An Oyster Story

Each variety of oyster—that craggy and somewhat mysterious shellfish—has a story to tell. But every oyster story must first include … More

The Champlain Society Transcriptions

In the Spring 2015 issue of Friends of Acadia Journal, Maureen Fournier, a seasonal ranger for Acadia, and I describe … More

The President’s Salmon in The Boston Globe

A preview of the forthcoming The President’s Salmon can be found in today’s Boston Globe Magazine. Politics, preservation, and salmon … More

Deliverance

After an epic winter, spring arrived in the Penobscot River Valley. Ice is out on the lower river and most … More

How a changing climate created Acadia National Park

Acadia is a national park, the first place in eastern U.S. to receive such designation, because of its scenery. Diverse … More

Maine’s Wild Oysters

Scientists are studying isolated oyster grounds in Maine’s Sheepscot River that may date back to the last ice age. Meanwhile, … More

On coyotes, deer…and human nature.

The essay, “The Coyote Gangs of Hope,” which appears in the Winter 2014 issue of 1966: A Journal of Creative … More

Students as conservation catalysts

This third and final (for now) article on the Champlain Society explores how students can be effective agents of change, … More

Visionary science of the “Harvard Barbarians”

The Mount Desert Island Historical Society asked me to write an article about The Champlain Society for the 2014 issue … More

Influenced by Nature

In May 1871, Charles William Eliot had been president of Harvard College barely two years, and a widower just as … More