CSI-Maine is an informal collaboration of organizations and individuals in Downeast Maine aimed at sharing news and know-how among communities as they anticipate and respond to environmental and economic changes. Partners in this collaboration include the Town of Gouldsboro, the Downeast Institute, Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, Schoodic Arts for All, and others. Bill Zoellick (see below) manages the site. Other key contributors include:
Sarah Hooper, Education Specialist at Schoodic Institute. Prior to returning to Maine (her master’s degree in wildlife biology is from UMaine), she taught middle school and high school science for 13 years in an Albuquerque, NM school that focused on outdoor, experiential, project-based learning. Before becoming a teacher, she worked as a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management. Sarah holds Maine teaching certifications for 5-12 science and adult life science. She is CSI-Maine’s principal contact with teachers and students.
Mike Pinkham has worked in law enforcement for 42 years. For most of those years he was a Maine Marine Patrol officer serving Downeast Maine. He also used to chair the RSU 24 school board — the school board overseeing schools in the area surrounding the Schoodic Peninsula. Since retiring from the Marine Patrol, Mike has served as the Shellfish Warden for several Maine towns. In Gouldboro, he and Bill initiated work with students at Sumner Memorial High School to collect data about clam growth and mortality that the town shellfish committee could use in making decision about clam flats restoration. That work led to the present project focused on growing seed clams that will be used to restore clam flats
Bill Zoellick has been helping schools, teachers, and communities use scientific knowledge and practices to address local issues since 2006. He also serves as Associate Editor for the journal, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. Now retired from full-time work at Schoodic Institute, he continues to work as an evaluator and advisor to Maine organizations and programs including the All About Arsenic program at MDI Biological Laboratories, the RiSE Center at the University of Maine, and the Nature Based Education Consortium .