New Maine Conservation Corps Environmental Stewards at Midcoast Conservancy
Midcoast Conservancy has welcomed Amy Cazier, Skye Cahoon and Melanie Collins as its 2022 Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) Environmental Stewards focused on water, lands and community programs in its service area. MCC stewards volunteer for a 45-week, 1700-hour term of national service. They serve individually with nonprofits, state or federal agencies to increase organizational volunteer capacity and aid in the development and implementation of host sites’ land management plans.
Cazier grew up exploring Colorado’s Rocky Mountains before heading to Michigan to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology at Kalamazoo College where her fascination for plants and insects developed. She is serving as the MCC Environmental Steward for the Midcoast Conservancy’s water team and will be helping to manage volunteers dedicated to protecting the Sheepscot River, Medomak River and Damariscotta Lake watersheds through water quality and invasive plant monitoring. This summer she will engage with young conservationists as she oversees the Youth Conservation Corps.
Cazier says, “I decided to go into conservation because after I realized how much I’ve gained from my relationship with the environment, I want to do my part to preserve it. I have found that a strong community is formed around the shared commitment of protecting our natural resources. I am excited to be part of one here at Midcoast Conservancy through the staff, members, and volunteers.”
Skye Cahoon joins Midcoast Conservancy as the 2021 MCC Lands Environmental Steward. She is tasked with a range of duties centered around land protection including landowner outreach, stewarding conserved lands, and coordinating educational events. Her passion is nurturing a reciprocal relationship between communities and their local landscapes, with an overarching goal of inspiring others to care for the environment for generations to come. Cahoon grew up in southeastern Massachusetts and received her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology and minor in Psychology from the University of Maine, Orono.
About the work she will be doing this year, Cahoon says, "Throughout college I realized how intimately every inhabitant of the earth is connected, and became deeply concerned with the future of our planet in the face of climate change. Through my service at Midcoast Conservancy I aspire to not only build a set of skills I can use to protect the earth, but also to make concrete and meaningful contributions towards curbing the effects of the climate crisis. I want to help heal the disconnect between humans and nature, focusing on a local scale where even small actions make a noticeable difference."
Melanie Collins is serving this year as the MCC Community Environmental Steward, focused primarily on work at Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson. After growing up in Beverly, MA, Collins earned a BA in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross; her junior year, she studied Wildlife Management through a School for Field Studies program in Kimana, Kenya and Rhotia, Tanzania with a focus on giraffe behavior. Collins spent a few years in Portland, between seasons as a marine science educator in California and a sea kayak guide in Washington. She says, “I’ve worked a lot in the education side of conservation and I’m looking forward to learning the ins and outs of land conservation.”
“I love connecting people with the land and water around them,” adds Collins. “When you bring someone out into an environment they are unfamiliar with, you end up, inadvertently, take them on a journey of self-discovery which is really cool to see.”
Midcoast Conservancy is a vibrant regional land trust that works to protect vital lands and waters on a scale that matters and to inspire wonder and action on behalf of all species and the Earth. Community members can get involved in the organization’s work as volunteers with water quality monitoring, habitat restoration, fish passage projects, forestry and oyster farming or outdoor recreation and education. For more information, go to www.midcoastconservancy.org or call (207) 389-5150.
