Merryspring Nature Center

posted by Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie

Two Primack lab alumnae walk into a midcoast Maine Nature Center…


On Tuesday, August 7, Amanda Gallinat accompanied me to Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, Maine, where I gave an outdoor lecture in a beautiful hexagonal gazebo. Back in April, Merryspring invited me to give a talk in their summer lecture series — they were interested in hearing about my postdoc research on alpine habitats in Maine. I brought along a giant pad of paper for an informal chalk talk that covered the methods and motivations behind my paleoecological field work in Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park.

The talk covered my postdoc research: I spoke about the paleoecological history of tundra habitat in Maine and our recent fieldwork to collect new pollen cores from Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park. I also introduced my long-term goal of bringing together all the federal and state agencies and NGOs that work above treeline in Maine for cooperative conservation planning workshops. 

The weather was a stark contrast to my stories of coring through the ice on Chimney Pond last winter, but the breeze through the gazebo kept us (relatively) cool in the August heatwave. The small crowd of retirees and nature center enthusiasts had great questions & kindly complimented my sketches of alpine plants, mountains in Maine, and coring equipment. Thanks to Merryspring Nature Center for the invitation and thank you to Amanda for the photos and great company on the drive up Route 1!