Although Roberto Flores ’12 aspires to be a librarian and plans on attending graduate school in library science next year, at the moment he’s spending his days hauling lobster traps, painting buoys, and preparing bait.
Flores is working as a sternman for Bruce King, a lobsterman from Vinalhaven, Maine. The alumnus started his job on King’s 30-foot boat, Buckeye, after graduating in May, and he plans to keep working for King through mid-December. Continue reading Recent Alum Tries Out Lobstering Before Library School
Rachel Pollinger’s task this summer is to create math challenges for middle and high school students. But not typical math problems, such as finding the square root of 121 and dividing it by the square root of 25. Instead, the problems she’s inventing involve creativity, storytelling, and new media.
Funded by a grant from Bowdoin’s Gibbons Summer Research Program, Pollinger ’15 is working for a company based in Freeport, Maine called Meridian Stories. The organization, founded by a Sesame Street producer, is developing innovative curricula for students “that focus on 21st-century skills, combined with storytelling,” Pollinger said. Continue reading Turning the Square Root of 2 into a Story, with New Media
Miss Maine’s rocky coast and wildlife? For today’s Vacationland fix, check out the live Audubon webcam perched on “Puffin Loafing Ledge” on The Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge, home to Maine’s largest colony of puffins.
The companion book to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art exhibition William Wegman: Hello Nature is available for pre-order from the Bowdoin Bookstore. Best known for his photography and videos, particularly of his dogs, Wegman is also an accomplished painter, draftsman, and writer, and an avid outdoorsman. In this unique and very personal volume, the artist and contributors examine Wegman’s relationship to place and his sources of inspiration, including Boy Scout manuals, field guides, and the like. By creatively incorporating these materials, this catalogue embodies the artist’s quirky and nostalgic aesthetic.
Hello Nature, a comprehensive exhibition showcasing more than 30 years of Wegman’s work, will be on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art from July 13 through October 21, 2012. It will feature more than 100 works including photographs, videos, paintings and drawings — all of which were produced in or inspired by the state of Maine. Taken together, this body of work attests to Wegman’s rigorous and sustained engagement with the natural world and places the artist squarely within the American landscape tradition. To mark the opening of this major exhibition, the artist will deliver a keynote talk at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 14, followed by a public reception at the Museum.
A new Nike commercial that “celebrates how far women’s sports have come by featuring elite athletes who defied convention—women who wanted to play so badly, they wrote their own rules,” features trailblazing 1984 Women’s Marathon Olympic Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson ’79.
Alison Weisburger '10. Photo: The Arctic Institute.
Alison Weisburger ’10, North American Arctic analyst and outreach coordinator at The Arctic Institute, has been sharing her research and insight on the policy institute’s blog.
In a recent post, Weisburger takes issue with a news outlet’s recent coverage of the Arctic and issues facing the Inuit.
“To highlight how the declining ability to hunt seals impacts sled-dogs rather than people illustrates either a lack of understanding of a typical traditional food based Inuit diet, or an outsized, but not uncommon, concern with the plight of Arctic animals over Arctic human beings,” writes Weisburger in an op-ed piece.
This summer, thousands of migrant farm workers will travel to Maine to harvest blueberries, apples, broccoli, and other crops. These are people living on the edge financially, and sometimes legally, and the hardship of the physically arduous farm work they do just adds to the stress they already live with daily.
They also have limited or no access to consistent healthcare because they may lack health insurance, don’t speak English, or are never settled in one location for long. “They’re one of the most invisible populations because they’re so mobile,” Jessica Laplante ’12 says. “They may have a home, but they’re always moving around.”
Laplante has a fellowship from the Preston Public Interest Career Fund, a program overseen by Bowdoin’s Career Planning center, to fund her summer internship with the Maine Migrant Health Program. This is a 21-year-old nonprofit based in Augusta, Maine that provides low-cost and free medical care to migrant farm workers. The Preston Fund every year gives a dozen or so qualified Bowdoin students a $4,000 stipend so they can accept unpaid positions at organizations that serve the disadvantaged. Continue reading A Summer Preston Fellow Helps Heal Migrant Farmers
Sam Terry ’04 is part of the leadership team for AGE UP, All Girl Everything Ultimate Program, a South Seattle-based girls’ leadership and empowerment program that brings together middle school and high school aged girls with world-class female athletes. AGE UP uses the positive influence of Ultimate Frisbee to engage girls in long-term intentional work, developing critical awareness, leadership skills, and positive identity. Just wrapping up their second year, AGE UP grew out of the rapid expansion of youth Ultimate in South Seattle and is dedicated to working with low-income girls of color from that community.
The group is taking part in GOOD’s “GOOD Summer” contest, an online voting contest for a $5,000 grant. At post time, AGE UP was near the top of the pile, fourth in a field of 146 project ideas. Voting closes today at 12:00 noon PDT.
Grace Hodge ’13 says if you’re aware of environmental issues, it’s hard not to feel a sense of responsibility to take some action. Which is exactly what she’s committed to doing.
