ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a talk, “Maine’s Rivers: Subsistence to Sewers to Sustainability over Five Centuries,” Monday, Oct. 23, at 3 p.m.

In this talk, Lloyd Irland will discuss a series of distinct periods in the history of Maine' rivers spanning five centuries, all while engaging in multiple sciences. He also will describe a fraught series of interactions between society and the rivers, often calling on images of a vanished “Golden Age.”

Irland has studied, written and taught about forests and water resources for decades. He came to Maine in the 1970s as the great program of cleanup was getting underway. He has not only written and read widely on the history of the state’s waters, but also participated occasionally as a state and local government official. Irland recently completed an assignment as a technical specialist for the Indian Forest Management Assessment Team as part of a nationwide review of Bureau of Indian Affairs stewardship issues in forests and forest management.

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

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth, 207.581.3196; 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: The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state's land grant, sea grant and space grant university, with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. UMaine is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation. UMaine Machias is located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation. As Maine's flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is the state's public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution. It attracts students from all 50 states and 86 countries. UMaine currently enrolls 11,571 undergraduate and graduate students, and UMaine Machias enrolls 763 undergraduates. Our students have opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research with world-class scholars. UMaine offers 77 bachelor's degrees and six undergraduate certificates, as well as more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn doctoral or master's degrees, professional master's degrees, and graduate certificates. UMaine Machias offers 18 associate and bachelor's degrees, and 14 undergraduate certificates. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide to conserve energy, recycle and adhere to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu and machias.edu.