Love Maine Radio with Dr. Lisa Belisle

Judy Camuso has been the director of wildlife for Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife since 2013 and has been with the department since 2007. As director, Camuso oversees the management, protection, and enhancement of the over 500 birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that call Maine home, and perhaps more challenging, a staff of 50 biologists. She oversees the development and implementation of policy decisions, legislative proposals, and rules related to the wildlife division, and she coordinates a budget of $ 12 million to manage Maine’s wildlife. She is the department’s voice on all matters regarding Maine’s wildlife. Prior to becoming director, she worked as special projects coordinator for the department and was a regional wildlife biologist. She has extensive experience with endangered species management and recovery as well as long-range species planning. She started her career at Maine Audubon as the environmental center director, where she oversaw wildlife education programs and conducted several bird banding projects. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/judy-camuso-maine-department-inland-fisheries-wildlife/

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree moved to Maine in the 1970s, and after graduating from College of the Atlantic, she and her husband started a small farm on the island of North Haven. In the early 1980s, she started a knitting business that grew to ten year-round employees, producing knitting kits and books that were sold in hundreds of stores across the country. She was elected to the Maine Senate in 1992. After serving four terms, including two as Senate majority leader, she went on to become the national president of Common Cause. In 2008, Pingree was elected to Congress to serve Maine’s 1st District, and she was the first woman ever to be elected to represent this district. Pingree is a member of the House Committee on Appropriations and has gained national recognition for her leadership on food and agriculture reform, improving assistance programs for veterans, supporting coastal communities, and other issues important to Maine and the nation.  Hannah Pingree was elected for four terms to the Maine House of Representatives, where she served as the house chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, House majority leader, and speaker of the House. In the Legislature, she represented eleven island and coastal towns in Knox and Hancock Counties. In Augusta, she focused on issues of health care and public health, economic development, housing, fishing, environmental protection, and access to broadband and alternative energy. After being term-limited from the legislature, she has worked as the business manager of her family’s inn, restaurant, and farm, and she manages North Haven Sustainable Housing, an organization that builds housing for year-round residents and island seniors. She hosts a weekly MPBN public affairs show and serves on her local school board. Pingree, her husband, two small children, and their black lab, Willie, all live on the island of North Haven. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/hannah-chellie-pingree/

Robin Alden is executive director of Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF), a nonprofit organization in Stonington, Maine. Alden co-founded MCCF in 2003 with the goal of securing a sustainable future for fisheries and fishing communities in eastern Maine and beyond. MCCF works with fishermen, regulators, scientists, and policymakers to develop new approaches to fisheries stewardship and economic vitality, approaches that are realistic, grounded, and adaptive given a changing climate. She also served as Maine Commissioner of Marine Resources under Governor Angus King, where she initiated the Maine lobster zones, a revered example of effective fisheries co-management. She also founded, published, and edited the regional trade fishing newspaper, Commercial Fisheries News, for 20 years. She co-founded the Maine Fisherman’s Forum, served two terms on the New England Fishery Management Council and worked with Maine Sea Grant. In 2017, Alden received the Peter Benchley Hero of the Seas award for her grassroots work integrating fishermen’s knowledge into science and policy, and in 2016 she was honored as a White House Champion of Change for Sustainable Seafood. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Maine. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/robin-alden/

Joanna and Phineas Sprague are the co-founders of Portland Yacht Services. The boatyard currently has 12,000 customers, from rowboats with electric trolling motors to some of the biggest passenger boats on the Portland waterfront. After developing a love of sailing, the Spragues purchased in the Portland Company in 1978 and went on start building Portland Yacht Services in the early 1980s. Phin was also founding president of SailMaine, and he helped establish the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/joanna-phineas-sprague/

Joseph K. Loughlin is the former assistant chief of police for the City of Portland. He served as the interim chief in 2008 and retired from service in January, 2010 after 30 years of police work. He has served in every sworn rank within the Portland Police Department. He is one of the original founders of the police peer support team and employee assistance network.  He also served as the commander of the Special Reaction Team and was a team member for over 20 years. He was a spokesperson for the department as the Detective Lieutenant in charge of the Criminal Investigation Division. He is the author of Finding Amy, a nonfiction account of the Amy St. Laurent homicide investigation in 2001, and Shots Fired, released in October 2017.He has authored editorials and magazine articles on the realities of police work. He currently consults for 3SI International Security Systems and functions as a regional coordinator of police trainings and special projects. He is also an entrepreneur and the creator of Loughlin’s Irish Steak Sauce. He currently resides in South Portland and continues to write and teach. Kate Clark Flora worked in the Maine attorney general’s office for several years. After some years in private practice, she decided to give writing a serious try. Eighteen of her books have been published. She is a founding member of the New England Crime Bake, the region’s annual mystery conference, and the Maine Crime Wave. With two other crime writers, she started Level Best Books, where she worked as an editor and publisher for seven years. She served a term as international president of Sisters in Crime, an organization founded to promote awareness of women writers’ contributions to the mystery field. Currently she teaches writing and does manuscript critiques for GrubStreet in Boston. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/joseph-k-loughlin-kate-clark-flora-co-authors-shots-fired/

Nancy Thompson is an insurance agent who lives in Cape Elizabeth. She has been married to Tim Thompson for 36 years. In 2004, she lost her middle child, Timmy, to suicide at the age of 18. Timmy took his life as a result of depression. Since that time, both Nancy and Tim have spoken publicly about their loss in the hopes of saving lives. They urge those with emerging mental health issues to not take no for an answer and to push harder for services. They also urge people to not be afraid to speak about their illness so they may be able to have others help them. Nancy has also been an active member of the Junior League of Portland for 21 years and served as president in 2004. She also served for seven years on board of the Center for Grieving Children board and served as president of the board in 2012-2013. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/nancy-thompson/

Jill Hinckley was born in Ellsworth and grew up in Southwest Harbor. Her grandfather, Henry R. Hinckley, started Hinckley Yachts in 1928. Growing up in Maine and participating in the boating community has given her the opportunity to meet and work with a variety of people. At Hinckley Introductions, her matchmaking and coaching agency, she focuses on connecting people on a personal and meaningful level. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/jill-hinckley-hinckley-introductions/

Dr. Robert Snyder is president of the Island Institute. He is responsible for working with island and coastal leaders in Maine to identify and invest in innovative approaches to community sustainability. He oversees the Institute’s efforts to share solutions with communities that are experiencing similar challenges to their sustainability elsewhere. His background is in cultural anthropology, and his research and writing have focused on community economic development and the cultural politics of natural resource management. He also writes a monthly column for The Working Waterfront. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/dr-robert-snyder-island-institute/

It took over 70,000 nautical miles—and some wayward adventures in between—before Matty Oates finally put down roots in Maine. At the age of 18, he began traveling the globe and taking on odd jobs (like standing in police lineups for cash in Scotland) to make his way, finally stumbling into the world of Tall Ship sailing. He eventually moved to France in 2007 to join and then run the deck of the iconic 1911 racing yacht Mariquita, widely considered to be one of the most beautiful sailing yachts in the world. In 2015, he saw his brother, Kevin, doing amazing work with his own nonprofit, the Maine Youth Rock Orchestra, and decided to return to the USA. Portland's ever-changing, vibrant scene was the magnet that drew him in, and soon after arriving he was brought aboard as the program director of Tall Ships Portland, a local 501c3 organization dedicated to youth education at sea. After a year-and-a-half, he left to join the marketing team at Shipyard Brewing Company as media manager. Outside of Shipyard, he is a partner with MMP, a data-driven marketing firm that specializes in omni-channel media planning, search engine marketing, and social media strategies with partner Chris Marine. When away from a computer, he enjoys standing sideways on any sort of board, and as a classical violinist, he publishes a podcast with his brother called Bach to Bock in which they discuss classical music and beer, breaking down barriers and getting his generation reengaged with this fascinating era of music. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/matty-oates-tall-ships-portland-shipyard-brewing-company/

Jessica Jordan was 34 when she was diagnosed with stage-two breast cancer. The lump was discovered two months after she became engaged. She went through almost a year of treatment and was only two months out of radiation when her mother, who had taken care of her during treatment, passed suddenly from a pulmonary embolism. To honor her mother’s memory, she completed the Tri for a Cure in July and was this year’s top fundraiser, breaking her goal by $44,000. As a tribute to her mother, she plans to dedicate the rest of her life to giving back. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/jessica-jordan-top-tri-cure-fundraiser-2017/

John Weston is a seventh-generation farmer that grows 60 acres of fresh vegetables, and two acres are certified organic. His farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His family operates two farm markets in Fryeburg and Conway, New Hampshire, and they also produce maple syrup and grow 6,000 Christmas trees each year. For the past 20 years, he has coached Nordic skiing at Fryeburg Academy. He is a nationally certified Nordic ski race official and a trustee at the Fryeburg Fair. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/john-weston-westons-farm/

Birch Shambaugh and Fayth Preyer are the husband-and-wife team behind Woodford Food and Beverage, a neighborhood bar and restaurant in Portland. The two had dreamed of bringing the vitality of a neighborhood eatery to the former Valle’s Steakhouse in the center of Woodfords Corner. Now open for nearly two years, Woodford Food and Beverage continues to play a role in the dynamic off-peninsula hospitality landscape. As local residents and parents of a pair of young children, they are proud to contribute to that vitality by bringing another quality dining option to the neighborhood they call home. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/birch-shambaugh-woodford-fb/

Jessie Dowling is a cheesemaker whose company, Fuzzy Udder Creamery, is based in Whitefield. She is also president of the Maine Cheese Guild and has a master’s degree in food policy. Sam May is advisory board chair at Maine Harvest Credit Project, an organization aiming to open a credit union supporting small farms and food businesses. Sam grew up in midcoast Maine, where he co-founded Smith and May in West Rockport and helped his brother start Peter Ott’s, a restaurant in Camden. After earning an MBA in international business, he worked in Silicon Valley as an equity research analyst and managing director at Piper Jaffray Companies covering technology stocks worldwide. In 2005, he moved to Hong Kong and helped Chinese companies navigate US capital markets until his return to Maine in 2011. Sam currently serves on the board of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), where he sits on the executive, finance, and fundraising committees. He also serves on the steering committee of Slow Money Maine. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/jessie-may-fuzzy-udder-creamery-sam-may-maine-harvest-credit-project/

Mitchell Lench founded Treetops Capital in 2008 to help small businesses succeed. He runs Treetops Capital's fund management businesses in sustainable agriculture and aquaculture. Lench is also responsible for co-management of the Gawa Microfinance Fund, which invests in rural and agricultural-focused microfinance and financial institutions focused on small and medium enterprises across the developing world. Prior to founding Treetops Capital, he was managing director in the structured finance group at Bank of America's investment bank in London. He then joined Credit Suisse in New York where he ran global syndicate and a multi-billion dollar trading book. He earned a master’s degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BS from the State University of New York at Binghamton. More recently, he served as an advisor at the 2015 Fish 2.0 conference in San Francisco, where he helped select and pool viable, impact-oriented seafood businesses for investors to consider for investment. He moved to Maine in 2010 and lives in Cape Elizabeth with his wife, two children, and their dog, Skylar. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/mitchell-lench-treetops-capital/

Lauren Wayne loves music. As general manager and talent buyer for Crobo, Wayne promotes over 260 concerts in Portland every year. Crobo owns and operates the State Theatre and Port City Music Hall, and the company is the exclusive, live-concert promoter for the new outdoor music venue at Thompson’s Point. Starting as the company’s only employee in 2010, she has grown the company to include eight full-time staff and over 150 part-time employees, and she oversaw the largest music festival ever in Portland (with Mumford and Sons on the Eastern Prom in 2012). She is based in Portland. https://www.themainemag.com/radio/radio-guests/lauren-wayne/