Alumni News
News from campus and about COA alumni, faculty, and current students
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A road trip through Maine in search of America’s rarest apples
The Wall Street Journal writes about College of the Atlantic history professor Todd Little-Siebold and fourth-generation orchardist Polly McAdam ’14 and their search for coveted, historic specimens along Maine’s 3,500-mile coastline.
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A whale of a legacy: Maine Beer Company and COA Allied Whale
From a modest gift to a soaring skeleton, decades of partnership continue to protect Maine’s majestic marine creatures.
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Habitat for Aviation: Learning by doing
General Aviation News details Beth White ’00’s Women Build Planes program in her organization, Habitat for Aviation.
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Humpback whale becomes first new exhibit at Maine State Museum
News Center Maine reports on College of the Atlantic Allied Whale Research Associate Dan DenDanto ’91 leading the rearticulation of two whale skeletons that form the centerpiece exhibit.
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COA alumni up for prestigious James Beard Awards
Two College of the Atlantic alumni are among the 2025 semifinalists for one of the nation’s most coveted honors in food.
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Alum creates open-access map of toxic chemical supply chain
Three million people are at risk of exposure to vinyl chloride on a daily basis as it is transported by rail from Texas to New Jersey, according to the work of Selena Sillari ’23, which has been cited in The Washington Post and NBC News.
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Summer symposium engages and inspires
College of the Atlantic campus comes abuzz with thought leaders and ample food for thought during the annual COA Summer Institute, focused this year on Questions of Democracy.
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Alum awarded for ceramics work
Through her work as a ceramicist and cultural producer, 2023 Jorum Craft Award recipient Eleanor White ’22 aims to nurture multispecies relationality with participatory art interventions.
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Gill presented with Friend of the Planet award by National Center for Science Education
Paleoecologist Jacquelyn Gill ’05 is named a 2020 Friend of the Planet for her “extraordinary” research, outreach, and education on climate change.
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River Gull returns home
A 400-mile journey, fog-bound nights, navigational surprises, and long days on the water provide the backdrop for bonding and self discovery for a crew of students and alumnx tasked with bringing a donated sailboat from New York to Bar Harbor.
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College of the Atlantic names philosophy chair
Dr. Heather Lakey ’00, M.Phil. ’05 makes philosophy accessible and relevant, encouraging students to slow down, think through their experiences, and recognize the ideas that shape their perspectives. She is the inaugural holder of the COA McNally Family Chair in Philosophy and Human Ecology, a newly endowed faculty position.
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How A Man Born Into Poverty In Nepal Inspired Thousands Of Children To Finish School [The Telegraph]
Education pioneer Surya Karki ’16 has been working to transform Nepal’s school system since he was a student at College of the Atlantic, opening his first school in the country in 2015. Since that time, Karki and his charity, United World Schools Nepal, have launched 30 schools, with seven more on the way.