© 2025 Citizen Artist
Citizen Artist™ at Shortridge Coastal Center, Phippsburg, Maine - June 22-26
When: June 22-26, 2025. Sunday 2 pm – Thursday 11 am
Where: Shortridge Coastal Center, Phippsburg, Maine
Audience: K-12 educators, future teachers-students at any level, environmental educators, STEM/STEAM practitioners and educators, students from any discipline, anyone interested in 'other ways of knowing', or non-conventional approaches to a scientific investigation or practice.
Cost: $475 early bird rate ends May 2. Registration at $525 rate starts May 3.
Registration link: REGISTER HERE. **
What is included: 4 nights/3-full days of instruction, meals, lodging/accommodations, workshop materials. 25 contact hours for teachers.
Not included: Bedding, towels/toiletries, snacks. Transportation to Shortridge Coastal Center.
Location: Shortridge Coastal Center is near the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, with coastal beaches, salt marshes, freshwater lakes and ponds, and coastal forests. Shortridge Costal Center is about 1 hour drive north of Portland, ME.
** When registering, teachers may choose the "invoice option", whereby the school sends a purchase order and the Eventbrite fee is dropped.
Your instructor: Dr. Lee Ann Woolery, Founder and Research Director at Citizen Artist™
Your host: Rebecca Clark Uchenna, Director for Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area and Shortridge Coastal Center
Description of the Workshop:
-4-day in-person, hands-on, experiential workshop to include instruction in non-conventional research methodologies to study changes in ecological systems with a focus on coastal issues.
-Small group size, only 14 participants.
-Participants will learn field-based participatory research methods to address critical ecological-social issues such as sea level rise, coastal flooding and beach erosion.
-Accommodations and meals are included. Workshop materials provided.
-Activity level (participants will be outside in the elements each day, engaging in multiple research protocols, walking, bending, some night walks; there may be mud, rain, tides.)
-Contrary to the name - art-based perceptual ecology, there is no need for art experience or art skills to attend the workshop or to practice ABPE.
-View full workshop itinerary HERE.
Participants will receive:
-Training in Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methods, to include tools and skills needed to conduct field-based participatory research for investigating eco-social issues.
-Training in field-based participatory research practices with a multispecies community and discussion on approaches to decolonizing research.
-Information on ABPE’s historical, theoretical, and methodological foundations.
-Training in how to work in tandem with conventional Western science methods, Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Ecological Knowledge systems.
-Discussion on ABPE’s application to real world issues.
-Teachers may receive up two 25 contact hours toward professional development.
-Content from the workshop will be available to participants for 1-month after the workshop ends on a shared online platform.
Description of research methodology taught: Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methods . . .
-are transdisciplinary research methods that embrace holistic, integrative and inclusive approaches to research, honoring other ways of knowing and investigating differently.
-are investigative processes and tools, bringing a new perspective and new insight to a research study.
-are grounded in multimodal knowledge systems, sensory-based learning and framed within ecological and biological principles.
-are built on the pillars of place-based meaning making, storytelling, and the use of multiple forms of representation and languages such as visual, metaphoric, and symbolic.
-yield broader participation in science, leading to transformative change on a personal, community and planetary level.
Learn more about Art-Based Perceptual Ecology research methods HERE.
"The data created/collected when engaged in the Art-Based Perceptual Ecology methods, provides context and frames of reference for the researcher and deepens her understanding of the ecological issue being investigated. The place-based making process offers a springboard for new insights and questions to arise that had not been considered previously because the information was not yet available. In this ABPE process, the data do not offer finality, but rather a turn in the conversation that often leads to more questions than answers." (Woolery 2006)
For more information about the 'Citizen Artist™Coastal Issues' workshop fill out/send
this FORM with your questions and contact information.
In the 1990’s, with a focus on divergent ways of knowing, Dr. Lee Ann Woolery developed the Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methods, a transdisciplinary and integrative research approach for tackling complex environmental-social challenges. Dr. Woolery holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England and a MAAT from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Citizen Artist™ is the business platform developed by Dr. Woolery which provides educational programming, training in transdisciplinary and participatory research methods and consultation on non-conventional investigations of critical eco-social issues. At Citizen Artist™ - we work from the premise that . . . “We are ALL citizens of the Earth, responsible for the care and conservation of our shared home.” Learn more HERE.
Rebecca Clark Uchenna manages the 600-acre conserved area of Bates-Morse Mountain and the 80-acres of Shortridge Coastal Center. In addition, she develops and implements place-based environmental education programming for diverse audiences and engages with Bates students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader community to increase environmental awareness and conservation practices. Clark Uchenna holds an M.S. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England and a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology with a minor in Secondary Education from the University of Maine. Learn more HERE.
Shortridge Coastal Center has traditionally been used as a field station for visiting researchers who are conducting research on the Sprague River Salt Marsh and coastal forests located within Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area (BMMCA). Shortridge itself is a large building that can comfortably accommodate 25 - 30 day guests and 15 overnight guests (shared bedrooms, bunk beds). Shortridge is located on 80 acres of forested and wetland areas, conveniently located close to BMMCA, Seawall Beach and Popham State Park. The new vision is for Shortridge to become a hub of environmental and place-based learning for all. Learn more HERE.
Just a Few Spots Left! Register Today!
Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methodologies to study changes in coastal systems.
Doing Science - Take a new look at an existing problem - coastal ecological systems - in a new way.
Today, coastal systems are at a critical juncture, experiencing numerous stresses that include sea level rise and flooding, habitat degradation and beach erosion, and over development. In this workshop we will address some of these coastal issues while engaged in place-based learning at Shortridge Coastal Center, Maine, using integrative and non-conventional approaches to participatory research. You will learn and engage in Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methodologies, a set of investigative tools and disciplined practices applicable to the natural sciences for studying environmental change. ABPE offers a rich understanding of whole systems and complexity, and foundational training in conducting research with a multispecies community.
Join us for this exciting hands-on workshop where we will take a new look at coastal ecological problems in a new way.