MIDCOAST MAINE COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Midcoast Maine Community Partners
Bath Community Partners
Rod Melanson
Director of Sustainability & Environment, City of Bath
Rod Melanson is the Director of Sustainability & Environment for the City of Bath, Maine. He was appointed to the position in 2022, transitioning from his previous work at the Topsham Planning Office where he focused on natural resource planning.
Melanson holds educational credentials in forestry, recreation & park management, and an MS in community/ urban planning. In his current role, he leads Bath’s climate and resilience efforts, including the development of the Resilient Bath Climate Action & Resiliency Plan, community engagement, and infrastructure strategies to adapt to climate impacts like flooding and storm surges. He is active in coordinating municipal projects aimed at energy efficiency, sustainable practices, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and emphasizes public involvement in shaping Bath’s climate initiatives. When not planning for a better future, Rod grows oysters on the Damariscotta River as Co-Owner of Heron Island Oyster Company.
Jenn Curtis
Director of Planning, City of Bath
Jenn began as Bath’s Director of Planning in 2023 after working in Bowdoinham in the same role and with previous planning experience at the Town of Windham. She earned a master’s degree in public policy and management at the Muskie School at the University for Southern Maine, based in Portland.
Debora Keller
Executive Director, Bath Housing
Debora Keller has been with Bath Housing since January 2014. She is a community development leader in Maine with 30 years of experience in non-profit management. She holds a Masters Degree from Tufts University in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University. She received the 2016 Stephen B. Mooers award from MaineHousing in recognition of the creation of Comfortably Home. She was the 2010 recipient of the Joseph Kreisler Community Impact Award from Preble Street for her work developing Florence House in Portland.
At Bath Housing, Deb created Comfortably Home, a home modification program designed to offer no-cost home safety checks, minor maintenance repairs, and accessibility enhancements to eligible homeowners. These services enable recipients to continue living safely and comfortably at home. This program created a progressive solution for aging homeowners and housing authorities—as well as the community at large—by establishing a model to address the housing and wellness issues of a growing segment of Maine residents. The model is now replicated throughout Maine and nationally through HUD’s Older Adult Home Modification Program. Keller is a National Association of Home Builder Certified Aging in Place specialist and completed the Home Modification certificate program through the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence at the University of Southern California Leanard Davis School of Gerontololgy.
Keller currently serves on — and Chairs — the City of Bath’s Housing Committee . She is Chair of the Maine Association of Public Housing Authority Directors (MAPHD). She served on the boards of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition for nine years (as Chair from 2017-2019), the Genesis Fund board of directors from 2014 – 2020, and MaineHousing’s 2015 Affordable Housing Working Group. She was on the RSU1 Facilities Committee and the Building Committee for the new Morse High School. She co-chaired the Maine Council on Aging’s Housing Committee in 2018.
Debora worked at Avesta Housing from 2004 to 2013, serving as Director of Programs. In that role, she oversaw Avesta’s programmatic efforts, including unprecedented real estate portfolio growth from 2007 to 2013 with 21 affordable multi-family construction projects that created 649 new apartments. She also oversaw Avesta’s assisted living facility, Housing Choice Voucher program, and the launch of the new HomeOwnership Center.
Prior to joining Avesta, Deb served as Associate Director of the Genesis Fund, a Maine-based Community Development Financial Institution providing loans to nonprofit organizations. At Genesis, Deb managed the organization’s $3.0 million loan portfolio and was responsible for marketing, underwriting, monitoring, and servicing for all lending activity. She has extensive past work experience with non-profit community development organizations around the country. Deb started her affordable housing career as a VISTA Volunteer in Iowa where she created a security deposit loan program for low income clients and a breakfast café for the homeless.
Galen Koch
Audio Producer + Sound Artist
Galen Koch is an audio producer, educator, and sound artist based in Portland, Maine. After studying at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Koch worked as a freelance journalist. She has written and produced stories for BBC World Service, NPR’s Morning Edition, The New York Times, and various nationally-syndicated podcasts. Koch has worked on oral history projects for the Smithsonian (a collection of interviews from adults living with Hemophilia), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and, in 2017, she founded the community storytelling project, The First Coast, to document the lives of coastal Maine residents.
In her position as the Coastal Community Engagement Lead + Researcher at College of the Atlantic, Koch teaches Sound Studies Practicum and audio storytelling courses. She also co-leads the Mapping Ocean Stories project, produces the Island Institute’s podcast “From the Sea Up,” and creates audio exhibits and immersive sound installations in rural Maine fishing towns. In 2021, she founded Maine Sound + Story, an online database of Maine oral histories and stories. She has interviewed over 200 coastal Maine residents for Maine Sound + Story, and has worked with local historical societies and community development organizations to create meaningful exhibits and immersive audio experiences for Maine residents.
Marc Meyers
City Manager, City of Bath
Marc has been Bath’s City Manager since 2021 after serving as interim manager. Prior to serving as manager, he was Bath’s assistant city manager and before that, he was hired as a community relations coordinator in 2012.
Misty Parker
Director of Economic and Community Development, City of Bath
Seth Parker
Director of Real Estate Development, Bath Housing
Prior to joining Bath Housing in March 2024, Seth was a Vice President of Development at Silver Street. He has over 25 years of experience across multiple disciplines of the real estate development process. Previously, Seth led Avesta Housing’s real estate development team, overseeing $125 million in total development costs and the creation or rehabilitation of more than 700 affordable apartments.
Lucy Perkins
Director of Climate Resilience, Siler Climate Consulting
Lucy joined the Siler Climate Consulting team in January 2025 as the Director of Climate Resilience. Based in South Portland, Maine, Lucy approaches her work by drawing on leadership skills and capacities of the adaptive mind; she responds with humility, resilience, and resolve to constant change, uncertainty, and systemic challenges. Lucy is committed to catalyzing community-driven planning processes by nurturing authentic relationships; leaning upon a combination of technical, cultural, social, and emotional competencies; and integrating reflections upon positionality into her practice.
Trained as an urban planner and coastal management specialist, she began her career in local government. Within the City of South Portland’s Sustainability Office, Lucy assumed the role of generalist, bringing together teams of subject matter experts in buildings and energy use, waste reduction, land use, and hazard mitigation to right-size the design and implementation of sustainability programs and policies. After pursuing her graduate studies in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, Lucy received a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fellowship to apply meaningful democratic and empowered community engagement principles to the field of coastal resource management and policy in New Hampshire. Following the Fellowship, Lucy worked for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program and led a team of adaptation practitioners supporting residents in low-wealth and climate-vulnerable neighborhoods as they move toward preparedness planning for their futures. She currently volunteers her time through the Climigration Network and Sorrento Maine Climate Resilience Committee and maintains membership as part of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and the National Association of Climate Resilience Planners.
Paul Perkins
Co-Chair, Bath Climate Action Committee
Paul’s early years were spent in the country north of Boston, followed by attendance at Harvard College and Tufts Medical School. However, inspired by the writings of Helen and Scott Nearing and by the environmental movement of the 1970’s, he soon abandoned his medical studies, and moved to Maine where he adopted a lifestyle of “voluntary simplicity” for the next 15 years. He worked as a carpenter building environmentally conscious homes, but the green building movement was not yet in vogue and income was a challenge, so Paul eventually returned to medicine and set up a private practice in psychiatry for the next 24 years. He has felt a long-term passion for addressing climate change which prompted him to help facilitate Bath’s first climate action plan in 2008. After that effort, Paul moved on to volunteer with Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and over the past 5 years with Bath’s Climate Action Commission. He takes heart in the many knowledgeable voices saying humanity already has the solutions to climate change, we just need to amass the collective will to implement them. In the words of Jane Goodall on taking environmental action, “if you see a light at the end of the tunnel, you don’t wait for it to come to you”.
John Zittel
Co-Chair, Bath Climate Action Committee
Born in Oklahoma, John migrated north and east in search of the ocean, doing undergraduate work in Engineering Science at the Pennsylvania State University followed by graduate studies in Ocean Engineering in the Joint Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where his research revolved around field work at an ice camp in the Arctic.
John spent over forty years both leading open ocean experiments and guiding ocean science for the U.S. Navy; doing stints with The Johns Hopkins University, in Federal service, and as a private consultant.
Now retired, he follows his interests in climate change, history of technology, science policy, the Arctic, art, and theater; currently he is researching Andrew Carnegie and his libraries. He also volunteers for the Patten Free Library, is on the Board of the Maine Maritime Museum, and is a co-chair of the City of Bath Climate Action Commission. A resident of Bath ME since 2005, he happily rows, paddles, or sails anything that gets him out on the water.
John is the author of over 60 publications and sponsored technical reports and is a recipient of the Navy’s Superior Civilian Service Award. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; the Society of Sigma Xi; Tau Beta Pi; and Phi Kappa Phi.
Monique Coombs
Director of Community Programs, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
Monique oversees MCFA's marine programs and fishing community engagement. Currently, she is working closely with commercial fishermen to develop ways to protect, persevere, and revitalize Maine's working waterfronts.
Matt Gilley
Captain, F/V Catherine G and Selectman, Town of Harpswell
Brandon Hall
Programs Director, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust
Brandon grew up on a beef cattle farm in North Carolina. From a young age, he was involved with 4-H programs and summer camps which sent him down a lifelong path of camp and environmental programs. He received his degrees in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management (PRTM) at North Carolina State and East Carolina Universities. After several years of working in the industry, he moved overseas to teach at a South Korean middle school. Upon returning to the U.S., Brandon and his wife settled in Portland where he founded and ran a global education non-profit until joining the team at HHLT. Brandon has a passion for programming, and he is excited to focus his joy and creativity on HHLT programs.
From rock climbing to reading a good book under a tree, Brandon loves recreating outdoors during his free time.
Harpswell Community Partners
Jamie Hark
Senior Landscape Designer & Project Manager, VIEWSHED
Jamie has a background in private and public sector landscape design, planning, environmental science and cartography. Living in Harpswell, he is committed to serving Maine communities of all shapes and sizes. As a landscape designer he has played a vital role in all aspects of project design and management, from comprehensive planning and schematic design through construction administration. He is committed to creating landscapes that build on historic and cultural legacies, support healthy biodiversity, and work for the communities of the future. Jamie is specifically passionate about supporting coastal adaptation and resilience efforts as we grapple with the effects of climate change. In his spare time, Jamie is a hand drawn map-maker, aerial photographer, and active participant in Harpswell’s Land Trust and Conservation Commission. You’ll find him exploring the diverse landscapes of Maine by foot, ski, bike or kayak.
Harpswell Aging At Home
L-R: Co-Chairs Bill Snellings and Lili Ott
Founded in July 2015, Harpswell Aging at Home (HAH) is a grassroots community organization created, supported, and led by volunteers from all over Harpswell. We are focused on providing free or nominal cost initiatives that help older adults thrive while aging in their homes. Our goal is connecting those that could use a hand with the various services that are available through HAH or by other community based organizations.
Margaret McIntire
Town Planner, Town of Harpswell
Margaret McIntire is a lifelong resident of Orrs Island. She holds a degree in Community and International Development from the University of Vermont. Margaret was recently appointed as the Harpswell Town Planner, where she leads development reviews and strives to improve land use policy.
Mary Ann Nahf
Chair, Harpswell Conservation Commission
Mary Ann has been a Maine resident for 25 years and a member of the Harpswell Conservation Commission for almost as long. She has also served as a Trustee for the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust for almost 20 years.
Holly Parker
Director, Schiller Coastal Studies Center, Bowdoin College
In July 2022, Holly was named director of the Schiller Coastal Studies Center at Bowdoin College. In addition to her oversight of this marine science field station, Holly is growing the Center’s programs to include the local community, regional and global partners in interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development.
In an education career that has spanned almost 25 years and the secondary school, higher education, corporate, and non-profit environments, Holly has consistently sought to create accessible pathways for all learners so that they might identify their passions and activate their strengths. Her passion for understanding how education can and must play a role in developing a sustainability literate and engaged citizenry is powered by her time spent in the maritime industry and a lifetime on, in and near the ocean. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.Ed. from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Maine.
Regional Partners
Curtis Bohlen
Director, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP)
Curtis Bohlen is an aquatic and wetland biologist with an interdisciplinary background in ecology, economics, and public policy. Bohlen currently leads the work of CBEP: to seek creative solutions to environmental challenges, support local communities, and improve management of Casco Bay. In recent years, the organization has expanded efforts to assist communities to understand and to prepare for impacts of a climate change. Bohlen has worked as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill, for environmental advocacy organizations, as an environmental consultant, and on the faculty of Bates and Colby Colleges. He holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford and a PhD from Cornell.
Tim Blair
Co-Chair, Bike and Pedestrian Committee
With more than three decades of experience in information technology, data management, and communications, Tim has worked with foundations, human service agencies, educational institutions, and leading environmental organizations across New England. His career spans roles in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors, including a decade leading Digital Goat Consulting Services, a firm he founded to help nonprofits strengthen their online presence and data systems.
As the founder and lead strategist of Blair Nonprofit Advisors, Tim serves as a trusted partner to small and mid-sized nonprofit organizations, guiding them through complex technology and data initiatives while fostering collaboration, learning, and organizational wellness. A certified teacher of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Tim integrates mindfulness principles into his consulting approach, helping teams build more sustainable, compassionate, and effective workplaces.
Beyond his consulting practice, Tim is deeply engaged in his community. He co-chairs the Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transportation Committee for the City of Bath, Maine, where he advocates for safe, sustainable transportation and pedestrian mobility. His volunteer work reflects a lifelong commitment to mindful living, environmental stewardship, and community well-being.
Municipal Climate Action Program Team at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute
L to R: Sienna Zuco, Climate Services Project Manager; Steph Sun, Climate Engagement Specialist; Gayle Bowness, Senior Program Manager
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) develops and delivers collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges. We are dedicated to the resilience of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. The Municipal Climate Action Program engages and collaborates with coastal communities, combining local knowledge and expertise with scientific data, to envision and build a climate-resilient and thriving future. We value:
Deep, empathetic, and authentic community engagement grounded in trust
Meaningful youth participation in community climate planning
Connections and cooperative collaborations with local organizations
Scientific data and the research process
Equity, which we prioritize in all our efforts
GMRI’s Municipal Climate Action Program is small, yet mighty! It includes Gayle Bowness (Senior Program Manager), Steph Sun (Climate Engagement Specialist), and Sienna Zuco (Climate Services Project Manager). The MCAP team has worked with over 30 coastal communities in Maine, co-developing and delivering programming across climate literacy, community science, climate planning, framework development, and capacity building.