Events & Programs
- April
- Weasels in Maine
Weasels represent a diverse group of small, carnivorous mammals that live in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems all over the world. Species in the weasel family tend to have bodies that are long and thin, secrete smelly odor to mark their territory, and can kill prey much larger than themselves. Six species in the weasel family live in Maine, varying in size from the short-tailed weasel (weighing 5 oz.) to the river otter (weighing up to 30 lbs). In the presentation, you will learn about weasel ecology, status, and natural history, as well as handle pelts and skulls of the various species.
Shevenell Webb is a wildlife biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Bangor. Her primary duties include research and management of a wide variety of small and medium-sized mammals, including bats, northern bog lemmings, beavers, bobcats, fishers, and coyotes. Before joining the Department in July 2018, Shevenell worked in western Canada for 10 years, where she was involved in researching wolverines, conducting aerial surveys on moose and elk, and restoring wildlife habitat. Shevenell received her Bachelors in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Maine in Orono and her Masters in Environmental Biology and Ecology at the University of Alberta. Shevenell lives in Mt Vernon with her family and loves to spend her free time gardening, birding, picking berries, raising chickens and pigs, making maple syrup, hiking, and canoeing.
- May
- Seaweed Chronicles: A World At The Water’s Edge
Susan Hand Shetterly grew up in New York City and Connecticut, and lived with her family for two years on Mallorca. She received a Master’s degree in Education from Harvard University and a Master of Fine Arts from Goddard College. She has been a writer in residence at the University of Maine at Orono, and was given a summer residency at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York.
The author of nine books, Susan has written for several magazines, including Down East, Yankee, and Audubon Magazine. She was a contributing writer for Maine Times for many years, writing essays and articles on wild lands and wildlife, and the people who work with them.
Susan’s book Settled In The Wild won the The Maine Literary Award for Best Nonfiction from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance in 2011. Susan has also been awarded two Maine Arts Commission grants and a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. In 2017, she received an Alfred P. Sloan grant to complete her newest book, Seaweed Chronicles: A World At The Water’s Edge. In December 2018, Seaweed Chronicles was announced as a longlist finalist for the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.