In the second of 2024’s Climate Change Series, we are thrilled to welcome Machias’ own Tora Johnson.

In your community, have you struggled to make connections, communicate, and get things done? In this time of hyper-polarization and rapid change, how can we effectively build strong communities and manage natural resources without getting derailed by conflict? Social science has identified an array of useful ways of solving complex problems when there are lots of conflicting voices. Tora will discuss insights from research about the role of hope, dignity and effective communication in such issues. She will present examples from her own work that show how practical, dignity-centered practices allow people to connect across barriers and get things done together, even when the stakes are high and tempers are hot.

Join us on Friday, June 21st at 6 pm at the University of Maine – Machias in Science 102 for this lively presentation and discussion!

Tora Johnson joined SCEC in January 2024 as co-director of the Sustainable Prosperity Initiative. A social scientist and geographer, Tora has a master’s degree in human ecology from College of the Atlantic and a PhD in human dimensions of natural resources from the University of Maine. Her work focuses on supporting resilience and economic development, sustainable fisheries, local and regional planning, and dignity-centered community engagement. Prior to joining the SCEC staff, Tora worked in academia, serving nearly 20 years on the faculty at the University of Maine at Machias where she is now a professor emeritus. She is an external graduate faculty member with the School of Forest Resources and an external faculty associate with the George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine. She is on several boards and committees focusing on community and environmental issues in Maine and the Downeast Region.

Before becoming a mom in 1996, Tora made a career of teaching and crewing aboard several of the large sailing vessels that ply the coast of New England, as well as commercial fishing in Alaska. Also a writer, Tora’s award-winning book, Entanglements: The Intertwined Fates of Whales and Fishermen, was released in 2005. She was the marine reporter for the Martha’s Vineyard Times from 1998 to 2000, and she published the Guide to Freshwater Animals without Backbones with Arlene De Strulle in 1997. She has collaborated with installation artists and sculptors on community-based and place-based installation art projects.

Tora lives in Machias with her husband, fisherman and fish monger Chris Mullen. She loves to hike and snowshoe with her two dogs on the region’s many trails, as well as messing about in boats.