The Cape May, New Jersey, native weeded, picked and sowed her way into this world as a seasonal farm worker.
Mary Pols
Mary Pols writes primarily about sustainability for Source. She came to the Press Herald in late 2013 to work on Source after a long career writing about movies. She has almost, but not quite, broken the habit of waking pre-dawn on Oscar nomination day. Mary was born in Portland and raised in Brunswick, but was away for 25 years so it’s been a thrill for her to learn about her state in the 21st century. She studied art history at Duke and her masters in journalism is from UC Berkeley. She’s happiest reporting a story in Maine’s great outdoors, whether she’s watching seaweed farmers plant a crop or eating fresh caught perch with an ice fisherman while a hungry eagle hovers nearby. History really floats her boat as well (once she wrote an entire story about the life of a very old and rare apple tree in Freeport). She lives in Brunswick with her hockey-obsessed son and their dog, a foster-fail kitten and an elderly Maine Coon.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Let there be dark: Advocates push Maine as astrotourism destination
The state’s many precious resources include the largest light-pollution-free swath in the eastern half of the U.S. A new effort is underway to protect it with ‘dark sky’ designations and promote it as an out-of-this-world attraction.
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Posted inSource
3-D printers are the talk of the farm
At Kennebec Valley Community College, the printers show great potential for agricultural uses such as seeding, watering chickens and protecting pollinators.
Posted inMeet, Source
How iconic author of ‘Silent Spring’ inspired Sandra Steingraber’s career as environmentalist
Steingraber edited a new book for the Library of America that celebrates work by Rachel Carson.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Outdoors, That Moment
Maine hunter returns to what he loves at 86 – it just took a few surgeries
Lou Haskell even timed his knee replacements so he’d recover in time for spring hunting season, and to his delight, bags a turkey on his first day out.
Posted inSource
Are littleneck clams the next frontier in aquaculture?
Jordan Kramer is trying them out on his West Bath fish farm and so far, so good.
Posted inMeet, News, Source
Brendan Murtha, 18, has already encountered 700 birds
The Bowdoin College freshman says his father’s work as an artist inspired his passion for birding.
Posted inMeet, Source
Topsham educator Jared DeSimio looks for holes to mend
His sustainable fashion is all about embracing the old while making it new again.
Posted inSource
40-year-old Clinton seed co-op must move ahead without CR Lawn, its visionary center
Lawn will retire from Fedco in May, leaving behind a legacy of number crunching, tomato testing and big thinking.
Posted inBusiness, Meet, Source
Shawn Brannigan knows his family’s Falmouth seed company has deep roots
Allen, Sterling & Lothrop has provided Maine with seeds, and agricultural and garden supplies, for more than a century, and the business is a staple of the community.