About Roque Island
The Roque Island Homestead was created in 1940. Roque Island Homestead is committed to finding and improving working solutions that balance the unique needs of island living with the long-term preservation of our fragile and unique ecosystem. Our mission is to preserve and protect Roque Island and its surrounding islands.
Roque Island Homestead works with communities, scientists, and educational institutions in the surrounding area to advance understanding of Downeast ecosystems and historic communities.
The island and its beaches are private property, and are not open to the public. For inquiries, please email us at RIH@RoqueIsland.com.
Members, please login using the Members Login button above.
A Brief History of Roque Island
The earliest inhabitants of Roque Island were Passamaquoddy Indians. Seasonally, they would arrive in canoes and establish temporary camps along the sheltered coves to dig for clams, gather berries and hunt seals. Though the area was explored by Samuel de Champlain in the 17th Century, white settlers did not appear in any great numbers to the Jonesport region until after the Treaty of Paris (1763). There were several intermittent settlers on Roque Island in the 1760’s and ’70’s, but it was not until 1788 that Roque Island passed in deed to a group of eleven Boston and Salem (MA) merchants who purchased a vast tract of land (Township XXII) primarily for timber (for shipbuilding) which included the island. In 1806, Joseph Peabody (1757-1844), a successful maritime merchant from Salem, acquired a half-interest of Roque Island, and in 1814, Peabody acquired full title of the island. In order to support the shipbuilding endeavor, the island was farmed, animals were raised for food, and an infrastructure was built, including a tidal dam which took advantage of both incoming and outgoing tides and supported a saw mill and a grist mill. Several ships were built on Roque Island in this period.
Joseph Peabody died in 1844, and the shipyard activities ceased at his death. Ownership of the island passed to his descendants through his daughter, Catherine, wife of John Lowell Gardner of Boston (1804 – 1883), and the island became a family retreat, especially during summer months. One family member was Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924), art patron and founder of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. In 1940, a Homestead Corporation (Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation) was formed under Maine law to perpetuate the family stewardship of the island. Today, there are over 100 members of the corporation. The corporation is run by a board of trustees, and the island is managed by a manager and a staff. The farm at Roque Island is the oldest continuously operating salt water farm in Maine.
Our Environmental Philosophy
Roque Island is a place favored by scientists because of the pristine nature of its environment, ongoing active conservation program and records of previous natural science studies. Roque Island has a unique and fragile ecosystem that we endeavor to study and protect. We have made longstanding efforts to encourage scientific inquiry.
Many scientists, experts, students and consultants who have visited Roque Island since 1980 are listed below by year. The results of their studies have been made available to the public through the visiting institutions or in published articles.
To this end, The Eastern Conservation Initiative (EMCI) was created in 1996 to help further study in these areas in Downeast Maine.
Visiting Scientists
1980
Dr. Ronald Davis. Paleoecologist; sampled the old growth forest adjacent to the Ice House as part of his PhD thesis.
1981
Stewart Fefer. Former Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gulf of Maine Program and Dr. Craig Ferris, regional director of Ducks Unlimited; conducted shorebird counts on Great Beach and surrounding islands.
1985
Roger Pasquier. Ornithologist and Conservation Strategist with the Environmental Defense Fund – Bird Life, formerly with National Audubon Society and the Smithsonian Institute; studied birds on Roque Island and conceived the conservation plan for Roque Island.
Dr. Malcolm L Hunter. Libra Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology at the University of Maine in Orono; assessed old-growth forests and birds on Roque Island.
1986
. James Hall. Large Mammal Wildlife Biologist, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Machias.
Charlie Todd. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s State Bald Eagle Biologist and Endangered Species Biologist; surveyed Bald Eagle populations in the Roque Island Archipelago for over 35 years.
1988 to Present
Norman Famous and Marcia Spencer Famous. Spencer-Famous Environmental Consultants; compiled the flora, including bryophytes, and fauna of the Roque Island Archipelago.
1989
Annette Naegel. Director of Ecological Services, Island Institute.
1990
Professor Dr. David Sanger. University of Maine at Orono Archaeology Department; sampled Native American shell heaps on Roque Island, Great Spruce Island, Little Spruce Island and Lakeman’s Island.
1991
Harry (Hank) R. Tyler. Director of Maine State Critical Areas Program; evaluated designated Critical Areas sites and looked for rare plants formerly collected on Roque Island.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Richard G. Dearborn. Entomologist with the University of Maine in Orono; surveyed disease-causing insects introduced from Nova Scotia that affect in spruce forests.
1992
Joerg-Henner Lotze. Director, Humboldt Field Research Institute.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Margaret (Maggie) Anderson. Wildlife Biologist and Refuge Manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge; endorsed and co-funded the Neotropical migrant bird population monitoring study conducted in the Roque Island Archipelago and along the coasts of Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.
Marcia Spencer-Famous. Bryologist; conducted a 3-year survey of mosses and liverworts on Roque Island, which was published as ‘A Bryophytes Checklist of Roque Island, Maine’ in the first issue of the peer-reviewed Maine Naturalist.
1992-1996
Norman C. Famous. Field Ornithologist and Botanist; initiated a 5-year bird population monitoring study of Neotropical migrant landbird use of coastal headlands and islands, including the Roque Island Archipelago, during the nesting season and fall migration in eastern Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.
1993
Dr. Harold Nilsson. Hydro-geologist; conducted a study on water resources on Roque Island.
Diane Pence. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Non-game Migratory Bird Biologist for Region 5 (Northeast); co-funded the Neotropical migrant bird population monitoring study conducted on islands, including the Roque Island Archipelago, and the coasts of eastern Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.
Prof. Dr. Alan Lewis. Botanist at the University of Maine in Machias, Environmental Sciences Department; searched for and collected rare plants in the Roque Island Archipelago and other outer islands in Machias Bay to publish in the scientific journal Rhodora.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
1994
Dr. Cathy Johnson. University of Maine doctoral student; island biodiversity.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
Dr. Gail McCollough. Consultant on harbor seals; conducted seasonal harbor seal surveys of the archipelago and prepared a report on seasonal harbor seal use in the Roque Island Archipelago.
Prof. Dr. Dean Bennett. University of Maine in Farmington; studied a 300 plus year- old stand of red spruce next to the Ice House for a book on the landscapes of New England.
1995
Prof. Dr. David A. Brooks, University of Texas, Department of Oceanography; conducted a tide study.
Cate Cronin. Maine Island Trail Association.
Dr. Christopher Peterson. College of the Atlantic; mapped intertidal communities around Roque Island.
1996
Dr. Constance Stubbs. Lichenologist with the University of Maine in Orono; monitored lichen health and the effects of climate change on red spruce.
Dr. Molly Schauffler. Paleoecologist with the Climate Institute and doctoral student at the University of Maine in Orono; conducted and published the results of a radio carbon-dated paleoecological study of 6,000+ year old spruce forests on Roque Island and other locations.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Brian Beal. Marine Biologist with the University of Maine in Machias; studied shell growth and survival of juvenile soft shell clams.
1996-2002
John Brokaw. Avian biologist, Point Rays Bird Observatory; directed the ‘Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship’ (MAPS); (currently Regional field-work Director and Office Director with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Mary Burke, Avian Biologist, Point Rays Bird Observatory and Assistant director, of the bird- banding stations on Roque Island and four other coastal sites. (currently North Coast Project Manager at California Trout)
1997
Dr. Kimberly Sebold. Doctoral student at the University of Maine in Orono; conducted a salt marsh study.
Dr. Charles Lubelzyyk. Maine Medical Center Research Institute; conducted a bird-tick monitoring study that included ticks collected at the five MAPS bird banding stations.
Dr. Norton Miller. Bryologist and New York State Botanist; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Prof. Dr. Richard Homola. Mycologist at the University of Maine in Orono; conducted a mycological study (mushrooms).
Dr. Carter Newell. Marine Biologist and doctoral student; studied tidal currents and particle flux due to vertical mixing and settling in Englishman’s Bay.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute’s seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
1998
Dr. Amr Ismail. Former professor at the University of Maine in Orono and Maine Wild Blueberry Company executive.
Gina Purtell. Research assistant at the University of Maine in Orono’s Holt Forest, and graduate student at the University of Maine in Orono.
David Turcotte. Soil Scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; mapped soils and collected data for a published study.
2001
Matt Largess. Largess Forestry, Arborist; studied the beech forest on Roque Island.
Dr. Carter Newell. Doctoral student; conducted a study in Roque Island Harbor and Shorey Cove.
Christy Leppanen Finlayson. Graduate student; studied aquatic insects on Roque Island.
2003
David Garcelon. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; report on land management.
Matt Largess. Largess Forestry, Arborist; conducted a study of the beech forest on Roque Island.
Dr. Harold Borns. Glacial Geologist with the Climate Institute at the University of Maine in Orono; a study of Roque Island’s geology.
Benjamin Hooks. University of Maine in Orono graduate student; conducted a study of Roque Island’s geology.
2005
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute’s seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
2008
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University, England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
2009
Arthur Gilman. Botanist and author of ‘The New Flora of Vermont’ (NY Botanical Garden); studied ferns and other vascular plants on Roque Island.
Dr. Ray Gerber. Biologist and Professor Emeritus at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine; examined Great Spruce Island’s petroglyphs.
Donald Scotoma. Passamaquoddy Indian Nation’s Tribal Historian and Tribal Archeologist; visited Great Spruce Island to examine petroglyphs on Great Spruce Island.
Joerg-Henner Lotze. Director Humboldt Field Research Institute.
2010
Prof. Dr. Gerry Zegers. Entomologist at the University of Maine in Augusta.
2011
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University, England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
Dr. Irwin Brodo. Lichenologist and Emeritus Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect and study crustose lichens that adhere to hard surfaces in the beech forest, meadows and on rock outcrops on Roque Island.
Chris Federico. Cartographer, student at the University of Maine in Machias; conducted a 2-day survey to collect Roque Island insects.
Dr. Fenja Brodo. Entomologist and Research Associate with the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa to study and collect rare crane flies in preparation for a scientific journal article.
2012
Bud Warren, Bob Goddin. Tide Mill Institute
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
2013
Steve Silva. Lichenologist and Old-growth forest ecologist from the University of Maine in Fort Kent, with Bruno Hicks, Lichenologist also from the University of Maine in Fort Kent; collected and studied calicioid or stick-lichens in the Old-growth forest behind the Ice house on Roque Island where a calicioid lichen species new to North America had been discovered.
Marilee Lovit, sedge specialist and Arthur Gilman, Botanist and author of ‘The New Flora of Vermont’ (NY Botanical Garden); Collected and identified rare sedges on Marsh Island and Roque Island.
2014
Dr. William R. Buck. Pleurocarpous moss taxonomist and ecologist, Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany at the New York Botanical Gardens; conducted an Eagle Hill seminar on collecting and identifying Pleurocarpous mosses.
Dr. Stephen Clayden. Lichenologist; Curator of Botany, New Brunswick Museum and Dr. Seven Selva lichenologist and Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Maine in Fort Kent; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar collecting and studying calicioid or ‘stick lichens’ from old growth forests on Roque Island.
Ann Mills and Sue Williams. Eagle Hill Institute to collect mosses and liverworts.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University, England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
Dr. Alison Dibble. U.S. Forest Service and University of Maine in Orono, and Dr. Francis Drummond, University of Maine in Orono; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect and study native bees as pollinators.
Donald Avery. Botanist from a Vermont arboretum; with Norman Famous to search of a new cultivar of dwarf white spruce.
Steve Bushey. Cartographer, digitalized Roque Island trails, shorelines andwetlands, and developed areas to create a digital map of Roque Island.
2015
Dr. Alison Dibble. U.S. Forest Service and University of Maine in Orono, and Dr. Francis Drummond, University of Maine in Orono; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect and study native bees as pollinators.
Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley. Marine Scientist, Senior Research Associate at Cornell University, Academic Coordinator for the Shoals Marine Laboratory and co-founder of ‘The Rockweed Collation’; examined harvested and unharvested rockweed beds on Roque and surrounding islands.
2016
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Lichen Ecologist and Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University in England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology to collect and study foliose and fruticose lichens for a scientific journal article.
Dr. Irwin Brodo. Lichenologist, with 20 students from Eagle Hill Institute; collected and studied crustose lichens adhering to hard surfaces in the beech forest, meadows and on rock outcrops on Roque Island.
Dr. Alison Dibble, Dr. Francis Drummond and Dr. Sara Bushmann. University of Maine in Orono; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect small and large bees in various areas in preparation for a scientific journal article on native bees of Roque Island.
2017
September 25. Deirdre Whitehead, Maine Coast Heritage Trust Regional Steward for Washington County, visited the island for an exchange of views and potential for collaboration.
2018
10 and 12 June – William Hutcheson. Breeding bird survey ornothologist.
13 June – Louis Bevier. Maine Audubon. To verify rare bird sighting.
11 July – Sara Bushmann, George Stevens Academy, Blue Hill with a study tram from Eagle Hill to study Wild Bee Populations of Maine Islands.
2019
2 May – Tracy McMullin n Canadaina Museum of Nature and Steven Selva Perf. Bilogy Emeritus, UMaine. Lichens and Lichen ecology with an Eagle Hill study team of eleven.
About Roque Island
Roque Island Homestead was created in 1940. Roque Island Homestead is committed to finding and improving working solutions that balance the unique needs of island living with the long-term preservation of our fragile and unique ecosystem. Our mission is to preserve and protect Roque Island and its surrounding islands.
Roque Island Homestead works with communities, scientists, and educational institutions in the surrounding area to advance understanding of Downeast ecosystems and historic communities.
The island and its beaches are private property, and are not open to the public. For inquiries, please email us at RIH@RoqueIsland.com.
A Brief History of Roque Island
The earliest inhabitants of Roque Island were Passamaquoddy Indians. Seasonally, they would arrive in canoes and establish temporary camps along the sheltered coves to dig for clams, gather berries and hunt seals. Though the area was explored by Samuel de Champlain in the 17th Century, white settlers did not appear in any great numbers to the Jonesport region until after the Treaty of Paris (1763). There were several intermittent settlers on Roque Island in the 1760’s and ’70’s, but it was not until 1788 that Roque Island passed in deed to a group of eleven Boston and Salem (MA) merchants who purchased a vast tract of land (Township XXII) primarily for timber (for shipbuilding) which included the island. In 1806, Joseph Peabody (1757-1844), a successful maritime merchant from Salem, acquired a half-interest of Roque Island, and in 1814, Peabody acquired full title of the island. In order to support the shipbuilding endeavor, the island was farmed, animals were raised for food, and an infrastructure was built, including a tidal dam which took advantage of both incoming and outgoing tides and supported a saw mill and a grist mill. Several ships were built on Roque Island in this period.
Joseph Peabody died in 1844, and the shipyard activities ceased at his death. Ownership of the island passed to his descendants through his daughter, Catherine, wife of John Lowell Gardner of Boston (1804 – 1883), and the island became a family retreat, especially during summer months. One family member was Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924), art patron and founder of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. In 1940, a Homestead Corporation (Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation) was formed under Maine law to perpetuate the family stewardship of the island. Today, there are over 100 members of the corporation. The corporation is run by a board of trustees, and the island is managed by a manager and a staff. The farm at Roque Island is the oldest continuously operating salt water farm in Maine.
Our Environmental Philosophy
Roque Island is a place favored by scientists because of the pristine nature of its environment, ongoing active conservation program and records of previous natural science studies. Roque Island has a unique and fragile ecosystem that we endeavor to study and protect. We have made longstanding efforts to encourage scientific inquiry.
Many scientists, experts, students and consultants who have visited Roque Island since 1980 are listed below by year. The results of their studies have been made available to the public through the visiting institutions or in published articles.
To this end, The Eastern Conservation Initiative (EMCI) was created in 1996 to help further study in these areas in Downeast Maine.
Visiting Scientists
1980
Dr. Ronald Davis. Paleoecologist; sampled the old growth forest adjacent to the Ice House as part of his PhD thesis.
1981
Stewart Fefer. Former Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gulf of Maine Program and Dr. Craig Ferris, regional director of Ducks Unlimited; conducted shorebird counts on Great Beach and surrounding islands.
1985
Roger Pasquier. Ornithologist and Conservation Strategist with the Environmental Defense Fund – Bird Life, formerly with National Audubon Society and the Smithsonian Institute; studied birds on Roque Island and conceived the conservation plan for Roque Island.
Dr. Malcolm L Hunter. Libra Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology at the University of Maine in Orono; assessed old-growth forests and birds on Roque Island.
1986
. James Hall. Large Mammal Wildlife Biologist, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Machias.
Charlie Todd. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s State Bald Eagle Biologist and Endangered Species Biologist; surveyed Bald Eagle populations in the Roque Island Archipelago for over 35 years.
1988 to Present
Norman Famous and Marcia Spencer Famous. Spencer-Famous Environmental Consultants; compiled the flora, including bryophytes, and fauna of the Roque Island Archipelago.
1989
Annette Naegel. Director of Ecological Services, Island Institute.
1990
Professor Dr. David Sanger. University of Maine at Orono Archaeology Department; sampled Native American shell heaps on Roque Island, Great Spruce Island, Little Spruce Island and Lakeman’s Island.
1991
Harry (Hank) R. Tyler. Director of Maine State Critical Areas Program; evaluated designated Critical Areas sites and looked for rare plants formerly collected on Roque Island.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Richard G. Dearborn. Entomologist with the University of Maine in Orono; surveyed disease-causing insects introduced from Nova Scotia that affect in spruce forests.
1992
Joerg-Henner Lotze. Director, Humboldt Field Research Institute.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Margaret (Maggie) Anderson. Wildlife Biologist and Refuge Manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge; endorsed and co-funded the Neotropical migrant bird population monitoring study conducted in the Roque Island Archipelago and along the coasts of Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.
Marcia Spencer-Famous. Bryologist; conducted a 3-year survey of mosses and liverworts on Roque Island, which was published as ‘A Bryophytes Checklist of Roque Island, Maine’ in the first issue of the peer-reviewed Maine Naturalist.
1992-1996
Norman C. Famous. Field Ornithologist and Botanist; initiated a 5-year bird population monitoring study of Neotropical migrant landbird use of coastal headlands and islands, including the Roque Island Archipelago, during the nesting season and fall migration in eastern Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.
1993
Dr. Harold Nilsson. Hydro-geologist; conducted a study on water resources on Roque Island.
Diane Pence. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Non-game Migratory Bird Biologist for Region 5 (Northeast); co-funded the Neotropical migrant bird population monitoring study conducted on islands, including the Roque Island Archipelago, and the coasts of eastern Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.
Prof. Dr. Alan Lewis. Botanist at the University of Maine in Machias, Environmental Sciences Department; searched for and collected rare plants in the Roque Island Archipelago and other outer islands in Machias Bay to publish in the scientific journal Rhodora.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
1994
Dr. Cathy Johnson. University of Maine doctoral student; island biodiversity.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
Dr. Gail McCollough. Consultant on harbor seals; conducted seasonal harbor seal surveys of the archipelago and prepared a report on seasonal harbor seal use in the Roque Island Archipelago.
Prof. Dr. Dean Bennett. University of Maine in Farmington; studied a 300 plus year- old stand of red spruce next to the Ice House for a book on the landscapes of New England.
1995
Prof. Dr. David A. Brooks, University of Texas, Department of Oceanography; conducted a tide study.
Cate Cronin. Maine Island Trail Association.
Dr. Christopher Peterson. College of the Atlantic; mapped intertidal communities around Roque Island.
1996
Dr. Constance Stubbs. Lichenologist with the University of Maine in Orono; monitored lichen health and the effects of climate change on red spruce.
Dr. Molly Schauffler. Paleoecologist with the Climate Institute and doctoral student at the University of Maine in Orono; conducted and published the results of a radio carbon-dated paleoecological study of 6,000+ year old spruce forests on Roque Island and other locations.
Prof. Dr. Howard Crum. Bryologist and Director of the University of Michigan’s Bryophyte Herbarium; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Dr. Brian Beal. Marine Biologist with the University of Maine in Machias; studied shell growth and survival of juvenile soft shell clams.
1996-2002
John Brokaw. Avian biologist, Point Rays Bird Observatory; directed the ‘Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship’ (MAPS); (currently Regional field-work Director and Office Director with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Mary Burke, Avian Biologist, Point Rays Bird Observatory and Assistant director, of the bird- banding stations on Roque Island and four other coastal sites. (currently North Coast Project Manager at California Trout)
1997
Dr. Kimberly Sebold. Doctoral student at the University of Maine in Orono; conducted a salt marsh study.
Dr. Charles Lubelzyyk. Maine Medical Center Research Institute; conducted a bird-tick monitoring study that included ticks collected at the five MAPS bird banding stations.
Dr. Norton Miller. Bryologist and New York State Botanist; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on bryophyte identification and ecology.
Prof. Dr. Richard Homola. Mycologist at the University of Maine in Orono; conducted a mycological study (mushrooms).
Dr. Carter Newell. Marine Biologist and doctoral student; studied tidal currents and particle flux due to vertical mixing and settling in Englishman’s Bay.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute’s seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
1998
Dr. Amr Ismail. Former professor at the University of Maine in Orono and Maine Wild Blueberry Company executive.
Gina Purtell. Research assistant at the University of Maine in Orono’s Holt Forest, and graduate student at the University of Maine in Orono.
David Turcotte. Soil Scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; mapped soils and collected data for a published study.
2001
Matt Largess. Largess Forestry, Arborist; studied the beech forest on Roque Island.
Dr. Carter Newell. Doctoral student; conducted a study in Roque Island Harbor and Shorey Cove.
Christy Leppanen Finlayson. Graduate student; studied aquatic insects on Roque Island.
2003
David Garcelon. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; report on land management.
Matt Largess. Largess Forestry, Arborist; conducted a study of the beech forest on Roque Island.
Dr. Harold Borns. Glacial Geologist with the Climate Institute at the University of Maine in Orono; a study of Roque Island’s geology.
Benjamin Hooks. University of Maine in Orono graduate student; conducted a study of Roque Island’s geology.
2005
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute’s seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
2008
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University, England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
2009
Arthur Gilman. Botanist and author of ‘The New Flora of Vermont’ (NY Botanical Garden); studied ferns and other vascular plants on Roque Island.
Dr. Ray Gerber. Biologist and Professor Emeritus at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine; examined Great Spruce Island’s petroglyphs.
Donald Scotoma. Passamaquoddy Indian Nation’s Tribal Historian and Tribal Archeologist; visited Great Spruce Island to examine petroglyphs on Great Spruce Island.
Joerg-Henner Lotze. Director Humboldt Field Research Institute.
2010
Prof. Dr. Gerry Zegers. Entomologist at the University of Maine in Augusta.
2011
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University, England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
Dr. Irwin Brodo. Lichenologist and Emeritus Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect and study crustose lichens that adhere to hard surfaces in the beech forest, meadows and on rock outcrops on Roque Island.
Chris Federico. Cartographer, student at the University of Maine in Machias; conducted a 2-day survey to collect Roque Island insects.
Dr. Fenja Brodo. Entomologist and Research Associate with the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa to study and collect rare crane flies in preparation for a scientific journal article.
2012
Bud Warren, Bob Goddin. Tide Mill Institute
Dr. Judy Markowski. Director of Fields Pond Nature Center, Maine Audubon Society; conducted a waterbird survey of the Roque Island Archipelago.
2013
Steve Silva. Lichenologist and Old-growth forest ecologist from the University of Maine in Fort Kent, with Bruno Hicks, Lichenologist also from the University of Maine in Fort Kent; collected and studied calicioid or stick-lichens in the Old-growth forest behind the Ice house on Roque Island where a calicioid lichen species new to North America had been discovered.
Marilee Lovit, sedge specialist and Arthur Gilman, Botanist and author of ‘The New Flora of Vermont’ (NY Botanical Garden); Collected and identified rare sedges on Marsh Island and Roque Island.
2014
Dr. William R. Buck. Pleurocarpous moss taxonomist and ecologist, Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany at the New York Botanical Gardens; conducted an Eagle Hill seminar on collecting and identifying Pleurocarpous mosses.
Dr. Stephen Clayden. Lichenologist; Curator of Botany, New Brunswick Museum and Dr. Seven Selva lichenologist and Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Maine in Fort Kent; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar collecting and studying calicioid or ‘stick lichens’ from old growth forests on Roque Island.
Ann Mills and Sue Williams. Eagle Hill Institute to collect mosses and liverworts.
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University, England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology.
Dr. Alison Dibble. U.S. Forest Service and University of Maine in Orono, and Dr. Francis Drummond, University of Maine in Orono; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect and study native bees as pollinators.
Donald Avery. Botanist from a Vermont arboretum; with Norman Famous to search of a new cultivar of dwarf white spruce.
Steve Bushey. Cartographer, digitalized Roque Island trails, shorelines andwetlands, and developed areas to create a digital map of Roque Island.
2015
Dr. Alison Dibble. U.S. Forest Service and University of Maine in Orono, and Dr. Francis Drummond, University of Maine in Orono; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect and study native bees as pollinators.
Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley. Marine Scientist, Senior Research Associate at Cornell University, Academic Coordinator for the Shoals Marine Laboratory and co-founder of ‘The Rockweed Collation’; examined harvested and unharvested rockweed beds on Roque and surrounding islands.
2016
Prof. Dr. David Richardson. Lichen Ecologist and Dean Emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Dr. Mark Seaward, Lichen Ecologist and Professor of Environmental Biology at Bradford University in England; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar on lichen identification and ecology to collect and study foliose and fruticose lichens for a scientific journal article.
Dr. Irwin Brodo. Lichenologist, with 20 students from Eagle Hill Institute; collected and studied crustose lichens adhering to hard surfaces in the beech forest, meadows and on rock outcrops on Roque Island.
Dr. Alison Dibble, Dr. Francis Drummond and Dr. Sara Bushmann. University of Maine in Orono; conducted an Eagle Hill Institute seminar to collect small and large bees in various areas in preparation for a scientific journal article on native bees of Roque Island.
2017
September 25. Deirdre Whitehead, Maine Coast Heritage Trust Regional Steward for Washington County, visited the island for an exchange of views and potential for collaboration.
2018
10 and 12 June – William Hutcheson. Breeding bird survey ornothologist.
13 June – Louis Bevier. Maine Audubon. To verify rare bird sighting.
11 July – Sara Bushmann, George Stevens Academy, Blue Hill with a study tram from Eagle Hill to study Wild Bee Populations of Maine Islands.
2019
2 May – Tracy McMullin n Canadaina Museum of Nature and Steven Selva Perf. Bilogy Emeritus, UMaine. Lichens and Lichen ecology with an Eagle Hill study team of eleven.