Working through these letters as a family prompted us to discuss issues that are important to us...

You see, she believed that islands tap into survivalist powers that many people believe they have…

There’s something about the timeframe of 10 to 12 years. I’ve read that you can master something new in this amount of time—and ultimately, if you are brave enough, have four different careers in a lifetime.

Nonprofit organizations like the Island Institute are not exempt from the pressures of the bottom line. In fact, we are just as mindful of budgets as for-profit businesses because we are funded by finite sources—grants and donations—and can't count on an uptick in sales to provide a cushion.

An openness to learning from one another, and sharing what works and what doesn’t from place to place is critical.

The sale or loss of key community spaces can be a sign of a community at risk of losing itself.

As with timber and granite, we have learned that global connections based on a single commodity are tenuous at best…

Port Clyde fishermen developed a national model that has come to symbolize conscientious fishermen…

I lived for three years in Canada. Life there was a familiar, yet culturally distinct experience, and my lens for seeing what made Canada so different came from teaching cultural anthropology at York University in Toronto.