by Catherine Schmitt About one-fourth of all mammals (nearly 1,000 species) on Earth are bats, a misunderstood and underappreciated denizen of the night. Many bat populations are declining from various causes, ranging from destruction of their nesting caves and other habitats to “white nose” disease caused by an invasive fungus. Since it emerged in New […]
2017 Second Century Stewardship Fellow Alessio Mortelliti, University of Maine assistant professor of wildlife habitat conservation, has been awarded an $875,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award to study the ecosystem consequences of small animal personalities. According to Mortelliti, most classical ecological models consider all members of a population to be more or less identical. However, […]
Second Century Stewardship is featured in the inaugural edition of Parks Stewardship Forum, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Place-Based Conservation, published by the University of California Berkeley’s Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity and the George Wright Society. This new open-access journal will “serve the global stewards of parks, protected areas, cultural sites, and other forms […]
National Parks include within their boundaries pockets and patches where temperatures stay cool even when the surrounding landscape is heating up. Scientists call such places “climate change refugia.” Knowing how habitats and species will shift in the future can guide management of landscapes in the present. A recent article in The Working Waterfront featured the […]
2019 Second Century Stewardship Fellow Stephanie Spera wrote an article about her fall foliage research for The Conversation, an independent nonprofit journalism outlet that works with leading scholars across academia to share their knowledge with the public. Spera also spoke with scientist and science journalist Heather Goldstone, host of Living Lab Radio. SCS communications training […]
BAR HARBOR, ME – Your old vacation photographs of Acadia National Park in autumn could help scientists research changes in fall foliage. Fall in Acadia seems to be arriving later, as warm temperatures extend longer into September and October. But are the leaves changing color later, too? Stephanie Spera, assistant professor of geography at University […]
The Dragonfly Mercury Project preceded the Second Century Stewardship initiative, but it is an exemplar of the type of science and stewardship the initiative supports and aims to grow—a project that engages the public (hands-on, in this case) and addresses issues critical to preserving our national treasures. The Dragonfly Mercury Project started at four parks […]
The partners of Second Century Stewardship have announced the Request for Proposals for fellowships to support research in Acadia National Park in 2020. Founded in 2016 by the David Evans Shaw Family Foundation, Second Century Stewardship is a partnership of Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, the National Park Service, and the National Park Foundation […]
2018 Fellow Jenny Smetzer’s research on climate change refugia was featured in National Parks Traveler podcast. Editor and co-founder Kurt Repanshek participated in the science communication workshop at Acadia in July, sharing his insights on what stories resonate with his audience of park visitors and supporters.
Allie Gardner’s preliminary research finding that ticks are more abundant in areas of Acadia National Park that were burned in the 1947 fire was featured in a story by Dick Broom in the Mount Desert Islander and Portland Press Herald. Read the full story.
