term, I co-taught Personal Finance and Impact Investing with Andy Griffiths, COA’s former CFO and interim president. During the course students explored their values and habits of spending as well as fundamentals of investments, savings and options for impact investing. Guest speakers included impact investors who work in venture capital, mutual fund management, family wealth management, angel investing, and other sectors.
Sustainable Strategies also took place during the winter. In this course, students consulted with enterprises, performing a strategic analysis of competitive strengths and weaknesses, and offered recommendations to build environmental, social, and financial abundance. Students worked with for-profit and nonprofit enterprises based in Maine, California, and India.
During this time, I also facilitated the introduction of Steve Thomas, former PBS host of This Old House, to COA. Steve co-taught Wood, Stone, and Steel with COA Provost Ken Hill during the spring.
This spring, students in the Diana Davis Spencer Hatchery developed and refined enterprises in financial software, upcycled fashion, food service, outdoor recreation, party games, and rural tourism. Students presented overviews of their work at a Hatchery Expo at Havana restaurant in Bar Harbor at the end of term.
In the broader community, I participated in groups
fostering entrepreneurship and the local economy in Maine and beyond. I gave presentations to startups building their business acumen. Partners included Mount Desert 365, Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, Maine Sea Grant, Maine Technical Institute, UpStart Maine, and others. I also presented at the XXV International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology at the University of Arizona.
Henry and Peggy Sharpe initiated the funding of this chair, and Jay McNally ’84 completed its endowment in 2004
Kerri Sands ’02, the Sustainable Business Program manager, once again represented COA as a preliminary judge in a capstone competition for Manomet’s 2024 class of U360 Business Sustainability interns. Kerri and I were also participants in the Downeast Innovation Network and Maine Accelerates Growth, groups that aim to improve Maine’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
As the COA liaisons for Projects for Peace, Kerri and I supported two projects in the summer of 2023: Taibatou Adamou ’22 empowered women entrepreneurs in Niger, and Alejandra Morales Torres ’23 provided emotional resilience education to children at the international border in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Alejandra was then selected by UNESCO and Nestlé from over 900 applicants to continue her work as part of the Because Youth Matter—Impulso Joven initiative. COA’s 2024 Projects for Peace awardee, Valentina Dereani ’27, carried out her project to develop seed banks and resilient food systems in Kenya during the summer.
Lisa Stewart Chair in Literature and Women’s Studies
Chairholder: Karen E. Waldron, PhD
The 2023–24 academic year was engaging and highly productive. The Literature and Writing Group welcomed our new director of the Writing Program, Su Yin Khor, and met regularly as a team to plan literature and writing offerings, update policies as needed, and deal more effectively with our many translingual students. In addition to Su Yin and myself, the group includes Blake Cass (director of the Writing Center) and literature and writing professor Palak Taneja, who teaches Anglophone World Literature. As we plan out literature and writing offerings, we consider student needs, the diversity of courses, and our range of course levels. I have offered leadership since the retirement of Anne Kozak and am pleased with our effective curricular coordination.
Established in 2012 by William P. Stewart in memory of his daughter, Lisa Stewart Target. Lisa was a personable, intelligent, and accomplished woman who started Bowen Asia, a successful investment firm in Hong Kong, specializing in the Asian economy. She spoke five languages and lived all over the world. Her three children attended COA’s Summer Field Studies program.
For my part, I taught two classes in both the fall and winter terms, followed by a spring sabbatical. During my sabbatical, I was still meeting with and supporting my colleagues in literature and writing. The two fall classes consisted of a new course, The Measure of Our Lives—a seminar on Toni Morrison—and City/Country: US Literary Landscapes 1860-1920. The Toni Morrison course had a diverse range of students who embraced the challenge of reading every one of Morrison’s novels. Discussions were lively and illuminating, with a focus on the doubly minoritized position of Morrison’s female characters. City/ Country started with Rebecca Harding Davis’ book Life in the
Iron Mills, and included a number of women writers such as Sarah Orne Jewett and Willa Cather. The period we studied is marked, among other elements, by the fact “The Woman Question” was prominent in US culture.
My winter term classes included one of my favorite sets of authors: Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and George Eliot. The second course was Nineteenth Century American Women, an area of my primary research. The combination of the two classes allowed for a continuously intriguing transatlantic awareness that I hope enriched the student experience. During my spring sabbatical, I read several skilled feminist authors’ retellings of Indian (Hindu) and Greek epics in preparation for team-teaching with Palak Taneja in winter 2025. We are reading these faithful, beautifully written renditions of myths that somehow give their female figures voice. Our primary aim is to explore a recent literary phenomenon in a comparative cultural context to ask deep questions about the effect of myths on ideas of womanhood.
Beginning Fund Balance
$1,616,580 Net Return & Contributions 170,281 Less Allocations/Withdrawals (78,000)
Fund Balance $1,708,862
Allan Stone Chair in the Visual Arts
Chairholder:
Catherine Clinger, PhD
Teaching printmaking and drawing at College of the Atlantic involves two entirely different tones of pedagogic approach. Respectively, the first method is communicating how to craft wood, linoleum, and copper surfaces so that ink and paper—the presence and absence of marks—become images through inscription and voids using tools and novel skills. The second subject, drawing nature, teaches how to describe communion between a human and the woody and mineral matter in a forest without overthinking or imposing an authority over nature. These studio courses ask students to de-center themselves, thus centering their work in craft and the surrender to the ineffable Muse.
My Art Since 1900 course in the fall of 2023 evolved into an inescapable response to the contemporaneous tumult of human conflict. Rather than an absolute fixity, we adapted to a deeper enquiry into sound and visual cultures. We sought to both acknowledge and counter the consequences of the infliction of harm, while simultaneously finding evidence of earlier cycles of the same in the historical record of human art production and archives of struggle.
A significant expansion of the COA/Marion Boulton Stroud Foundation Kippy Stroud Residency Program was initiated this year. In the winter, Posey Moulton visited the college as the first Maine Emerging Artist of the program. The arts faculty incorporated this two-week visit through the design and/ or adaptation of a COA arts course within the context of COA’s core human-ecological field of study. In the spring, Ugandan writer and curator Serubiri Moses delivered the inaugural Kippy Stroud Memorial Lecture. Moses is the author of more than 30 book chapters. His debut poetry book, THE MOON IS READING US A BOOK (Pā ntano Books) was published in 2023. His public lecture queried the tensions of art cultures and gender identities in the manifold praxis of art production with an African perspective.
I supervised the four incredible senior projects of Wriley Hodge ’24, Micah Lindberg ’24, Cordelia Perry ’24, and Emiliana Reinoso ’24. Two members of this quartet received Thomas J. Watson Fellowships and are continuing their work as researchers and visual artists—as are their two colleagues through other artful enterprises.
My administrative service at the college this year involved membership in the Faculty Development Group and the Contours Committee tasked with authoring two new, full-time arts faculty position descriptions. In the Maine arts community, I served as a reviewer for foundation funding.
In the greater academic community, I edited and reviewed manuscripts for two professional journals in earth science and art history. I gave a lecture on the picturing of “The Moon” and contributed to a fundraiser for queer youth.
I continue my work as a studio artist and scholar through the production of visual and written works, including an intaglio print cycle: The Four Disgracers (after Goltzius)
Next page, clockwise from top left: linocut by Emiliana Reinoso ’24; etching by Wriley Hodge Reinoso ’24; mixed media composition by Cordelia Perry Reinoso ’24; Catherine Clinger with a student.
Established in 2008 by Clare Stone in memory of her husband Allan Stone, who died in 2006. Allan was celebrated for his visionary eye which incorporated an eclectic approach and early advocacy of pivotal artists of the 20th century and beyond. Alongside being a leading authority on Abstract Expressionism, he gave Wayne Thiebaud his first New York show and represented him for over 40 years.
He was a passionate collector of anything that appealed to his eye, including Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Joseph Cornell, John Chamberlain, and many less-known artists. In addition to modern masterworks and contemporary art, Allan collected tribal and folk art, Americana, important decorative arts, furniture, and Bugattis.
Fund Balance $2,299,612
Cody Van Heerden Chair in Economics and Quantitative Social Sciences
Chairholder: Duc Hien Nguyen, PhD
I began my tenure as the Cody Van Heerden Chair in Economics and Quantitative Social Sciences in September 2024. I am a feminist political economist with special interest in feminist economics, LGBT economics, social inequality, and the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexuality. I received my PhD in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2024, and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Toronto in 2016. My dissertation research explored how normative sex/gender institutions generate economic disparity for gender and sexual minorities, and how they reproduce other structural forces of races, class, and citizenship. My publications include works investigating the relationship between sexuality, consumption, and capitalism, as well as works looking at the health and economic consequences of policies that prevent access to gender-affirming care for the transgender population.
I am excited to be teaching at COA. Through my research and teaching, I want to understand and engage with the forces that shape social and economic conditions of our present moment—a deeply unequal present where ordinary people find it nearly impossible to thrive and to transform their lives for the better, let alone sexual and gender
minorities whose lives are often drowned in cycles of precarity and crisis. How do we, as citizens, as collectives, and as communities turn this around to forge a kinder, more sustainable, more inclusive, and better future for all?
Established in 2019 by David and Robin Reis, COA trustees, staff, and faculty as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign to honor former trustee Cody van Heerden, MPhil ‘17, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 58 after a short battle with ALS.
In the 2024–25 academic year, I am offering a mix of introductory and advanced courses, including Introduction to Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Political Economy, and seminars on social reproduction, care labor, and LGBTQ+ economics.
Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies
Chairholder: Brittany Slabach ’09, PhD
Established in 2019 by Kim and Finn Wentworth as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign. When establishing the chair, Kim said “We need to inspire and equip future generations to be able to improve some of the conditions we face. We want to address the legacy issue: we, the baby boomers, may have recognized some of the problems early on, but we didn’t do enough.”
I’m excited to be joining the faculty and serving as the Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies beginning in the fall of 2024! I am a broadly trained vertebrate ecologist, and a College of the Atlantic alum. My COA education provided the framework and skills to investigate the complex biological and humanecological problems that motivate my research today. My goal as a teacher, and researcher, is to provide the same pivotal experiences to students that I was so lucky to receive.
As a 2023 Second Century Stewardship Fellow, I have worked closely with biologists and partners at Acadia National Park and Schoodic Institute investigating questions related to the behavioral and ecological effects of human and natural disturbance across biological levels
of organization. Over 22 students—including those from COA—have participated in this work, including eight who have led independent projects. One of these was Maggie Denison ‘24’s senior project investigating the effect of historical landscape use on small-mammal community biodiversity. I’m excited to continue these partnerships and create new ones, providing more opportunities for student involvement.
Over the next year, I will be offering courses in vertebrate zoology, wildlife ecology, and museum studies. I am also part of the teaching team for ecology and natural history. My fall courses will see students participating in research in Acadia National Park and setting up several long-term ecological studies at various COA properties through courses such as Ecology: Natural History and Vertebrate Zoology. It’s been wonderful being back on campus. The college is in a period of transition, and I am so excited to be a part of it and serve the community in this new way!
James Russell Wiggins Chair in Government and Polity
Chairholder: James McKown, PhD, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
This past year marked a moment of both continuity and change for our offerings in government and politics here at COA.
I was especially excited to have the opportunity to start off the school year by once again teaching the fall Human Ecology Core Course for incoming first-year students. One of the more distinctive features of COA’s core course is its rotating module structure, by which all incoming students rotate through the seven different faculty members who are teaching the course. In my case, this allowed me to work with the incoming students to explore a topic I have been thinking about for some time: the role of expertise in higher education and its connection to the historical evolution of disciplines and majors.
In the winter term, I was able to offer my seminar on the early history of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, a class that has in recent years become a regular staple of my class rotations. I followed that up in the spring with one of my favorite classes to teach, the first of a two-part Cold War history series. Unfortunately, the disruptions of COVID-19 followed by the additional demands of my administrative post have made it challenging in recent years to offer these two courses on a reliable and predictable schedule. With the second part of the sequence scheduled for this coming spring, I am hopeful that we will return to some degree of regularity in our ability to teach these important classes.
This past academic year also marked my final one in the role of associate dean for academic affairs. After four years in this post, I am stepping down at the start of the fall 2024 term, and not a moment too soon. There is little doubt that the 2024 presidential election will occupy a great amount of attention and energy, both inside and outside of the classroom.
After four years of a reduced teaching load, I am eager to get back to a fuller schedule of class offerings and have more time to work with students on various independent
The Wiggins Chair honors the memory of former COA trustee James Russell Wiggins, one of the most respected and influential figures in American journalism. His career spanned three-quarters of a century, including 20 years as editor of the Washington Post. After his retirement, he was nominated by President Lyndon Johnson to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations. Over the course of his final three decades, he was owner and editor of the Ellsworth American.
research projects. The time I spent as associate dean, and as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, has definitely transformed my thinking about what role my course offerings can play here at the college. This is especially true as the nature of our curriculum shifts with a wave of retirements and new hires. My hope is that once we are past the election, I will have the chance to spend the remaining amount of this academic year doing a “reset” and planning more deliberately for my postdeanship teaching rotation. As the saying goes, “Watch this space!”
JAMES RUSSELL WIGGINS CHAIR IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITY
Return & Contributions 177,643
Allocations/Withdrawals (82,000)
Fund Balance $1,782,769
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman Chair in the Performing Arts
Chairholder: Jodi Baker, MFA
In the winter of 2024, I collaborated with the great Dru Colbert (faculty emeriti, arts and design) on an experimental production course. Working together, a group of 16 students developed and built a large-scale performance installation based on a work that Dru had created and produced years before on the ice at Somes Pond called Graupel. This time out, we opted to produce the piece on Little Long Pond. We worked closely with Maine based artist Posey Moulton, Kyle Breen (a performing arts professional based in New York), and a long list of local collaborators and consultants. The season was a rough one. Massive storms and wildly fluctuating temperatures wreaked havoc on the shore, the road, and the performance site, and as we approached opening week, the pond surface thawed making a public performance there impossible. We quickly pivoted, moved the show to COA campus, and performed two wonderful nights for maximum-capacity audiences. Navigating this process was a challenge, but it was an invaluable experience for which I am incredibly grateful.
The Student Activities Committee helped make possible Donna Oblongata’s return to COA this year. Donna performed her solo-work The Van Gogh Shogh, and also offered a clown skills workshop. COA graduate student Jonny Rogers visited my fall courses to share in our collaborative training and to offer a workshop in hand balance and core strength. In the fall I also taught movement training courses for COA students as part of a new alliance with ArtWaves.
It’s important to note that students focusing on performance and performance studies at COA continue to access extraordinary opportunities after graduation. Currently there are COA alumni working with internationally renowned artists and companies, as well as building transdisciplinary projects and research at some of the most exciting contemporary graduate training programs in the world. Most recently, Hana Keegan ’17 served as associate director on Secret Garden at Regents Park in London and Camden Hunt ’22 was accepted to the American Studies Graduate Program at Boston University, where he’ll continue the work he began at COA intersecting queer theory, futurity, and gender studies.
Established in 2019 by several anonymous donors as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign, in honor of the renowned actors Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, whose daughter, Nell Newman, graduated from COA in 1987. Beginning Fund Balance $1,013,208
In the spring, I traveled with students to New York, NY where we saw Itamar Moses’ play The Ally, Suzan Lori-Parks’ play Sally and Tom, and Taylor Mac’s reinvention of Sarah Ruhl’s play Orlando. Throughout the year, I directed several independent studies, supervised student projects in the local community, and served as a professional and academic advisor to 15–20 students across a wide array of interests. I also served on the Presidential Search Committee.
My work at COA is made possible by the Woodward and Newman Chair and other generous endowments that fuel art and performance study at COA. I remain incredibly grateful for the exceptional teaching and learning opportunities these funds provide.
Facing page, clockwise from top left: Students skating in the Rose Garden; Skating rehearsal on Little Long Pond; Ice surface testing.
538,173
$1,506,381
ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS
Nancy Aronson Scholarship
This scholarship was established during the Broad Reach Capital Campaign to benefit students with financial need.
RECIPIENT: Adi Gamache ’27 (Pawtucket, RI)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $123,008
ENDING BALANCE: $132,199
Brooke and Vincent Astor Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 2012 through a generous bequest from Mrs. Brooke Astor to COA, as well as gifts from the Vincent Astor Foundation. It is awarded to Maine students with financial need.
RECIPIENTS: Isabella Pols ’24, Gemma Bradney ’27, and Jennifer McNamara ’24
BEGINNING BALANCE: $986,336
ENDING BALANCE: $1,042,553
Christina and William Baker Scholarship
Family and friends of Christina ‘Tina’ Baker established this fund in 2013 in memory of Tina. After the passing of Tina’s husband, William ‘Bill’ Baker in 2021, the family added Bill to the scholarship name and amended the criteria. This four-year scholarship is awarded to students with financial need with a preference towards firstgeneration students.
RECIPIENT: Ruby DeWilde ’25 (Portland, OR)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $113,716
ENDING BALANCE: $129,861
Judith Blank and Steve Alsup Scholarship
Created in honor of two wonderful people who have lived on MDI for many years. Both talented makers: Judith a very gifted fiber artist mixing the colors of the woods and waters magically in her rugs. Steve a builder and artisan in metals. To sit around a fire with a cup of tea chatting of many thoughts and things was as fine a way to spend time as could be thought of. Student selection criteria: fiber arts, metal arts, handcrafts.
This scholarship was created in 2020 as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign in honor of Lynn Boulger to recognize COA students with gifts in writing and provide them with the chance to develop those skills through the COA curriculum. This scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate financial need and great talent in writing.
The Bright Horizons Scholarship was established by Bar Harbor Bank and Trust as part of the Life Changing, World Changing Capital Campaign. The scholarship is awarded to local Maine students who are graduates of high schools located in Hancock and Washington Counties.
Created to honor heartfelt and wonderful people, full of kindness and knowledge. From the beauty of a flower to the architecture of shelters, buildings and cities. Student selection criteria: architecture, landscape design.
RECIPIENT: Anna Heiting ’25 (Emmerich am Rhein, Germany)
Created to honor Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear activist who has founded several associations (Physicians for Social Responsibility among them) to educate the public about the ongoing dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation and war. Student selection criteria: social responsibility, advocacy, renewable energy.
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individuals honored by the scholarship. Characteristics and interests that speak to the honorees include: birding and preservation of wild habitat, service, loyalty, care, attention to detail.
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individual honored by the scholarship. Characteristics and interests that speak to the honoree include: investigation, deep diving, dot connecting, exposing of toxins in environment, and revealing the destruction of nature and natural habitats.
This scholarship was created in 2005 with a gift from the Christensen Fund. It is awarded to students with financial need, with a preference towards international students.
Rebecca Clark Memorial Scholarship in Marine Sciences
The scholarship was established in 2004 in memory of Rebecca Clark, a COA graduate who lost her life in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand. The fund was started with a lead gift from trustee Edward McC. Blair and support from many friends and family of Rebecca. The scholarship is awarded to a rising junior or senior, exemplary in dedication, enthusiasm, passion and scholarship, in the field of marine science and/or marine conservation.
Richard Slaton Davis and Norah Deakin Davis Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 2004 by Norah Deakin Davis, the widow of Richard S. Davis (Dick), a founding faculty member who passed away at the age of 41 in 1982. Mrs. Davis’s pledge spurred additional gifts from friends and former students of Dick. Recipients are outstanding students in the contemplative, aesthetic, and philosophical aspects of human ecology that Dick loved.
The scholarship was created in 2006 by the children and friends of John and Louisa Dreier. It is given to a junior who has shown leadership in building community spirit both on campus and in the college’s surrounding communities.
RECIPIENT: Juliana Trujillo Mesa ’24 (Antiguo Cuscatlán, El Salvador )
Louisa R. Dreier Scholarship
The scholarship was created in 2006 by the children and friends of John and Louisa Dreier. The scholarship is given to a junior who embodies the spirit of joy in the arts.
RECIPIENT: Anna Celia Morton ’25 (Stockholm, Sweden)
Samuel and Mary Kathryn Eliot Scholarship
The scholarship was established by COA’s trustees to honor Sam Eliot as he retired from COA after 11 years as vice president. Mary Kathryn served as fundraising assistant to COA’s first president and designed the college’s iconic logo. It is awarded to Maine students with financial need.
This scholarship was established by trustee Heather Evans and her family during the Broad Reach Capital Campaign to benefit students with financial need.
RECIPIENT: David Wasinger ’25 (Durango, CO)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $294,422
ENDING BALANCE: $398,009
Anne Franchetti Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individual honored by the scholarship. Characteristics and interests that speak to the honoree include: study of oceans, making, chemistry, medicine, curiosity, dowsing, whimsy, laughter, global thinking, ceramics.
RECIPIENT: Sofia Dragoti ’25 (Athens, Greece)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $117,799
ENDING BALANCE: $124,165
General Scholarship
The General Scholarship Fund was established in 1984. The fund contains gifts given by hundreds of friends in every amount for unrestricted student scholarships. We continue to accept donations for this important endowment. There are many students who recieve aid from this fund. Here are a few:
RECIPIENTS: Abigail Thornton ’26, Leander Laga-Abram ’26, Issa Pizzimenti ’26, and Nicholas Lapic ’26
BEGINNING BALANCE:
$1,184,983
ENDING BALANCE: $1,205,839
Craig Greene Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship was created to honor the late Craig William Greene, former Elizabeth Battles Newlin Professor in Botany. It is awarded to two rising juniors or seniors who have excelled in botany and general biology classes, and who share Craig’s passion for the world of flora.
Sam Hamill Scholarship in Community Planning and Ecology Policy
Judy Perkins led the initiative to create this scholarship in 2023 to honor Life Trustee Sam Hamill and his professional contributions to the fields of regional and environmental planning and his legacy of service to COA. Sam served as chairman of the board of trustees from 2004-2010. This scholarship supports students interested in community planning and ecological policy.
The first recipients of this award will be named in FY25.
This award honors both George B. Hartzog and John M. Kauffmann. Kauffmann, who passed away in 2014, was a former COA trustee, and retired to MDI after a long career at the National Park Service, most notably in Alaska where he helped define the boundaries of the Gates of the Arctic National Park.
George Hartzog, head of the National Park Service from 1964–1972, was a hero of John’s and revered by many for the way he managed the agency and defended the NPS during his tenure. It is awarded to students who have an interest in the management and protection of ecosystems—especially wilderness and rivers.
The scholarship was created in 1997 through gifts from friends and family of August Heckscher, an artist, author and public servant whose life and work encompassed many of the values and principles underlying the study of human ecology. It is awarded to two students, preferably juniors, with preference for those whose work focuses on public lands, government, or the arts.
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individual honored by the scholarship. Student selection criteria: art, craft, landscape design.
Louise H and David S Ingalls Scholarship for International Students
This scholarship was created in 2018 with a gift from the Louise H. & David S. Ingalls Foundation. It is awarded to students with financial need, with a preference towards international students.
In honor of a college professor who in the best sense of the teaching craft opened the eyes and hearts of his students to art and art history. Student selection criteria: education, teaching, humanities, art history.
Edward G. Kaelber Scholarship for Maine Students of Outstanding Promise
COA and the Maine Community Foundation created the Edward G. Kaelber Scholarship for Maine Students of Outstanding Promise to honor Ed Kaelber for his leadership and for his contributions in the fields of education and community development. The scholarship provides opportunities for Maine students who possess the potential for the kind of boldness, commitment, and leadership personified by Ed Kaelber, and who will use their skills and talents to impact their communities in equally significant ways.
RECIPIENT: Conrad Kortemeier ’26 (Bristol, ME)
Alice Blum Yoakum Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 1996 by former trustee Robert Blum, honoring his daughter Alice. It is awarded to students who plan to actively work for biodiversity and especially for the preservation of underwater species in various parts of the world.
RECIPIENT: Hannah Gower-Fox ’24 (Brecon, United Kingdom)
MAINE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The Maine Student Scholarship Fund is an endowment created through generous gifts to the COA Silver Anniversary Campaign from the organizations listed below.
BEGINNING BALANCE: $826,947
ENDING BALANCE: $872,919
Betterment Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 1995 through a gift from the Betterment Fund, and supports students from Bethel, Oxford County, and the State of Maine, in that order of priority.
RECIPIENT: Catherine Tibbets ’27 (Raymond, ME)
H. King and Jean Cummings Scholarship
This scholarship was established with a gift from the H. King & Jean Cummings Charitable Trust. Mr. Cummings led his family’s business, Guilford Industries, a textile manufacturer in Guilford, Maine. He later served as CEO of Sugarloaf ski area and played decisive roles in the founding of Carrabassett Valley Academy and Maine Community Foundation. The scholarship is awarded to students from western Maine.
RECIPIENT: Cheyanne Goroshin ’24 (Sumner, ME)
Kenduskeag Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 1995 with two gifts from Dead River Company and the Kenduskeag Foundation. It is awarded to Maine students with financial need.
RECIPIENT: Hayden Platteter ’24 (Phippsburg, ME)
John McKee Scholarship
Created in honor of a master of black and white and color photography who uses his knowledge of the medium to awaken the awareness of a student to framing a shot, to the play of shadow and light, to notice color and color saturation. A wonderful, thoughtful and kind man. Student selection criteria: photography.
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individuals honored by the scholarship. Characteristics and interests that speak to the honorees include: birding and preservation of wild habitat; service; loyalty; care; attention to detail.
The scholarship was established by Craig Neff “to honor the extraordinarily creative, loving, generous, energetic person Pammie was. She had an incredible passion for taking care of the planet, protecting wildlife and habitat, and encouraging everyone to learn more about nature and science. I know COA’s commitment to those values is strong and we have always admired the school, the staff and the wonderful students and graduates we have come to know.”
The scholarship was created in 2004 through a bequest from Barbara Piel to College of the Atlantic. She was a great friend of the college, deeply interested in the natural world and inspired by “the intense individuality of students and staff” at COA. This annual scholarship is awarded to students with financial need.
Maurine P and Robert Rothschild Graduate Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 1997 with a gift to the Silver Anniversary Endowment Campaign by trustee Maurine P. Rothschild and her husband Robert Rothschild. The scholarship is awarded to qualified graduate students with preference given to those pursuing work in the education field.
RECIPIENT: Ruvan de Graaf ’22, MPhil ’24 (Eveni, Swaziland)
The scholarship was created in 2013 through a gift made by Jay McNally ‘84 to honor his maternal grandparents. This four-year scholarship provides financial assistance to a high-achieving student who is a great fit with the mission of COA and would otherwise not be able to attend.
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individuals honored by the scholarship. Characteristics and interests that speak to the honorees include: Love of wood, landscapes and gardens, books, art, music, lifelong love of learning, letters, winter structure of plants, compassion and empathy, love and leadership in community.
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship supports a student working in fields of related interest to the individual honored by the scholarship. Characteristics and interests that speak to the honoree include: boat building, woodworking, working waterfront.
RECIPIENT: Nils Midtun ’24 (Sandnes, Norway)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $129,557
ENDING BALANCE: $137,231
Donald Straus Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 2008 with a gift from Donald and Beth Straus. It is awarded to a rising junior or senior who shows promise in working for cultural change, collaboration, in the field of human relations and/or leadership.
RECIPIENT: Alexandra Löfgren ’25 (Dvärsätt, Sweden)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $248,424
ENDING BALANCE: $262,598
Joan and Dixon Stroud Scholarship
This scholarship was created in 2018 by David Milliken as part of an effort to honor family, friends, and public figures and the characteristics David admires in them. This scholarship honors the Strouds’ love of family, care of community, embrace of beauty and aesthetics, respect for the past, and belief in the future. Interest in the investigation of unpolluted water and riparian habitats as an essential support of life. Student selection criteria: water quality, wildlife habitat, community service.
RECIPIENT: Hannah Gaudet ’25 (Dixon, NM)
BEGINNING BALANCE: $117,799
ENDING BALANCE: $124,165
ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS
(not endowed)
Alumni Climate Action Scholarship
The scholarship was created in 2021 by David Bonner Winship ‘77, Rich Van Kampen (‘13), Kyle Shank ‘14, and Taj Schottland ‘10. This annual scholarship is awarded to students with financial need who are engaged in environmental and climate activism and action.
RECIPIENT: Linnea Goh ‘25 (Vancouver, BC Canada)
Water is Life Scholarship
The scholarship was created in 2021 by Ellen Seh (‘75). The threeyear scholarship is awarded to students with financial need, with a preference for women who have an interest in freshwater resources— especially efforts focused on the protection of water quality and quantity for drinking water and ecological integrity. The scholarship will be initially awarded to a secondyear student and be renewed for a total of three years, so long as they remain enrolled at the College.
RECIPIENT: Sam Nguyen-Jones ‘26 (Brooklyn, NY)
ENDOWED FUNDS
Barbarina
M. and Aaron J. Heyerdahl
Beech Hill Farm Endowment Fund
Staff Supervisors: Anna Davis and David Levinson, Farm Co-Managers
Beech Hill Farm had another productive and successful year. Throughout the season, we grew over 120,000 pounds of MOFGA-certified organic vegetables, which were sold through our farm stand, wholesale accounts, and our summer and fall community supported agriculture program.
This was our first full season selling in our newly constructed farmstand. We were able to open three weeks earlier than anticipated and will stay open through November. This expanded sale season helps us better serve our year-round customers, as well as increasing overall farm revenue.
We continued to expand our food access outreach through working with our community partners. We supplied nearly 5,000 pounds of produce to Hancock County community members through Healthy Acadia’s Gleaning Initiative. We also provided 2,000 pounds of food to the Bar Harbor Food Pantry through the Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Mainers Feeding Mainers program. We continue to supervise and work closely with student coordinators of COA’s student-run, food access project, Share the Harvest. Through Share the Harvest programs we provided free produce to low-income residents of Mount Desert Island, as well as 50% discounts in the farmstand to all SNAP and WIC users through our Double your Dollar program.
We hosted multiple on-farm events, including the Share the Harvest annual fundraising concert featuring Maine band The Soul Benders, a spring plant sale, and a Food Justice
Dinner organized by Molly Hetzel ’24 as the culmination of her senior project.
We worked closely with the Farm Advisory Working Group to develop a five-year Farm and Garden Strategic Plan. This plan will help us meet our longstanding goals of expanding educational opportunities on the farm and increasing access to farm food on campus.
Established in 1999 by Barbarina M. Heyerdahl ’88 and Aaron J. Heyerdahl ’87 when they donated Beech Hill Farm to COA.
We continue to work toward building soil health and fertility through improved management practices, such as increased cover cropping, mulching, beneficial insect plantings, and reduced tillage practices.
We employed 20 work-study students in the spring and the fall, sponsored three summer internships, and hired 18 seasonal staff. We hosted numerous class visits from The Community School, MDI High School, and COA.
$99,301
10,432
Allocations/Withdrawals (5,000)
$104,732
T.A. Cox Fund and Cox Protectorate Fund
Faculty Supervisor: Kenneth S. Cline, JD
My professional work related to the T.A. Cox Fund in Ecosystem Management and Protection was focused on four projects in 2023–24.
Established by former trustee Tom Cox to support the work of the David Rockefeller Family Chair in Ecosystem Management and Protection.
NATIVE AMERICAN CO-MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY
I researched the legal feasibility of federal land management agencies (e.g. the National Park Service) co-managing federal public lands with Native American Tribes. There has been a virtual explosion of such arrangements over the past two years, but limited legal assessment of their validity and effectiveness. As coordinator of the Native American Land Rights Team for the Sierra Club, I have worked on developing a co-management policy for the national Sierra Club. In November 2024, my research assistant and I presented a talk titled, “Sharing is Hard: Co-management of Public Lands with Tribes in the United States” at the XXV International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology.
LEGAL PROTECTION OF SACRED SITES
Through prior sabbaticals, I have studied the ways that sacredness can be used as a basis for protecting specific landscapes. In everyday conversation, the concept of the sacred as grounds for legal restraint seems obvious, but there are few examples of our legal system actually recognizing the sacred. Fights over this issue have gone before the US Supreme Court, but there is no coherent body of law in this country that honors the concept. This is less true in places where law and religion are not as distinct or where the concept of “the sacred” has legal significance. Sacred springs are still recognized in many areas, and I traveled to Bath and Glastonbury, England to understand extant models of sacred springs that have nonsecular, formal protection. Adapting these models to fit within the US constitutional framework of the separation of church and state is a complex and fascinating project that could have broad ramifications for landscape protection and collaboration with Native American Tribes.
RESEARCH ON NEWFOUNDLAND AND CANADIAN LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRUCTURES
To support colleagues teaching a class on Newfoundland, I attended their class sessions and prepared lectures on the history and political structure of the province. I read several books about Canadian history and politics and numerous law review articles that addressed comparative environmental law and policy. I will be able to incorporate this comparative knowledge into my other classes.
COX PROTECTORATE FUND
Finally, this fall I recruited Lucian Vazquez ’25 to serve as the first steward for the Cox Protectorate, a 101-acre tract of undeveloped land near the center of Mount Desert Island donated to COA by former trustee Tom Cox in 2010. Lucian did extensive mapping of the property, cleared existing trails, developed a new trail, conducted botanical surveys, and encouraged students to use the property responsibly. He is developing his senior project to expand upon this work. Next year a second steward will join Lucian. Several classes used the protectorate in the last fiscal year, including Mammalogy, Animal Behavior, and Ecology. We conducted small mammal assessments, and students evaluated the effect of predator calls on resident deer populations.
T.A. COX FUND
W.H. Drury Research Fund
Faculty Supervisor: John G.T. Anderson, PhD
As in past years, the primary focus of the Drury Fund was in supporting student work on COA’s islands and in sending students to meetings to present the result of their labors. Fund monies supported six students to attend (and present at) the international waterbirds conference with me in Florida.
Additional funds were used to help seven students attend and present at the Northeast Natural History conference in Albany, New York. This year’s island field season featured extremely active collaboration between Great Duck and Mount Desert Rock in tagging and banding gulls and (on Great Duck) petrels. I cannot say enough about how truly remarkable the members of this year’s bird team were, both in terms of their research abilities and in their care, patience, and sheer joy in working with wild things in wild places. Overall, a record number of birds were banded and, thanks to additional support from the Maine Space Grant Consortium, we were able to put GPS tags on birds on both islands. These will allow us to track the birds’ movements during both the breeding and non-breeding seasons.
Students also collected blood and oral and cloacal swabs for DNA analysis and assessment of contact with Highly
Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), a hugely worrisome issue in both birds and mammals. Students will be conducting lab-based assessment of their data this fall, and will present their work at an international conference next year.
This research fund was established to support the work of the W.H. Drury Chair, in honor of Bill Drury, an eminent ecologist and former research director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, who died in 1992. Bill lectured on evolutionary biology and ecology at Harvard University for over 20 years before joining the COA faculty in 1976.
I am extremely grateful to all the donors to the Drury Fund. Your generosity over the years is literally creating a new generation of remarkable scientists of whom Bill would have been incredibly proud.
$371,194
Kathryn Davis Fund for Global and Civic Engagement
ALASKA, USA attending residency in sailboat restoration
OREGON, USA studying urban design
CALIFORNIA, USA studying the indigenous food sovereignty movement
NEW MEXICO, USA studying seed saving practices on farms
HAWAII, USA interning with Hawaii Wildlife Fund
MEXICO participating in COA study abroad program
CANADA participating in COA study abroad program
VIRGINIA, USA studying horse-powered farming
FLORIDA, USA presenting research on sea birds
COSTA RICA recording an album
BRAZIL studying capoeira
This program was initially endowed by Kathryn W. Davis. Now generally referred to as “the Expeditionary Fund,” it allows COA students the opportunity to learn while travelling as part of their college experience. Each student may apply for up to $1,800 for credit-bearing activities such as travel expenses, residencies, independent studies, internships, senior projects, and attendance at off-campus conferences or meetings.
In 2024, students used their grants to pursue projects around the USA and in countries across the world, including Brazil, Norway, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, France, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.
NORWAY studying agroecology
AUSTRIA transcribing interviews about grief and loss
FRANCE participating in COA study abroad program
KYRGYZSTAN
attending residency in Russian Studies
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
attending COP28 climate conference
TAJIKISTAN
investigating the links between environmental and political issues in Central Asia
JAPAN
participating in COA monster course
NEW ZEALAND
studying marine biodiversity and conservation
Fund for Maine Islands
Faculty Coordinator: Todd Little-Siebold, PhD
In academic year 2023–24, the Fund for Maine Islands partnership with the Island Institute and projects associated with it have built new momentum. A new immersive, projectbased “monster course” called Navigating Change teamtaught by a geographer (Hillary Smith), a data scientist (Laurie Baker), an audio producer (Galen Koch), and a historian (myself) examined how year-round islands and coastal communities are experiencing and thinking about things like climate change, conflict over fisheries policies, demographic shifts, and more. Students launched projects in Corea, Swan’s Island, and Great Cranberry Island to engage with the communities and present research back to them. Interns and recent graduates continue the heavy lifting of interviewing, transcription, coding, mapping, and developing exhibits for the communities. Their work was amazing, and they embodied the interdisciplinary and place-based strengths of COA’s curriculum.
Established in 2014, this partnership between The Island Institute and COA seeks solutions to sustain island and coastal ecosystems. Funded by a challenge grant from the Partridge Foundation and the support of many other donors, the fund addresses four areas of critical concern for Gulf of Maine residents: agriculture and food, energy, education, and adaptation to climate change.
Many interviews are now available to the public on our web platform, Maine Sound and Story. We have launched exhibits from Lubec to Deer Isle, and the soundwalks developed by Galen and her student team have engaged those communities with the histories of place and the stories of people. This spring, Galen and COA graduate Camden Hunt ‘22 premiered the Bar Harbor Exhibit and Soundwalk, which will be available free to the public at the Bar Harbor Historical Society in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
We continued a donor-funded initiative called the Frenchman Bay Oral History Project this year, led by
Camden and other students. To date, the project has documented what species fishermen have targeted within the bay as well as changes they have observed.
Our data science and mapping team, led by Laurie, has leveraged the years of interviews to document the spatial relationship people have to the coast and used data visualization and mapping to identify patterns and generate questions for research. Laurie and the Mapping Ocean Stories team received a major research grant from a local foundation to fund elements that moved beyond the baseline work we had already done.
The podcast funded by the partnership, “From the Sea Up,” produced by Galen, is in its third season and has focused on working waterfronts and innovation in the marine economy. This work involved students and alumni in audio production, radio projects, and senior project work. The Fund for Maine Islands has also supported students in assisting with project sessions presented at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, presenting posters at the Maine Sea Grant research symposium, and hosting and producing radio shows on WERU Community Radio called “Coastal Conversations.”
This has been an amazing year and a testament to the strength of teams and the power of showing up. Our ongoing relationships with coastal communities and the deep bench of expertise among faculty and students has shown the power of strategic funding to support education and a broader impact in the community.
David Hales Sustainability Fund for the Director of Energy
Staff Supervisor: David Gibson, CEM LEED AP BD+C
COA continued to make progress toward our goal of eliminating fossil fuel use campus-wide by 2030 during the 2023–24 academic year.
During the summer, I had three interns who worked diligently to install vapor barriers in Seafox, Peach House, and the hard-to-access crawl spaces under the Kathryn Davis International Center. A contractor spray-foamed the walls in all three basements. This insulation work saved 800 gallons of heating oil (about $2,400) last winter, and we are on track for a six-year payback.
In August, we were awarded a Campus Climate Action Corps grant, which included a full-time AmeriCorps member. Rebecca Tarczy served from October 2023 through July 2024, and helped with numerous projects throughout her tenure.
In October, we received a $200,000 Buildings Upgrade Prize from the US Department of Energy to expand our clean energy work into the broader community. Combined with a commitment from the Yaverland Foundation, this provided enough funding that we were able to advertise for a new energy project manager on a three-year basis.
In April, we hired Nicole Grohoski, who is also our state senator and has served on the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee for several years.
Established by Peggy and Henry Sharpe to honor COA’s fifth president, David Hales, upon his retirement. Hales led environmental policy and sustainability programs for the US Agency for International Development, and was the first American to serve as chair of the World Heritage Convention.
Our primary work-study project this year was insulating the walls and ceiling of the Davis Garage and adding two heat pumps. We now have 3,000 square feet of year-round usable space for the Outing Program upstairs and marine programs downstairs.
In December, ReVision Energy turned on a new solar farm that we participated in. Built in an old gravel pit in Hampden, this solar project will provide nearly all the electricity for the commercial electric accounts on campus. This project will also save COA 15% on our electric costs for the next 20 years.
During the winter term I taught Practicum in Sustainable Energy, which focused on re-insulating The Turrets attic. First we had to remove 50 years of accumulation from the attic. With incredible support from COA Archivist Elliot
Left: Becca and Uriel insulating Davis Garage; right: Jinen, Tyler, Zoe,and Carolina working in Turrets Attic.
Santavicca ‘20, we identified everything that needed to be saved, which we relocated to the basement, and hauled everything else out. Progress was slow, but we completed about 10% of the insulation, and the work is ongoing.
We also received a generous donation from the Blossom Fund that fully funded a study to assess the viability of using geothermal energy to heat and cool the five largest older buildings on campus. A 575-foot test well proved that thermal conductivity is better than anticipated. We are excited to take the next steps.
I presented at the PassivHaus Maine Forum in February. I was joined by AmeriCorps member Becca Tarczy and COA senior Nils Midtun ‘24 at the conference. I also oversaw Nils’ senior project, which culminated with a GIS story map that provides an overview of the energy transition projects we’ve completed across the COA campus.
In the spring I taught Building Science and Energy Auditing Students were given the option of taking the Building Performance Institute field test to gain certification as building analysts. This was paid for by the DOE Buildings Upgrade Prize. Nicole, Becca, and six students completed the test and received professional certification.
The Buildings Upgrade Prize also funded our Maine Energy Upgrade Program (MaineUP.org) over the summer, which included conducting free home energy audits. Becca, Nicole, and three student interns worked on Great Cranberry Island, and two interns worked with the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik.
Last but not least, solar arrays were installed on the roof of Studios 5 & 6, the new Collins House residence hall, and the DeLaittre Barn at Peggy Rockefeller Farm. These arrays, combined with existing arrays, bring COA’s total solar generation up to about 20% of campus usage.
Facing page: Nicole, Adler, Becca, and Uri using combustion analyzer. Above, clockwise from top left: GCI team Nicole, Zoe, Rudy, Becca, Uri, Adler, and David; room being dense packed; Nicole, Becca, Uri, and Adler assessing air leaks.
Thomas and Mary Hall Library Fund
Established in 1986 to help Thorndike Library build a collection of science and history of science books and library materials. The fund grew further when, upon Thomas Hall’s death in 1990, the family requested that donations be directed to this fund. Each year, selections are made based on requests, class needs, and academic as well as general interest.
Here is a sampling of this year’s selections.
A Natural History of Shells by Geerat Vermeij (2021)
Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, & Science of Underground Nests by Walter Tschinkel (2021)
Beautiful Experiments: An Illustrated History of Experimental Science by Phillip Ball (2023)
Birds and Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship by Jeff Ollerton (2024)
Cataclysms: An Environmental History of Humanity by Laurent Testot (2020)
Histology: A Text and Atlas: With Correlated Cell and Molecular Biology by Wojciech Pawlina (2024)
How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology by Phillip Ball (2023)
How to be Animal: A New History of What it Means to be Human by Melanie Challenger (2021)
Introduction to Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology by Victoria Aspinall and Melanie Cappello (2015)
MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review 2024-2025 by Kaplan Test Prep (2023)
Mnemonic Ecologies: Memory and Nature Conservation Along the Former Iron Curtain by Sonja Pieck (2023)
Musings of an Energy Nerd: Toward an Energy-Efficient Home by Martin Holladay (2017)
Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence by James Lovelock (2019)
On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory by Thomas Hertog (2023)
Performance All the Way Down: Genes, Development, and Sexual Differences by Richard Prum (2023)
Phenomena: Doppelmayr’s Celestial Atlas by Giles Sparrow (2022)
Social Forestry: Tending the Land as People of Place by Tomi Hazel Vaarde (2023)
Spatial Points Patterns: Methodology and Applications with R by Adrian Baddeley (2016)
The Allure of the Multiverse: Extra Dimensions, Other Worlds, and Parallel Universes by Paul Halpern (2024)
The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time by Hugh Raffles (2022)
The Lives of Octopuses and Their Relatives: A Natural History of Cephalopods by Danna Staaf (2023)
The Republic of Color: Science, Perception, and the Making of Modern America by Michael Rossi (2019)
The Sentient Cell: The Cellular Foundations of Consciousness by Arthur Reber (2023)
The Seven Measures of the World by Piero Martin (2023)
Trigonometric Delights by Eli Maor (1998)
Tropical Arctic: Lost Plants, Future Climates, and the Discovery of Ancient Greenland by Jennifer McElwain (2021)
Viruses: A Natural History by Marilyn Roossinck (2023)
Whale Music: Thousand Mile Songs in a Sea of Sound by David Rothenberg (2023)
White Holes by Carlo Rovelli (2023)
Robert P. and Arlene Kogod Visiting Artist Fund
Staff Supervisor: Ken Hill, PhD, Provost
The following courses offered by visiting instructors in the 2023–24 academic year were made possible through income from this fund.
Jazz Ensemble
Ryan Blotnick
Introduction to Ceramics: Hand-Built Pots
Saffronia Downing
Making Art: Effort, Resilience, Persistence
Saffronia Downing
Introduction to Photography
June Kim
Beginning Contemporary Dance Technique
Dani Robbins
Documentary Video Studio
Matthew Shaw
Introduction to Three-Dimensional Art and Design
Kristy Summers
Introduction to Songwriting
Caroline Cotter
The History of Making Prints
Annika Earley
Chamber Music
Richard Hsu and Christina Spurling
Ceramics I
Kreg McCune
Sourcing the Body:
Disability as Human Ecology
Dani Robbins
Contemplative Media Practice
Matthew Shaw
Dramatic Writing for Stage and Screen
Andrea Lepcio
World Percussion
Michael Bennett
The Stitched Mark: Contemporary Embroidery
Heather Lyon
Graphic Design Studio I: Visual Communication
Ross Pike
Dance Improvisation Ensemble
Dani Robbins
Advanced Documentary Studio
Matthew Shaw
TEACHING ASSISTANTS FOR:
4-D Studio
Advanced Printmaking
Studio Printmaking (3)
Shape & Color
Animation I
Samba Percussion Ensemble
Ceramics I
Animation II
Design Research: Campus Paths
Intermediate Drawing
Contemporary Landscape in Photography (2)
Established by Bob and Arlene Kogod in 2000 as part of the Silver Anniversary Campaign to bring talented artists to COA at a time when the college did not have a robust arts faculty.
Today, the fund is used to enhance our offerings by bringing lecturers and visiting faculty to COA who offer courses in subjects such as photography, ceramics, and cinema. The fund also supports the purchase of art supplies and equipment, travel, professional development, and student opportunities that otherwise would not be possible.
FIELD TRIPS, EQUIPMENT, REPAIRS, AND CLASS SUPPORT:
Trisha Cantwell, MLS, and Catherine Preston-Schreck, MA, MSc
Established in 1998 by Nancy Hoskinson McCormick, a widow of Charles Deering McCormick, through the Chauncey & Marion Deering McCormick Foundation.
Academic year 2023–24 brought many changes to the Thorndike Library. In June 2023, after 20 years of service, library director Jane Hultberg retired. July began with Trisha Cantwell and Catherine Preston-Schreck moving into the role of codirectors, Hannah Stevens ’09 stepping out of her archivist role and becoming Thorndike’s new technical services librarian, and Elliot Santavicca ’20 joining us as COA’s archivist/librarian. Additionally, Zach Soares ’00, director of audio visual services, began reporting to provost Ken Hill.
This past year we hosted 36 library work-study students and expanded library resource instruction, reaching over 300
students, including all of the incoming class. The library launched a term-long book checkout collection, expanding student access to required course texts. We hosted karaoke events, a faculty and staff lecture series, and organized a trip to the Book Arts Bazaar in Portland. Thorndike partnered with Jesup Memorial Library in the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant, distributing dozens of copies of Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson and hosting a book club and community discussion.
Library work-study students represented Thorndike at the Jesup Memorial groundbreaking, co-hosted a COA-themed history happy hour trivia night, volunteered at ConnersEmerson school, and collaborated with Healthy Acadia to set up a NARCAN and fentanyl test strip distribution site in our library.
Two staff members presented a co-taught, cross-disciplinary course called The Acts and Arts of Collecting: Undergraduates Making Connections Across Collections at the New England Museum Association conference with Carrie Graham,
director of the George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History and Dru Colbert, professor of arts and design. A staff member coordinated the offering of a new course, Queer Archives, taught by an archivist and academic librarian from University of Southern Maine.
Our archivist supported 148 research requests, provided inclass instruction, and continued the groundwork laid by his predecessor to draft a college-wide records management program. Elliot plays a key role in The History Trust, a consortium of local libraries and historical societies, currently transitioning to a new collections management platform, which will be used to manage COA’s archives.
We had several generous donations and grants this year. The Higgins Foundation supported the library’s juvenile and education collections with a $2,500 contribution. Thanks to a $40,000 grant from the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation, the library has made accessibility improvements by purchasing new doors and automatic openers for the entrance into Kaelber Hall, automatic door openers to the
reading room and stacks, and accessibility materials which were added to the collection and are available for checkout including to other libraries via interlibrary loan. Additionally, an anonymous donation of $4,000 was gifted to support library staff professional development, which has been of tremendous benefit.
Lastly, as academic year 2023–24 came to a close, we had the good fortune of being gifted a selection of books from Ashley Bryan’s personal library. We look forward to honoring his wonderful spirit and special connection to COA by sharing his curated collection with our community and beyond.
Peggy Rockefeller Farm Endowment
Staff Supervisor: April Nugent, Farm Manager
During the 2023–24 season, the Peggy Rockefeller Farm continued to manage its various livestock enterprises and host educational and community events. Highlights from the season included the introduction of a full-time, yearround assistant manager role (filled by Catherine Sullivan), the expansion of the Katahdin sheep flock with some new parasite-resistant ewes, and increased distribution of farm food to local avenues like the COA Community Fridge and the Southwest Harbor Soup Kitchen.
In total, the farm produced over 1,400 pounds of chicken, 1,200 pounds of lamb, 2,369 pounds of pork, and 800 pounds of beef, as well as many organic eggs.
The farm continued to employ approximately 20 workstudy students throughout the school year and we hosted several COA courses on the farm. Susan Letcher’s Sheep to Shawl course routinely utilized the farm for hands-on instruction throughout the spring term, and students utilized farm fiber in their final projects. Students from other courses such as Ornithology, Organic Poultry Practicum, Field Sketching, and the Human Ecology Core Course also visited
Established by David Rockefeller, Sr. in 2011 when he donated the Carmen and DeLaittre Farms to the college and supported their operations with a generous endowed gift.
the farm as part of their curriculum. Two students conducted independent field studies this past summer on invertebrates and pollinators on the farm in an effort to census the species here compared to other MDI locations.
The farm continued its partnership with Maine Natural Resources Conservation Service Ag Allies program, which provides technical assistance, education, and financial support to landowners and land trusts to improve grassland bird habitat. At least 12 juvenile bobolinks and numerous Savannah sparrows and tree swallows fledged on Peggy Rockefeller Farm over this past year.
$1,460,888
Physical Plant Funds
ETHEL H. BLUM GALLERY
The Ethel H. Blum Gallery was dedicated in 1993 to Ethel H. Blum (1900-1991), an accomplished watercolorist who studied at the Art Students League and the Brooklyn Museum Art School, and exhibited widely in her lifetime. A long-time summer resident of MDI, she took special pleasure in painting Maine coast views.
KATHRYN W. DAVIS CENTER BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS FUND
This fund was created with gifts from the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation in support of the maintenance and upkeep of the Davis Center and grounds. The Kathryn W. Davis Center for International and Regional Studies is currently used for faculty and staff offices, classes, and serves as a meeting place for COA’s international population. The Davis Carriage House and the Kathryn W. Davis Residence Village are valuable additions to the student housing accommodation complex on campus.
BREWER-GOWER-SAWYER-GARBER FUND
Established by founding trustees Les Brewer and Father James Gower, and local businessmen Charles Sawyer and Michael J. Garber, to support campus grounds improvements.
DEERING CENTER
Originally a summer cottage built in 1886 named “Sea Urchins,” this building was fully renovated in 2008. It features a student lounge, a meditation center, a cafe, a meeting room, and offices for the college nurse, mental health counselors, and student life staff. This fund, created to support maintenance of the facility, was established by Barbara Deering Danielson.
THOMAS S. GATES, JR. COMMUNITY CENTER
The Gates Center is used for lectures, theatrical productions, music and dance performances, and large meetings or workshops. The hall has a stage with optional podium, seating on the main floor and in a balcony, a lighting and sound booth, and a digital projector with screen.
THE TURRETS
The Turrets was designed in 1893 for John J. Emery of New York by Bruce Price, designer of Québec’s famous Château Frontenac. In 1975, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is still one of the most important examples of cottage-era architecture in Maine. The Turrets currently houses classrooms and administrative and faculty offices.
THORNDIKE LIBRARY/KAELBER HALL
Thorndike Library was named in honor of Robert Amory Thorndike (1900-1972) and his wife Elizabeth (1908-1992) in recognition of their support and contributions to COA. Kaelber Hall, named for founding president Ed Kaelber, is the large natural-shingled building located in the center of campus. It overlooks the water, and houses the Thorndike Library, the Blair Dining Hall (Take-A-Break) and kitchen, and the Admission Office.
Doug Rose GIS Enhancement Fund
Staff Supervisor: Gordon Longsworth ’90,
Director
of the Geographic Information Systems Lab
The Doug Rose Memorial Fund has continued to play a crucial role in advancing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at COA in new and important ways. The following are some highlights of the fund’s contributions.
Established in 1994 by family and friends of Doug Rose, a COA student and avid rock climber who died while climbing Great Head in Acadia National Park. This fund supports the purchase of software and equipment, as well as student attendance at conferences related to Geographic Information Systems.
GIS plotter: Hewlett-Packard DesignJet T650: Today, most GIS work is showcased through online web maps and digital presentations. However, the ability to print GIS maps is still important and necessary. The new GIS plotter has been used to print maps for conferences, class presentations, and to showcase student work around campus, and has been used by the Landscape Subcommittee for campus planning. GIS maps of the Maine coast showing sea level rise are the focal point of discussion in a Maine SeaGrant project about storm response and preparedness for rising sea levels. Public meetings up and down the coast are using these maps as a focal point of discussion about the most susceptible areas and will assist in long-term planning and preparedness. The maps help answer questions such as, What assets are at risk? Will this impact the working waterfront? What about new growth and development? Can we identify risks and plan in order to mitigate their impacts?
Pix4D.com subscription: Pix4D continues to be instrumental in processing and storing drone imagery that is imported into GIS and put online in the form of web maps for display and analysis. Its use is continually increasing. Student Nils Midtun ’24, an Federal Aviation Administration-certified drone pilot, flew the COA campus this spring, collecting 500 overlapping images that were processed in Pix4D into a single image and 3D model. This image is now the official basemap of the main campus and shows recent work, such as the new student
housing, and other changes in the campus landscape. The 3D model allows viewers to take virtual tours of the campus.
IDrive.com subscription: IDrive.com is a cloud service for backing up and sharing critical data. This has ensured the security and accessibility of the 35-year history of the lab’s work. This year all of the projects done on the GIS Lab’s 12 workstations over the last three years were backed up to IDrive. The systems were completely full, wiped clean, and had Windows reinstalled with no data loss. Any of the projects can be restored to those systems from IDrive and will continue to reside there for the foreseeable future.
Enhancing collaboration: The GIS Lab is a space for independent work, community work, collaboration, and group projects. The fund helped pay for improvements to the comfort of the lab, such as having the floor painted and adding faux hanging plants and other aesthetics to make the space more pleasant and inviting.
The Doug Rose Memorial Fund continues to play a vital role in advancing the use of GIS technology and its applications in education, research, and community-based work at COA.
Diana Davis Spencer Hatchery Fund
Faculty Supervisor: Jay Friedlander
While most collegiate venture incubators and accelerators are co-curricular, forcing students to choose between their interests and education, the COA Diana Davis Spencer Hatchery removes these barriers, aligning education and individual passion by providing students with a full term of academic credit. Sustainable Business Program Manager Kerri Sands ‘02 and I manage the program and have built a bespoke curriculum so that any student at COA can develop their ideas and be fully immersed in the entrepreneurial experience.
Students selected for the DDS Hatchery perform a series of increasingly high-fidelity prototypes over a ten-week term. They learn essential business skills necessary for success in any enterprise; they receive guidance from mentors and professionals in prototyping, branding, social media, legal and accounting; and they have access to office space and up to $5,000 in seed funding.
During the 2023–24 academic year, we had nine students in the Hatchery pursuing eight ventures
• Flummery —a conversation based bluffing party game
• EarthTenders —an outdoor experience company centered around queer youth
• Suki Boba and Tea House —using fresh ingredients to give people joy in a cup
• Little Earth Adventures —inspiring wonder and belonging through outdoor adventure
• Sisters and the Stars —a film analysis podcast offering new insight into movies
• Grapes Money —an app helping people invest in themselves instead of shopping
• Kasa—a Japanese rural tourism company connecting visitors with cultural experiences
• Go Mental Collective —a custom upcycled streetwear fashion brand
Hatchery students learned sustainable enterprise fundamentals, developed prototypes, experimented with new products and sales channels, solicited meaningful feedback from customers, outlined operations plans, developed growth
strategies, and ultimately came to see themselves as professionals offering products and services of value. At the end of the 10-week term, students presented overviews of their work to family and friends.
Past hatchery students were recognized for their enterprises. AJ Jaydeokar ‘23 was accepted into the highly competitive Buildspace accelerator and selected for a live demo event in San Francisco to further develop his sustainability app. Ellie White ‘22 received the Jorum Craft Award in Scotland for her pottery.
The hatchery’s educational model, merging academic credit and student interest, continues to be of interest to organizations both inside and outside academia. Several statewide accelerators featured hatchery programming for their cohorts, the hatchery model was highlighted in a presentation at University of Arizona and finally, a partnership with Swarthmore College brought elements of the hatchery to their campus.
Established in 2015 with the support of The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. A venture incubator, The Hatchery provides eligible students with academic credit, professional services, and access to seed funding to develop sustainable for-profit or nonprofit businesses. Beginning Fund Balance $2,012,455
212,000
$2,127,456
Elizabeth Thorndike Library Materials and Senior Class Book Fund
Established In 2001 by Thorndike family members in honor of Elizabeth Thorndike, for whom Thorndike Library is partially named. Each year, this fund pays for the Thorndike “Senior Books”, which are selected by the graduating class for inclusion in the library’s collection.
Here are some of this year’s selection of books by the seniors.
headdress, modern masterpieces, and more. Artists featured include Albrecht Dürer, Helen Frankenthaler, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Jackson Pollack. (Amazon)
Food Sovereignty the Navajo Way: Cooking with Tall Woman by Charlotte
Frisbie
The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder by William P. Brown
Brown illuminates connections and conflicts between the ancient creation traditions and the natural sciences, arguing for a new way of reading the Bible in light of current scientific knowledge and with consideration of the needs of the environment. Brown argues that both scientific inquiry and theological reflection are driven by a sense of wonder, which “unites the scientist and the psalmist.” (Amazon)
Art, Artefact, Artifice by James Prosek
Prosek places man- and naturemade objects on equal footing aesthetically, suggesting that the distinction between them is not as vast as we may believe. Objects such as a bird’s nest, dinosaur head, and cuneiform tablet are juxtaposed with Asian handscrolls, an African
Around the world, Indigenous Peoples are returning to traditional foods produced by traditional methods of subsistence. This book documents the time-honored foods and recipes of a Navajo woman over almost a century, from the days when Navajos gathered or hunted almost everything they ate to a time when their diet was dominated by highly processed foods. (Amazon)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours. (Amazon)
The Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai Maathai analyzes the major impediments to development at three key levels—international,
national, and individual. By stressing personal responsibility, Maathai focuses on what Africans can do for themselves to empower individual change at the community level. (Amazon)
Dawn by Octavia Butler
When Lilith Iyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race that intervened in the fate of humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. The Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, and increased human strength. Now they want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price. (Amazon)
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
With its totally immersive firstperson voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. Kuang’s novel is timely, razorsharp, and eminently enjoyable. (Amazon)
R. Amory Thorndike Memorial Fund
A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature
Writing From Soil to Stars edited by Erin Sharkey (2023)
A Field Guide to the Moon: Awe and Exploration Across Human History edited by Taylor Bruce (2019)
Common Bonds: A Speculative Aromantic Anthology by Claudine Arseneault (2021)
Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools and Beyond by Glenn E. Singleton (2021)
Creating Consent Culture: A Handbook for Educators by Marcia Baczynski (2022)
Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging by Jessica Lee (2024)
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty (2024)
Firelei Báez edited by Eva Respini and Firelei Báez (2024)
Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor (2023)
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Theodore Van Alst (2023)
No Deal! Indigenous Arts & the Politics of Possession by Tressa Berman (2012)
Prisoners’ Inventions by Angelo and Temporary Services (2020)
Recent Histories: Contemporary African Photography and Video Art by Allison Moore, Daniela Baumann, et al. (2017)
Roma Artist Ceija Stojka: What Should I be Afraid of? by Stephanie Buhmann, Lorely French, et al. (2024)
Scorched Earth: Environmental Warfare as a Crime Against Humanity and Nature by Emmanuel Kreike (2021)
Songs of Ships & Sailors by Julia Lane (2021)
Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity by Alexis Pauline Gumbs (2016)
The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes Beyond Access by David Gissen (2022)
The Encyclopedia of Rootical Folklore: Plant Tales from Africa and the Diaspora by Natty Mark Samuels (2024)
The Heart-Centered Teacher: Restoring Hope, Joy, and Possibility in Uncertain Times by Regie Routman (2024)
The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved by Steven J. Mithen (2024)
The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality by Angela Saini (2023)
This fund was established in 1979 in memory of longtime supporter and friend, R. Amory Thorndike. The College of the Atlantic library was subsequently named for Mr. Thorndike and his wife Elizabeth.
The purpose of this fund is to strengthen and enlarge the college’s library collection materials in the fields of the arts and humanities. This year’s selections include the titles on this page.
The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman (2017)
The Sound Studies Reader edited by Jonathan Sterne (2012)
Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices by Kevin Manders and Elizabeth Marston (2019)
Two Centuries of Maine Shipbuilding: A Visual History by Nathan Lipfert (2021)
Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life After Consumerism by Gregory Claeys (2022)
What the Ocean Remembers by Sonja Boon (2019)
Allocations/Withdrawals (4,000)
$77,898
Waterfront Director Fund
Staff Supervisor: Toby Stephenson ’98
The COA waterfront continues to be a vibrant and productive environment for our community, with several updates and announcements worth mentioning.
Established by an anonymous donor during the Broad Reach Capital Campaign to endow the waterfront director’s position and maximize the educational potential of our offshore islands—Mount Desert Rock and Great Duck Island.
This year, we hired a second captain to help run R/V Osprey during the summer and assist in sailing and other maritime instruction during the spring and fall. Rowan Fraley comes to us from Maine Maritime Academy, as well as being a resident of Somesville, here on MDI, born and raised. He has been a delightful addition to our program.
The season started off with an expensive repair to Osprey due to residual failures from her grounding two seasons prior. Fortunately, this expense will be covered by insurance, as it relates to small amounts of water that infiltrated the engine and transmission during her 2021 grounding event. The net result was a new transmission and engine cylinder liners, both of which give her a new start to life.
Boating continues to elicit its usual fervor and excitement, with many students learning to handle both large and small craft, power and sail. With 20 work-study students filling crew positions, we have a lot of learning happening. Our two Rhodes 19 boats and the Halman 20 (donated by John
Gower) are used regularly when the wind is up and classes are out. Rebecca also continues as a training platform for students learning how a larger sailboat handles. In July, she hosted three sailors from Holland for a week-long private charter, and in September she conducted her second OOPs sailing program with five incoming students. Both events were extremely successful.
Our learning continues into the crafts as we assemble a large post and beam canoe and kayak shed for the outdoor club. This was the result of Regan Greer ’22’s senior project. She designed and provided the material to build a 20’x40’ structure next to the Davis Shop to help extend the life of our canoe and kayak fleet. We will also be overseeing a boat-building senior project for a student starting during the winter term in the Davis Shop. We look forward to creating additional opportunities for our students to explore connecting hands to minds.
STATS
Osprey : 50+ trips, 630 passengers, six COA research days, six Summer Field Studies trips
Rebecca: 20 trips, 50 passengers, one weeklong private charter, one weeklong COA program .
Allocations/Withdrawals (68,000)
$2,141,497
Writing for the Future Fund
Faculty Supervisor: Su Yin Khor, PhD
I joined COA as the new director of the Writing Program and professor of writing and rhetoric in the 2023–24 academic year. Blake Cass was named director of the Writing Center. Blake now manages day-to-day operations of the Writing Center, such as training and mentoring tutors, assessing students’ literacy development, and coordinating notetakers. This allows me to focus on pedagogical and curricular developments to build a sustainable program that will support COA students’ writing and literacy development long-term.
Under my directorship, the Writing Program’s pedagogical approach has been developed to support students’ academic and professional literacies to better prepare them for writing across different contexts. Specifically, the Writing Program’s course offerings were expanded to align with the transdisciplinary nature of COA’s curriculum and the students’ diverse interests. For instance, literature and writing professor Palak Taneja developed a new college seminar, Murder, Mystery, Mayhem: Women in Crime, and creative writing lecturer Martha Andrews Donovan created Writing as Art, Craft, and Social Action. Additionally, collaborations and development of new writing courses with other faculty and staff are underway to leverage the collective understanding of writing at COA. Moreover, our note-taking services have grown significantly, resulting with the hiring of two additional students to help coordinate these efforts.
Collaborations across units have also increased. In partnership with Thorndike Library, a new library guide about research and writing was developed to include current information about citation practices and research project ideas. With help from Hannah Stevens ‘09 (technical services librarian and member of the COA Web Team), the Writing Program has its own space on the website to provide helpful information about the writing requirement, the Writing Center, and other resources for students, all instructors, staff, and advisors. Additions to the website include options for instructors to request workshops and information sessions from the Writing Center, as well as the option for requesting Writing
Center liaisons to support instructors with students’ writing.
To increase the visibility and presence of the Writing Center to further support students, as well as all instructors and staff, several events and outreach programs were planned throughout the year. During the winter term, the students in my course, Food and Identity in Writing: Multimodality in Composition, hosted a community potluck in the Writing Center.
Established in 2018 by former COA trustee, Walter Robinson, as part of the Broad Reach Capital Campaign. The fund provides faculty support in composition and technical writing, expands COA’s writing tutor program, and institutes new methods of communication to ensure COA students are prepared for today’s labor market.
Students, faculty, and staff joined for a celebration of COA students’ culinary histories and practices. In the following term, students in Research for Change: Writing, Language, Social (In)justice displayed their projects in the Thorndike Library. Their work examined discourses around, for instance, animal conservation efforts, AI in education, the representation of asylum seekers in European newspapers, and secularism in Indian journalism.
To wrap up the academic year, the Writing Center hosted two senior project writing panels to showcase the diverse ways that we read and write across contexts. We look forward to another academic year full of growth and creativity.
Beginning Fund Balance $903,159
Return & Contributions 152,884 Less Allocations/Withdrawals (38,000) Ending Fund Balance $1,018,043
FY24 SUPPORTERS
PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE
$25,000+
Anonymous (6)
Nancy* & Edgar Aronson
Anne T. & Robert M. Bass
Kate Baxter
Estate of Edward M. Blair
Antoinette & Benjamin Brewster
Kate & Andrew Davis
Gale & Shelby Davis
Estate of Robert Engel
Heather Richards Evans
Wendy & Bill Foulke, Jr.
Rena Zurn & Spencer Fulweiler, Jr.
Beth & Will Gardiner
Amy & Phil Geier
Leita & Bill Hamill
Sam Hamill, Jr.
Arlene & Bob Kogod
Scott MacKenzie & Jerry Cruz
Jacomien Mars
Jay McNally ’84
David G. Milliken
Rebecca & Steve Milliken
Abby Moffat
Louisa & Bill Newlin
Toby Ritterhoff & David Oldach
Daniel Pierce, Jr. Family
Lalage & Steve Rales
Emily & Mitch Rales
Diana & Roland Reynolds
Lucy Bell Sellers
Peggy Sharpe*
David Evans Shaw
Diana Davis Spencer
Maureen & Bill Stewart
Estate of John Lowell Thorndike
Genie & Will Thorndike, Jr.
Laura Stanton & Kim Tomlinson
Claudia & Carey Turnbull
Estate of Ann Waldron
The Champlain Society was established in 1988 to honor College of the Atlantic’s most generous annual donors. The support of Champlain Society members is critical to advancing the college’s mission, ensuring academic excellence, providing financial aid, and enhancing COA’s campus, island research stations, farms, and other learning environments.
FOUNDER
$10,000–24,999
Anonymous
Charlotte Bordeaux
Elisabeth & John Cochran
Sarah Currie-Halpern & Jon Halpern
Peggy Dulany
Mary K. Eliot
Wendy C. Gamble
Christina M. Gillis
Anne & Jim Green
Charlotte Hanson
Steffi & Bob Harris
Sonja Johanson ’95 & Richard Gordet
Gardiner & Nicholas Lapham
Anna Maynard
Linda Faville & Brook Muller
Nell Newman ’87
Bill O’Donnell
Cathy Orme
Linda & Eliot Paine
Susan & Bob Peck
Bambi Putnam
Kathy & George Putnam III
Martie & Ed Samek
Jamie S. Somes
Allison & Steve Sullens
Nonie & John Sullivan, Jr.
Anne & Charles Target
Christopher Toomey
Lisa & Paul Welch
PATHFINDER
$5,000–9,999
Anonymous
Mary Dohna Bacon ’80 & Wells Bacon ’80
Cynthia Baker & Jonathan Zeitler
Sandi Read & Ron Beard
Joanie & Jamie Blaine
Elizabeth Hodder Corbus & Clay Corbus
Sydney Davis
Micaela De Lignerolles
Stacey Eder Smith ’01
Laura Ellis & Paul Gilbert
Chandler & Oliver Evans
Neva Goodwin
Carolyn & Chris Groobey
Eileen & Paul Growald
Lissa & Mel* Hodder
Cookie & Bill Horner
Leslie Jones ’91 & Max Williamson
Arthur Keller & Mark Gauthier
Sydie Lansing
Karen & Howard Lapsley
Casey Mallinckrodt
Pamy Manice
Liz & Arthur Martinez
Anne Conlee Mazlish & Tony Mazlish
Linda & Clem McGillicuddy
Nancy Milliken
Linzee Weld & Peter Milliken (’76)
Craig Neff
Carol ’93 & Jacob ’93 Null
Chaz O’Brien ’93 & Harrison Bains
Bruce Phillips ’78 & Susan Erickson
Catherine Baker-Pitts & Will Pitts III
Frances Pollitt ’77 & Frank E. Briber III
Anne & Bruce Pomeroy
Roxana & Tony Robinson, Jr.
Susan & David Rockefeller, Jr.
Amy Falls & Hartley Rogers
Ellen Seh (’75)
Jeri Presser & Charlie Seitz III
Margie & John Grace Shethar
Joss Tennille
JoAnn & Jay Townsend
Christiaan van Heerden ’09 & Family
Suzanne & David Wakefield
John Wilmerding*
Alice Blum Yoakum
DISCOVERER
$2,500–4,999
Anonymous (2)
Julie Banzhaf-Stone & Steve Stone
Barbara Tennent & Steven Barkan
Margaret Vettese & Edward Benz, Jr.
Sofia Blanchard
Julia Bogardus / Point Harbor Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Miranda Borden / Point Harbor Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Amanda (Walker) Bunker ’98
Judith Burger Gossart
Linda K. Carman
Ruth M. Colket
Susan Ferrante-Collier & John Collier
Karen & Darron Collins ’92
Sally Crock
Verena & Rod* Cushman
Adam Dau ’01
Hornor Davis & William Hague
Kay & David Dawson
Ellen & Bill Dohmen
Sunny Dupree
Donna & Bill Eacho III
Deb Evans ’82 & Ron Schaaf
Susan Getze
John Goodman
Gerd Morris Grace
Susan Dowling & Andrew Griffiths
Carol & Dick Habermann
Louise Hartwell
Peter Hunt & Family
Martha & O.P. Jackson
Brianne ’02 & Brian Jordan
Susan Lerner & Steven Katona
Margaret & Philip B. Kunhardt III ’77
Philip Bradish Kunhardt IV ’11 & Maria Laura Torre Gomez
Serena & Paul Kusserow
Nancy Erikson Ladd & Sam Ladd III
Betsy & Nelson Mead, Jr.
Charles H. Merriman III
Mary Miller
Meta & Benjie Neilson
Alice Shin & Mark Norris
Leslie Palumbo / Point Harbor Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Julia & Brooke Parish
Judith S. Perkins
Leslie & David Perlsweig
John Pollock
Tina Rathborne
Linn Sage
Deborah & John Schafer
Cynthia E. Livingston & Hank L.P. Schmelzer
Allison Fundis ’03 & Stein Servick ’05
Carol Dean Silverman & Family
Laura McGiffert Slover & Bill Slover
Julie Spahr
Sandy Stone
Caren Sturges
Virginia Sweatt
Courtney & Benjamin Thompson
Joanie Thorndike
Sylvia Torti & Scott Woolsey
Mary Kay Long & Dennis Unites
Kathy Vignos
Katherine Weinstock ’81
Erin ’04 & Mike ’01 Zwirko
EXPLORER
$1,500–2,499
Anonymous (3)
Sally & Bill Arata
Emily Beck & Geof Young
Ann* & Fred Benson
Victoria Bergman
John Biderman ’77
Deirdre Swords & Michael Boland ’94
Lynn Boulger & Tim Garrity
Allison & Avery Bourke III
Brenda Brodie
Jean & Ordway Burden
Jane & Charles Burger
Thomas D. Cahill III
Helen Caivano ’80
Susan & Eric Carlson
Mary Ann & Harry Charlston
Gail & Ham Clark III
Joan Claybrook
Pancho Cole ’81
Tracy & Gifford Combs / Combs Family Fund
Beth Rendeiro & Steven DePaul
Karin Tilberg & Ben Emory
Peg Emple
Florence & Spencer Ervin
Mary Ervin
Miriam Ervin
David & Jean Evans
Michael Gillott
Nancy & Bill Grove
Caitlyn Harvey ’02
Betsey Holtzmann & Abe Noyes
Lynn & Jeff Horowitz
Mimi & Neil Houghton
Sue Inches ’79
Yardly & Scott Jenkins
The Howard Johnson Foundation
Lynn Johnston
Ali & Steve Kassels
Maggie & Jack Kelley III
Betsy & John Kelly
Susan & John Klein
Burks B. Lapham
Francesca Preston & Doug Lerch ’03
Linda & Jonathan Lewis
Babette & Peter Loring
Carol & Rick* Malone
Judy McGeorge
Jane & Bob Meade
Deb & Bob Milotte
Meredith & Phil Moriarty
Rob Whitman & Jeff Munger
Kathryn & Tom Nelson
Whitney Oppersdorff
Barbara & Charles Pierce, Jr.
Laura & Vassar Pierce, Jr.
Lisa & Jay Pierrepont
Marguerite Pitts
Sheila Sonne Pulling
Celian Putnam
Charles Richards
Eliza Riley
Jared I. Roberts
Melinda & Tripp Royce ’79/ Harrison Royce Architecture Corp
Sandy Wilcox & Jack Russell
Frances Stead Seller & Tim Sellers
Katie Adams Schaeffer & Anthony Schaeffer
Jane & Dennis Shubert
Charles Stanhope
Ingrid Sunzenauer
Daphne & Andrew Trotter
Bonnie & Jim Van Alen II
Luciana Pandolfi ’98 & Luke Wagner ’99
Helen & Paul Weaver
J. Michael Williamson
Sydney & Jonathan Winthrop
Margaret Woolley & Gerard Vasisko
Note: $1,500 was the entry into TCS in FY24. For FY25, that amount is $2,500.
Anonymous (3)
Eben Albert ’03
BLACK FLY SOCIETY
The Black Fly Society is the swarm of sustaining donors who set up a monthly online gift. It’s the paperless way to give to COA.
Heather Albert-Knopp ’99
Elizabeth Anne ’11
Emily Argo ’10
Jessica Arseneau ’18 & Roman Bina ’16
Shlomit Auciello ’17
Natalie Barnett ’11
Cheryl Bartholomew ’80
Sandi Read & Ron Beard
Alyson Bell ’10
Ellen Brandt
Melinda ’00 & Ellen Casey-Magleby
Cynthia Chisholm ’86
Jen Hughes & Ken Cline
Pancho Cole ’81
Sarah Colletti ’10 & Kyle McMillan
Heidi Conner
Matthew Corum ’03
Jill ’83 & Ben ’84 Cowie-Haskell
Lynn & James Crawford
Marily Crews
Kara ’96 & Matt ’98 Daul, and Family
Cerissa Desrosiers ’00 & Jessica Hannon
Holly Devaul ’84
Samuel Edmonds ’05
Robert Finn ’92
Helen Geils
June LaCombe (’75) & Bill Ginn ’74
Annika Maia Ginsberg ’99
Nina ’78 & Jonathan ’78 Gormley
Tree Goulet ’78
Rebecca Hamilton ’13
Carla Seddio & Michael Hamilton
Kelly Harris ’12
Juliet Hodge ’95
Noah Hodgetts ’10
Margaret Hoffman ’97
Russ Holway
Kathryn Hunninen ’03 & Jose Luis Sagastegui
Anna Hurwitz ’84
Jane & David James
Amanda Spector ’08 & Peter Jenkins ’09
Brianne ’02 & Brian Jordan
Jennifer Judd-McGee (’92)
Sarah ’05 & Shawn ’00 Keeley
Greg Koehlert ’96
Natasha Krell ’16
Jude Lamb ’00
Virginie Lavallee-Picard ’07 & Alexander Fletcher ’07
Monty Lewis
Jessie Greenbaum ’89 & Phil Lichtenstein ’92
Blaise Maccarrone ’01
Kate & Ben Macko ’01
Chloe Marr-Fuller ’00
Angela Hondros-McCarthy & Dennis McCarthy
Lauren McKean ’83
Bridget Mullen ’91 & Chris Kenoyer
Sarah Neilson ’09
Jackie Nielson
Shirley Oskamp & Gary Lindorff
Melissa ’91 & Peter Ossanna
Rain Perez ’12
Drake ’03 & Finn ’02 Pillsbury
Shiva Polefka ’01
Michele Riccio ’88
Jason Rich ’96
Andrea Roberto ’92
Gerald Robinson ’89
Patricia & Ronnie Rogers
Mary Ropp ’09
Derren Rosbach ’95
Eliza Ruel ’13 & Ian Yaffe
CedarBough T. Saeji ’93
Jodi Sargent MPhil ’06 & Family
Mitsuko & Steven Savage ’77
Eloise Schultz ’16
Janet Schuman
Kirsten Schwarz ’00
Amy & Ryder Scott ’97
Kate Sheely ’07
Zachary ’05 & Paige ’06 Steele
Henry Steinberg ’06
Andrea Perry ’95 & Toby Stephenson ’98
Julianne Taylor ’06
Mari Huang Li Thiersch ’17
Ellen Thurman
Sylvia Torti & Scott Woolsey
Meg Trau-Serrano ’12
J. Louise Tremblay ’91
Elena Tuhy-Walters ’90 & Carl Walters II
John Twiss
Caitlin Unites ’03
Karen Waldron & Richard Hilliard
Ben Walters ’81
HannahMathilde Waschezyn ’13
Sally Weiss
Peter Williams ’93
David Winship ’77
Cathleen Wyman
Christine & Norb Young, Jr.
Amanda Zych ’06
ALUMNI LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
Alumni gifts are critical to College of the Atlantic. The Alumni Leadership Circle honors the generosity and philanthropic leadership of alumni who give $500 or more to COA.
Anonymous (5)
Heather Albert-Knopp ’99
Mary Dohna ’80 & Wells ’80 Bacon
Sara Bender & Evan Bender ’04
John Biderman ’77
Deirdre Swords & Michael Boland ’94
Paul Boothby ’88
Amanda (Walker) Bunker ’98
Shan Burson ’83
Lisa Burton ’83 & Christopher Vincenty (’83)
Helen Caivano ’80
Diana Cohn ’85 & Craig Merrilees
Pancho Cole ’81
Karen & Darron Collins ’92
Mairi Connelly ’14 & Spenser Simis
Adam Dau ’01
Kara ’96 & Matt ’98 Daul, and Family
Megan Smith ’90 & Daniel DenDanto ’91
George & Kelly Dickson MPhil ’97
Jennifer Dussault ’02
Stacey Eder Smith ’01
David Emerson ’81
Deb Evans ’82 & Ron Schaaf
$100–1,499
Anonymous (41)
Sarah Ackerman
Eben Albert ’03
Sharon Knopp & Enoch Albert
Heather Albert-Knopp ’99
Jane Alexander
Judy Allen
Diane & Alan Amendt
Heather & Richard Ames
Peter Anderson ’81
Elly & Sandy Andrews III
Emily Argo ’10
Heidi Armster
Shlomit Auciello ’17
Elizabeth Rousek Ayers ’95
Cheryl Bartholomew ’80
Ted Bartles ’94
Terrie Cunliffe Beamer & Wesley Beamer
Joanne Rodgers Foster ’85
Glenon ’86 & Gary Friedmann
Allison Fundis ’03 & Stein Servick ’05
June LaCombe (’75) & Bill Ginn ’74
Caitlyn Harvey ’02
Katherine Hazard ’76
Lisa ’80 & Bob ’79 Holley
Sue Inches ’79
Sonja Johanson ’95 & Richard Gordet
Leslie Jones ’91 & Max Williamson
Brianne ’02 & Brian Jordan
Jennifer Judd-McGee (’92)
Sarah ’05 & Shawn ’00 Keeley
Rosalind Rolland & Scott Kraus ’77
Margaret & Philip B. Kunhardt III ’77
Philip Bradish Kunhardt IV ’11 & Maria Laura Torre Gomez
Francesca Preston & Doug Lerch ’03
William Luther ’06 & Seth Carbonneau ’05
Suzanne Durrell & Scott McIsaac (’78)
Jay McNally ’84
Clifton McPherson III ’84
Linzee Weld & Peter Milliken (’76)
Sarah ’02 & Chase ’00 Morrill
Alyson Bell ’10
Felicia Bellows
Robin ’80 & Paul ’79 Beltramini
Sara Bender & Evan Bender ’04
Bruce Bender ’76
Glen Berkowitz ’82
Marie & Gerald Berlin
Johannah Bernstein ’83
Stefanie & Alan Berry
Geena Berry ’10
Sara Faull ’98 & Eugenio Bertin ’97
Deodonne ’06 & Ranjan ’04 Bhattarai
Anne Oldach & William Bickley
Janet Biondi ’81
Arthur Kettle ’84 & Margaret Blanding ’83
Ryan Boduch ’98
Paul Boothby ’88
Patricia Honea-Fleming & Richard Borden
Kristin & Bryan Bradley
Ellen Brandt
Brenda & Thomas Breen
Kerry & Joseph Bresee
Bing & Nat Brown
Cherie & Jason Burke
Shan Burson ’83
Lisa Burton ’83 & Christopher Vincenty (’83)
Barbara B. & Charles P. Burton II
Gary Cabit
William Luther ’06 & Seth Carbonneau ’05
Donna Gold & Bill Carpenter
JoAnne Carpenter & Jan Hofstra
Nell Newman ’87
Carol ’93 & Jacob ’93 Null
Chaz O’Brien ’93 & Harrison Bains
Valerie Lambert Peacock (’98) & Tobin Peacock ’95
Bruce Phillips ’78 & Susan Erickson
Shiva Polefka ’01
Frances Pollitt ’77 & Frank E. Briber III
Andrea Roberto ’92
Ryan Robison ’18
Melinda & Tripp Royce ’79/ Harrison Royce Architecture Corp
Mitsuko & Steven Savage ’77
Ellen Seh (’75)
Pamela Stone ’87
Cecily Swinburne ’09
Elena Tuhy-Walters ’90 & Carl Walters II
Christiaan van Heerden ’09 & Family
Christopher Vincenty (’83) & Lisa Burton ’83
Luciana Pandolfi ’98 & Luke Wagner ’99
Katherine Weinstock ’81
David Winship ’77
Erin ’04 & Mike ’01 Zwirko
Melissa ’00 & Matthew ’99 Carroll
Melinda ’00 & Ellen Casey-Magleby
Frances & Andre Chabot
Erin Chalmers ’00
Lucy Hull & E. Barton Chapin III
Grace Cherubino ’11
David Chesney
Gabriela MaldonadoCodina & James Chivers
Diana Choksey ’05 & Jordan Mandel-Iaia
Katherine Kaufel Christoffel*
Marge Connelly & Julie Christopher
Alyne & Joseph Cistone
Sheila W. Clark
Susanna Porter & Jamie Clark, Jr.
Ryan Claunch
Jen Hughes & Ken Cline
Lillian & Arthur Clinger, Jr.
Catherine Clinger
Janis Coates
Pamela Cobb Heuberger ’83
Millard Coffin
Diana Cohn ’85 & Craig Merrilees
Jacquie Colburn
Timothy Cole ’88
Sarah Colletti ’10 & Kyle McMillan
Leza & Jim Colquhoun
Mairi Connelly ’14 & Spenser Simis
Heidi Conner
Karen Conners
Thomas Mayer & Jean Corwin Wilson
Growing up my father told me to always carry a Swiss Army knife so I would be prepared. During my time at COA, I came to think about human ecology as a metaphorical Swiss Army knife. Human ecology places value not in the perfection of any one skill, but the combination of many. See, the issue with having only a chef’s knife is that whatever problem you encounter, all you can do is chop. And if all you have is a can opener, everything looks like a can. As human ecologists, we can approach a problem on its own terms and identify what tool we need, and we can choose more than just one. We know the complex problems of our time require multiple tools.
Every day we spent at COA, each of us crafted our own Swiss Army knife. By choosing courses, internships, and senior projects, we added new tools—every person’s knife represents the unique combination of knowledge and skills we built here. Make sure you don’t get stuck using just one of the tools on your knife…keep putting yourself in situations that require your whole skill set, add new tools, and keep the old ones sharp. You might lose the toothpick on the way, but that’s okay!
Jill ’83 & Ben ’84 Cowie-Haskell
Lynn & James Crawford
Marily Crews
Tom Crikelair
Caroline Curtis
Lisa Damtoft ’79
John Dandy (’84)
Kara ’96 & Matt ’98 Daul, and Family
Lindsay Davies
Caleb Fuller Davis ’02
Norah Davis
Nicole d’Avis ’02 & Mark Anderson
John & Nisha Dawson
Bob DeForrest ’94
Rose (’88) & Steve ’80 Demers
Megan Smith ’90 & Daniel DenDanto ’91
Robert DeSimone
Danyelle Desjardins
Cerissa Desrosiers ’00 & Jessica Hannon
LISA-MARIE KOTTHOFF ’23
(excerpted from Lisa-Marie’s student perspective during the 2023 commencement)
Holly Devaul ’84
Catherine Devlin ’93
George & Kelly Dickson MPhil ’97
Judith Dickson
Pat & Bill Dommermuth
Millard Dority
Cameron Hale Douglass ’02
Peggy & Steve Downing
Sarah Drerup ’09
Priscilla du Pont
Carol Durell
Jennifer Dussault ’02
Marcia L. Dworak
Kimberly Eason Nubel ’95
Martha & Ned Edmonds
Marilyn Edmunds
Catherine Elk ’82
Helen Elkins
David Emerson ’81
Peter W. Emmet ’92
Nickilynn Estologa ’07
Sarah & Preston Everdell
Mary Fairfield
Casey Jones & Bill Faller
Susan & David Feltus
Adrian Fernandez ’15
Robert Finn ’92
Helen Dickey Fitz & David G. Fitz / Helen Dickey and David G. Fitz Charitable Fund
Joanna Fogg ’07
Judi & Howard Fogt
Joanne Rodgers Foster ’85
Barbara & Dick Fox
Susan Freed ’80
Jim Frick ’78
Glenon ’86 & Gary Friedmann
Joanne & Richard Fuerst
Richard Galena ’98
Charles Gemme ’79
Katie & Steve George
Nadine Gerdts (’76) & Steve Lacker
June LaCombe (’75) & Bill Ginn ’74
Annika Maia Ginsberg ’99
Erin ’92 & Graham ’91 Goff
Nina Goldman & Douglas Legg
Jaki Erdoes ’80 & Terry Good ’80
Jeanne Goodman
Paul Goodof
Nina ’78 & Jonathan ’78 Gormley
Tree Goulet ’78
Marie Gower
Sandra Graham
Jane Gray
Bo Greene
Gina Greer
Linda Gregory ’89
Mary (Nelson) Griffin ’97
Richard Griffin ’80
Jane & Jeffrey Griffith
Marie Griffith & Leigh Schmidt
Millie Coleman Groobey
Karen Guida
Peggy & Mike Gumpert
Merna & Joe Guttentag
Georgia Hadler
David Hahn (’83)
Heather Hallett-Thurston
Irene Haisma & Jaap Ham
Kate Webb & Oliver Hamill
Carla Seddio & Michael Hamilton
Heather Harrell
Kelly Harris ’12
Tracy Haskell ’86
Patricia & John* Hatton
Jocelyn Hayes
Ed Haynsworth III ’98
Katherine Hazard ’76
Matthew Hecht & Mary Olson
Mary J. Heffernon
Peter Heller ’85
Jim Henderson & Jan Tedder
Gail Henderson-King ’82
Jennifer Niese & William Hetzel
Betsy & John Hewlett
Barbara Hilli
Wayne Hobson
Juliet Hodge ’95
Deborah & Roger Hodge
Anne Wright Hodge & Byron Hodge
Noah Hodgetts ’10
Margaret Hoffman ’97
Kass Hogan ’81
Lisa ’80 & Bob ’79 Holley
Charles J. Houston III
Jane Hultberg
Sarah Huntington (’86)
Lyn Hurwich ’80
James Hyland
Ruth & Keisuke Iida
Corrie Ingall ’16
Jamien Jacobs ’86
Shelley Latham & Kenton Jakub
Nishad Jayasundara ’05
Peter ’84 & Margaret Jeffery
Anna Jenei
Patricia A. Jennings (’71) & James Hatch
Cathy Johnson ’74
Nicholas Johnson
Louise Johnston
Jody Johnstone
Ann & Lee Judd
Jennifer Judd-McGee (’92)
Laura & Michael Kaiser ’85
Sarah ’05 & Shawn ’00 Keeley
Michael Keller ’09
Ivy ’05 & Nathaniel ’04 Keller
Nan & Stephen Kennedy
Peter Adriel Kennell ’17
Craig Kesselheim ’76
Barbara & Steven Kiel
Jill ’99 & Joseph ’01 Kiernan
Joan & Allan Kleinman
Greg Koehlert ’96
Joan & Ted Koffman
S. Lee Kohrman
Anne Kozak
Rosalind Rolland & Scott Kraus ’77
Natasha Krell ’16
Sandy & Mark Kryder
Jude Lamb ’00
Rebecca & Michael Lambert
Laura Crawford & Mathew Langenberg
Virginie Lavallee-Picard ’07 & Alexander Fletcher ’07
Megan LeBoutillier
David Lebwohl
Jacquelyn & Dawn Lemoine
Susan Letcher
Otti & Jeffrey Levine
Monty Lewis
Lois & Larry Libby
Jessie Greenbaum ’89 & Phil Lichtenstein ’92
Cynthia & Dan Lief
Bobbi & Werner Liepolt
William Lind
Abigail Littlefield ’83
Margaret Longley ’10
Roberta & Ralph Longsworth
Nancy Sullivan-Lord & Dan Lord
Haley Harwood Lowell ’11
Sarah Lynch
Kate & Ben Macko ’01
Isabel Mancinelli & Sam Coplon
Donielle Manning
Chloe Marr-Fuller ’00
Kathleen Massimini ’82 & Steven Callahan
Sarah May & Doug Johnston
John C. McCann
Whitney & Jeffrey McCarthy
Angela Hondros-McCarthy & Dennis McCarthy
Leslie McConnell ’81
Sarah McDaniel ’93
Bill McDowell ’80
Donna McFarland & Alan Richins
Nina & Archie McIntyre
Suzanne Durrell & Scott McIsaac (’78)
Lauren McKean ’83
Linda Parker & Jamie McKown
Bill McLellan ’88
Donald K. McNeil
Megan McOsker ’90
Clifton McPherson III ’84
Rebecca Melius ’01
James Merrill
Mary Lynn & David Meyer
Sheri Millbury
Christine & Kevin Miller
Jeffrey Miller ’92
Andrea & Nick Miller
Kathy & Jerry Miller
Eileen & Ethan Miller
Winnie & Nate Miller
Gail & Gerrish Milliken
Margot & Roger Milliken, Jr.
Irene Driscoll & Lincoln Millstein
Victoria & Joe Minutolo
Kevin Monahan
Diver Ed
Karen & John Moniz
Karla Tegzes & Peter Moon ’90
Stephen Wagner ’11 & Cayla Moore ’13
Phyllis Anina Moriarty
Amy Morley
Sarah ’02 & Chase ’00 Morrill
Rick Moss ’79
Gene Myers (’80)
Amy Naimi
Susan & Bob Nathane, Jr.
Sarah Neilson ’09
Steve Neuhauser
Leanne Nickon & John Clark
Jackie Nielson
Frank Niepold III ’94
Thupten Norbu ’06
Lauren Nutter ’10
Jacqueline & David Orsmond
Lynn & William Osborn
Melissa ’91 & Peter Ossanna
Jennifer Waldron & Benoni Outerbridge ’84
Suzanne & Jim Owen
Andrea & Jon Pactor
Eleanor & Michael Pancoe
Susan B. Parker
Laurie & David Pauker
Holly & Ken Paul
Daniel Peach
Cynthia Peach & James Chaput
Valerie Lambert Peacock (’98) & Tobin Peacock ’95
Susan & Robert Pennington
Rain Perez ’12
Shoshana Perry ’83 & Hale Powell
Elizabeth & Carl Peverall
Susan Peverley
Mary Pickett & Marc Pifko
Sara W. Pierce
Susan Pierce ’77
Drake ’03 & Finn ’02 Pillsbury
Ned Platner
Carole Plenty
Shiva Polefka ’01
Karl Porter ’82
Esther & Christopher Pullman / The Pullman Charitable Fund
Kenneth Punnett ’84
Nishi Rajakaruna ’94
Cathy L. Ramsdell ’78
Carolyn Reeb-Whitaker ’92
Sam & Frank Reece
Lisa & Keith Reed
Elisabeth Reynolds & Max Senter
Michele Riccio ’88
Jason Rich ’96
Louise Riemer & William Locke
Andrea Roberto ’92
Lisa & Stan Robinson
Gerald Robinson ’89
Ryan Robison ’18
Wendy & Laurance Rockefeller, Jr.
Susie Rodriguez & Charles Lowrey
Patricia & Ronnie Rogers
Patricia & James Rogers
Derren Rosbach ’95
Jess & Rich Ross
Beverly & Max Rothal
Gordon Rowe
Eliza Ruel ’13 & Ian Yaffe
Anonymous (3)
Nancy* & Edgar Aronson
Elizabeth Rousek Ayers ’95
Sandi Read & Ron Beard
Emily Beck & Geof Young
Ann* & Fred Benson
John Biderman ’77
Lynn Boulger & Tim Garrity
Norah Davis
Fran Day
George & Kelly Dickson MPhil ’97
Mary K. Eliot
Donna & Gordon Erikson, Jr.
David Hackett Fischer
Wendy & Bill Foulke, Jr.
Mary & Phil Galperin
Barbara McLeod & David Hales
Diana & George* Hambleton
Sam Hamill, Jr.
Jan & George E. Hartman
Tomoko & Masanobu Ikemiya
Sue Inches ’79
Carol & Pat Jackson
Betsy & John Kelly
Margaret & Philip B. Kunhardt III ’77
Kathleen Massimini ’82 & Steven Callahan
Sarah McDaniel ’93
Meredith & Phil Moriarty
Rick Moss ’79
Susan Tieger & Ralph Nurnberger
Linda & Eliot Paine
Debra & John Piot
Roxana & Tony Robinson, Jr.
Karen Rose
Steve Ross
Cynthia E. Livingston & Hank L.P. Schmelzer
Ellen Seh (’75)
Stu Summer ’82
Ingrid Sunzenauer
The Northern Lights Society is an association for individuals who have made planned gifts to benefit COA. These gifts include bequests, charitable gift annuities, and gifts of life insurance, to name a few.
If you have already included COA in your estate plans but do not see your name listed, please contact the Advancement Office to inform us of your gift intentions.
I chose COA because I craved a community with a strong sense of reciprocity. We are a magnet for wholesome, smart, brave, and creative minds, with the potential to significantly improve our inner and outer worlds. We know each other’s names and celebrate our kaleidoscope of interests, keep each other accountable, and come together in support in times of need. I am forever grateful to belong to the COA community, which has helped me raise myself.
Dana & Andrew Ruel
Patty Ryan
CedarBough T. Saeji ’93
Jessica Glynn ’06 & Santiago Salinas ’05
WendiLou & Tristan Salman
Maria Salvaggio
Pat & Roger Samuel
Jodi Sargent MPhil ’06 & Family
Philip Sasse
Mitsuko & Steven Savage ’77
Charles Savage
Sunne Savage
Noah Sawyer ’14
Anais Tomezsko ’04 & Noah Scher ’04
Taj Schottland ’10
Janet Schuman
Kirsten Schwarz ’00
Karen Scott
Dorothy & Roland Seymour
Sam Shaw
Kate Sheely ’07
Mimi Sheller
J.W. Sims
Karl Sims
Katy Homans & Patterson Sims
JULIANA TRUJILLO MESA ’24
Heather Sisk ’93 & Craig Gordon
Roberta Smith
Iona Smith ’92
Jennifer Starr ’78
Laura Starr ’84
Henry Steinberg ’06
Katherine Moloney & David Steinberg
Andrea Perry ’95 & Toby Stephenson ’98
Dorie Stolley ’88
Pamela Stone ’87
Ann* & Dick Sullivan
Betts Swanton ’88
Douglas Sward ’96
Cecily Swinburne ’09
Julianne Taylor ’06
Tracey Teuber ’98
Ander Thebaud
Mari Huang Li Thiersch ’17
Stanley Thomas
Julia Walker Thomas ’08
Lois & Ken Thomsen
Ellen Thurman
Anne Tilney
Anne Marie Toccket
Jo Todrank ’76 & Giora Heth
Winifred Hentschel & Philip Trackman
Meg Trau-Serrano ’12
J. Louise Tremblay ’91
Elena Tuhy-Walters ’90 & Carl Walters II
Sue Turner & Karl Karnaky*
John Twiss
Hana Uman
Doug Unger
Caitlin Unites ’03
Matthe van Dam
Wendy Van Dyke (’80)
Linda & Richard Van Kampen
Shamsher Virk ’07
Ali Wagner
Karen Waldron & Richard Hilliard
James W. Walker
Timmon Wallis ’78
Ben Walters ’81
HannahMathilde Waschezyn ’13
Peter Wayne ’83
Karen Wennlund ’85
Catherine West
Debby & Alexander Wheeler
Rebecca Hubert Williams & Rhys Williams
Raymond Williams
Susie Wilson
David Winship ’77
Loretta & Tom Witt
Sue Woehrlin ’80
Anna & Charles Woodward
Carol Woolman
Janice & Rick Woychik
Bryan Wyatt ’80
Cathleen Wyman
Atsuhiko & Yukie Yoshida
Michael Youdelman ’95
Christine & Norb Young, Jr.
Judy & Lou Zawislak
Libby & Aaron Zweig
Amanda Zych ’06
$1–99
Anonymous (61)
Rebecca Abuza ’11
Ashley Adler ’09 & Justin Paice
Virginia P. Agar
Kathryn Alayan ’06
Irene S. Alie
Lily Allgood ‘11
Robin Glaser & Howard Altmann
Janet & Craig Altobello
Debbie Ambro
Martha Andrews Donovan
Genevieve Soloway Angle ’00
Elizabeth Anne ’11
Susan George Lyons Applegate ’76
Stephanie Arevalo ’22
Valerie Armstrong
Ryan Arsenault ’00
Jessica Arseneau ’18 & Roman Bina ’16
Yoi Ashida ’20
Meeghan Athearn
Lucy Atkins ’12
D. Gay Atkinson II
Marissa Altmann Balfour ’13
Natalie Barnett ’11
Ursa Beckford ’17
Bruce Becque ’81
Evacilie Belliere ’27
Holly Benedict
Michael Benz MPhil ’22
Jaime (Duval) Beranek ’00
Nathaniel Berger
Charles Bishop ’07
Vitoria Bitencourt Motta ’19
Linda Mejia Black ’09
Debi & Art Blank
Kellie & Clint Bledsoe
Edith Blomberg
Joanna Bombadil
Kathleen Bower
Paris Boyd
Jessica Bradshaw ’03
Alyce & John Brady
Milja & Tony Brecher-DeMuro
Amy Breen ’94 & Cody Johnson
Jenn & Daniel Bridgers
William Britz
Mary Broad & Rob Yeo
Heather Brown ’17
Lydia ’05 & Foy Brown
Deborah Bruns-Thomas
Cara & Dennis Burns
Sundance Campbell
Dave Carey
Betty & George Carr
Barbara Carter
Jordan Chalfant ’12
Melisa Chan ’18
Tucker Charles
Chloe Chen-Kraus ’14
Taj Chibnik ’95
Beth Chiles
Cynthia Chisholm ’86
Alyne & Joseph Cistone
Tracy Clark
Dianne Clendaniel & Steve Redgate
W. Richard Clendaniel
Thomas Cochrane
Annie Cohen ’13
Laura Cohn ’88
Maggie Collins
Alexandra Conover Bennett ’77
Rebecca English
Julie Erb ’83
Stefanie Fairchild
Molly Finch ’19
Christina Finneran
Cynthia Jordan Fisher ’80
David Fisher
Elsie Flemings ’06 & Richard Cleary
Mizuki Fujiwara ’26
Robert Kumpa (’95) & Bianka Fuksman ’95
Ellie Gabrielson ’25
Carla Ganiel
Marina Garland ’12
Sandra Garson
Helen Geils
Matt Gerald ’83
Jackson Gillman ’78
Lyman Goff
Ben Goldberg ’90
Gerda Paumgarten & Lawrence Goldfarb
Marie Malin ’01 & Wing Goodale MPhil ’01
AnnMarie Conticchio-Bizub
Missy & Fred Cook
Sarah Corson & Dick Atlee
Matthew Corum ’03
J. Gray Cox (’71)
Nadia Kasparek ’15 & James Crawford ’15
Antoine Croquelois ’24
Keaton Daniel ’18
Karen Danlovich
Erin & Jonathan Darby
Kate Darling ’76
Lucinda & Fred (’75) Davis
Zachary Davis ’06
DJ & George Deans
Carol & Gary DeBarba
Julia DeBari ’98
Misti DeGroot & Todd DeGroot ’97
Adrianne Deupree ’02 & Michael Netzer ’01
Michael Diaz-Griffith ’09 & Alonso Diaz Rickards ’12
The Leita and William Hamill Family Foundation, Inc.
Harris Family Fund of Princeton Area Community Foundation
The Hecht/Olson Trust
Hemenway & Barnes LLP
John W. and Clara C. Higgins Foundation
The Island Institute
Raymond James Charitable
The Howard Johnson Foundation
Machias Savings Bank
Maine Beer Co LLC
Maine Coast Sea Vegetables
Susan and Roberth Nathane, Jr Charitable Fund at East Bay Community Foundation
National Philanthropic Trust (NPT-UK)
Nautilus Foundation Incorporated
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Newman’s Own Foundation
Newtmont Foundation
Northern Trust
Park Loop Charitable Foundation
Photo Researchers, Inc.
Renaissance Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Virginia Sargeant Reynolds Foundation
Rockefeller Family Fund
Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation
Rupununi Inc
DBA Havana
The
S&G Foundation
Second Nature
Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
The Sims/Maes Foundation, Inc
State Street Bank and Trust
Sterling College
Lisa Stewart Target Foundation
Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation
The Swan Agency Real Estate
The Synergy Foundation
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Henry David Thoreau Foundation
Tonamora Foundation
Truist
Uplands Family Foundation
UPS Foundation
Valley Charitable Trust
WaterStone
Rosalie J. Coe Weir Foundation
The WELWE Foundation
Whales and Nails
Yaverland Foundation
GIFTS OF TIME AND TALENT
In addition to the donors listed below, COA students, staff, faculty, and trustees contribute their time and talent in a multitude of ways every day. We are grateful for their steadfast support.
Anonymous May al-Ibrashy
Tatia Bauer
Lynn Bean-Ingram
Tim Beatley
Christiana Becker
Rachel Beckwith
Carissa Bielamowicz Miller
Frank Blair
Margaret Blom
Rachel Briggs ’13
Rianna Brooks ’18
Mark Buckley
Judith Burger Gossart
Mark Carignan
Annie Carlson
Tish Carr
Matt Carroll ’99
Caitlin Carroll
Erin Carter
Brett Ciccotelli ’09
Donna Coffin
Jessica Conley
Jared Coplin
Brian Cote
Courtney Crosson
Meggie Curtis ’19
Geoff Davis
Bella DeHart ’23
Janet Delaney
Elana Diaz
Jane Disney
Heather Dority ’96
Frank Drummond
Renee Duncan
Amanda Dyer
Erin Evans
Lyndsay Eysnogle
Farmer
Alan Fernald ’11
Caroline Fournier
Michael Fournier
Adam Gibson
Honnie Goode ’06
Anne Collins Goodyear
Frank Goodyear
Andy Griffiths
Michelle Gurtler
Lynn Hanna
Alisa Hearn
Beverly Homich
Maria Ikwugwalu
Jason Ingle
Keefer Irwin
Pam Katsiaficas
Megan Kaye-Schiess
Nanne Kennedy
David Kerns
Todd Kitchens
Bronwyn Kortge
Anne Kozak
Gayle Kraus
Dayana Krawchuk
Lori Krupke
Jacob LaMontagne
Liz Levy
Carl Little
Jennifer Lund
Hannah Lust
Laura Lyell
Chris Mahler
Matthew Mayo
Anne McGhie
Duncan McIntyre
Michelle Merica
Emily Michaud ’18
Mary Miller
Michelle Miller
Hannah Mondrach
Jon Moore
Sarah Morgan Kearsley, MPhil ’16
Jordan Motzkin ’11
Debbie Mountford
Miles Mowry
Tracie Murchison
Laura Muller
Drew Myers
Michael Newman
Amber Newman
Aoife O’Brien ’05
Ocean Properties Ltd
Leah Olson
Daniel Pearl
Abby Plummer MPhil ’16
Ruth Poland
Emily Postman ’11
Destiny Powell ’20
Alex Prud’homme
Betsy Randolph
Brittany Ray
Chandra Raymond
Dani Robbins
Kim Stanley Robinson
Jenny Rock ’93
Carol Rosinski
Jaylene Roths
Maggie Ruff
Siobhan Ryan
Maria Salvaggio
Kelly Sanborn
Doris Santoro
Kevin Schneider
Robin Hadlock Seeley
Nirav Shah
Silas Sifton ’23
Walter Smalling
Jasmine Smith ’09
Tim Smith
Jesse Snider ’21
Will Snyder
Autumn Soares ’01
Ashley Stanley
Sandra Stone
Leeann Sullivan
Meryl Sweeney
Cecily Swinburne ’09
Rhonda Tate
Will Tickle
Cody Tompkins
Joe Tracy
Elena Tuhy-Walters ’90
Sandra Urie
Jenn Vafiades
Wallace Events
Grace Warder
Todd West ’00
Chris Wharff
Bik Wheeler ’09
Ted Widmer
Stacey Wilson
Alex Woodruff
Rebecca Woods
Ania Wright ’20
Ron Wrobel
Ariel Ybanez
Mike Zboray ’95
*Deceased
Edwin Barkdoll
Tess
YEAR AFTER YEAR
The following donors have been supporting College of the Atlantic consistently for ten years or longer.
40+ YEARS
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust
Barbara B. & Charles P. Burton II
Linda & Eliot Paine
Cathy L. Ramsdell ’78
Lucy Bell Sellers
35–39 YEARS
John Biderman ’77
Helen Caivano ’80
Sarah Corson & Dick Atlee
Norah Davis
First National Bank
Cynthia Jordan Fisher ’80
Nina ’78 & Jonathan ’78 Gormley
Katherine Hazard ‘’6
Lissa & Mel* Hodder
Kass Hogan ’81
Betsey Holtzmann & Abe Noyes
Cathy Johnson ’74
Laura & Michael Kaiser ’85
Betsy & John Kelly
Arlene & Bob Kogod
S. Lee Kohrman
Anne Kozak
Margaret & Philip B. Kunhardt III ’77
Phyllis Anina Moriarty
Meta & Benjie Neilson
Louisa & Bill Newlin
Bruce Phillips ’78 & Susan Erickson
Ellen Seh (’75)
Dorie Stolley ’88
Ben Walters ’81
Katherine Weinstock ’81
Sue Woehrlin ’80
30– 34 YEARS
Anonymous (2)
Sofia Blanchard
Donna Gold & Bill Carpenter
Sally Crock
Verena & Rod* Cushman
Lisa Damtoft ’79
Wendy & Bill Foulke, Jr.
Barbara & Dick Fox
Susan Freed ’80
Jackson Gillman ’78
Neva Goodwin
Sam Hamill, Jr.
Sue Inches ’79
Susan Lerner & Steven Katona
Roberta & Ralph Longsworth
Kathleen Massimini ’82 & Steven Callahan
Bill McDowell ’80
Jay McNally ’84
Karla Tegzes & Peter Moon ’90
Susan & Robert Pennington
Susan & David Rockefeller, Jr.
Patricia & Ronnie Rogers
Beverly & Max Rothal
Barbara Sassaman ’78
Peggy Sharpe*
Elena Tuhy-Walters ’90 & Carl Walters II
John Wilmerding*
Alice Blum Yoakum
25–29 YEARS
Anonymous (5)
Irene S. Alie
Judy Allen
Mary Dohna Bacon ’80 & Wells Bacon ’80
Barbara Tennent & Steven Barkan
Bruce Becque ’81
Bruce Bender ’76
Edith Blomberg
Ruth M. Colket
John Dandy (’84)
Gale & Shelby Davis
Marcia L. Dworak
David Emerson ’81
Julie Erb ’83
Garden Club of Mount Desert
Katie & Steve George
June LaCombe (’75) & Bill Ginn ’74
Abigail Goodyear ’81 & John Allgood
Bo Greene
Linda Gregory ’89
Eileen & Paul Growald
Peggy & Mike Gumpert
Loie Hayes ’79
Mary J. Heffernon
Barbara Hilli
Lisa ’80 & Bob ’79 Holley
Cookie & Bill Horner
Lyn Hurwich ’80
Anna Hurwitz ’84
Missy & Bill Janes (’71)
Leslie Jones ’91
Craig Kesselheim ’76
Steve King ’80
Aleda Koehn
Joan & Ted Koffman
Rosalind Rolland & Scott Kraus ’77
Abigail Littlefield ’83
Maine Coast Sea Vegetables
Sarah McDaniel ’93
Donna McFarland & Alan Richins
Linda & Clem McGillicuddy
Clifton McPherson III ’84
Jane & Bob Meade
Jeffrey Miller ’92
Linzee Weld & Peter Milliken (’76)
Rick Moss ’79
Hope Olmstead
Jennifer Waldron & Benoni Outerbridge ’84
Judith S. Perkins
Daniel Pierce, Jr. Family
Frances Pollitt ’77 & Frank E. Briber III
Dorothy & Roland Seymour
Jane & Dennis Shubert
Jennifer Starr ’78
Alisa Nye ’15 & Davis Taylor
Joanie Thorndike
Jo Todrank ’76 & Giora Heth
Frank Twohill ’79
Karen Waldron & Richard Hilliard
Joplin Wistar ’84
Loretta & Tom Witt
20–24 YEARS
Anonymous (3)
Heather Albert-Knopp ’99
Elizabeth Rousek Ayers ’95
Sandi Read & Ron Beard
Glen Berkowitz ’82
Deirdre Swords & Michael Boland ’94
Paul Boothby ’88
Patricia Honea-Fleming & Richard Borden
Shan Burson ’83
Barbara Carter
Melinda ’00 & Ellen Casey-Magleby
Cynthia Chisholm ’86
Dianne Clendaniel & Steve Redgate
Jen Hughes & Ken Cline
Janis Coates
Pamela Cobb Heuberger ’83
Pancho Cole ’81
Karen & Darron Collins ’92
Lucinda & Fred (’75) Davis
Rose (’88) & Steve ’80 Demers
Robert DeSimone
Holly Devaul ’84
George & Kelly Dickson MPhil ’97
Millard Dority
Donna & Bill Eacho III
Mary K. Eliot
Karin Tilberg & Ben Emory
Jim Frick ’78
Glenon ’86 & Gary Friedmann
Beth & Will Gardiner
Matt Gerald ’83
Marie Gower
Mary (Nelson) Griffin ’97
Susan Dowling & Andrew Griffiths
Atsuko Watabe ’93 & Bruce Hazam ’92
Peter Heller ’85
Margaret Hoffman ’97
Jane Hultberg
Peter Hunt & Family
Peter ’84 & Margaret Jeffery
Barbara & Steven Kiel
Burks B. Lapham
Jessie Greenbaum ’89 & Phil Lichtenstein ’92
Peggy Beaulac & Carl Little
Maria Vanegas Long ’84
Danielle & Gordon Longsworth ’90
Machias Savings Bank
Pamy Manice
Donald K. McNeil
Kendra ’01 & Jake Miller
Rebecca & Steve Milliken
Meredith & Phil Moriarty
Sean Murphy ’14
Gene Myers (’80)
Lynn & William Osborn
Suzanne & Jim Owen
Holly & Ken Paul
Shoshana Perry ’83 & Hale Powell
Helen Hess & Chris Petersen
Susan Pierce ’77
Carole Plenty
Shiva Polefka ’01
Nishi Rajakaruna ’94
Tina Rathborne
Roxana & Tony Robinson, Jr.
CedarBough T. Saeji ’93
Mitsuko & Steven Savage ’77
Cynthia E. Livingston & Hank L.P. Schmelzer
Sam Shaw
Roberta Smith
Laura Starr ’84
Maureen & Bill Stewart
Ann* & Dick Sullivan
Ellen Thurman
J. Louise Tremblay ’91
Wendy Van Dyke (’80)
Christiaan van Heerden ’09 & Family
Peter Wayne ’83
David Winship ’77
15–19 YEARS
Anonymous (5)
Peter Anderson ’81
Elly & Sandy Andrews III
Genevieve Soloway Angle ’00
Susan George Lyons Applegate ’76
D. Gay Atkinson II
Terrie Cunliffe Beamer & Wesley Beamer
Robin ’80 & Paul ’79 Beltramini
Janet Biondi ’81
Charlotte Bordeaux
Lynn Boulger & Tim Garrity
Lydia ’05 & Foy Brown
Amanda (Walker) Bunker ’98
Judith Burger-Gossart
Lisa Burton ’83 & Christopher Vincenty (’83)
Erin Chalmers ’00
Taj Chibnik ’95
Diana Cohn ’85 & Craig Merrilees
Laura Cohn ’88
J. Gray Cox (’71)
Nicole d’Avis ’02 & Mark Anderson
Megan Smith ’90 & Daniel DenDanto ’91
Cerissa Desrosiers ’00 & Jessica Hannon
Catherine Devlin ’93
Ellen & Bill Dohmen
Cameron Hale Douglass ’02
Samuel Edmonds ’05
Catherine Elk ’82
Peter W. Emmet ’92
Deb Evans ’82 & Ron Schaaf
Joanne Rodgers Foster ’85
Carla Ganiel
Amy & Phil Geier
Nadine Gerdts (’76) & Steve Lacker
Susan Getze
Lyman Goff
Nina Goldman & Douglas Legg
Jaki Erdoes ’80 & Terry Good ’80
Diane Gordon
Tree Goulet ’78
Emma Rearick ’08 & Jay Guarneri ’06
Carol & Dick Habermann
Jennifer ’94 & Christopher Harris
Ed Haynsworth III ’98
Gail Henderson-King ’82
Susan Highley ’86
Noah Hodgetts ’10
Kathryn Hunninen ‘03 & Jose Luis Sagastegui
Martha & O.P. Jackson
Jamien Jacobs ’86
Sonja Johanson ’95 & Richard Gordet
Brianne ’02 & Brian Jordan
Ann & Lee Judd
Nancy & Bucky Kales
Ali & Steve Kassels
Sarah ’05 & Shawn ’00 Keeley
Arthur Keller & Mark Gauthier
Lilian Alvarado & Zack Klyver ’17
Heather Lakey ’00, MPhil ’05
Jude Lamb ’00
David Lebwohl
Randy Lessard ’92 & Melissa Lessard-York ’90
Lois & Larry Libby
Neith Little ’09
Babette & Peter Loring
Blaise Maccarrone ’01
David Mahoney ’86
Isabel Mancinelli & Sam Coplon
Susan Flynn Maristany ’82
Valeska & Erik Martin ’98
Leslie McConnell ’81
Lauren McKean ’83
Megan McOsker ’90
Tree & Scott Mercer
David G. Milliken
Suzanne Morse & Noreen Hogan ’91
Susan & Bob Nathane, Jr.
Sarah Neilson ’09
Carol ’93 & Jacob ’93 Null
Melissa ’91 & Peter Ossanna
Andrea & Jon Pactor
Valerie Lambert Peacock (’98) & Tobin Peacock ’95
Sheila Sonne Pulling
Jason Rich ’96
Melinda & Tripp Royce ’79/ Harrison Royce Architecture Corp
Jessica Glynn ’06 & Santiago Salinas ’05
Mary & Dave Savidge
Amy & Ryder Scott ’97
Kate Sheely ’07
Margie & John Grace Shethar
Carol Dean Silverman & Family
J.W. Sims
Natalie Springuel ’91 & Richard MacDonald (’06)
John Steele
Andrea Perry ’95 & Toby Stephenson ’98
Cathy Straka ’82
Caren Sturges
Anne Swann ’86
Douglas Sward ’96
Tracey Teuber ’98
Genie & Will Thorndike, Jr.
Diane & Charles Tucker
Shamsher Virk ’07
Catherine Thibedeau & Patrick Watson ’93
Karen Wennlund ’85
Peter Williams ’93
Raymond Williams
Nellie Wilson ’04
Bryan Wyatt ’80
Judy & Lou Zawislak
10–14 YEARS
Anonymous (17)
Ashley Adler ’09 & Justin Paice
Eben Albert ’03
Sharon Knopp & Enoch Albert
Jane Alexander
Robin Glaser & Howard Altmann
Janet & Craig Altobello
Heather & Richard Ames
Elizabeth Anne ’11
Emily Argo ’10
Edgar & Nancy* Aronson
Ryan Arsenault ’00
Jessica Arseneau ’18 & Roman Bina ’16
Lucy Atkins ’12
Cynthia Baker & Jonathan Zeitler
Natalie Barnett ’11
Ted Bartles ’94
Park Loop Charitable Foundation
Kate Baxter
Emily Beck & Geof Young
Alyson Bell ’10
Sara Bender & Evan Bender ’04
Ann* & Fred Benson
Jaime (Duval) Beranek ’00
Geena Berry ’10
Sara Faull ’98 & Eugenio Bertin ’97
Deodonne ’06 & Ranjan ’04 Bhattarai
Linda Mejia Black ’09
Debi & Art Blank
Ryan Boduch ’98
Julia Bogardus / Point Harbor Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Miranda Borden / Point Harbor Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Jessica Bradshaw ’03
Amy Breen ’94 & Cody Johnson
Brenda Brodie
Jean & Ordway Burden
Thomas D. Cahill III
William Luther ’06 & Seth Carbonneau ’05
Linda K. Carman
JoAnne Carpenter & Jan Hofstra
Lucy Hull & E. Barton Chapin III
Mary Ann & Harry Charlston
Diana Choksey ’05 & Jordan Mandel-Iaia
Alyne & Joseph Cistone
Catherine Clinger
Sarah Colletti ’10 & Kyle McMillan
Tracy & Gifford Combs / Combs Family Fund
Alexandra Conover Bennett ’77
Missy & Fred Cook
Elizabeth Hodder Corbus & Clay Corbus
Jill ’83 & Ben ’84 Cowie-Haskell
Kate Darling ’76
Adam Dau ’01
Kara ’96 & Matt ’98 Daul, and Family
John & Nisha Dawson
Bob DeForrest ’94
Beth Rendeiro & Steven DePaul
Jeanee Dudley ’10
Peggy Dulany
Sunny Dupree
Casey Jones & Bill Faller
Elsie Flemings ’06 & Richard Cleary
Joanne & Richard Fuerst
Marina Garland ’12
Helen Geils
Annika Maia Ginsberg ’99
Erin ’92 & Graham ’91 Goff
Ben Goldberg ’90
Gerda Paumgarten & Lawrence Goldfarb
Marie Malin ’01 & Wing Goodale MPhil ’01
Carrie Graham
Merna & Joe Guttentag
Jane Halbeisen Woodmansee ’86
Heather Hallett-Thurston
Nicholas Harris ’12
Louise Hartwell
Patricia & John* Hatton
Jocelyn Hayes
Juliet Hodge ’95
Juan Hoffmaister ’07
Russ Holway
Lynn & Jeff Horowitz
Laura Howes Noonan ’09
Emily Peterson Huggins ’15 & Connor Huggins ’16
Isaac Jacobs ’99
Jane & David James
Nishad Jayasundara ’05
Amanda Spector ’08 & Peter Jenkins ’09
Patricia A. Jennings (’71) & James Hatch
Cheryl A. Johnson (’80)
Eliana Johnston ’06
Bruce Jones ’81
Jennifer Judd-McGee (’92)
Ivy ’05 & Nathaniel ’04 Keller
Michael Keller ’09
Nan & Stephen Kennedy
Bori Kiss ’02
Joan & Allan Kleinman
Greg Koehlert ’96
Paul Kozak ’86
Natasha Krell ’16
Philip Bradish Kunhardt IV ’11 & Maria Laura Torre Gomez
Carrol Lange ’99
Virginie Lavallee-Picard ’07 & Alexander Fletcher ’07
Lizzie Leone ’93
Otti & Jeffrey Levine
Linda & Jonathan Lewis
Julianna Lichatz ’90
Daniel Lindner, Jr. ’11
Haley Harwood Lowell ’11
Scott MacKenzie & Jerry Cruz
Kate & Ben Macko ’01
Maine Beer Co LLC
Carol & Rick* Malone
Chloe Marr-Fuller ’00
Jacomien Mars
Anne Conlee Mazlish & Tony Mazlish
Linda Parker & Jamie McKown
Bill McLellan ’88
Rebecca Melius ’01
James Merrill
Winnie & Nate Miller
Gail & Gerrish Milliken
Nancy Milliken
Deb & Bob Milotte
Amanda & Alan Mogridge
Kevin Monahan
Diver Ed
Karen & John Moniz
Sarah ’02 & Chase ’00 Morrill
Bridget Mullen ’91 & Chris Kenoyer
Bethany Murray ’03
Thupten Norbu ’06
Lauren Nutter ’10
Elizabeth O’Leary ’03
Whitney Oppersdorff
Ned Ormsby ’91
Leslie Palumbo / Point Harbor Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
If this report has inspired you to support our mission, please contact Dean of Institutional Advancement Shawn Keeley at skeeley@coa.edu or call 207.801.5620. You can also learn more about College of the Atlantic’s endowment needs or make a gift online at coa.edu/giving
College of the Atlantic enriches the liberal arts tradition through a distinctive educational philosophy—human ecology. A human ecological perspective integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experience to investigate—and ultimately improve—the relationships between human beings and our social and natural communities
OUR VISION
The faculty, students, trustees, staff, and alumni of College of the Atlantic envision a world where people value creativity, intellectual achievement, and the diversity of nature and human cultures. With respect and compassion, individuals will construct meaningful lives for themselves, gain appreciation for the relationships among all forms of life, and safeguard the heritage of future generations.
