The Island Campus

PORT CLYDE — The Port Clyde General Store will open this summer in leased space but hopes to be operating out of a new building at its former location come spring 2025. The St. George Planning Board heard a presentation Tuesday night Jan. 23 by Veronika Carlson, President of Linda Beans Co., about plans for…

ALLEN ISLAND — The tide is low, so the rockweed on the south end of Allen Island glints in the midafternoon sun. Margaret Staller climbs over the slick rocks, taking careful steps in her tall brown boots. She crouches over the tide pool and begins to count. Portland Press Herald.

In the fall of 2023, Professor Gary Green developed the course Nature Now, which he subsequently taught on Allen Island. The course was an experiment as an alternative way to teach beginning photography. The idea was to spend a little time in a somewhat confined place—an island—with a defined subject, nature as we see it…

Allen Island is now online within the Motus Wildlife Tracking system, an international collaborative network of researchers that use automated radio telemetry to simultaneously track hundreds of individuals of species of birds, bats, and insects. Allen Island becoming a member of the Motus will further aid organizations in their research surrounding the ecology and conservation…

Island Campus Fellows live and work on Allen Island for the summer.   Each fellow spends half time on a mentored research project. The other half of the job is supporting the Island Campus programming by greeting island visitors, serving as an educational resource, and helping to maintain the islands. This year we are delighted …

We are pleased to announce four Island Campus Summer Research Fellowships for 2023. Island Campus Fellows will work a minimum of 350 hours over the summer at a level III wage. Students will live on Allen Island while conducting independent research half time. The other half of the job is to support Island Campus programming…

The Island Campus Advisory Committee is pleased to release the Request for Proposals for 2023 programming on the Colby Island Campus. You can find the link to the form here and under the “Planning a Trip” section of our website. In order to deliver a fair and transparent proposal process we have an Island Campus…

First-Year Questbridge Student Trip A group of Questbridge students, Jay Talmadge, Ariana Chappell, Jacob Choi, Joann Torres, Jacob Ju, Kamryn Collins, Taylor Bailey, Alexis Wilkerson, Abdel Abdelsadig, Elisa Arteaga, Tony Onabolu, and their trip leader Misa Beltran-Guzman visited the Island Campus over Fall Break. The trip’s objective was to build community between first-year Questbridge students…

The Colby Achievement Program in the Sciences offers hands-on research experiences in biology, chemistry, environmental science, and other disciplines to incoming students who are underrepresented in the sciences. CAPS begins with a summer bridge program and continues with academic mentoring and social activities during the academic year. This summer, for the first time since the…

Betsy Wyeth spent almost 40 years transforming two desolate islands off Port Clyde into a wonderland of inspiration for her husband, the painter Andrew Wyeth. Now, with the islands acquired by Colby College last fall, their potential for educating and enlightening the public is endless.  Read more … By Murray Whyte Globe Staff,Updated August 4,…

Stacy Doore, professor of Computer Science, and her lab group – Allen Harper, Stephanie Rothenberg, Adaobi Nebuwa, Giang Pham, Michelle Phan, Andy Xu, Narit Trikasemsak, and Saki Imai – did a two-night stay on the island in late July to collect data for their Allen Island Digital Twin Project. Their project aims to create the…

We are pleased to announce we are now taking proposals to use the Colby Island Campus for the Academic Year 2022-2023! In order to deliver a fair and transparent proposal process, we have created an Island Campus programming committee that will review proposals to use the islands. The deadlines for proposals are as follows: Fall…

Problems in Chemical Analysis, CH452, spent the weekend of 4/23 exploring Allen Island.  This was our first program to use the Farmhouse and the newly renovated kitchen and living area.    For most students this was their first experience on the Colby Island Campus.   It was an opportunity for a course that focuses on…

Starting in the summer of 2022, Colby is significantly expanding programming on Allen and Benner Islands.  We are hiring four Colby students as research and programming docents for the summer of 2022.   Students will work a minimum of 350 hours over the summer at a wage of $13.75/hour.  Students will live on the islands…

From October 1st to October 3rd of 2021, the International Student Programs and First Gen Low Income Program (FLI) leaders went to Allen Island to prepair for the upcoming year. Both programs are part of Colby’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and are vital programs in helping international and first gen low income students…

On October 3rd, 2021, Professor Twining from Bigelow Labratories, brought his Intro to Ocean Science class to Allen Island. On the island, the class discussed the collection of wave and environmental data, the impacts of wave energy on island coasts and geological formations and ecosystems, and the history of the Maine coast and economic aspects…

At Colby, one of the great programs we have access to is the Sea Change Semester with Bigelow Labratories, a world renouned ocean science research center. Through this program, students at Colby have the opportunity to live on Bigelow’s campus, and take advantage of world class research in addition to their classes taught by incredible…

At Colby, there are many ways students are able to quench their academic curiosities. One example is the senior capstone projects. Senior Zack Dubosky, with faculty mentor Aleja Ortiz, went to Allen Island on Sept 26th, 2021 to work on his senior honors thesis.   

On September 19th, 2021, Colby hosted it’s 6th explore trip. The first of the academic year, this trip was opened to students, faculty and colby community family members. With a couple first years in attendance, it provided them a great way to meet faculty members and see the opportunities availible to them here at Colby.…

On September 11th, 2021, Colby hosted an Allen Island trip welcoming the newest CAPS members to Colby. For those who don’t know, CAPS is the Colby Achievement Program in Science, a program which aids and supports students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, and provides them with hands on research experiances and…

Unofficially I’ve heard that Allen Island COOT is the best COOT! Interim Director of Outdoor Education and Leadership SJ Tinker on Allen Island COOT COOT’s back! After a year long haitus due to Covid-19, the members of the class of 2025 were able to participate in the yearly welcoming tradition, COOT from Sept 3rd to…

On August 4th, the Colby Environmental Humanities Summer Event brought academics in the environmental humanities field from other institutions and from across the world, as well as members of the Colby community who work in the environmental humanities field. 

On July 22nd, Colby hosted it’s 5th explore trip. Like always, it was a beautiful day, but this time we had seals. Thats right, seals. What better way to spend your day?

The image above is Stacy Doore’s research group on Allen Island On July 13th, 2021, Colby hosted its fourth Allen Island Explore Trip for the summer of 2021. With 11 of the 14 people being from the same reserach group, it worked as a great bonding experiance for the research assistants to get to know…

On June 29th, Colby College hosted its 3rd Explore Trip for the Summer of 2021. With a high of 96˚, the boat ride and day by the sea provided a nice way to stay cool. Once again, we were left with a picturesque day, with the sun shining and barely a cloud in sight. Bringing…

On Thursday June 24th, Colby hosted its second Allen Island Explore Trip of 2021. With barely a cloud in the sky, the group was able to see Allen Island at its peak. Like the previous trip, we found the trip was as much about getting to know each other as it was about getting to…

On June 19th Colby College hosted its first explore trip for the summer of 2021. After successfully completing the 2020-2021 academic year despite all the restrictions and hardship COVID has placed on us all, it was a great time for members of the Colby community to get together and celebrate each other. This is especially…

In early September, I took students from my course CI245: Documentary Production out to Allen Island for a chance to develop their shooting skills. I asked students to tell a visual narrative about the island in 2-3 minutes. Students researched the island ahead of time, watched videos about the island, and read several articles about…

Participants—Cathy Bevier, Renner Thomas, and Curtis Zhuang  This was my first trip to the island for 2018, and I enjoyed scouting for frogs with summer research assistants, Renner and Curtis. We were amazed by all the new lambs jumping around the terrain of the north end compound! Our day trip was successful even though it…

Professor Isabel Quintana Wulf – On April 20-21 I had the pleasure of bringing students from my EN398 Space and Place in Contemporary Native American Literatureclass to Allen Island. The course focuses on understanding the importance of “space” (abstract concept denoting a geographical area) and “place” (a space that is tied to the history and…

On October 20, Professor Tanya Sheehan and her Art and Maine class, AR347, visited with Jamie and Phylis Wyeth in Tenants Harbor to view three generations of Wyeth art.  After the visit, the class departed Port Clyde for Allen Island where they spent the night.  Allen Island was purchased and developed by Betsy Wyeth and…

Date— 17 October 2017 Participants— Cathy Bevier, Louis Bevier, Kaimyn O’Neill, Kate O’Halloran It was a spectacular autumn day with a cloudless sky and plenty of “effective” sunshine. As we approached the island, Louis spotted flocks of migratory songbirds, mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers, staging for the next leg of their trip south. So he went to…

GE335 Visit to Allen Island Our GE335 (Geologic Field Methods) spent the weekend of September 29–October 1 on Allen Island. The group consisted of: Associate Professor Walter A. (Bill) Sullivan, Alyson Churchill (’18), Kaci Kus, (’18), Patt Lamom (’18J), David Miller (’19), and Zena Robert (’18). Assistant Professor Bess Koffman also joined the group on…

On the weekend of September 23rd, I took my CI245: Documentary Production course out to Allen Island. I asked the students ahead of time to research the island and to map out an outline for a visual narrative. They had to tell a story about the island in three minutes or less and it had…

Two faculty and eleven students spent the second weekend in September on Allen Island.   Our trip focused on climate changes research (mostly fixing and calibrating sensors).  We also made some time for walking the island and discussing recent papers on surface ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Maine.   Enjoy a few photographs of…

On August 30, Professor David Angelini made a solo survey of Allen Island looking bumblebees. He found 59 individuals of 5 species, all north of the ponds in the middle of the island. The species of our greatest interest, Bombus borealis made up about 20% of the bees, down from being the overwhelming majority of…

A visit is worth a thousand words.    On August 2, 2017  Whitney King, Mandy Grant, Nicole Denier, Carol Hurney, Justin Becknell, Laura Seay, Stacey Sheriff, Ghana Gherwash, and Kara Kugelmeyer spent the day visiting the Herring Gut Learning Center and Allen Island.  The warm summer air over the cool ocean water created a fog…

18 July 2017 Participants— Cathy Bevier, Bonje Obua, Kimlie Heng Brief Description:We spent a quiet foggy day on the island completing several tasks. First, we reviewed data files from recordings made since April, focusing on the periods the sound recorders were placed at the ponds where we sampled green frogs. We made a game plan…

The Thursday, July 13, over sixty people from Colby, the Herring Gut Alternative Learning Center, and the Up-East foundation hosted members of the Maine press to a celebration of the Colby-Herring Gut-Up East educational collaboration.   Attached are some of the press postings: Colby College students using islands as a classroom.  Story by Rob Caldwell On…

Two students in Erin Murphy’s  CI245, Documentary Production: An Editor’s Perspective have had their work accepted by film festivals! Jessica Lyon’s edit of the “Lobstermen of Maine” screened at the MDOCS Student Film Festival at Skidmore College in early June.  Jessica edited and submitted the video. The footage was shot by Erin Murphy  and Palmer…

Dates: June 19-21, 2017 Participants— From Colby: Cathy Bevier, Bonje Obua, Corin Balan From Unity College: Cheryl Frederick, Matt Chatfield, Greg LeClair, Rachel Bidek Brief Description: Our focus was to complete “official” sampling of adult male green frogs from three ponds on Allen Island for the amphibian health project. We sampled each frog’s skin using cotton…

June 7, 2017 David Angelini, Fini Just and James Gonzalez. We postponed our original plan to visit Allen Island the previous day, when even Jake Ward, the Archangel’s captain agreed the weather was terrible. The weather on this visit could only be described as gorgeous.   Our goal was to survey bumblebee diversity. Islands often harbor…

Date Start—May 31, 2017 Date End—June 2, 2017 Participants— Colby: Cathy and Louis Bevier, Bonje Obua, Corin Balan Unity College: Cheryl Frederick, Tom Aversa, Greg LeClair, Rachel Bidek Brief Description:   Our first research trip of 2017 for the Colby College/Unity College Amphibian Health project was a success; we are feeling confident about our sampling design…

Participants—Cathy and Louis Bevier It was finally a warm sunny day, with a southerly wind encouraging migrating birds to the island. We expected and experienced an increase in bird diversity both in life and through vocalizations captured on the sound meters. Louis continues to post his bird lists on ebird.org (see below) where he reports…

Allen Island Trip report for 3 May 2017 Participants—Cathy and Louis Bevier Our goals for the trip were to retrieve recordings from the two sound meters I deployed last week and to observe changes in animal activity, primarily for birds as they engage in spring migration. We were successful in both, and I am currently…

Colby College and the Up East Foundation have recently approved four projects for Allen Island during the summer of 2017.    Metagenomics of a bumblebee refugium Dave Angelini, Department of Biology, Colby College Project summary: Bumblebees are important pollinators in natural and agricultural settings, but these iconic and charismatic insects are experiencing population declines in Maine…

Adam Howard, Colby Education Program Every January Term, around twenty-five Colby students in the Education Program complete a practicum at schools near and far, a requirement for majors and minor in education. During the practicum, students serve as assistant teachers, tutor students, work with students individually, observe professional teachers, and prepare and present lesson plans…

It was a beautiful January day on Allen Island and we took advantage of the mild weather to install a repaired weather station.   We are using a NexSense data logger with a cellular modem to access weather and water column data in real time.  Live Weather Data   The new Luft 7-series sensor package…

Friday evening the students in CI245 and AM266 presented their final semester projects to fellow students, faculty, and friends.  Use the links below to learn more about these amazing class projects. CI245 Documentary Production: A Editor’s Perspective was a course offered during the Fall of 2016 at Colby College. A documentary comes to life in the editing room.…

This Saturday Colby Trustee Sandy Buck, Sissy Buck, and a group of Colby facuty met Philip Conkling, Peter Ralston, Buzz  Bullock, and Herring Gut Board Chair Peter Harris for a trip to Allen Island and the Herring Gut School.  Phillip and Peter were the principal island architects that helped Betsy Wyeth transform an uninhabited and over grown…

http://www.colby.edu/news/2016/10/27/maine-as-a-laboratory-new-partnerships-bring-colby-students-and-faculty-to-allen-island-herring-gut-learning-center/

Allen Island is located in the middle of Muscongus Bay, one of the most productive lobster fisheries in Maine.   This project is installing state-of-the-art climate monitoring equipment to monitor air temperature, wind, rain, and humidity above the dock and salinity, and water temperature in the Allen Island – Benner Island channel. We left Colby…

CI245: Documentary Production “If an island setting allows one to leave concerns and worries behind on the mainland, it frees up time and space in the mind to be spent otherwise: pondering questions, reading, writing, or creating works of art.”   Zoë Dickerson ’19 In Documentary Production students learn how to shoot and edit documentary films.…

Cultural Geography of Allen Island The Cultural Geography of Allen Island is a digital humanities project, seeded in an American Studies course of the same name (AM226). Nine members of the project team visited the island to do geographical fieldwork—walking the island, taking photographs, and conducting landscape analyses. The group included seven student researchers (Namita…

Seven Colby students, participating in the Colby-at-Bigelow fall semester program, spent two days on Allen Island learning field methods and conducting surveys. The students collected a nighttime zooplankton sample to characterize the zooplankton community in the passage between Allen Island and Benner Island. They deployed a plankton net with a strobe light, and identified the…

Climate Change Research: Eight Colby researchers installed climate monitoring hardware on the Allen Island docks.  We began work on Friday afternoon on the rising tide installing pipe behind the dock to hold temperature, carbon dioxide, and salinity sensors.  Muscongus Bay is one of the most productive lobster fisheries on the coast of Maine.  The water…

Another great day on Allen Island – except for the hoards of flies.  During this trip we planned for four fall semester programs and began the long term planning for 2017 and beyond.           8/16/2016 Participants Visitor   Project Department Whitney King Climate Chemistry Sergio Madrigal Climate Chemistry Brenda Fekete Climate…

Great first day on the island.  Lots of logistics discussion and meeting with Island Staff, Philip Conkling, and Phyllis Wyeth.  Finished the day with a trip to Herring Gut and meetings with Erin Meyer, Nancy Baker, and Peter Harris. Visitor List: King Whitney Chemistry Sullivan Bill Geology Bruesewitz Denise Environmental Science Murphy Erin Cinima Studies…