Our Teachers
Every year, experts teach us about the watershed and how to protect it. These include organic farmers, oyster farmers, scientists involved in water quality and plastics reduction, foresters, historians, advocates, and more.
This is a changing faculty, full of expertise and hands-on wisdom. We’re grateful to them.
In recent years, they have included:
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Nick Bear, A Penobscot/Passamaquoddy/Maliseet tribal citizen from Indian Island and program coordinator for Nibezun
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Martha Bell, environmental educator for Island Heritage Trust in Blue Hill
Bailey Bowden, Key advocate in the restoration of the alewife runs of the Bagaduce River
Denise Buckley, Senior Fishery Biologist at Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery
Maulian Dana, Executive Director, Wabanaki Alliance
Ron Desrosiers, a State of Maine Licensed Soil Scientist who has come to us via the Waldo County Soil and Water Conservation District
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Kathleen Dunckel, Landscape ecologist and Associate Professor of Forest Resources and Geographical Information Systems at Center for Wildlife Studies
Maddie Eberly, Coordinator of MOFGA’s low-impact forestry (LIF) program
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Landon Fake, Executive Director of Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust and Chair of the Appalachian Mountain Club Maine Conservation Committee
Maria Girouard, Penobscot Tribal Historian
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Kathy Given, Harbormaster for the City of Belfast​ (video)
Jesse Graham, Co-director of the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine People’s Resource Center
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Tom Groening, Editor of The Working Waterfront newspaper and Island Journal, the Island Institute’s annual publication
Prentice Grassi and Polly Shyka, owners and farmers at Villageside Farm who serve as mentors to aspiring farmers through MOFGA’s Journeyperson Program
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Allyssa Gregory, Maine Forest Service’s District Forester for the Midcoast
Ralph Hamill, Oyster farmer and owner of the seven-acre Weskeag Oyster Farm, which has been running since 2007
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Kelly Hoover, Hudson Museum Graduate Assistant
W. Donald “Don” Hudson, founding member of the Board of Directors of the International Appalachian Trail and former president of Chewonki
David Italiaander, Board Member, Friends of Sears Island
George L. Jacobson, Professor Emeritus of Biology, Ecology, and Climate Change at the University of Maine
Catherine Johnston, Assistant Project Leader at Green Lake National Fish Hatchery
Daniel Kusnierz, Water Resources Program Manager for the Penobscot Indian Nation
Chuck Loring, Penobscot citizen providing oversight to the Nation’s natural resources department
​Teddy Mattson, owner and operator of Dirtgoat Permaculture, which installs permaculture landscapes in Midcoast Maine and in Western North Carolina.
Dan Miller, owner of Belmont Boatworks, a full-service boatyard that serves Belfast's recreational and commercial fishing fleet
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Keith Miller, lobsterman who works out of Spruce Head. Since lobstering is, for most fishermen, seasonal, he began ‘kelping’ in 2017
Seán Murphy, Associate Director of the Downeast Salmon Federation
Rolf Olsen, Vice President of Friends of Sears Island
Andrew Peters, Founder and CEO of Vertical Bay, a scallop farm based in Belfast
Megan Pinette, President of the Belfast Historical Society and Museum and curator of the Belfast Museum
Jennifer Riefler, long-time volunteer for Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust and chair of its Stewardship Committee
Charles Rolsky, Senior Research Scientist for the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill and Director of Science for Plastic Oceans International, where he focuses on creating and disseminating science for the public
Andy Stevenson, Secretary for the Friends of Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area
Steve Tanguay, Selectman for the city of Searsport, Maine, as well as an active member of the Searsport Shellfish Association, owner Searsport Shores
Mike Thalhauser, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries’ Collaborative Management Specialist and former Fish and Game Manager in Anchorage, Prince William Sound, and the North Gulf Coast in Alaska
James (Jim) Therriault, vice president of Materials Handling for Sprague Operating Resources LLC in Portsmouth, N.H.
JB Turner, President and general manager of Front Street Shipyard in Belfast
Ron Trundy, Head of the Stonington Lobster Co-op and multi-generational fisherman
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Daniel F. Waldron, Entrepreneur and owner of both Whitecap Builders and Marshall Wharf Brewing Company
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Captain John Worth, Relief captain for Penobscot Bay Tractor Tug Company and the Maine State Ferry Service, former owner of Maineport Towboats, and retired faculty Maine Maritime Academy
Fred Yost, Fish Biologist at Green Lake National Fish Hatchery
