ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a talk titled “From Home, to Homestead, to Woodlot, to Park: Nature-Based Recreation as a Contemporary Link Between Society and the Natural Environment” on Monday, March 18, at 3 p.m.

Nature interaction plays crucial roles in human health and well-being and emotion. The time people spend outdoors, however, has diminished due to new cultural and technological trends and changes in methods of production. Once central to daily livelihood, interaction with nature is, for many, now limited to recreation and leisure activities.

In this talk, Charlie Howe, from Butler Conservation, describes the development of new nature-based recreation facilities, considering how siting, design and program activities can help connect people with the natural environment and create memorable outdoor experiences.

Howe is a design professional with 15 years of experience in ecological assessment, mapping and landscape design. In 2017, he joined Butler Conservation, a charitable foundation that develops large parks focused on family-friendly outdoor recreation. Butler Conservation operates two new large-scale parks in Maine, Penobscot River Trails and the Cobscook Shores Park System, and owns/collaborates on six other parks in New York, South Carolina, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. In addition to public visitation, these parks host 20,000 students per year for guided outdoor recreation including, hiking, biking, kayaking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talks series are free and are offered both remotely via Zoom and in person at 107 Norman Smith Hall on the UMaine campus in Orono.

Registration is required to attend remotely; to register and receive connection information, see the event webpage.

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth, 207.581.3196 or hallsworth@maine.edu.

About the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions: The Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine aspires to be a leader and valued partner in understanding and solving problems related to the growing challenge of improving human well-being while protecting the environment. We collaborate with diverse stakeholders and bring together faculty and students from many different fields. By connecting knowledge with action, we seek to create a brighter environmental, social and economic future in and beyond Maine.

About the University of Maine: As Maine’s only public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution, the University of Maine advances learning and discovery through excellence and innovation. Founded in 1865 in Orono, UMaine is the state’s land, sea and space grant university with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. Our students come from all over the world and work with faculty conducting fieldwork around the globe — from the North Atlantic to the Antarctic. Located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation with UMaine Machias located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation, UMaine’s statewide mission is to foster an environment that creates tomorrow’s leaders. As the state’s flagship institution, UMaine offers nearly 200 degree programs through which students can earn bachelor’s, master’s, professional master’s and doctoral degrees as well as graduate certificates. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu/about/quick-facts/ and machias.edu/about-umm/umm-facts/.