Environmental Solutions Initiative

Maine's Sustainability Solutions Initiative has grown out of the Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI), a program started at UMaine in summer 2006. ESI included a competitive grant program for UMaine faculty that led to the development of several experimental interdisciplinary research projects.

Following is a summary of several of these projects:

• Conserving Vernal Pools through Collaborative Local Initiatives
  PI: Aram Calhoun
• Conservation Planning at Multiple Scales in the Maine Landscape: Modeling the Impacts of Ecological, Economic, Social, and Political Factors on Alternative Open Space Futures
  Co-PIs: Christopher Cronan, Tim Glidden and Rob Lilieholm
• Land Use Change in the Lower Penobscot Watershed: Implications for Public Recreation Access
  PI: Jessica E. Leahy
• Tracking Stormwater Quality Using Real-Time In-Situ Fluorescence
  PIs: John Peckenham, Howard Patterson, Collin Roesler
• Penobscot River, Penobscot Bay: State of the Watershed
  PIs: Gayle Zydlewski and Catherine Schmitt
• Protecting Natural Resources on Private Lands: Theory and Practice of Community-Based Approaches Using Vernal Pool Conservation Initiatives in Maine
  Co-PIs: Aram Calhoun and Rob Lilieholm
• Environmental Values and Conflict: A Case Study of the Camden Snow Bowl
  PI: Nathan Stormer