{"id":33726,"date":"2025-02-11T11:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/?page_id=33726"},"modified":"2025-02-12T08:37:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T13:37:16","slug":"louise-chaplin-outstanding-mentorship-of-a-student-or-other-team-member-in-sustainability-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/louise-chaplin-outstanding-mentorship-of-a-student-or-other-team-member-in-sustainability-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Louise Chaplin: Outstanding Mentorship of a Student or Other Team Member in Sustainability Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Louise<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Louise Chaplin\u2019s passion for Maine, the environment, and community developed during her childhood on Little Cranberry Island and Mt. Desert Island where she attended high school. By the time she was a teen, she was working as a youth boatbuilding instructor at Islesford Boatworks and helping her youth climate group pass emergency climate declarations in Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, as she prepared to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in ecology and environmental science, Dr. Sharon Klein<\/a> hired Chaplin as a research assistant. Working with Klein, the Mitchell Center, and the Governor\u2019s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF), Chaplin helped research and publish a report about the representation of disadvantaged groups which was included in Maine\u2019s climate action plan (Home | Maine Climate Plan<\/a>). Like her youth climate work, the assistantship further anchored Chaplin\u2019s belief in the power of collaboration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Mitchell Center\u2019s ongoing support of partnerships and their goal of lifting up the voices of the Tribal Nations and Maine people really aligned with the goals of the equity project and was a major reason why our partnerships were so successful. It was a perfect crossover between my interest in helping rural communities, helping disadvantaged people in Maine, talking about climate justice, and my interest in developing this into a career,\u201d Chaplin said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the assistantship ended, Chaplin became a key member of several projects led by Klein.  As part of 91¸£Àû\u2019s $1.13 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s grant<\/a>, she is researching energy preferences in rural Maine communities. She\u2019s also helping communities across the state apply for grants to help them with their renewable energy interests. Then, there\u2019s her work with the Data-Driven Approaches for Secure Electric Grids in Communities Disproportionately Impacted by Climate Change<\/a> (STORM) grant funded by the National Science Foundation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaplin also serves as the outreach coordinator for the Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network (MAINECAN) \u2014 a network of communities and community-support groups working on energy and climate-related issues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klein\u2019s teams are large, ranging from undergraduates to doctoral students. Some only work a few hours a week. Like the building of a wooden boat (Chaplin is now on the board at Islesford Boatworks), the implementation of large grant projects involves many pieces which Chaplin helps to keep organized and moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While she\u2019s adept at scheduling, crafting technical reports, and facilitating meetings, what she loves best about her role is forming relationships: with students, professors, communities, and individuals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaplin said, \u201cWhen working with anyone, I always try to make the learning experience mutual and figure out problems together. I usually don\u2019t have more experience or knowledge than the students on our research team, and we\u2019re all learning together. So, solving problems together is usually the best solution.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonia Leone, an undergraduate research assistant working with Chaplin, appreciates Chaplin\u2019s leadership.  \u201cI\u2019ve definitely learned a lot from her about communication, and her work ethic is just unmatched,\u201d said Leone. Klein, the nominator for the award, concurs. \u201cHer attention to detail, patience, intelligence, skills, and positive attitude are inspirational,\u201d said Klein. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Louise Chaplin\u2019s passion for Maine, the environment, and community developed during her childhood on Little Cranberry Island and Mt. Desert Island where she attended high school. By the time she was a teen, she was working as a youth boatbuilding instructor at Islesford Boatworks and helping her youth climate group pass emergency climate declarations in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":957,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-33726","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"mitchellcenter","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/author\/mitchellcenter\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33726"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33757,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33726\/revisions\/33757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}