Bangor
On October 16 and 23, 2019, Dr. Corlew was joined by eight individuals at the Bangor Public Library to discuss climate change. Bob Greenough, Doug Poulin, Isaiah Ross, Jean Greenough, Kaitlyn Norwood, Linda Mosley, Stephanie Mattsen, and Vicki Ziemer came together from a variety of backgrounds, and discussed ideas that were also noticed by the Dover-Foxcroft Focus Group. Some of these ideas included the lack of birds, increased/heightened weather patterns, food insecurities, and our responsibility to nature.
I feel like it is very much a connected issue in that climate change causes new and different dangers, health problems and injuries and illnesses. At the same time, people in our nation... are struggling to access health care. So those issues are very connected because the climate change is causing health problems, you know, and if we can’t get health care, what are we to do?" - Isaiah Ross
"It would be nice if before it got really, really bad, we started in a positive way to rebuild our communities, improve the communication, improve the coming together to work on common projects." - Stephanie Mattsen
"It's just not safe because of the ticks. It was brought home to me again last night, [when my dog and I] went for a run up at the University Forest. We ran on the bike path and then went off onto a logging road. We didn't go very far. I didn't have a lot of time, so we only went about two and half miles. Last night, I picked six ticks off of him and I picked a seventh off today that was embedded in him. And that's a dog who's been treated not to get ticks." - Linda Mosley
"When you really love someone, you don't let this kind of thing happen. That's all I gotta say about it." - Doug Poulin
"I’m sure that this is all going to come crashing down on us. Some will survive and some won’t. Maybe I won’t, I don’t know, but I’m old so it’s not so much of a big deal to me but young people, I think, I don't know if any of them have the skills to survive." - Vicki Ziemer
The Photos
"How do you tell your grandchildren that they’re going to fry? I don’t know. It’s really sad, and I feel complicit. I use fossil fuels every day, most of us do." - Doug Poulin
"Well, the daughter on the left said she's not going to have any children because of the crisis on our earth. So there it is, that's the end of our family. And [it's been] pretty much a dream of mine since I was 12 to be a grandma. I thought I'd be an awesome grandma. I don't get to try it. Thank you, corporate greed." - Jean Greenough
"I feel really betrayed by the inaction of leaders in bringing about that change. I feel really angry about that fact that there are so many gatherings and groups of people trying to inspire that change and bring about that change that we all know factually we need to create. We need to have this change in our world, and our world leaders, the people in power – whether its politically or in corporations – [they] won’t even address or acknowledge that it’s happening." - Isaiah Ross
"Only people who live in this building are walking by here. Why don't we care enough about the building we live in to move our trash to the trash can, instead of throwing it next to the mail room? Why does none of the other 17 people who live there immediately stop and pick it up?" - Isaiah Ross
"I feel so guilty and I think about all the impact every time I start my car that I'll walk three miles to work every day, as opposed to when I used to go drive around on weekends." - Isaiah Ross
"I see poverty or disparities in income – the ever widening gap and the ever shrinking middle class, especially poverty and all the pieces that go with it - [as] such a broad base of our problems. The people on the lowest socioeconomic rungs of the ladder will be the ones broken [and] overall most impacted by climate change." - Linda Mosley
"[This] outhouse we built as a result of the wind and rain in October of '17. We were without power and when we have no power, we have no running water... that's why we built an outhouse. So that reminds me of the climate change, the weather being a little more violent maybe. I feel blessed living in Maine when I see the news and see the crazy weather, and the crazy things that are going on around the world. Maine's a pretty nice place to be." - Bob Greenough
"I keep wondering if someone's gonna come and take that wood and use it for something.... I don't know if anybody lives in that house. It looks empty to me but, I think, there's this humongous pile of perfectly good old wood there you could use for something." - Vicki Ziemer
"When I was a kid, and even when I had kids and they were growing up, we always spent a lot of time sitting on the ground. Now, with the tick situation... I actually think about it. [It] depends on where I am. Have I been there before? I don't really like it if people spray pesticides all over the place, but on the other hand, I don't really wanna sit with a bunch of ticks there either, so it's awful. Maine is so ideal in so many ways with the weather and everything, but you have to be a little bit afraid of a beautiful spot like that now." - Stephanie Mattsen
"This is out in the middle of a field where we used to run and romp and play off-leash, chase the smells, practice doggie behavior and all of that. And as I shared last week, that's not something I can do with him anymore. It's just not safe because of the ticks. And it was brought home to me again last night, we went for a run... and we didn't go very far.... [but] last night, I picked six ticks off of him and I picked a seventh off today that was embedded in him. And that's a dog who's been treated not to get ticks." - Linda Mosley
"This is my hummingbird feeder... Friends of ours, every year they planted these scarlet runner beans. They grow and have beautiful red flowers that the hummers love. It coincides with when they're here... then by the time winter comes, the pods have dried enough so you get the seeds. This year the hummers left before they even flowered, and I have no seeds yet." - Jean Greenough
"The variety of birds at my feeder is way less than it used to be. Even the number of birds are less and I've lived in New England a long, long time." - Linda Mosley
"You can't control everything, and we tend to think we'll just keep going to the grocery store and there'll always be food in it." - Stephanie Mattsen
"I gravitate toward nature. It's like what I think Doug talked about last week about the isolation piece. Not trying to isolate, trying to get out and actually being around nature and stuff. It helps me." - Kaitlyn Norwood
"We just leave it and now it's all overgrown and it's beautiful, and it's sort of like, to me, that's a way we should co-exist with the earth. But I wonder how long it's gonna be possible and what will happen." - Vicki Ziemer
About CHANGE
CHANGE is a climate change research project directed by Dr. Kati Corlew and is dedicated to reaching a better understanding of peoples' perceptions of climate change. Our research was conducted using a qualitative research method called PhotoVoice. PhotoVoice, is a method “by which people can identify, represent, and enhance their community”. (Wang & Burris, 1997, p. 369) Our participants met in focus groups to discuss the research topics, and then went out into their communities to take photographs according to their conceptualization, values, and priorities regarding the topic. They then selected photographs to present and discuss in a final focus group (Gleason & Corlew, 2019). By placing participants’ photos, stories, and conceptualizations at the center of the study, we hope to expand the exploratory nature of this research to include themes outside of current climate change conceptualizations. For more information, please visit our Main Page.