Radio Maine with Dr. Lisa Belisle

Rebeccah Sanders is the CEO of the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). The NRCM operates within the unique ecological ethic and culture of a state where environmental issues are an integral part of how people live their lives. Rebeccah and her team endeavor to engage stakeholders and build coalitions to achieve important environmental legislation. Rebeccah is understandably proud of the fir...

Former high school athlete Eavan O'Neill began running marathons as a result of a life-altering event. During her senior year in college at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, Eavan was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a rare form of macular degeneration that causes vision loss, and often leads to blindness.  Soon after receiving this diagnosis, Eavan’s school closed due to Covid restric...

Dr. Hermann Haller is the President of the MDI Biological Laboratory (MDIBL), located in Salisbury Cove, Maine. Born and raised in Germany, Hermann trained there as a nephrologist (kidney specialist), before completing post-doctoral work at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. In addition to being a practicing physician, medical school professor and researcher in German instituti...

Poet and artist Andy Gelinas lives on North Haven island off the coast of Rockland, Maine, where he spends his (non-winter) days working for the local golf course.  Andy’s journey into poetry began as a child, growing up in Athens, Maine. Although Andy was diagnosed  with cerebral palsy at birth, he doesn't view this as an obstacle, but rather a source of inner strength. He focuses on themes such...

Jewelry designer Cat Bates began his life as an artist on Maine’s Monhegan Island. His keen observational skills yielded inspiration for future creativity, as he found beauty in the discarded fishing ropes and marine hardware that would eventually become the basis of his work. Cat would go on to pursue formal education in jewelry design at the Maine College of Art in Portland, and evolve his skill...

Dr. Chuck Radis is a Maine author and physician who has a passion for understanding people. A practicing rheumatologist (specialist in the immune system and disorders that impact primarily the joints and muscles), Chuck has experience with many aspects of health care.  He previously worked in traditional internal medicine–facing the unique challenge of being an island doctor in Maine’s Casco Bay c...

Dr. Jacey Goddard takes a holistic approach to her work with patients. A longtime osteopathic physician, Jacey uses integrative medicine and gentle alignment techniques to facilitate healing and self-awareness, while also helping patients to redefine their connections between mind and body. Although patients often seek her out to address pain and other issues not easily dealt with through traditio...

Rebecca Hoffman helps children and families become the best they can be, by providing them with tools that assist in easing the pain caused by trauma and grief.  As the director of the MaineHealth Center for Trauma Resiliency and Innovation, Rebecca has recently needed to lean more heavily upon her expertise. On October 25, 2023, Maine became the latest state to suffer the tragedy of mass gun viol...

Originally from New Hampshire, Brian Emerson moved to Maine to be closer to his future wife. In marrying Colleen Barter, and in spending time with her family, Brian would end up inspired to follow in his artist brother’s footsteps and pursue art more seriously. The Barters, including Colleen’s father, Philip, and brother, Matt, are a prolific and well-regarded artistic family. Brian’s pieces are b...

Maine native Lexi Doudera is committed to ocean education and environmental stewardship. Founder and executive director of the Saltwater Classroom, Lexi’s nonprofit offers week-long workshops and community programs for learners of all ages. Their curriculum covers a broad range of topics, including ocean science, conservation, and our connection to the deep blue sea. The Saltwater Classroom has an...

Laura Mrazik has had to figure out how to integrate her art practice with a full-time healthcare career and parenting two small children. Her solution (at least for now) is painting in the evenings after the kids go to bed. Laura’s artistic style has evolved over time  incorporating both detail and organic elements in her pieces, which have primarily focused on florals. With a desire to keep evolv...

Raised in Raymond, Maine, Holden Willard found himself significantly influenced by the work of artists from his home state while studying for his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts. Painters like American Modernist Marsden Hartley (born in Lewiston, Maine), and the state’s long history of plein air painting strengthened Holden’s desire to return t...

Entrepreneur Ethan Nestor began his career in the basement of his parent’s Cape Elizabeth, Maine home in 2012.  While still a teen, Ethan created his first YouTube channel, where he uploaded content consisting of his gaming narrations. This channel, CrankGameplays, launched Ethan’s Los Angeles-based entertainment career. His latest YouTube channel, “Ethan Nestor,” has over 2.1 million subscribers....

Art consultant Suzi Hlavacek co-founded Alchemy Station as a means of strengthening the “magical and mystical human connections” created by an art-filled life. With extensive training at Christie’s auction house and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as a master’s degree in art administration, Suzi is well suited to the task. Suzi and Alchemy Station co-founder Kate Anderson partner wit...

Dr. Louis Nadelson has had an impressive career as a university professor, but perhaps even more striking is his broad range of personal interests–including playing the mountain dulcimer and welding sculptures from repurposed metal farm implements.  Dr. Nadelson has spent a lifetime learning and teaching. He has authored hundreds of peer reviewed academic papers, and has myriad overlapping interes...

Maine native Chris Ryan Ross had built a very successful photography career for himself in New York City when he realized that the pull from his home state was too great to resist. In 2014–well before it was popular to do so–he decided to work remotely, traveling to photo shoots in Los Angeles and New York via the Portland International Jetport. Recently, Chris took another life leap, leaving his...

Growing up in landlocked southern Pennsylvania, Brad Blymier never imagined a future involving oysters.  After graduating with an undergraduate degree in English, Brad was successfully building a career in artificial intelligence software sales on the West Coast when an impromptu call from a childhood friend changed the course of his life. Brad and his wife, Hannah, would go on to become co-owners...

Art critic and historian Martica Sawin has been connected to the international art community for decades. Born in New York CIty, she has had a similarly long-standing connection to Maine. After years of vacationing with her family at places like Migis Lodge on Sebago Lake in South Casco, Martica’s parents bought a farm in Yarmouth in the 1940s, so that her father could commute to his job with Bate...

Jane Dahmen is one of the Portland Art Gallery’s most beloved and longstanding artists. She was also one of our first Radio Maine guests, joining us on episode four from her Newcastle, Maine home, back when the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a remote conversational format. A proud graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Jane has always been known for her commitment to Maine and passion for promot...

Judiann Smith is a firm believer in the importance of strong leaders in healthcare, especially during times of rapid change.  As the executive director of the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership in Maine, Judiann has coordinated countless programs focusing on leadership skills for doctors, nurses, and others in the healthcare field, since taking this position in 2015. Judiann is no stranger...

Research scientist Claire Enterline has found that the ocean has much to teach us about climate resiliency.  As a research associate and project manager with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, Claire works with FishSCORE (Fisheries Strategies for Changing Oceans and Resilient Ecosystems by 2030), a global program endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sust...

Artist Sarah Verardo has an eye for detail and design. Originally from a small Rhode Island beach town, Sarah grew up in a home filled with art, and socialized regularly with artists from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Her father, who briefly owned an art gallery, once brought five-year-old Sarah to Dale Chihuly's studio to watch him make art from blown glass. While a government...

Mallika Malhotra is a business strategist, mentor, speaker, and author. Known as the Brand CEO, Mallika has helped hundreds of female entrepreneurs to maximize their strengths and draw upon their passions as they create success in their fields.  Born to parents who emigrated from India and the Philippines, Mallika learned the value of hard work, and the importance of appreciating opportunities, fr...

Artist Wylie Garcia has learned to have faith in her intuition. Based in Charlotte, Vermont, Wylie draws upon memories of gardening with her mother when creating her much sought after floral paintings.  Wylie remains continually inspired by the varying shapes and changing colors of flowers, as she creates layered emotional landscapes with titles such as “A Trusting Place for Bower Birds,” and “Dre...