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In 2019, the generous support of the Schiller family allowed the center to begin a physical transformation, adding to its state-of-the-art marine and terrestrial labs a dry lab, cabins to house visiting researchers and learners, and a living and learning center that is the hub of our growing community of inquiry.

When I arrived as the center’s director in August 2022, I was immediately inspired by its potential to help us ask and answer the tough questions that will help us craft a more sustainable future. I am not a marine scientist. I am a social scientist with expertise in sustainability policy, a long background in the arts and humanities, and a passion for the Maine coast. I spent many happy childhood summers exploring Southport Island, where my family has a home. I literally dug into my environment; my parents would have to hose me down to remove the layers of sand, mud, and muck before I could reenter our cottage. Later, I worked as a dockhand at a local boatyard, developing a deep love and respect for Maine’s marine industry and our commercial fisheries. Now, through my research and professional practice, I share my passion for creating spaces in which all voices are welcome—from scholars and students to policy makers and business leaders to community members representing diverse identities—to ask and explore the challenging questions posed by climate change and our evolving environments. Coastal Maine communities have a deep history of conservation and innovation. The Schiller Coastal Studies Center has a pivotal role to play in helping our community of neighbors, business leaders, policy makers, scholars, and students write the next chapter of Maine’s coastal stewardship story.

The SCSC’s goals are grounded in our core identity as a marine research facility and the belief that, through interdisciplinary and disciplinary inquiry, our community of researchers and educators can help ask and answer the questions that will help us support thriving coastal environments, communities, and economies. As we continue to evolve as a center, mirroring the change we see every day here on the shores of Casco Bay, we aspire to ensure that the SCSC: 

• provides all ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ students with a meaningful SCSC experience before they graduate;
• welcomes new voices and engages current voices to join us in our research and education programs;
• develops a broad portfolio of interdisciplinary and disciplinary research that addresses issues of sustainability and climate change in coastal environments;
• builds a local, regional, and international reputation as a convener of conversations about the impacts of climate change on coastal communities and environments; and
• creates a deep sense of belonging that inspires stewardship for the health of our place and planet.

Like the environment in which it sits, the Schiller Coastal Studies Center inspires. And it challenges. How can we as a broad, diverse community define and explore the tough questions facing us and build on Maine’s rich history of conservation and innovation to support the thriving communities and environments of the future? We will need researchers and scholars from across the disciplines, community members with generations of local knowledge, policy makers with the skills to craft effective solutions, business leaders eager to build a blue economy, and students who will not only push us in our thinking but also develop a sense of place that will drive their efforts as future sustainability leaders. As we face the challenges and opportunities generated by the many changes we see in the Gulf of Maine, the Schiller Coastal Studies Center will be a place where all voices are welcome as we support thriving coastal environments, communities, and economies. I hope that you will join us!