2021 Members
Deborah Paredes – Maine Campus Compact
Deborah is a half-time member serving with Maine Campus Compact in Orono and the Greater Bangor Area. Deb is a recent graduate from the University of Maine, Orono majoring in Biology with an Environmental Science minor. They are excited to lead a Window Dressers window build among other projects to serve underprivileged members in the community, along with educating others about Sustainability and Energy Efficiency and in their free time Deb likes to hike and explore Maine!
Grace Bukowski-Thall – Maine Campus Compact
Grace is a half-time member serving with Maine Campus Compact. Her primary project is helping Window Dressers recruit low-income families in the Portland area to receive free insulating window inserts. Grace also manages the MEAP website and social media. Grace is a recent graduate from Bowdoin College where she majored in Biology and minored in German. In her free time, Grace can be found taking long walks with her dog, Truffles.
Colleen Hendricks – Maine Campus Compact
Colleen is from Wiscasset, ME and is serving with Maine Campus Compact. She will primarily be serving in the Wiscasset area during her term of service. In her off time, Colleen likes to hike and kayak.
Phoebe Little – Grow Smart Maine
Phoebe is a half-time member serving with Grow Smart Maine. She’s a recent graduate of Smith College and a current Master’s student at Maine College of Art. She’s currently researching the spread and effectiveness of LED light bulb recycling programs in the hopes of creating better incentive programs in the future. She’s excited to be back in Maine serving with MEAP and making positive environmental change in her home state.
Hiromi Mizu – Kennebunkport Climate Initiative
Hiromi is a full-time member partnered with the Kennebunkport Climate Initiative where he serves as an active part of the southern Maine community. Through his work with both organizations he is working to educate and empower youth to take action in the Climate Crisis, as well as serve low income Mainers save money with their home energy.
Grace Sherman – Grow Smart Maine
Grace is a full-time member serving with Grow Smart Maine. Grace is from Rhode Island and is a recent graduate from Wheaton College in Norton, MA with a degree in Biology. During her time at Wheaton, she developed a passion for environmental and conservation science. She is looking forward to connecting with members of the community to make positive changes that will benefit not only the community members but the environment as well.
Amanda Whitten – Maine Campus Compact
Amanda is a halftime member serving with the Maine Campus Compact. She recently graduated from UMaine Farmington with a degree in Environmental Anthropology. Amanda’s self designed degree is meant to create a better understanding of environmental interactions and stewardship. In her free time she connects with her friends through hiking, camping and online gaming.
2019 – 2020 Members
Margret Dean – Unity College
Margaret is serving as the Energy Efficiency Coordinator at Unity College. She graduated from Keene State in 2018 with a degree in Architecture with a focus on building science and sustainability. This is her second year as a AmeriCorps Member, serving her first year with City Year New Hampshire. Margaret is a fierce idealist who believes through education, collaboration, and hands-on experience we can make the world a more sustainable place for generations to come.
Elissa Kane – Saint Joseph’s College
Elissa is the AmeriCorps energy efficiency coordinator hosted at Saint Joseph’s College for the 2019-2020 year. She is a recent graduate of the University of New England earning her degrees in environmental studies and business administration. Nurturing meaningful partnerships with the campus and the surrounding community is a large part of Elissa’s service year. Through energy efficiency education Elissa hopes to change the habits and behaviors of students, faculty, staff, and community members.
Paige Dahlke – Maine Campus Compact
Paige Dahlke is serving her first year with the Maine Partnership for Environmental Stewardship, an AmeriCorps program, as an Energy Efficiency Coordinator at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Campus. She graduated from St. Olaf College in 2018 with a degree in Environmental Film-making and is very passionate about the power of film to communicate the urgency of climate change in an accessible way. In her position in MPES, Paige is focused on increasing energy efficiency and cost savings for economically disadvantaged populations in the community and on campus by hosting environmental education events, conducting free home energy consultations, and connecting people with energy conservation resources in an effort to work towards a more energy efficient Maine.
Molly Agrimson – York Community Service Association
Molly is serving as an energy efficiency coordinator in the city of York. During her year of service with AmeriCorps, she will be working within the community to increase energy efficiency, inform and educate about green job opportunities, facilitate green certification audits, and conduct window inserts for low income households. She is a recent graduate of Oregon State University with a degree in environmental sociology. Throughout college, Molly held a lead position at the university’s club and nonprofit, Corvallis Clean. In addition, she worked as a nature education intern at Corvallis Environmental Center.
Erin Ferrell – University of Maine
Erin Ferrell is a 2019 graduate of the University of Dayton in Ohio. She has a B.S. in Environmental Biology with a minor in Sustainability, Energy, and the Environment. Erin discovered her love for nature and environmental systems while taking ecology classes in college and while working as an Education Assistant at a botanical garden near her hometown. Since discovering her passion for the environment, Erin has focused on raising awareness of climate change in communities. Erin’s role with AmeriCorps involves helping low-income community members winterize their homes while educating the community and the University of Maine campus about the importance of energy efficiency.
Kyle Byrnes
Kyle Byrnes is the energy efficiency coordinator for the St. George and Rockland community area. Kyle graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Major in Biology as well as a certificate in the Integrated Studies of Science, Engineering, and Society (ISSuES for short). Kyle is excited to help make a difference with low-income community members and students via, educational opportunities and increasing energy efficiency for Maine Housing via inserts and energy checks.
2018-2019 Members
Kristine Corey – Maine Campus Compact
Kristine Corey is committed to a year of service with AmeriCorps as an Energy Efficiency Coordinator for The Maine Partnership for Environmental Stewardship based on the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn Campus. Through campus/community partnerships, she is focused on increasing energy efficiency and cost savings for economically disadvantaged populations by hosting environmental education events, conducting free home energy consultations and connecting people with energy conservation resources.
Heather Craig – Saint Joseph’s College
Heather Craig works with Saint Joseph’s College students/faculty/staff and surrounding Standish community to form collaborative partnerships surrounding energy efficiency education. Her focus is educating low income students and community members on how to make behavioral changes to increase energy efficiency and mitigate climate change.
Casey Hess – Unity College
As energy Efficiency Coordinator at host site Unity College, Casey is working to engage students and community members in rural Maine. She will continue the work of the previous coordinator, continuing energy efficiency education measures and green certification projects, maintaining support networks, and gathering new partnerships in working toward energy efficiency.
Johanna Holman – Husson University
Johanna is the MPES energy efficiency coordinator at Husson University. She works to increase education on personal energy efficiency and sustainability both in the community and on campus, through collaborative events and campaigns. She also participates in and helps organizing “window builds” focused on decreasing heating costs in low income households.
Christine Seibert – University of Maine
Christine Seibert serves as UMaine Orono’s AmeriCorps Energy Efficiency Coordinator. She recently earned a degree from Gordon College (Massachusetts) in Biology with a double minor of Environmental Outreach and Sustainable Development. She first discovered her love for science education in high school while volunteering at an aquarium in Massachusetts. During college, this passion was refined to focus on environmental issues, particularly climate change. Christine’s role with AmeriCorps includes helping low-income families winterize their homes, leading environmental educational events, and performing home and office energy assessments She strives to raise awareness of climate change and the ways that everyone can get involved. Christine hopes to one day combine her passions for tangible environmental action and student mentorship as a Sustainability Coordinator at a college or university.
Leah Soloway – University of Southern Maine
Leah is serving as the AmeriCorps Energy Efficiency Coordinator for the University of Southern Maine in Portland/Gorham. In 2018, Leah graduated from the University of New England doubling majoring in Business Administration and Environmental Studies. Her interests include community development, ecological economics, and sustainable business. Her research interests include studying the relationship between the environment, climate, and society. She has previously interned with an environmental nonprofit and worked on a crowdfunding campaign for solar energy. During her AmeriCorps year of service, she is most excited for meeting community members, working towards a cause that she believes in, and learning more about the energy field.
