Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Wabanaki Access To Sweetgrass (Hierochloe Odorata) Within Coastal Maine's Diminishing Open Land Tradition, Amanda Marie Ellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nontimber forest products (NTFPs), refer to a class of resources (i.e. moss, fungi, mushrooms, plants, etc.) gathered in both rural and urban landscapes. NTFPs are utilized by a variety of cultures all over the world and are a critical part of medicinal, spiritual, dietary, and economic practices. In fact, some NTFP species are so critical to people that they are considered ‘cultural keystone species’ (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). This designation means that without access to the NTFP, cultural survival is at risk. This is the case in Maine where the Wabanaki, a confederacy of four tribes (Passamaqouddy, Penobscot, Mikmaq, and …

A Partial Bibliography Of Early Sporting Information From The Magalloway River, Maine, William B. Krohn

William B. Krohn

Ephraim L. Dunlap – Inventor Of American’S Last Flat-Spring Fish Hook., William B. Krohn

William B. Krohn

Social And Ecological Factors Affecting The Adoption Of Aquaculture, Karen Pianka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Commercial fishermen in Maine are increasingly dependent upon the American lobster fishery, and this reliance on a single species poses a threat to working waterfronts. Aquaculture represents a potential opportunity for commercial fishermen to diversify their income. Literature on the adoption of innovation suggests that factors such as age, education level, fishing experience, diversification, and leadership are important predictors of early adoption of innovation. However, few studies have examined whether such factors affect the adoption of aquaculture by commercial fishermen. Our marine policy research studied fishermen enrolled in two pilot shellfish and seaweed aquaculture classes held in 2013 in Harpswell …

Monhegan: A Prescription For Resilience, Kenneth Paul Kiel Gross

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Monhegan, like many island communities, is threatened by the loss of population as its young adults migrate to the mainland. The purpose of this study is to develop a resilient population on Monhegan Island.

Knowing the problem is easy, as is asking the obvious question, “How do we get people to move to this area?” This is a problem that confronts not only Monhegan, but also other Maine islands and even Maine itself.

Several factors make Monhegan’s future uncertain. The first is the gradual shift from commercial fishing, the mainstay of its economy, as it becomes more reliant on tourism …

Looking Ahead With The World In Their Hands: The Postsecondary Aspirations Of East Island Youth, Abby E. Roy

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

“Persuading The Secret”: In Search Of Maine’S Hermits, Taylor Cunningham

Honors College

I have been working on this project for nearly three years now. The journey feels like a long one—with various roads, some yet to be traveled, detours, and dead ends. Largely, it has been a process of trial and error, as I learned to navigate the boundless, at times overwhelming, depths of research—within archives, old newspapers, photographs, poems, fiction, informal conversations and formal interviews—hoping to make some sense of what hermit characters mean to the state of Maine.

I found almost immediately that inconsistencies and gaps plagued—as I’m sure they do in any sort of oral history project—my attempts at …

A Comparison Of The Experiences Of Economic Adaptation And Integration For Refugees And Asylum Seekers In Maine, Grace Kiffney

Honors College

The migration of refugees and asylum seekers affects them and the communities where they resettle, as people from different backgrounds and cultures come together. In the United States, the federally funded refugee resettlement program supports refugees with welfare benefits, case management, and other services to assist with integration. However, no such federal program exists for asylum seekers, who are considered displaced people, but who have not received immigration status as refugees. This project sought to answer the question: How is the experience of supporting oneself different and similar for refugees and asylum seekers, in the context of Maine?

Research involved …

Capstone Summary Report, Kayla Blais

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Leadership is vital to the practice of public health. The following review of current literature delves into present understanding of leaders that the public health field needs. As leadership within public health is being explored, specific skills required of future leaders, different types of leaders, and the impacts we can expect to see are being defined.

Torch (April 2016), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

Civic and Community Engagement | Civil Rights and Discrimination | Education | Gender and Sexuality | Inequality and Stratification | Politics and Social Change | Public Policy | Race and Ethnicity

Piscataquis Thriving In Place Collaborative Year 1 Evaluation Report, University Of Maine Center On Aging

Maine Center on Aging Education and Training

The Piscataquis Thriving in Place Collaboration's mission is to improve regional services and supports that help adults with chronic health conditions remain in their homes avoid unnecessary hospitalization. The following report presents evaluation results from Year 1 of the Piscataquis Thriving in Place Collaborative gained through survey work and Ripple Effects Mapping. sessions conducted with project workgroups. Project outcomes during the first year were diverse, but can be roughly categorized into the areas of increased knowledge of community needs among collaborative members, increased knowledge of available resources to support thriving in place, and expansion of services and supports in response …

Torch (February 2016), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Aging And Thriving In Place In A Rural New England County, David Wihry, Lenard W. Kaye, Jennifer Crittenden

Maine Center on Aging Research and Evaluation

This project was developed in order to understand challenges to aging in place faced by a rural New England county as well as the systemic issues preventing coordination of services to support thriving in place. It utilized a needs assessment to inform the direction of health and human service providers in implementing services. The median age of respondents was 73. They all lived in their own home, and 55 percent lived along. Challenges identified through a needs assessment by hospital systems included a high poverty rate, low median income, fair to poor health, high mortality rate, high incidence of chronic …

Cohort Differences In Aging In Place Needs Among A Rural-Serving Area Agency On Aging Client Population, David C. Wihry, Lenard W. Kaye, Dyan Walsh, Jennifer Crittenden

Maine Center on Aging Research and Evaluation

This study was conducted as part of a foundation-funded initiative to better coordinate the system of care in a rural New England area for older adults and individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities. It utilized a needs assessment in order to identify challenges and needs of area community members. Respondents included 347 individuals from the community, ranging from 55 to 105 years old, with a mean of 73.4 years old. Among the respondents, 57.7 percent lived along, 55.7 percent identified as having a chronic condition or disability, 70.3 percent lived in their own home, and 87.9 percent were not receiving …

Gimme Shelter: Homeless Services Providers' Assessments Of The Effectiveness Of Housing First Programs In Portland, Maine, Eric Kneeland

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the Housing First model of addressing chronic homelessness in the state of Maine, primarily in the city of Portland. Preble Street, an organization based in Portland, operates a Housing First program called Logan Place, which houses 30 chronically homeless adults. I interviewed eight members of the staff at Preble Street using a semi-structured interview style: three caseworkers, three administrators, and two administrators with casework responsibilities. The major themes that were revealed from the interviews are the successes of the program, the ongoing challenges of securing funding to continue the program's successes, the role of public perception …

Seeking Redemption In A World Of Waste: A Comparative Analysis Of Bottle Deposit Systems And Campaigns And A Consideration Of Their Comprehensive Sustainability, Zoe Bluffstone

Honors Papers

This research is a case-based comparative analysis between bottle bill campaigns and policies in four different U.S. states in order to analyze the determining and preventative variables in the passage of bottle bills. Additionally, this study compares what ways these types of legislation are ultimately effective or ineffective in meeting economic, environmental, and social goals under the framework of Triple Bottom Line Sustainability. These four case study states (OR, ME, MA, and WA) have been selected to exemplify several public, private, and mixed systems that display varying outcomes in participation in the program and impacts on litter and local economies. …

Creating Sustainable, Cost-Effective, And Equitable Waste-Management Programs In Maine Communities, Luisa S. Deprez, Ron Deprez

Maine Policy Review

The authors present several perspectives on popular municipal solid waste (MSW) policies and programs that can help guide decision making to address the waste hierarchy as well as to extend thinking in regard to MSW.

An Examination Of Using Social Impact Bonds To Fund Education In Maine, Erika K. Stump Phd, Amy F. Johnson Phd

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

As resolved in H.P. 285 - L.D. 418 (Chapter 52) and requested by the Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) has conducted a study with the purpose of examining current policies and investigating the feasibility of using Social Impact Bonds as a funding mechanism for public education programs in Maine.

Moving Up The Waste Hierarchy In Maine: Learning From “Best Practice” State-Level Policy For Waste Reduction And Recovery, Cindy Isenhour, Travis Blackmer, Travis Wagner, Linda Silka, John Peckenham, David Hart, Jean Macrae

Maine Policy Review

As Maine residents look toward the future, it is increasingly clear that more sustainable waste and materials management solutions will be necessary. A recent stakeholder engagement process involving nearly 200 industry professionals, municipal representatives and citizen groups confirmed this point. As we move together toward a more sustainable waste management system, participants in the engagement process identified an outstanding need to learn more about policies options. This article responds to that need with a review of state level policies designed to reduce waste generation and increase material recovery rates. We find there are a wide variety of state-level policy tools …

Climate Policy 2015: Reports From The Congressional Trenches, Sharon Tisher, Peter Mills

Maine Policy Review

The bipartisan commentary by Peter Mills and Sharon Tisher urges action in Congress to address the problem of climate change, and stems from interviews with Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree regarding their climate-related initiatives in 2015.

Municipal Approaches In Maine To Reduce Single-Use Consumer Products, Travis Wagner

Maine Policy Review

Maine’s solid waste management hierarchy prioritizes reduction and reuse over recycling. While most municipalities in Maine have focused on increasing recycling, they have undertaken minimal efforts to specifically foster source reduction and reuse. In this paper, Travis Wagner examines the approaches adopted in Maine by the state and by municipalities to reduce the consumption of single-use consumer products including bans, fees, consumer education, choice architecture, and retail take back.

Where Has Maine Been? Where Is Maine Going? Taking The Long View Of Maine’S Policy Context, Linda Silka

Maine Policy Review

Linda Silka initiates what we hope will become a regular MPR column, which looks forward and looks back at policy issues in Maine. In this piece, she reflects on discussions she had with Aram Calhoun, Andy Coburn, Carla Dickstein, and Evan Richert.

Tying The Knot: The Importance Of Financial Literacy Education In Maine, David M. Leach

Maine Policy Review

David Leach discusses the importance of financial literacy and describes the Downeaster Consumer Guides, a series of publications on credit cards, debt collection, auto buying and financing, credit reports and scores, home buying and financing, consumer scams, student loans, consumer credit, elder financial protection, and high-interest loans published by Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership’S Potential Economic Impact On Maine, Catherine Reilly Delutio, Philip A. Trostel

Maine Policy Review

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a free-trade agreement (FTA) between 12 Pacific-Rim countries. If passed, it would be the largest FTA in which the United States participates. Catherine Reilly deLutio and Philip Trostel assess the potential impact of the TPP’s tariff reductions and quota increases on Maine’s economy. The results suggest that the TPP would likely generate slight increases in overall measures of Maine’s economy. The benefits would be relatively small and spread across the population.

What Bonds Hold? An Examination Of Statewide Bond Referenda In Maine And Other States, James P. Melcher

Maine Policy Review

Since 1990, Maine has held votes on statewide bond referenda than any other state. In this article, James Melcher tackles three main questions: (1) How often do voters approve bond proposals in Maine, and how does this compare to other states? (2) Are some types of bond referenda more likely to pass than others? (3) Does a bond’s placement on the ballot make it more, or less, likely to pass?

The Human Dimensions Of Pollinator Conservation : Perception, Practice, And Policy In The Lowbush Blueberry Industry, Kourtney K. Collum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents comparative research of diverse agricultural actors involved in lowbush blueberry productions in Maine, USA and Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, in order to explore the factors that influence on-farm pollinator conservation. The research is presented through three distinct projects. In the first project, my collaborators and I ask: how do growers perceive and understand pollination in agricultural systems, and how do growers’ perceptions influence their willingness and ability to enact on-farm bee conservation? Drawing on semi-structured interviews with conventional growers, we present growers’ cultural models of pollination management and pollinator conservation. Our analysis reveals that the messages …

Assessing Lakesmart: The Development And Effectiveness Of A Lake Protection Program, Alexa A. E. Junker

Honors Theses

Maine’s nearly 6,000 lakes are a vital resource for the state, generating $6 billion in annual economic activity and sustaining 52,000 jobs. Over the course of the last several decades, this resource has increasingly been threatened by development and related problems, especially nutrient runoff. LakeSmart is a lake protection program designed to stem the flow of nutrient runoff by promoting and rewarding the use lake-friendly landscaping practices.

For this project, I traced the history of LakeSmart from its roots in the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and, through stakeholder interviews and surveys, chronicled its development into the flagship program of …

A Pilot Benefit And Cost Analysis Study Of Sponsors Of Registered Apprenticeships In Maine, Jonathan R. Payne Phd

All Student Scholarship

A skills gap exists in Maine because of lack of diversity in educational opportunity offered to students. Preparation for college and career readiness has become conflated. High schools focus primarily on core academic knowledge, often forsaking the knowledge necessary to prepare for jobs that do not require college educations. College is not for everyone, and some students fail to graduate, leaving them without a credential, often in debt, and lacking any skills that would lead to meaningful employment.

In countries across the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada those issues are addressed through apprenticeship, and empirical research suggests that …