Bowdoin College
IN-4: Innovation 4

Since 2009, faculty and students from Bowdoin College, Bates College, and the University of Southern Maine, along with fisherman and McArthur Fellow Ted Ames of the Penobscot East Resource Center have conducted a collaborative research project titled, “The ecological and economic recovery of the Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers and their common estuary and coastal fisheries.” This project investigates the ecological and economic links between Maine’s rivers and its coastal fisheries, and is funded through the Sustainability Solutions Initiative at the University of Maine. The primary goal is to understand the ecological and the social constraints on ecological recovery in the Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers and their common estuary and nearshore marine environment, and to estimate how communities would benefit economically from further ecological recovery. There are two dimensions of this research that are innovative and differentiate it from more traditional research projects. First, our research team is interdisciplinary, comprised of both natural and social scientists, and is multi-institutional. Secondly, a major goal of our project brings knowledge-to-action through interactions with key stakeholders and the public in conducting our research and disseminating the results. In addition to publishing academic papers in ecology, fisheries science, and economic journals, we seek collaborations with stakeholders to help conduct our research and disseminate the research results widely among policy makers and the public.