The Maine Monitor, "Tackling News Deserts: Bringing In-Depth Journalism to Maine’s Rural Communities"
2024-08-11 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Many of Maine’s rural communities see little to no journalism coverage. Maine’s daily newspapers are based in Maine’s urban centers and have few regional reporters covering limited portions of Maine’s rural communities, where 40% of Mainers live. In August 2022, The Maine Monitor launched a reporting initiative to dedicate coverage to rural communities, collaborating with hyperlocal independent news outlets to identify issues that would benefit from The Maine Monitor’s investigative and enterprise reporting. The Maine Monitor now dedicates reporting to Maine’s Downeast and Western Mountain regions, empowering residents there with information on matters of public interest. Join Executive Director Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm and Local Government Reporter Emmett Gartner to learn more about this initiative, the impactful and informative reporting resulting from it, and how The Maine Monitor is delivering news, for free, to all of Maine’s communities.
Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm is the Executive Director of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which publishes The Maine Monitor. Micaela joined MCPIR/The Maine Monitor after retiring as a Senior Foreign Service officer. Micaela represented the United States around the world for 26 years, leading U.S. diplomatic teams, and advancing U.S. principles of democratic governance, most importantly, the importance of a free and vibrant press. Micaela spent most of her career in the Middle East and Southeast Europe and served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia. Micaela holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies from the National War College. A native of southern New England, Micaela, her husband Todd, and three children have called Maine home since 2017.

Emmett Gartner covers accountability and Maine’s rural communities as a Roy W. Howard Fellow through the Scripps Howard Fund. Emmett earned his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Vermont. While working as a reporter at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, he helped produce two award-winning investigations: “Printing Hate,” which documented the historic role of newspapers inciting racial lynchings, and “Mega Billions,” which investigated state lottery operations. Most recently, Emmett reported on health and environment for The Frederick News-Post in Maryland. He previously worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and interned for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Kate Cough is editor of The Maine Monitor. She previously served as enterprise editor for The Monitor while also covering energy and the environment and writing the weekly Climate Monitor newsletter.
Before joining The Monitor, Kate was a beat reporter for The Ellsworth American and digital media strategist for The Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander.
Kate graduated with honors from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Magna Cum Laude from Bryn Mawr College.
Kate is an eighth generation Mainer, who lives on Mount Desert Island with her husband, daughter, and dogs.

Nick Mills

Board Director
Nick Mills teaches journalism at Boston University and is a columnist for the Maine Outdoor Journal and Huffington Post. He has traveled the globe in his 45-year career reporting from Iraq, Kosovo, Beirut, Tajikistan, Portugal, Vietnam and other hot spots.
A primary focus for Nick is helping the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting explore non-newspaper markets for its stories and provide counsel on the center’s educational programs.

Jonathan Becker, "A Lifetime of Editorial Photography Across the Globe"
2024-08-18 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
The work of editorial photographer Jonathan Becker is—quite simply—sublime, offering private glimpses inside the remarkable lives of royalty, celebrities, artists, writers, activists, and scores of fascinating people around the globe. In capturing their pain, their ennui, their anguish, and their joy, Becker humanizes his subjects, revealing the curiously ordinary side of the extraordinary. Becker’s inclusive eye frames cultural history. His portraits for Vanity Fair—a magazine he has contributed to for more than three decades—tell the haunting, personal stories of loss, memory, and contemplation. The expansive breadth of Becker’s photography chronicles a world in transition, a view of society that is seldom seen. His ability to seize the authenticity of a moment is reflected by his life spent delivering unforgettable, lasting images.

Nirval Dinesh Shah, Former Acting Director of CDC "Lessons Learned from Covid and other Epidemics; Are we ready for the Next One?"
2025-07-13 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
“Lessons Learned from Covid and other Epidemics; Are we ready for the Next One?”
Have you ever wondered “What did we learn from the Covid pandemic and how ready are we for the next one?” Who better to tell us than Maine’s former CDC director, Dr. Nirav Shah, who led the state of Maine’s response to Covid 19. Many might remember his daily TV updates that were both informative and reassuring to a nervous public. Because of his proven leadership during this difficult time, Dr. Shah became the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. CDC in 2023. Among other things, he was responsible for leading our nation’s effort to be prepared for the next pandemic. Dr Shah stepped down from that position earlier this year and has returned to his home in Maine. He was recently named a Visiting Professor at Colby College where he will teach courses in public health, policy, and communications. In his remarks, Dr Shah will highlight lessons learned from Covid and other epidemics and also take questions from the audience.

William B. Taylor, Former US Ambassador to Ukraine "Russia’s War on Ukraine: An Update"
2025-07-20 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
“Russia’s War on Ukraine: An Update”
After defending their country and its continued existence for over three years, the Ukrainians continue to deserve our support. They are fighting for their homeland, but they are at the same time defending the rest of Europe and American values.
From the Atlantic Council website:
Ambassador William B. Taylor is a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Prior to the Atlantic Council, Taylor was vice president, Europe and Russia at the US Institute of Peace. From 2006 to 2009, Taylor served as the US ambassador to Ukraine and as the chargé d’affaires ad interim from 2019 to 2020 at the US embassy in Kyiv.
Beyond Ukraine, Taylor served as the special coordinator for Middle East Transitions at the US Department of State from 2011 to 2013, where he oversaw assistance and support to the Middle East during the Arab Spring—including support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria. Prior to his tenure in the Middle East Transitions Team and Kyiv, Taylor served as the US government’s representative to the Mideast Quartet from Jerusalem. From 2004 to 2005, Taylor served in Baghdad as director of the Iraq Reconstruction Office; from 2002 to 2003 he served in Kabul as coordinator of US government and international assistance to Afghanistan; and from 1992 to 2002, he served in Washington as coordinator of US government assistance to former Soviet Union countries and Eastern Europe.
Taylor holds a Bachelor of Science from the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Taylor also served as an infantry platoon leader and combat company commander in the US Army in Vietnam and Germany.

Dr. Alexa Dayton and Robin Alden from Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, with McArthur Genius Award recipient Ted Ames discuss potential impacts on the Gulf of Maine from proposed changes to Federal funding and science and management processes at NOAA, and Maine’s Department of Marine Resources
2025-07-27 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Join Dr. Alexa Dayton, Executive Director of the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF), Robin Alden, former Executive Director and Founder of MCCF, and Ted Ames, former groundfisherman and McArthur Genius Award recipient, on Sunday July 27, 2025, for a lively discussion of the potential impacts on Gulf of Maine fisheries resulting from proposed changes to Federal funding and science and management processes at NOAA, and Maine’s Department of Marine Resources.

We will explore the historical context of the decline of groundfish and how Maine got to a largely lobster dominated Maine fishery over a 40-year period, which has created perilous dependence upon a single species fishery that supports 4,500 individual businesses and generates more than $1 billion in economic return to the State of Maine. We will examine the opportunities and risks associated with a future Federal regulatory and funding landscape that must reply upon a data poor scientific process and de-regulated management, and discuss how this might help or hinder objectives to restore a more diversified, healthy, thriving marine economy that can sustain the test of time.
Dr. Dayton’s work has been focused on the complex interplay of species conservation balanced with economic returns for natural resource such as fisheries, which plays out in the allocation of harvest privileges through co-management and trade-off decisions at the community scale. Alexa also serves as President Ex-Officio of Fishing into the Future, a U.K. based charity that was catalyzed by King Charles’s charitable foundation to build co-management of UK fisheries. Before joining MCCF, Alexa held senior positions at Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University Maine, L.L. Bean and Maine Huts and Trails.

Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, Kate Coug and Rose Lundy "Local journalism that matters: how The Maine Monitor is keeping Mainers informed and meeting the moment"
2025-08-03 08:00 - 17:00 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
“Local journalism that matters: how The Maine Monitor is keeping Mainers informed and meeting the moment”
Learn how The Maine Monitor is helping readers make sense of developments – state and federal – that impact their lives.
Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm is the Executive Director of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which publishes The Maine Monitor. Micaela joined MCPIR after retiring as a Senior Foreign Service officer. She represented the United States around the world for 26 years, leading U.S. diplomatic teams, and advancing U.S. principles of democratic governance, most importantly, the importance of a free and vibrant press. Micaela is on the board of the Maine Press Association and the board of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition. She lives in Belfast with her family.
Kate Cough is the editor of The Maine Monitor, previously serving as environmental reporter and enterprise editor for the newsroom. As an eighth generation Mainer, Kate believes her responsibility as editor is deeply personal — shaping and implementing The Monitor’s coverage of the issues that matter to people, the place she calls home and where she is raising her family, is about serving her community and our future Maine. She lives in Bar Harbor. She has received recognition from the National Headliner Awards, Maine Press Association and National Newspaper Association, among others.Rose Lundy is a senior public health reporter for The Maine Monitor, with a focus on Maine’s aging care system. She is passionate about stories that highlight systemic problems affecting the most vulnerable in our community. Rose was previously a 2022 ProPublica Local Reporting Network fellow and a 2020 Report for America corps member. Before that, she was a reporter for three years at a daily newspaper in southwest Washington state. She now lives in Portland, Maine. Her work has been recognized by the New England Newspaper & Press Association, Maine Public Health Association, National Newspaper Association Foundation, Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers and Maine Press Association.

Dr. Michael E. Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania "Science Under Siege"
2025-08-10 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
“Science Under Siege”
Dr. Michael E. Mann is a Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mann is also a recipient of the “Tyler Prize” which is sometimes called the Nobel Prize for the Environment.

From pandemics to the climate crisis, humanity faces tougher challenges than ever. Whether it’s the health of our people or the health of our planet, we know we are on an unsustainable path. But our efforts to effectively tackle these existential crises are now hampered by a common threat: politically and ideologically motivated opposition to science. I discuss my collaboration with public health scientist Peter Hotez examining the five forces behind the modern-day anti-science movement, informed by our decades of experience on the front lines of the battle to convey accurate, reliable, and trustworthy information about science in the face of determined and nihilistic opposition. I reveal the five main forces threatening science: plutocrats, pros, petrostates, phonies, and the press. It is a call to arms and a road map for dismantling the forces of anti-science, empowering ourselves to promote scientific truths, and shining light on channels of dark money, dismantle the corporations poisoning the planet, and ultimately avert disaster.
*Release Date: September 9, 2025

Kate Zernike, Author and Reporter for the New York Times "The Exceptions: The Fight for Women in Science"
2025-08-17 17:30 - 18:30 | ME
Photo: Harry Zernike
“The Exceptions: The Fight for Women in Science”
Kate Zernike has been a reporter for The New York Times since 2000. She began as an education reporter and has worked in a wide range of positions across the newsroom, including on the investigations desk, in the Washington Bureau, as a campaign reporter and a health care reporter. She was most recently the Times’ lead reporter covering the abortion debate leading up to and after the repeal of Roe v. Wade. She was a member of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for stories about al-Qaeda before and after the 9/11 terror attacks. She was previously a reporter for The Boston Globe, where she broke the story of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s admission that it had discriminated against women on its faculty, on which The Exceptions is based.

Nancy Hopkins, a protege of the legendary scientist James Watson, entered science in the 1960s believing it was a meritocracy for women who worked hard enough. Thirty years later, she led a group of accomplished female scientists who prompted MIT to admit it had discriminated against them. The story of these trailblazing women, and how it resonates today, in science and beyond.

John Bel Edwards, 56th Governor of Louisiana 2016-2024
2026-07-12 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
John Bel Edwards
56th Governor of Louisiana 2016-2024

Pamela Rainey Lawler, Founder of Philabundance and Social Impact Advisor: “The Power of an Idea"
2026-07-19 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Pamela Rainey Lawler
Putting Praxis into Practice: A 42-year journey and vital lessons along the way

Although best known in the region as the founder of Philabundance – the leading organization in the region dedicated to eliminating hunger and food insecurity – Pamela Rainey Lawler has had a diverse career as a communications professional specializing in employee and management communications, public affairs, and corporate social responsibility. She has been a small business owner and in 1991, as the Consumer Party candidate in the General Election, she had the distinction of being the first woman to run for mayor of Philadelphia.
Philabundance was founded in 1984 with an investment of $1,500. Today it serves thousands daily and the more than $26 million budget underwrites an array of programming – from food distribution, to culinary training, to healthful meal production and delivery. One of the first in the nation to successfully distribute surplus perishable foods safely and efficiently, Philabundance served as a model for other cities and food banks to access a previously untapped source for emergency food.
Eight years after its launch, Philabundance had both a strong business model and a recognizable brand. To move the organization to the next level of growth and beyond the ‘founder’s stage,’ Ms. Lawler hired an executive director to take over day-to-day operations and took her place on the board of directors. Since that time, she has worked actively with others in guiding the organization through key developmental stages such as the purchase and renovation of Philabundance’s first warehouse in South Philadelphia and the merger with the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank in 2005 when she co-chaired the board committee overseeing the effort.
Social Entrepreneurship Mentor & Advisor
Because of her in-depth experience guiding Philabundance from concept to sustainability, Ms. Lawler regularly advises founders on the challenges of managing an organization’s growth stages, its life cycles and key planning strategies, as well as on the imperative of staying focused and true to mission. She continues to work with foundations and community groups on food security collaborations and efforts to develop innovative cross-sector solutions.

Kevin D. Murphy, Professor History of Art & Architecture at Vanderbilt University: "Women Architects and Modern Architecture in Maine"
2026-07-26 08:00 - 17:00 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Kevin Murphy
Professor History of Art and Architecture at Vanderbilt University
This illustrated talk will focus on the women who advanced modern architecture in Maine, as designers, patrons, and developers.
Kevin Murphy is a life-long summer resident of Maine and has worked for the Maine Humanities Council, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, and the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk. He is the Goldberg Chair in Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University and a professor of History of Art and Architecture. With a group of Vanderbilt students, he curated the exhibition “Domestic Modernism: The Art of Russell Cheney” which was held at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in 2024. Kevin has taught at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. He earned his PhD in art history at Northwestern University. This talk stems from the research which led to his book, co-authored with Mary Anne Hunting, “Women Architects at Work: Making American Modernism,” which was published by Princeton University Press in 2025.

Peter Lattman, Managing Director, Media, Emerson Collective: "The Atlantic, Local News, and the State of American Journalism"
2026-08-02 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Peter Lattman
Managing Director, Media, Emerson Collective

Islesboro Affordable Housing panel: "Affordable Housing for Islesboro: Challenges and Strategies"
2026-08-09 17:30 - 18:30 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Panel: Peter Rothschild, Michael Nelson, Chair Islesboro Affordable Properties, Housing Committee; Ned Truslow, Development Director, IAP
Providing affordable housing is critical to the future sustainability of the island economy, the school, the ferry service, island businesses, and island institutions. As the cost of construction has risen dramatically of the last several years, the challenge of providing new housing to attract work force labor, young families with school age children, and education and health care professionals has threatened the island’s future for both year-round and seasonal residents.
This panel will describe current efforts to address the shortage of affordable housing and describe the coordinated efforts by concerned islanders to build for the future.

David Watts, Davis Institute for AI, Colby College: "Leading the AI Renaissance Through the Liberal Arts"
2026-08-16 08:00 - 17:00 | Islesboro Community Center, 103 Pendleton Point Road, Islesboro, ME, United States
Dr. David K. Watts
Director, Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Colby College

As Director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence at Colby College, David has launched pivotal initiatives that have established the college as a national leader of AI education. Under his leadership Colby was recently named one of the “15 Colleges Best Preparing Students for the AI Economy” by IvyWise. Colby was specifically distinguished for “its broader humanity-wide implications” and excellence in interdisciplinary integration, ethics, and real-world applications.
David also serves on the Board of Directors for the GEM National Consortium, where he chaired the Finance Committee and leverages a distinguished career in science and technology innovation to empower the next generation of STEM leaders in the AI era.
Previously, David served as Vice President at IBM, leading R&D and business strategy. His career spans over 20 years across successful startups and Fortune 500 companies, where he scaled transformative advancements in AI, hybrid cloud, and enterprise systems. By merging technical depth with an interdisciplinary strategic mindset, David has co-created impactful solutions that drive sustained growth for global institutions and businesses.

Michael Roth, President Wesleyan University: “From Neutrality to Democracy: How Higher Ed Can Defend Democracy"
2026-08-23 17:30 - 18:30 | ME
Michael S. Roth
From Neutrality to Democracy: How Higher Ed Can Defend Democracy
Michael S. Roth ’78 became the 16th president of Wesleyan University in 2007, after having served as Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of Humanities at Scripps College, Associate Director of the Getty Research Institute, and President of the California College of the Arts. At Wesleyan, Roth has overseen many improvements to the physical campus, including the soon to be completed life sciences building, as well as the launch of new academic programs, including the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing and Criticism, and interdisciplinary colleges emphasizing advanced research in the areas of the environment, film, East Asian studies, integrative sciences, education studies, science and technology, and design and engineering. An intellectual historian with a love of the classroom, Roth continues to teach Wesleyan undergraduates each semester and (through Coursera and the National Educational Equity Foundation) has also offered online and hybrid courses.

Under his leadership, Wesleyan celebrated a record-breaking fundraising effort—raising more than $482 million, primarily for financial aid—and is now successfully embarked on an even more ambitious campaign. Roth has undertaken a number of initiatives to make a Wesleyan education more affordable for many and more accessible to students from under-represented groups. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in July 2023, he announced a suite of new recruiting efforts aimed at enhancing diverse campus learning—including an end to admissions preference for legacy applicants and the creation of an African Scholars Program.

Author and curator (most notably of the exhibition “Sigmund Freud: Conflict and Culture,” which opened at the Library of Congress in 1998), Roth has written numerous books and essays centered on how people make sense of the past. Since becoming president at Wesleyan, he has published three books (all with Yale University Press) bearing on liberal education, the most recent being The Student, A Short History (2023). His Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters (2014) was recognized with the Association of American Colleges & Universities’ Frederic W. Ness award for a book that best illuminates the goals and practices of a contemporary liberal education. His 2019 book, Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness, addresses some of the most contentious issues in American higher education—including affirmative action, safe spaces, and questions of free speech. Roth regularly publishes essays, book reviews, and commentaries in the national media and scholarly journals. An outspoken defender of the value of colleges and universities and their importance to democracy, he was given the PEN/Benenson Courage Award in 2025 for standing up against governmental assaults on higher education.

Ben Weiss, MIT Earth & Planetary Sciences: "Understanding the Origin of Metal Worlds with the NASA Psyche Mission"
2026-08-30 17:30 - 18:30 | ME
Ben Weiss
Robert R. Shrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MIT
Ben studies the formation, evolution, and history of planets and small bodies, with a particular focus on planetary magnetism and habitability. He conducts laboratory analyses of planetary samples and in situ spacecraft exploration of solar system bodies to understand the history of planetary physical and chemical processes. Ben directs the MIT Planetary Magnetism Laboratory, which develops and applies high sensitivity, high resolution techniques to analyze the magnetization in rock samples collected from asteroids, the Moon, and Earth. He is also Deputy Principal Investigator and Magnetometry Investigation Lead on the NASA Psyche mission, Co-Investigator on the NASA Mars Perseverance rover and Europa Clipper missions, and Co-Investigator on the JAXA Hayabusa2 mission.
