PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 7, 2024
A half-dozen University of New England students put their classroom knowledge to work last summer helping local partners tackle sustainability challenges such as how to reduce extreme heat, lay hiking trails through wetlands, and help businesses reduce their carbon footprints. The students were UNE’s first sustainability fellows, each paid a $6,800 stipend to work full time over 10 weeks to address real-world sustainability challenges identified by local community partners, such as Climatework Maine, The Ecology School and Nonantum Resort. Cameron Wake, the director of UNE’s Center for North Atlantic Studies, hopes the program he launched will train the next generation of sustainability leaders, aid community partners seeking help on specific sustainability challenges, and build an official sustainability network in southern Maine.