From the Ground Up: Conservation in New England

An article written and read by Justin Schlawin. Justin Schlawin coordinates and directs Beginning with Habitat, a program of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Justin supervises staff; promotes collaboration with steering committee members and partners; advances landscape-scale initiatives; and facilitates the delivery of technical assistance on habitat conservation and managem...

A book recommendation read by Liz Thompson. Liz Thompson, Managing Editor of From the Ground Up , is an ecologist from Vermont who has explored, photographed, written about, and helped conserve many wild places. She serves on the board of Northeast Wilderness Trust. Read the book recommendation and discover additional content in the Summer 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Robert T. Perschel Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired in 2024. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Inst...

An article written and read by Christopher Reidy. Christopher Reidy is a Forest Ecologist with the Maine Natural Areas Program (MNAP). He assists with the collection of botanical and ecological information to help document the occurrence and condition of rare plant populations and natural communities with a focus in northern Maine. He works closely with the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and is r...

A feature article written and read by Joshua T. Anderson. Joshua T. Anderson is a writer from rural North Dakota committed to foodways and flyways. His featured article on the intersection of soil health and human health appears in the fall issue of Earth Island Journal , and his creative nonfiction essay on the dominance of the sugar industry in North Dakota’s Red River Valley appears in Open Spa...

An interview with Larry Master, conducted and edited by Liz Thompson. Larry Master is a conservation biologist, a zoologist, and, in his retirement, a conservation photographer. He has been photographing wildlife and natural history subjects for more than 70 years. After doctoral and postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan, Larry spent 20 years with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and six...

An article written and read by Brian Donahue. Brian Donahue is Professor Emeritus of American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, and a farm and forest policy consultant. He co-founded and for 12 years directed Land’s Sake, a nonprofit community farm in Weston, Massachusetts, and now co-owns and manages a farm in western Massachusetts. He sits on the boards of the Massachusetts Woodland...

An article written and read by Paul Breeden. Paul Breeden decided as a little boy to someday work for National Geographic. His first published artwork was in National Geographic magazine. From there he went on to illustrate for various other national and international magazines, books, and a U.S. postage stamp. His work was featured at the National Gallery of Art, American Botanical Artists, Brand...

A book recommendation read by Liz Thompson. Liz Thompson, Managing Editor of From the Ground Up , is an ecologist from Vermont who has explored, photographed, written about, and helped conserve many wild places. She serves on the board of Northeast Wilderness Trust. Read the book recommendation and discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An poem written and read by Scudder Parker. Scudder Parker’s first volume of poetry, Safe as Lightning , released in June 2020 by Rootstock Publishing, was awarded the Best Poetry Book of 2020 by the Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE). Scudder’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals including Sun Magazine, Crosswinds, The Lascaux Review, Sky Island Journal, Vermont Life, Nort...

An poem written and read by Angela Patten. Angela Patten’s publications include five poetry collections, and her work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies. Winner of the 2022 Anthony Cronin International Short Poem Award and other awards, Patten has received artist grants from the University of Vermont Retired Scholars Award Program, the Vermont Arts Council, and the Vermont Comm...

An article written and read by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder is the author of Mother, Creature, Kin: What We Learn From Nature’s Mothers in a Time of Unraveling, published by Broadleaf Books in spring 2025. Her writing can also be found in The Atlantic, Emergence Magazine, The Common, the EcoTheo Review, the edited poetry collection Writing the Land, and in Katie Holten’s The...

An interview with Carter Newell, conducted and edited by Liz Thompson. Carter Newell has been farming shellfish since 1982, founded Pemaquid Mussel Farms and Pemaquid Oyster Company, and has an MS in oceanography and a PhD in marine biology. In addition to being the captain of the mussel barge Mumbles and the Oyster Girl 2, he is active studying estuaries, modeling bivalve growth, developing aquac...

An article written and read by Alex Redfield. Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine. Read the full article and...

An article written and read by Meg Graham MacLean. Meg Graham MacLean is a Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar of carbon accounting at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. She is passionate about collaborating with forestry, environmental, and community leaders at all levels to better understand the human-environment interactions that impact our forest ecosystems. Her research uses innovati...

An article written and read by Christopher McGrory Klyza. Christopher McGrory Klyza is Stafford Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Environmental Studies at Middlebury College. He is the author or editor of five books on conservation and environmental policy including Wilderness Comes Home, The Story of Vermont, The Future of the Northern Forest , and Who Controls Public Lands? Read...

An article written and ready by John M. Hagan. John Hagan is a forest ecologist and President of the nonprofit Our Climate Common, based in Georgetown, Maine. He has studied Maine’s working forest landscape for 33 years. For more information about the Late-Successional and Old Growth (LSOG) mapping project, see Hagan et al., 2024 . If you would like help determining whether LiDAR might be useful f...

An article written and read by Joan Maloof. Dr. Joan Maloof is founder of the Old-Growth Forest Network; Professor Emeritus in Biology at Salisbury University; and author of numerous articles and books, including Nature’s Temples: A Natural History of Old-Growth Forests, Among the Ancients: Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests , and Treepedia . Her newest book, Forty Ways to Know a Tree ,...

A poem written and read by Robert T. Perschel. Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired in 2024. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Ins...

An article written and read by Alex Redfield. Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine. Read the full article and...

A feature article written and read by Lynda V. Mapes. Lynda Mapes was a keynote speaker at the recent Northeastern Old Growth Conference and is the author of six books on the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest. Lynda has been awarded the Washington State Book Award; the National Outdoor Book Award; and the Kavli Gold Award for Science Writing by the American Association for the...

A poem written and ready by Derek Sheffield. Derek Sheffield is the eighth poet laureate of Washington State (2025–2027). He is the author of Not for Luck , selected by Mark Doty for the Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize, and Through the Second Skin , runner-up for the Emily Dickinson First Book Award and finalist for the Washington State Book Award. He is the co-editor, with Simmons Buntin and Eliza...

An article written and read by Gus Seelig. Gus Seelig is the founding Executive Director of Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. He worked with Senator Leahy to implement the Farms for the Future program as a pilot project, which led to the national Farm Protection Program. As a direct result of Gus’ leadership, Vermont now has some 460,000 acres of conserved land, including over 800 conserve...

An article written and read by Alex Redfield. Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine. Read the full article and...

An article written and read by Marissa Latshaw. Marissa Latshaw works with mission-driven organizations to build empathetic and inclusive communication strategies that inspire action. She is the publisher of From the Ground Up and co-coordinator of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative, working with partners throughout New England to help bring a more holistic, integrate...