Catherine Schmitt
science writer
I escaped the wilderness of Bergen County, NJ to earn a degree in environmental science at University of Massachusetts-Amherst (1998), and then spent two years mucking around the red maple swamps of the Connecticut River Valley as an environmental consultant. I moved to the shores of Chesapeake Bay for a one-year stint working on science publications for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Upon arrival in Maine, at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental & Watershed Research, I immediately was dispatched to the far reaches of the state to sample water quality in remote and not-so-remote lakes and streams. While there, pursing a master's degree in ecology and environmental science (2003), I served as a contributing writer for Northern Sky News, Maine Environment, and the Maine Commons.
Today, as communications coordinator for Maine Sea Grant, I work to convey research findings and information about ocean and coastal issues to various audiences. A Coastal Companion is part of this effort. I earned a Stonecoast MFA in creative nonfiction in 2012, and continue to write for magazines, newspapers, and literary journals (see the Archives for published articles). I also teach a science writing course at the University of Maine.