{"id":35793,"date":"2026-01-05T18:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/?page_id=35793"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:40:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:40:46","slug":"advancing-maines-community-network-for-energy-and-climate-resilience","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/advancing-maines-community-network-for-energy-and-climate-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing Maine\u2019s Community Network for Energy and Climate Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">(Co-developing local sustainability solutions within statewide coalition-building)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sponsor: <\/strong>Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Team Members<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"mailto:sharon.klein@maine.edu\">Sharon Klein<\/a>, Associate Professor, School of Economics, 91福利 (team leader)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Caroline Noblet, Associate Professor, School of Economics, 91福利<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cressica Brazier, MAINECAN Research Associate, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, 91福利,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jasmine Lamb, PhD student, Ecology &amp; Environmental Science, 91福利<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Partners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has--font-size\"><em>Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Team (WSET)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Penobscot Nation &#8211; Kelsey Flores, Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Coordinator <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians \u2013 Sharri Venno, Environmental Planner<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mi\u2019kmaq Nation \u2013 Shannon Hill, Environmental Health Director<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sipayik Resilience Committee \u2013 Jasmine Lamb, Co-Director <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Community Sustainable Energy Team (CSET)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Town of Millinocket \u2013 Amber Wheaton, Community Initiatives Director<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Town of Van Buren \u2013 Luke Dyer, Town Manager<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eastport Energy Committee \u2013 Pete Lehmann, Eastport Energy Navigator <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Veteran\u2019s Memorial Library, Patten &#8211; Julie Buhler, Director <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Town of Lincoln \u2013 Ruth Birtz, Economic Development Administrator <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cobscook Institute, Trescott Township \u2013 Dylan Pardue, Director of Information Technology and Systems <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network (MAINECAN) Members<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A Climate To Thrive \u2013 Johannah Blackman, Executive Director<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Center for an Ecology-Based Economy \u2013 Richy Ainsworth, Associate Director<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>WindowDressers \u2013 Jessica Williams, Executive Director <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments \u2013 Catherine Mardosa, Community Resilience Coordinator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sunrise County Economic Council \u2013 Tanya Rucosky, Community Resilience Coordinator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maine Climate Action Now \u2013 Amy Eshoo, Director <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Resilient Communities \u2013 Gabe McPhail, Principal <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System \u2013 Maddie Jensen, Planner <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rockport Conservation Commission \u2013 Meggan Dwyer, Chair <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Volunteer Maine \u2013 Lucy Martin, Programs O\ufb03cer Special Volunteer Initiatives <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile many communities and Tribal Nations want to reduce fossil fuel use, adopt sustainable energy practices, and respond to a changing climate in ways that are sustainable for the future, they often need support to reach those resilience goals and to find connection and synergies in solutions to often disparate seeming problems,\u201d said Sharon Klein, an associate professor in the School of Economics and Mitchell Center faculty fellow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why for the past decade, Klein and her team at 91福利 have dedicated themselves to creating a statewide network called the <a href=\"https:\/\/mainecan.network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maine community-led Energy &amp; Climate Action Network<\/a> (MAINECAN). MAINECAN\u2019s 150-plus members include community groups, local governments, Wabanaki Nations, non-profit organizations, state agencies, businesses, and individuals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This two-year project will help to strengthen and grow this robust network.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the project\u2019s objectives is to better understand how to assist a community in meeting their resilience goals, particularly those with high social vulnerability. To achieve this, the project will fund one master\u2019s student and a doctoral student, Jasmine Lamb. Both will help collect and analyze survey and interview data&nbsp; from MAINECAN members who have served as incubators for many of Klein\u2019s efforts \u2014 the Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Team (WSET) and the Community Sustainable Energy Team (CSET). This data will be rounded out using existing surveys and additional community and Tribal responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Klein\u2019s team will use these results to help inform MAINECAN members about where to direct resources and to guide MAINECAN outreach to under-resourced communities. \u201cThe research will also benefit people and entities beyond Maine by providing best practices, templates, and other information to guide local resilience actions more broadly,\u201d said Klein.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The funding will also advance Lamb\u2019s innovative ethnographic research of the Sipayik Resilience Committee (SRC), whose mission is to advance energy sovereignty and climate resilience for members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. Lamb is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and founder of the SRC.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several new initiatives are also anticipated including development of resources to train home-energy coaches and support for communities seeking climate vulnerability assessments. Additionally, the project will help MAINECAN recruit new members, improve and maintain their website, and support the annual meeting held at the Maine Sustainability &amp; Water Conference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-35793_c98c9b-a6 .kt-block-spacer{height:30px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-35793_c98c9b-a6 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#ffffff;width:80%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-35793_c98c9b-a6\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Co-developing local sustainability solutions within statewide coalition-building) Sponsor: Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions Team Members Key Partners Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Team (WSET) Community Sustainable Energy Team (CSET) Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network (MAINECAN) Members \u201cWhile many communities and Tribal Nations want to reduce fossil fuel use, adopt sustainable energy practices, and respond to [&hellip;]<\/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-35793","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\/35793","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=35793"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35800,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35793\/revisions\/35800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}