Teacher Workshops & Retreats
Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methodologies to study changes in coastal systems. Doing Science: Take a new look at an existing problem – coastal ecological systems – in a new way.
When: June 22-26, 2025 | Sunday 2:00 pm – Thursday 11:00 am (4 overnights)
Audience: K-12 educators, future teachers at any level and from any discipline, environmental educators, STEM/STEAM practitioners and educators, anyone interested in ‘other ways of knowing’, interested in non-conventional approaches to a science investigation or practice.
Where: Shortridge Coastal Center Phippsburg, Maine
Cost: $475 early bird rate
What is included: instruction, food (11 meals), lodging/accommodations, workshop materials
Additional Costs:
Transportation: participants will be responsible for their own transportation to/from Shortridge Coastal Center
Materials: bedding (sleeping bag and pillow), towels/toiletries, snacks
Location: Shortridge Coastal Center is on a peninsula in the town of Phippsburg, Maine near the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, with coastal beaches, salt marshes, freshwater lakes and ponds, and coastal forests. Shortridge Coastal Center is about 1 hour drive north of Portland, ME.
Contact Information: Rebecca Clark Uchenna
Email: rclark6@bates.edu
Office phone: (207) 786-6078
Your host: Rebecca Clark Uchenna, Director for Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area & Shortridge Coastal Center
Clark Uchenna manages the 600-acre conserved area of Bates-Morse Mountain and the 80-acres of Shortridge Coastal Center. In addition, she develops and implements place-based environmental education programming for diverse audiences and engages with Bates students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader community to increase environmental awareness and conservation practices. Clark Uchenna holds an M.S. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England and a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology with a minor in Secondary Education from the University of Maine.
Your instructor: Lee Ann Woolery, Ph.D., Founder and Research Director at Citizen Artist
With a focus on divergent ways of knowing, Dr. Lee Ann Woolery developed Art-Based Perceptual Ecology, (ABPE) a transdisciplinary research approach for tackling complex environmental-social challenges. Dr. Woolery holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England and a MAAT from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For more information www.citizen-artist.com/about
+Description of Workshop:
- 4-day in-person, hands-on, experiential workshop to include instruction in non-conventional research methodologies to study changes in ecological systems with a focus on coastal issues.
- Participants will learn field-based participatory research methods to address critical ecological-social issues such as sea level rise, coastal flooding and beach erosion.
- Meals and lodging are included. Workshop materials provided.
- Activity level (participants will be outside in the elements each day, engaging in multiple research protocols, walking, bending, some night walking; there may be mud, rain, tides.)
- Contrary to the name, there is no need for art experience or art skills to attend the workshop or to practice ABPE.
- View full itinerary HERE
+Participants will receive:
- Training in Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methods, to include tools and skills needed to conduct field-based participatory research for investigating eco-social issues.
- Training in field-based participatory research practices with a multispecies community and discussion on approaches to decolonizing research.
- Information on ABPE’s historical, theoretical, and methodological foundations.
- Training in how to work in tandem with conventional Western science methods, Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Ecological Knowledge systems.
- Discussion on ABPE’s application to real world issues.
- Content from the workshop will be available to participants for 1 month after the workshop ends on a shared online platform.
- 25 contact hours.
+Description of research methodology:
- Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methodologies . . .
- are transdisciplinary research methods that embrace holistic, integrative and inclusive approaches to research, honoring other ways of knowing and investigating differently.
- are investigative processes and tools, bringing a new perspective and new insight to a research study.
- are grounded in multimodal knowledge systems, sensory-based learning and framed within ecological and biological principles.
- are built on the pillars of place-based meaning making, storytelling, and the use of multiple forms of representation and languages such as visual, metaphoric, and symbolic.
- yield broader participation in science, leading to transformative change on a personal, community and planetary level.
- For more information on Art-Based Perceptual Ecology research methods.
Dr. Woolery’s business platform, Citizen Artist™ provides educational programming, research consultation and training in transdisciplinary and participatory research methods to investigate critical eco-social issues. At Citizen Artist™ – we work from the premise that . . . “We are ALL citizens of the Earth, responsible for the care and conservation of our shared home.” In the 1990’s, with a focus on divergent ways of knowing, Dr. Lee Ann Woolery developed the Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) research methods, an integrative research approach to studying changes in ecological systems.
Shortridge Coastal Center
Shortridge has traditionally been used as a field station for visiting researchers who are conducting research on the Sprague River Salt Marsh and coastal forests located within Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area (BMMCA). Shortridge itself is a large building that can comfortably accommodate 25 – 30 day guests and 15 overnight guests (shared bedrooms, bunk beds). Shortridge is located on 80 acres of forested and wetland areas, conveniently located close to BMMCA, Seawall Beach and Popham State Park. The new vision is for Shortridge to become a hub of environmental and place-based learning for all.
