Embedded Files
Project Director Dr. Kati Corlew was joined by five participants at the Skidompha Public Library on November 9 and 16, 2019. The participants, Edward Hogdgon, Melanie Hodgdon, Christy Joyce, Jonathon Gold, and Eileen Lewandowski come from different backgrounds. Some worked as physicans, others as educators, and others as parents. Their experiences allowed them to come together to discuss a common concern, climate change. In their discussions, several themes arose, including the effect of unintended consequences, the changing landscape, community action, and possible shortages and lacks that could result if no action is taken.
"I'm very hopeful that this is the first time since I've ever studied [climate change], which was back in the 70's, we have actually gotten close to the point of doing something, which is extremely exciting." -Edward Hodgdon
"Everything has a consequence, you just don't know what it's going to be. But it does not mean it should paralyze you." - Christy Joyce
"Maybe it shows you that try as we will as individuals, really, most of the solution to environmental degradation has to be at a much higher level." - Jonathon Gold
"Basically, there's so many angry people. I mean, we've all expressed anger. Myself, I use the word rage, and frustration, and a fervent desire to do something without a clear outlet for how to do that. I want to do something. I want somebody to tell me, 'Do this.'" - Melanie Hodgdon
"I have the same feelings of hopelessness, frustration, and regret that nothing is being done and disappoint in our leaders who are in denial. I feel it is such a broad problem. The only thing that does make me feel hopeful is the youth, who really do seem to be stepping up and taking charge." - Eileen Lewandowski
The Photos
The Photos
Photo by Christy Joyce
"I think there's things to do. This shows you can do something on a local level that is high impact." - Christy Joyce
"We, as individuals, are spoiled rotten. We expect to see fresh fruit in the middle of the winter. When I come into the fall and I could gather up on apples, which are a good source of fruit, I would say to myself, well, I could get mandarin oranges, I could get zucchinis, I could get God knows whatever I want, if I'm willing to pay for it." - Edward Hodgdon
Photo by Christy Joyce
Photo by Eileen Lewandowski
"It's just food on a plate, but to me, it was indicative, [of], as the conversation has already delineated, the problem that plenty of our food is sourced elsewhere. I see that, with climate change, there's a potential for the delivery of food to be disrupted, as I think we all agree, but also just the growing. The seasons are changed, the water is not always there, it's not such an abundant resource, and I think that food insecurity could definitely be one of the outcomes of climate change." - Eileen Lewandowski
"The bats in Maine and actually all around it have been eradicated by a new fungal infection... called white-nose disease. It's a fungal infection that goes through bat hibernating areas and wipes them out. Now how does that relate to climate crisis or climate change? ...My hunch is that something has happened. Like the humidity has changed. Like the temperatures in these caves have changed. This allows this fungus which wasn't there before." - Jonathon Gold
Photo by Jonathon Gold
Photo by Eileen Lewandowski
"I thought [this] was going to be another victim of climate change. That fresh water - as the oceans rise, there's going to be more salt water that kind of gets into aquifers and wells. There's going to be large populations of people displaced. I guess it just feeds into my common theory that it seems like an extraordinarily large problem that the resources will be far, far less. I'm really concerned about clean, drinkable water for people that'll continue to inhabit this planet." - Eileen Lewandowski
"They're concerned about it being flooded now that the - and you had said last week that the projections about global warming and tide rising, not only will the parking lot be flooded but... it will go down to Main Street. So it's here and I guess people are planning already to - well, I don't know what they're planning to do. Either to build a wall, which will be one thing, or just to abandon this parking lot." - Jonathon Gold
Photo by Jonathon Gold
Photo by Eileen Lewandowski
"This is another one of my spots that I just love to go to to walk on a nice sandy beach. Because there's not snow and ice in the winter. There [is] typically still open sand. There's no ticks. There's often times not even that many people. But they're just like a wonderful refuge, all year long, to go to, and to avoid a lot of the insect life that plagues me otherwise. But I realize that with climate change, that of course, the beaches will be less accessible. They'll be under water. This will no longer exist in years to come. And future generations won't see it. Additionally, it made me think of how fragile the ocean is. I mean, how powerful, of course. But how fragile, [including] the ecosystems that live there." - Eileen Lewandowski
"I used to plan on the last frost up to about Memorial Day in the spring, and the first frost to be September 30th. That was for the last 40 years. And now we're at November 10th before we finally got hit at our house. And again, we have been at our house for 39 years. It's not like, oh, well you're living in a different spot. No, we've been there for 39 years. And November 10th, it's definitely - the seasons are shifting." - Melanie Hodgdon
Photo by Melanie Hodgdon
Photo by Edward Hodgdon
"Th[is] was after a heavy rain... it just pulled it right up. So we have several trees in our immediate area that are subject to that type of stuff... It's not so much the wind, which is a major problem. It's the higher winds and the rain. When you go out and look at these things, the ground is absolutely saturated, and it's saturated down for several inches. So it doesn't need even as big a wind to take them down. - Edward Hodgdon
"Given the high winds that we've been having lately, we're concerned not just with power outages because some other tree fell on a line, but we are concerned now about the large trees closest to the house falling on the house." - Melanie Hodgdon
Photo by Melanie Hodgdon
Photos by Edward Hodgdon
"We were shocked and saddened by what we saw - or rather didn't see. Here we were trekking through the Costa Rican rainforest, expecting to be chewed alive by insect and seeing many, many birds. It wasn't so. We were in a wildlife preserve for 7 hours, never saw an insect... and saw only a handful of birds." - Melanie Hodgdon
Photo by Melanie Hodgdon
"I just can't enjoy myself. I used to go out and lay in the hammock or sit in a chair and read all afternoon. We have a lovely stone bench near the pond behind our house. [I] used to go out there and sit. All of these chairs are empty because I just - it's not worth it to me for the risk." - Melanie Hodgdon
"There's also the flag and when this flag blows out, it's practically in the middle of the road. It's five times as big as any of the cars and it raises issues of what does it mean about America's - what does it mean to be an American, these days? How can you be proud of being a country that's doing the things that it's doing right now? It’s rolled in climate change." - Jonathon Gold
Photo by Jonathon Gold
About CHANGE
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.
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