ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine plans to host a talk, “Unlocking the language of change: Understanding social-ecological challenges in Maine’s wild shellfish fisheries,” at 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 25.

All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talks series are free and offered both remotely via Zoom and in person at 107 Norman Smith Hall on the Orono campus.

Speaker B Lauer will share her journey in understanding the diverse meanings of coastal and fisheries “access” and how communication plays a crucial role in shaping issues in wild intertidal shellfish fisheries in Maine. Lauer will explore the powerful interplay between communication and problem-solving in the context of pressing environmental concerns, and the profound influence of language and communication on shaping solutions for social-ecological challenges, according to a news release from Ruth Hallsworth with the center.

Lauer is a recent graduate of the master of arts program in the Department of Communication and Journalism and of the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship in Conservation Science and Practice at the University of Maine. She has held positions as a stewardship coordinator and an education and outreach coordinator working in freshwater resource management in Minnesota. She has spent two years conducting engaged, transdisciplinary and anticolonial research with wild intertidal shellfish fisheries in Maine.

Registration is required to attend remotely; to register and receive connection information, see the event webpage at umaine.edu.

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Hallsworth at 207-581-3196 or [email protected].

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