Measuring Climate Change in Acadia National Park

Arrive in Bangor this afternoon and travel "down east" along Maine's famous coast. As Frenchman Bay comes into view, pass spruce-covered islands, working lobster boats and granite shorelines en route to our waterfront accommodations overlooking the water. This evening, gather for a welcome dinner and introduction to the week ahead. While millions of visitors come to Acadia for its famous viewpoints and popular hiking trails, our journey focuses on a side of the park few experience. Through special access to the Schoodic Institute, Acadia National Park's primary science partner, you'll explore active research sites where scientists are studying how wildlife, forests and coastal ecosystems are interacting and responding to environmental change.

This morning, explore Acadia through a cultural lens during a visit to Bar Harbor's Abbe Museum. On a private tour, learn about the history, culture and enduring connections of the Wabanaki Nations to these lands and waters. Understanding this human history provides important context for the conservation and stewardship taking place throughout the park today. Leaving Bar Harbor, we travel to the Schoodic Peninsula, a less-visited, wilder corner of the national park, where we stay for the duration of the expedition, with easy access to research sites, rugged coast and sweeping Atlantic views.

On arrival, we get settled into Rockefeller Hall at Schoodic Institute, Acadia National Park's hub for science and field discovery. For the next several nights, we live and learn alongside the researchers, educators and conservation leaders working to conserve this special environment through understanding how the landscape is changing. Following lunch and a research orientation, head into the field for your first afternoon of scientific study as we survey coastal forest food webs. Working within long-term monitoring plots, search for signs of marine prey transported inland by river otters, mink, foxes and crows. Measure shells, crab remains and other materials while helping researchers investigate how wildlife links Acadia's coastal and forest ecosystems. Return to Schoodic Institute for dinner and debriefing this evening.

Please note: July departures will take a private puffin cruise, while August departures will go on a lobster boat excursion.

Depending on your trip departure date, head offshore this morning on either a wildlife cruise to Maine's famous puffin colonies (July) or a working lobster boat operating in the Gulf of Maine (August). In July, get close to rocky islands where puffins, gulls and other seabirds nest during breeding season. August departures offer a firsthand look at Maine's lobster fishery, the roughly $1 billion cornerstone of the state's economy. Learn from a local lobster boat captain how generations of coastal communities have made their living from the sea. Return to the dock for a lunch of fresh Maine lobster, with vegan and gluten-free options available.

Then it's time to return to the research station for further fieldwork. Wildlife cameras placed throughout Acadia have captured thousands of images of foxes, mink, river otters, crows and other animals that move between shoreline and forest. Working alongside researchers, review photographs, identify species and search for evidence of marine prey, such as lobster and crabs, being carried inland. The images piece together a complex story of the interconnectedness of ocean and forests, as we seek to discover more about the ecological relationships of these intersecting habitats. This evening, gather for dinner at a local restaurant before returning to Schoodic Institute.

Yesterday introduced the mystery. Today, you'll investigate it. Return to Schoodic's coastal forests to explore how marine prey ends up far from the shoreline. The clues are easy to miss: a crab claw beneath a spruce tree, fragments of mussel shell hidden in the moss, a sea urchin husk resting unexpectedly far from the water's edge. Yet each discovery raises the same question: How did it get here?

Working alongside the research team, survey long-term monitoring plots in search of such evidence left by foxes, mink, river otters, crows and other wildlife that move between the ocean's edge and the forest. Measure specimens, record locations and compare findings across habitats. By day's end, those scattered shell fragments begin to tell a larger story. Lobster shells carried inland by foxes and mink reveal surprising connections between Acadia's coast and forests. The data you collect helps researchers understand how animals move food and nutrients across the landscape.

This evening, meet with the research team to discuss the project's findings and how these observations are helping scientists better understand the links between ocean, wildlife and forest in Acadia National Park.

Rise before dawn for one of Acadia's signature experiences, sunrise over the Atlantic from the summit of Cadillac Mountain. Atop the granite dome, watch the horizon begin to glow over spruce-covered islands. As the sun ascends, it gleams on the open ocean as fishing boats begin the day on Frenchman Bay. This is where dawn breaks first in the U.S., the sun's rays spilling onto granite coastline and forested headlands below. After a picnic breakfast, we head to active monitoring sites where researchers study rare northern and arctic-alpine plants living near the southern edge of their range. Working in small teams, we navigate to long-term study plots, identifying plant species and measuring ground cover, flowering and berry production within standardized survey areas. The data we collect help scientists understand whether cooler coastal and alpine environments can provide refuge for climate-sensitive species in the decades ahead.

After breakfast at Schoodic Institute, return to the field for our final full day of research in Acadia National Park. Today's work centers on a question with implications far beyond Maine: Where can climate-sensitive species persist as temperatures rise? Working in small teams, hike to permanent monitoring plots in some of Acadia's coolest coastal and high-elevation habitats. Here, researchers track rare northern and arctic-alpine plants living near the southern edge of their range. Kneel beside long-term study plots to identify species, measure plant cover and record flowering and berry production within standardized survey quadrants. The work is meticulous, and the stakes are significant. The data you collect helps scientists determine whether these cooler pockets of habitat can serve as refuges for species that may struggle elsewhere in a warming climate.

This evening, return to Schoodic Institute for a celebratory farewell dinner. Gather over a traditional Maine lobster feast, share stories from the week's studies, and reflect on the settings, wildlife and research that revealed a side of Acadia few visitors will ever experience.

Enjoy a final breakfast at the research station before departing Schoodic Institute. As we travel back to Bangor, reflect on a deeply meaningful week in Acadia, engaged in participatory science that few travelers have the privilege to do. Once we reach the airport in Bangor, it's time to depart on homeward flights.