Center for Applied Human Ecology
College of the Atlantic
Exploring the connections between people, health, and the environment
The Center for Applied Human Ecology (CAHE) draws on the expertise of faculty in ecology, economics, law, psychology, anthropology, planning, history, business, and architecture to put human ecology into practice in our communities.
CAHE’s mission is to serve students and community by:
- Teaching a wide range of skills necessary to integrate scientific, aesthetic and social values into complex decision-making on public issues.
- Building upon a solid foundation of courses from traditional disciplines, integrate the knowledge from these courses with practical skills, and apply this integrated knowledge to actual problems in multi-disciplinary courses and independent projects.
- Providing learning opportunities through working partnerships with local leaders and organizations on actual problems in local and international communities.
Highlights of the center’s programs and activities include:
- Watershed Initiative, promoting the integration of ecological, social and economic values through a watershed approach to regional planning and community outreach
- Geographic Information System (GIS) Lab
- Inter-Institutional Projects: The college has conducted a variety of joint projects with several of the leading Architecture, Planning and Watershed Programs in the US
- Resource library of software, computer resource inventories, and material on environmental, social, and economic issues in Maine. The Center also provides space for meetings, conferences and classes.
CAHE faculty
Ken Cline
David Rockefeller Family Chair in Ecosystem Management and Protection
ABOUT
Before COA
Before joining the faculty, Ken served as a Judicial Clerk for Federal Judge Gus J. Solomon in Portland, Oregon; as a Staff Attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco; and as an attorney specializing in municipal, environmental, and land use litigation for Calfee Halter & Griswold in Cleveland, Ohio.
His other interests include whitewater canoeing and kayaking, politics, and wilderness camping.
Course Areas
environmental law, land & water conservation, parks and protected areas
COURSES
- Acadia: Exploring the National Park Idea
- Advanced International Environmental Law Seminar
- Environmental Law and Policy
- History of the American Conservation Movement
- International Wildlife Policy and Protected Areas
- Introduction to the Legal Process
- Native American Law
- Our Public Lands: Past, Present, and Future
- Reading the West
- Rights of Nature
- Whitewater/Whitepaper: River Conservation and Recreation
- Wilderness in the West: Promise and Problems
EDUCATION
- B.A. Hiram College, 1980
- J.D. Case Western Reserve University, 1983
More Information about my Courses
Most of Ken’s courses are underlain by a pedagogical commitment to the principle that classes that enable students to apply knowledge to real problems can provide superior training for the students and a real benefit for people faced with those problems. Therefore, Ken uses neighboring Acadia National Park, a local watershed, and surrounding communities as the focus of class work and projects. Students in Ken’s courses have developed watershed conservation plans, filed legal documents to protect endangered species, lobbied state and national legislatures, attended United Nations conferences, testified at hearings, changed local zoning ordinances, prepared a plan to revitalize a local waterfront, organized local citizens, and routinely work with local leaders, agencies and citizens.
INTERESTS
Ken joined the faculty in 1989 where he teaches a broad range of courses in environmental law and policy. In addition to legal studies and pre-law courses, Ken teaches several interdisciplinary courses that focus on conservation policy within the United States and internationally. These classes include courses on public lands and parks, wildlife protection, wilderness, the history of the conservation movement, land conservation, land use planning, and river and watershed protection. Ken’s international courses focus on wildlife, environmental treaties, protected areas, and water management.
ADVOCACY
Ken has been recently appointed by the US Secretary of the Interior to the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission.
He is a Volunteer Leader for the Sierra Club in Maine and nationally. In this capacity, he has served on numerous state and national committees and stakeholder groups.
Ken is on the board of the Frenchman Bay Conservancy a regional land trust covering the watersheds of the Union River and Frenchman Bay.
PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Newlin, W., K. Cline, R. Briggs, A. Namnoum, and B. Ciccotelli The College of the Atlantic Guide to the Lakes & Ponds of Mt. Desert, North Atlantic Books. Berkeley CA 2013.
Ken has done extensive work with local and national river and watershed conservation groups. He has worked on river conservation issues in Maine, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Chile. He presently serves on the national rivers committee of the Sierra Club and has presented at national river conferences. Ken is director of the College of the Atlantic’s Watershed Project a collaborative, community-based curriculum and outreach project. The watershed project recently received a $360,000 grant from the US Department of Education to develop a model for interdisciplinary experiential teaching that utilizes the watersheds in Hancock County and addresses the issues facing the gateway communities surrounding Acadia National Park. Through this grant the College has helped to found a local stakeholder group to protect the nearby Union River and has worked closely with citizen groups, agencies, and local governments to monitor and educate the public about the Union River Watershed.
Presentations
March 2015, Oakland, California George Wright Society “Re- Envisioning the Application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Within Land Management Agencies” with Chris Buczko from the National Park Service
November 2014, Sydney, Australia6th World Parks Congress “Parks Across the Curriculum: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Protected Area Education”
October 2014, Bar Harbor, Maine Society for Human Ecology Conference “Human Ecology as an Educational Foundation for Protected Area Managers”
Oct. 2013, Bar Harbor, Maine Moderator for Impacts of Climate Change on Acadia National Park Presentation
Oct. 2012, Hallowell, Maine. Keynote Address at the Maine Groundwater Summit “The Right to Water.”
Stories from the Field
COA academic hub wins national award for green design
The College of the Atlantic Davis Center for Human Ecology is recognized as one of the most sustainable and forward-thinking buildings in the country by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Read More
COA Davis Center wins architectural award
The College of the Atlantic Davis Center for Human Ecology is the recipient of a Maine Honor Award for excellence in architecture from The American Institute of Architects. Read More
Student voices
COA Might be Right for You if…
…you are ready to have your life and identity flipped on its head and dunked in the ocean repeatedly
Jonna Lynn Nielsen ’27
…you don’t know what you want to study because you have far too many interests to just focus in on one of them.
Wilson Korneev ’28
…you want to be in a small community where people will remember your name.
Alya Kiiashko ’25
…you want to meet politically, emotionally, and academically engaged people.
Alder Ame ’27
…you think being sent to the oceanside to improve your mental health actually sounds awesome (it totally is).
Carolina de Oliveira Castro ’26
…you are passionate about the natural world and want to study it and love spending time outside.
Conrad Kortemeier ’26
…you want to be surrounded and inspired by people who are excited about niche subjects, and by people who are still figuring out what they’re doing.
Marina Schnell ’25
…you have an open mind, enjoy small communities, and want a well-rounded (however unconventional) education experience.
Seth Sears ’28
…you want freedom in your class structure.
Andie Piliouras ’26