Kim and Finn Wentworth, center, are the benefactors of the endowed Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Envi...Kim and Finn Wentworth, center, are the benefactors of the endowed Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies at College of the Atlantic. They are pictured here with, from left Meghan, Grant and Charlotte, and Mark, Frances Ann, and Katie Wentworth. Credit: Brian Sager Photography

The Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies has been created as part of College of the Atlantic’s Broad Reach capital campaign, a $50 million investment in COA’s campus, programs, and people that will enhance the college’s role as the model of an ecologically minded educational institution.

Focusing on sustainability, ecology, and our relationships to the natural world are incredibly important in these critical times, Kim and Finn Wentworth said, and what has driven them toward endowing the new chair.

“We need to inspire and equip future generations to be able to improve some of the conditions we face,” Kim Wentworth said. “We want to address the legacy issue: we, the baby boomers, may have recognized some of the problems early on, but we didn’t do enough.”

“In order to save the natural world, we all need to listen to environmental science and develop...“In order to save the natural world, we all need to listen to environmental science and develop shared values through a broader, direct experience of the natural world" - COA Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies Steve Ressel.COA biology professor Steve Ressel, Ph.D is the inaugural holder of theWentworth chair. For the past 20 years at COA, Ressel has been passionate about bringing students into the field, in all seasons, for extended, direct experiences with the natural world. He said that he is greatly honored by the new title and the opportunity to continue bringing these experiences to students.

“Whether it’s directly related to whatever profession they ultimately end up in or not, I want field experience to be a huge part of their lives,” Ressel said. “That will hopefully lead to an understanding and appreciation of what’s out there, which then hopefully leads to a love of what’s out there, and then a strong, unwavering desire to make sure it sticks around for a long time.”

The Wentworth chair speaks very strongly to the mission of College of the Atlantic, President Darron Collins ’92 said.

“In so many ways, Kim embodies the ethos and the dual mission of College of the Atlantic — to inspire a healthy, sustainable environment right here on Mt. Desert Island and to graduate generations of leaders to help steward us through the most pernicious social and ecological concerns of the planet,” Collins said. “We are deeply grateful to Kim and Finn for their incredible gift.”

There has rarely been a more important time for environmental science, and it remains tantamount that students, and others, from every discipline, see and feel and breathe from nature directly so they can begin to understand what is at stake, Ressel said.

COA's Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies Steve Ressel, left, teaches many ecolog...COA's Kim M. Wentworth Chair in Environmental Studies Steve Ressel, left, teaches many ecological-based courses at COA, including Biology: Form and Function, Costa Rican Natural History & Conservation, winter ecology; Herpetology, and Biology Through the Lens“In order to save the natural world, we all need to listen to environmental science and develop shared values through a broader, direct experience of the natural world,” Ressel said. “And that’s the only way it’s going to happen, if it has an immediate impact on a person.”

The establishment of the chair is part of the Broad Reach Campaign for College of the Atlantic’s Future, a $50 million effort to endow new student scholarships and faculty positions, create state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable academic and residential spaces, and transition to a fossil fuel-free campus. The campaign has raised $44.5 million.

The Broad Reach campaign focuses $7.5 million on endowing faculty chairs, which provide crucial support for faculty research, creative work, and professional development. Establishing chairs also improves the college’s ability to offer competitive salaries and benefits, essential for attracting exceptional teachers to COA, Collins said.

To learn more about College of the Atlantic, the Broad Reach campaign, and ways of contributing, visit coa.edu/broadreachcampaign.