Coast Lines is a public science-history-art project, part of the Landscape of Change initiative, to document past, present, and future storm surges and sea levels on Mount Desert Island. In 2024, this work took on new and greater relevance as multiple record-setting winter storms impacted waterfronts and ecosystems all around the island. We’ll provide an update on installations of the “Coast Lines” stencil that involved community partners, teachers, and students, as well as how sea level observations contributed by volunteers have informed scientific models of future sea levels and storms. We’ll also share some lessons learned from engaging the community in thinking about the coastal landscape and how it is changing, both subtly and dramatically, and where we’d like to go from here.

Raney Bench, Executive Director, Mount Desert Island Historical Society
Jennifer Steen Booher, artist
Catherine Schmitt, Science Communication Specialist, Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park