Storytellers, environmental change makers, teachers, students, & other humans come together for a daylong event of films followed by panel discussions, as part of The Maine Outdoor Film Festival. Earth Day in July features three environmental themed sessions, each containing a 60-minute slate of short films, followed by a 60-minute panel discussion with experts and filmmakers.
9:30AM – Panel Discussion – Early, deep connections to the outdoors build skills, habits, perspectives which can influence a life, and even a career, in the woods, on the water.
Moderator – Isaac Kestenbaum – MECA&D
Isaac is the Director of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D and co-founder (along with Josephine Holtzman) of the podcast production company Future Projects.
Samantha Andrews – Teens to Trails
Sam is Teens to Trails’ Outdoor Program Manager. After four years of working as a ski instructor, wilderness and sea kayak guide, Sam came to Teens to Trails with hopes to inspire new, exciting adventures, sustain outdoor clubs with the tools they need to thrive, and make positive connections with students. She is a Certified Maine Sea Kayak and Recreational Guide, EMT, WFR, and Leave No Trace Master Educator.
Kat Lipp – Maine Aquaculture Association
Kat’s diverse career in the seafood industry includes NMFS groundfish observer in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, direct-to-consumer seafood sales with Salmon Sisters, set netting for sockeye salmon in Cook Inlet and recently graduated as an Aquaculture Apprenticeship at Mere Point Oyster Co. Joining MAA in July 2024, Kat’s experience in both wild fisheries and aquaculture uniquely positions her to foster strategic relationships for an Ambassador program that she will design and implement and she looks forward to making valuable contributions to the broader Maine aquaculture community.
Tom Long – WinterKids
Tom is WinterKids’ Program and Environmental Sustainability Manager. Tom is a scientist, environmentalist, educator, snowboarder, and skateboarder. Having taught environmental science for 15 years and owned a snowboard and skateboard shop, getting kids outdoors and active while learning is a perfect balance of his passions.
Adam Shepherd – Rippleffect
Adam Shepherd has been the Executive Director of Rippleffect since 2016. He first started with Rippleffect as a guide in the summer of 2012 while on a summer break from his graduate studies and then returned in May of 2013 as the Director of Advancement before taking on the role of Executive director in January of 2016. With over 28 years of experience in outdoor experiential education and youth development, Adam brings a deep understanding and appreciation for the work Rippleffect does in the community. His career has included time as a public school teacher, guide/director and part-owner of a private wilderness based summer camp in the Adirondack mountains, Development Manager for Expeditionary Learning (which was founded by Outward Bound as an education reform initiative) and co-founder of Brown & Shepherd Nonprofit Consulting. Adam grew up in southern Ohio and moved from New York City to South Portland in 2013 where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He holds an undergraduate degree in education from Miami University and a master’s of nonprofit management from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. As an enthusiast for all things “outdoors”, Adam has not only dedicated his career to youth development through outdoor adventures, but also finds himself running away to the woods and waters of the Northeast any chance he gets.
11:45AM – Panel Discussion – The connected threads between Wabanaki and new American experiences in the outdoors.
Moderator: Santiago Tijerina – Filmmaker and Salt Alum
Portland-based director Santiago Tijerina, Salt ’23, received the Emerging Maine Filmmaker Award from the Maine Outdoor Film Festival in 2024, and has a film in the 2025 MOFF entitled: COURTS OF BELONGING.
Angelique Bitshilualua – Portland Trails
Angelique is Portland Trails’ first Inclusion Manager! Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, she has a degree in Hospitality, Culinary Arts, and Catering and is skilled at outreach and engagement. In her role at Portland Trails, she leads the Healthier Neighborhoods for All program where she has welcomed over 800 New Mainers to the trails since the program started in 2022. Angelique loves spending time outdoors and growing her community by sharing her love for the trails with others.
Marpheen Chann – Executive Director and Founder, Khmer Maine
Marpheen Chann is an award-winning author and was the first Cambodian-elected official in Maine when he won a seat on Portland’s Charter Commission in 2021. He served on the Portland Planning Board from 2020-2025 and site on the boards of Maine Conservation Voters, Quality Housing Coalition, and Maine Philanthropy Center. He lives in Portland, Maine, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine, a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law, and has completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program
Sarah Madronal – Nature Based Education Consortium
Sarah is the Outreach Manager for the Nature Conservancy and the Nature Based Education Consortium “Stories For Change” working group Co-Chair. “Stories for Change” seeks to address the historic exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, LGBTQ+, disabled, immigrant, low-income, and other communities from outdoor and environmental spaces in Maine by sharing personal narratives.
Mihku Paul – Stories for Change
Mihku Paul is a Wolastoqey (Maliseet) elder who grew up on a wild Maine river. She had both a traditional Waponahki education from her grandfather and went through public school, which afforded her a more holistic view of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures. Mihku holds a degree in Human Development and Communication and an MFA in writing. She has spent decades working in Portland Public schools providing curriculum enrichment to all ages.
3:00PM –Panel Discussion – What tools and perspectives are communities in Maine and beyond utilizing to protect their water, and help improve human’s relationship to it?
Moderator: Will Elting – Sebago Clean Waters
Will Elting is the Community Engagement manager for Sebago Clean Waters, an 11 member nonprofit collaborative focused on forest conservation in the Sebago Lake watershed. Will works to connect people in greater Portland to the landscapes and waterways that they rely on for clean drinking water, and builds partnerships with organizations and businesses around a shared passion for continued clean water access in our communities.
Paul Hunt – Portland Water District
Paul Thomas Hunt has been the Environmental Manager for the Portland Water District, Maine’s largest water and wastewater utility, since 1999. For the first few years he thought he had a water job – protecting Sebago Lake, the water source for 200,000. Eventually he realized it Is also a land job. Since then he has been working to protect both the lake and the quarter-million acres of forest that carpet the watershed of the lake since this forest is the critical first step in the water treatment process. A treatment plant you can hike on.
Bentley Brown – Filmmaker
Bentley Brown is an artist-scholar whose films have revolved around the subjects of global mobility, disidentification, and belonging, such as ‘Oustaz’ (2016) and ‘Revolution From Afar’ (2020). In recent times, however, he has transitioned to projects with scientific explorations, such as ‘Behind the Sun’ (2023) and its exploration of astrophysical metaphors to make sense of a broken relationship with person and place. He is the filmmaker of BIIR GUARDI: GUARDIAN OF THE WELL.
Chuck Loring – Director, Natural Resources for the Nation
Charles (Chuck) Loring is both a member of the Penobscot Nation and the Director of Natural Resources for the Nation. As a voice featured in the film, he can speak powerfully about the Penobscot River’s cultural, ecological, and economic significance — and what it means to protect places that have sustained Native communities for generations.
Betsy Cook –Trust for Public Land
Betsy Cookleads Trust for Public Land’s work in Maine, including the historic Wáhsehtəkʷ project featured in the film(s). Betsy is deeply committed to ensuring all Mainers have equitable access to the outdoors, including Maine’s beloved lands and waters. She has worked with communities across the state to create over 25,000 acres of new public lands, parks, and community forests. With her deep experience, she will bring perspectives on how local partnerships shape the future of outdoor access across the state.