Podcast

Sierra Club Maine launched our first ever podcast series, Redefining Conservation, on November 1, 2023. The podcast focuses on the need to preserve 30 percent of the state’s land, water, and forest by 2030, and beyond. Specifically, it will explore the 30x30 goal’s impact on Maine and the strategies used to achieve it. As climate change and habitat destruction exacerbate biodiversity loss, protecting what’s left will be crucial. And, it must be done in a just and equitable way. 

Redefining Conservation also gives us the opportunity to explore the intersection between conservation and other forms of social justice such as pollution, water quality issues, ownership, and access. Listeners can expect to hear interviews with community organizers, scientists, BIPOC and youth leaders, and housing advocates who will be a part of creating a shared conservation future in Maine. Listen and follow here!

Questions or comments? Submit them here or contact us at maine.chapter@sierraclub.org.

 
  • Episode 1: INTRODUCTION, Airdate: 11/1/23

    • In this episode we’ll be introducing our Sierra Club Maine team including our staff, Nyalat Biliew and Matt Cannon, our 30 by 30 team volunteers Anna Siegel, Philip Matthew, and Minot Weld, and our two interns, Nasreen Sheikh-Yousef and Grace Deng. 

  • Episode 2: VISIONING A RESILIENT FUTURE, Anticipated airdate: 11/8/23
    • Tune in to Episode 2 to discover the voices behind the movement. We partner with American Farmland Trust, Maine Farmland Trust, Commissioner Amanda Beal, and Senator Craig Hickman, an avid conservationist, to discuss the role of farmland protection in reaching Maine’s climate goals.
  • Episode 3: LAND ACCESS, Anticipated airdate: 11/15/23
    • We'll be talking to Lokotah Sanborn, a community organizer and member of the Penobscot Nation with extensive experience in racial and environmental justice. We'll discuss the importance of land access, land rights, and the role of the Landback movement in our current conservation structure. Tune in to learn more about how you can help protect our wildlands for future generations. 
  • Episode 4: WATER RIGHTS, Anticipated airdate: 11/22/23 

    • In this episode, we'll be talking to Luke Sekera-Flanders and Nicki Sekera-Flanders about the importance of protecting our water resources. Luke is the co-founder and Youth Lead of Community Water Justice, a statewide network of frontline communities fighting against water privatization and working to ensure sustainable access to clean water for all. 

      Nickie Sekera is a water rights advocate and co-founder of Community Water Justice. She is also a founding board member of the Saco Headwaters Alliance, a journalist with the Sunlight Media Collective, and a mentor and adviser to several youth-led and grassroots leadership projects. She has served and represented the public on the Commission to Study The Role Of Water As A Resource In The State of Maine. 

  • Episode 5: FORESTRY & CONSERVATION, Anticipated airdate: 11/29/23 

    • In this episode, we'll dive into forestry conservation in Maine with Eliza Townsend and John Hagan. Eliza is an experienced leader in Maine politics, advocacy, non-profits, and conservation. She served in the Maine House of Reps for 8 years, then was Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of Maine Conservation. 

      John Hagan is a Ph.D. ecologist who was President of Manomet for 11 years. He left to do independent research and climate action organizing. He is Chair of the Maine Climate Table and President of Our Climate Common.

  • Episode 6:  OUTDOOR ACCESS & YOUTH MOBILIZING, Anticipated airdate: 12/6/23 

    • We'll be talking to Amara Ifeji and Tony Antione about outdoor accessibility and the importance of mobilizing our youth to join the movement. Amara Ifeji is a climate and environmental justice leader, recognized as a National Geographic Explorer and recipient of prestigious awards. She is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Maine Environmental Education Association, where she advocates for systemic transformation.

      Tony, a Bowdoin College graduate, is an outdoor access and resource activist who is dedicated to self-sufficiency. He views nature as a vital source of food and believes the outdoors is an ideal setting for practicing food sovereignty, experiential learning, and connecting with nature. Both Amara and Tony are working to break down the 30 by 30 campaign plan and how it relates to outdoor access and youth organizing.

  • Episode 7: BIODIVERSITY, Anticipated airdate: 12/13/23 

    • Tune in to episode 5 to hear from Sally Stockwell about biodiversity and endangered species in Maine. Sally Stockwell is the Director of Conservation for Maine Audubon. She is a wildlife ecologist with experience in the conservation of nongmo, rare, and endangered species in freshwater wetlands, coastal beaches and marshes, and northern forests. She has additional experience as an interpretive naturalist, environmental education instructor, and outdoor adventure leader. Sally holds a Ph.D. in wildlife ecology and an M.S. in wildlife management from the University of Maine and a B.S. in biology from The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington.

  • Episode 8: THE INTERSECTION OF FOOD JUSTICE & CONSERVATION, Anticipated airdate: 12/20/23 

      • In this episode, we talk Desiree Vargas, Food Sovereignty Director of Presente! Maine, a non-profit organization working to empower displaced indigenous and afro-Latinx peoples of Maine through survival programs, community power building, cultural celebration, and transformative healing practice. Presente! targets three key program areas: Community Health and Wellness (Bienestar), Food Sovereignty and Land Stewardship, and Leadership and community Power Building.

      • Since 2020, Presente’s critical initiatives has been to get people fed, prevent eviction, advocate for public health emergency funds for community-based organizations across Maine, deploy public health response, restore indigenous foodways, and win MaineCare for people regardless of immigration status, all while working with a small staff and a few dedicated volunteers. Join us for another fascinating conversation!

  • Episode 9: COMMUNITY LAND TRUST & AFFORDABLE HOUSING, Anticipated airdate: 12/27/23 

    • In this episode, we talk about community land trusts, affordable housing, food access, and energy democracy. A lot in a short amount of time! We hear from Greg Watson, the current Curator of the World Game Workshop and World Grid Project at the Schumacher Center for New Economics, focusing on community food systems and the intersections between local and geo-economic systems. Drawing inspiration from Buckminster Fuller, he has dedicated nearly 40 years to mastering systems thinking, aiming to contribute to a just and sustainable world. His impactful career includes serving as the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and later at the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, where he initiated one of the nation's earliest urban agriculture programs. Watson's expertise extends to national initiatives, including a key role in the U.S. Department of Energy transition team under President-elect Barack Obama in 2008. In 2015, he founded the Cuba-U.S. Agroecology Network (CUSAN) following an enlightening trip to Cuba exploring its agroecology system.

    • We also hear from Frank Lowenstein, Senior Director at RARE and former COO of the New England Forestry Foundation, spearheading RARE's Climate Culture initiative in Boston. This international conservation organization focuses on social change for the environment, directing individual actions on diet, transportation, energy use, and nature support for collective impact. Lowenstein brings experience and success in climate science and policy, land conservation, non-profit management, communications, and fundraising. The Harvard University graduate previously served as a global climate adaptation leader for The Nature Conservancy and as a senior fellow in the US Dept. of State’s Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas. He also serves as faculty in the Masters of Sustainability program at Harvard University Extension School.

  • Episode 10: COASTAL WATERS, Anticipated airdate: 1/3/24

    • Join us to learn about the state of our coastal waters and ecosystems and how we can protect them. For over 40 years, Glenn Page has been working on creating pathways to place-based transformation of our coasts/oceans/watersheds that integrate numerous social and ecological issues.  His advanced degrees are in interdisciplinary marine science and evaluation and has been working at the interface of science, policy and practice. As restoration ecologist by training, he “grew up” designing and building natural systems (i.e. dunes, rivers, wetlands and forests), focusing on ecosystem function, equivalency and evaluation. Currently, he is the President/CEO of SustainaMetrix, and founder of COBALT which is a bioregional initiative about “Navigating in the Anthropocene” as Glenn leads a team of interdisciplinary experts who brings innovation, Blue Marble Evaluation and systems thinking to complex, messy, cross-scale, wicked challenges of our time.

  • Episode 11: ON ORGANIZING WITH NEW CHAPTER DIRECTOR, Anticipated airdate: 1/10/24

    • In this episode we’ll introduce you to our New Director, Pete Nichols. Pete Nichols, a Maine native, joined Sierra Club Maine as Chapter Director in September 2023. Prior to that, he served as the Executive Director of Edgecomb-based Midcoast Conservancy. He has also worked as the International Organizing Director for Waterkeeper Alliance, an international network of 350 clean water advocates in 46 countries around the globe. Pete also co-founded his own Waterkeeper program, Humboldt Baykeeper, where he served as Baykeeper and Executive Director. 

  • Episode 12: REFLECTIONS, Anticipated airdate: 4/10/24

    • That's a wrap on Season 1 of our podcast, Redefining Conservation! Tune in to our final episode where hosts Nyalat, Philip & Matt reflect on favorite moments & lessons learned. Thank you to all of our community partners who helped make this a reality!

Questions or comments? Submit them here or contact us at maine.chapter@sierraclub.org.