Bowdoin College
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

The Schiller Coastal Studies Center (SCSC) is a multidisciplinary campus on 118 acres of forest and meadows, and 2.5 miles of shoreline along Maine’s rocky Atlantic coast with easy access to the Gulf of Maine. The Schiller facilities provide opportunities, unlike those available at any other liberal arts college in the country, for field and laboratory-based interdisciplinary study related to critical issues of coastal and climate concern. With its oceanside location and modernized research and teaching facilities, the SCSC is foundational to Bowdoin’s expanding role as a leader in environmental studies. In 2021, the Learning and Living Center at Schiller, home to the various labs and classroom spaces, earned a Passive House Institute US certificate for being designed to specific sustainable building standards.

Researchers in many scientific disciplines, from benthic and molecular ecology to evolutionary biology and paleoceanography, are able to pursue their work at the center. Research facilities include the marine "wet" lab, dry lab, classroom space and other waterfront amenities. The center's site between Harpswell Sound and Long Cove, and in the Kennebec and New Meadows estuaries, provides many “natural labs,” including rocky intertidal zones, cobble beaches, and subtidal eelgrass. 

One of the Schiller Coastal Studies Center's most important missions is to support independent student research. While scientific work takes place year-round at the center, the summer is a particularly active season for faculty, postdoctoral scientists, and undergraduate students doing faculty-mentored research. Undergraduate summer research often leads to an academic-year honors thesis or independent project. Additionally, non-science majors are welcome to propose research projects related to coastal and marine topics from all disciplines, including interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the sea. These projects are supported by many research fellowship grants provided by Bowdoin.

The Bowdoin Coastal Studies Semester (BCSS) is designed to immerse students in a place-based learning experience that supports both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to the exploration of coastal concerns in the Gulf of Maine. As one of the most rapidly warming bodies of water in the world, the Gulf of Maine, with its varied ecosystems and coastal communities, offers students the opportunity to see firsthand how climate change is impacting our world and to develop the skills to identify underlying problems and potential solutions. BCSS students take four courses taught in parallel at the Schiller Coastal Studies Center in Harpswell, Maine. This format allows students and faculty to work across courses to identify emerging themes and pathways for collaborative inquiry. Hands-on field work and sophisticated laboratory science are central to the BCSS. During the semester, students will compare and investigate different coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine. From salt marshes to rocky intertidal zones, students will collect data and samples to deepen their understanding of the Gulf’s natural history.

Through the purchase of voluntary renewable energy projects in combination with the Maine Grid Renewable Portfolio Standard, Bowdoin’s annual electric consumption is completely covered by renewable energy. Bowdoin voluntarily purchases electricity from three different renewable energy contracts in Maine, accounting for 80 percent of the campus’s annual energy use. These projects include two solar farms, one located a mile away from campus in Brunswick, and the other located in Farmington, Maine. The remaining energy is purchased as part of a consortium with twenty-three other schools, towns, and businesses from a collection of thirty-three projects across the state, consisting of primarily solar with a number of small hydro projects. The remaining 20 percent of Bowdoin’s electrical consumption comes from the Maine power grid that currently sources at least 50 percent of its energy from renewable energy projects as part of Maine's Renewable Portfolio Standard. In combination with Bowdoin’s voluntary renewable purchases, the college purchases Green-e certified Renewable Energy Credits to offset 100 percent of Bowdoin's electrical use.

Upon completion of the construction of Bowdoin’s new Barry Mills Hall and John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies in 2023, the pair of buildings are the first commercially scaled mass timber projects in the state of Maine. Through the usage of cross-laminated panels and beams, these buildings avoid a significant amount of water and energy usage that is needed to produce concrete and steel. Additionally, rather than releasing carbon in the production of materials such as concrete, the primarily wood buildings act as a long-term carbon storage site.

In addition to the precedent set by the buildings as the first commercially scaled mass timber buildings in the state, an in-depth white paper report offers educational opportunities for both college and community members. With the College’s commitment to carbon-neutrality, its location among a grove of pine trees, and the timber-rich history of Maine, the project setting is well-suited for a mass timber structure. As an example of the educational aspect of these new buildings, Bowdoin hosted an educational event focused on the mass timber buildings as part of the 2023 Northeast Sustainable Energy Association's Pro Tour Series. The white paper report and sharing of information with the broader community allows individuals to learn about the innovative carbon reduction methods and solutions currently being used on campus.

https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2021/09/bowdoin-pioneers-maines-first-pure-mass-timber-commercial-structure,-signals-continued-commitment-to-sustainability.html 3 min video: Decarbonizing the Built Environment: Mass Timber as a Low Embodied Carbon Material https://www.consigli.com/decarbonizing-the-built-environment-mass-timber/