Mission

GOMI’s mission is to touch, move and inspire young people, in partnership with adults, to lead in stewardship of the Gulf of Maine and its watershed.

Innovation in this program includes the CBI bioregional, youth/ adult partnerships approach, cutting across local, state/provincial, and regional and international jurisdictions, to stewarding the watershed.  Innovation is also found in the citizen/steward concept, which places emphasis on scientific and civic engagement skills as prerequisites for stewards.

Equal Opportunity Organization

The Gulf of Maine Institute does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in its employment, programs or activities.

Recognition

GOMI has received national attention including Civic Ventures naming John Terry, President, as a Purpose prize Fellow (2006), a feature on CBS News "The Early Show' (2007) and a publication in The Science Teacher, the National Science Teachers Association journal for high school teachers (2007).

Governance

GOMI is a 501(c) charitable organization registered in the state of Massachusetts. Its interests and influence are gulf-wide across the jursiditions of Massachuestts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunwick and Nova Scotia. It is supported in Nova Scotia by the Gulf of Maine Expedition Association, registered in Nova Scotia.

GOMI has a Board of Directors that provides overview guidance, raises funds for operations, and sets policies. Its programs are run by Guide Teams consiting of a Board member and representatives of each jurisdiciton with active site teams.

Evaluation

Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has begun a longitudinal study to assess GOMI long-term impacts.  We will expand this effort to include all aspects of this project with our Tufts and Salem State colleagues.

Watershed

The Gulf of Maine (GOM), a semi-enclosed sea, is one of the richest biomasses in the world. The watershed includes much of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and a small portion of Quebec. The land area of the watershed is 69,115 square miles. Human harvest of the plant, fish, animal and mineral products from the GOM and its watershed has been a source of food, clothing, barter and economic stability for centuries.

The human ecology of the watershed is rich and varied. From densely populated urban centers such as greater Boston, MA, Portsmouth, NH Portland and Bangor, ME and Saint John New Brunswick, their suburbs and rural areas reaching far inland; the people are as diverse as those of North America itself.

The Gulf and its surrounding watershed are now under severe stress. Indicators of deterioration abound, the most dramatic being the collapse of the region’s historic cod fishery. Increasingly intensive land use, water use, degradation and habitat destruction adversely affect all species. Valued natural resources, including potable water, are becoming increasingly threatened and depleted. These pressures and their consequences extend up the rivers far into the watershed.  For more information see: <http://www.gulfofmaine.org/>