Michael Cripps presents at Maine Water & Sustainability Conference

Michael J. Cripps, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of English, presented at the 2014 Maine Water & Sustainability Conference on April 1, 2014, sponsored by the Senator George J. Mitchell Center and Maine's Sustainability Solutions Initiative and held at the Augusta Civic Center.

Cripps's paper, "Digital Humanities and Sustainability Science: An Archival Project for the Saco River Estuary," shared with attendees the ways the humanities are bringing science, historical archives, and community involvement together through a digital archive and exhibit focused on the history, uses, and biodiversity of the Saco River.  Cripps appeared on a panel titled, "Sustainability and the Humanities: Connecting with Language, Art, and Performance for Enhanced Sustainability."

Cripps's presentation illustrated one way that science and humanities collaborations on digital archives and collections can open access to information relevant to sustainability efforts. He discussed a cross-disciplinary digital collection project begun in 2013 by undergraduates in an English course on the digital humanities.

By combining scientific data on species health and diversity on the estuary, public educational initiatives that involve community stakeholders in sustainability efforts, and historical archival photos, maps, and documents relevant to the Saco River estuary, this web-accessible collection has the potential to broaden visitors' understanding of the ongoing importance of the estuary by exposing them to both the rich history and current beauty of the area.

Portions of the work reported in Cripps's presentation were funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR).

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