Each year, Academics for Land Protection in New England (ALPINE) hosts fifteen participants to join the ALPINE Summer Institute, a seven-week program focusing on the theory and practice of large land conservation. From June 8 to August 3, this summer’s participants bring a broad range of geographies and experiences from small, large, public, and private colleges, institutions, and organizations in New England, New York, the Eastern Rocky Mountains, California, Arizona, Puerto Rico, Canada, and El Salvador.
In its sixth year, the Institute continues to be a unique opportunity for those interested in learning more about and engaging in conservation in New England. The 2022 cohort will have a hybrid experience- meeting weekly virtually followed by an in-person weekend at the Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor, Maine, Acadia National Park’s science and education partner.
Sessions will feature leaders and practitioners in the conservation field, including speakers from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Harvard Forest, Mount Grace Land Trust, Sebago Clean Waters, The Nature Conservancy, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
The two leading sessions consisted of land protection tools and techniques from Olivia Lukasic of Trustees of Reservations and a presentation on the Harvard Forest and the North Quabbin Regional Conservation Partnership from Emma Ellsworth Mount Grace Land Trust Executive Director and David R. Foster, Harvard Forest Director Emeritus. The remaining sessions will include various land conservation case studies and a session focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the conservation field. The in-person weekend at the Schoodic Institute will give the participants a chance to hear from experts about and see for themselves the development of the Schoodic to Schoodic Initiative of Downeast Maine. At the conclusion of the Institute, participants will present a project of their choosing, relevant to large landscape conservation and join a robust network of ALPINE Summer Institute alumni.
Meet the 2022 cohort here and check back later this summer for their final presentations.
