ALUMNX NOTES

1991

NOREEN HOGAN, MARY RAIKES

’02 and friend Auria Mauras started off on a cross-country bicycle adventure from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida on Leap Day 2020. Though they had to stop halfway across the country in Del Rio, Texas, they felt accomplished having biked 1,400 miles during the early months of the pandemic.

1992

and was awarded the Senior Class Preaching Prize. She has dedicated her time to feeding ministry, anti-racism education, and programs in contemplative spirituality. The Episcopal Church is inclusive—with social, racial, and environmental justice as part of the core mission. Heather will be ordained as an Episcopal Priest in 2021.

two children in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of the International Coaching Federation.

2004 BRI DUGA took time off from practice to have a surprise fourth baby! Carbon Jack LaFlamme was born on November 14, 2020. She is enjoying staying home and homeschooling her three big kids.

LELANIA HARPAL KAUR AVILA arrived back in Bar Harbor after navigating the tumultuous seas of parenting through childhood cancer. She writes, “Our son, Haji, made it through the woods late February 2020, so COVID-19 gave us the opportunity to get some extra rest and recovery time. I turned 50 in 2020, the first mother in my maternal lineage to make it to 50 (and healthy to boot!) in generations. This fuels my passion to believe we can indeed make the impossible possible, that with attention and dedication, ancestral patterns can change. In my current work as a multi-media activist, I note how activism could benefit from true, long-term community building. I’m using my family’s homeschool as a research laboratory to test the hypothesis that to teach listening skills, one must first actively listen. I intend to spend the next period of my life sharing my conclusive results via a communication toolkit, calligraphy, puppetry, and more. I post updates at3h-ha.org, and check email most often at chickenhatlady2020@gmail.com if any alumnx want to be in touch.”

ROB FINN has been awarded a year-long Maker/Creator Fellowship at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware for 2021. He is painting two dozen large-scale, watercolor Tree Portraits of the amazing specimens that inhabit the 1,000-acre, mixed old growth, and historically curated gardens. Several of his pieces will be shown in the Winterthur Galleries as part of their upcoming Outside/In exhibition. In July, he will be showing his MDI Tree Portraits series at Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor for the third year in a row. robfinn.com

1993

CEDARBOUGH T. SAEJI is starting a new tenure-track position in the fall. Saeji continues to regularly publish academic articles and book chapters on Korean culture, and has recently taken on more of a public intellectual role with invited columns and interviews, in addition to over 100 media comments for magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, and podcasts in 2020.

HEATHER SISK graduated with an MDIV from The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City in May 2020,

1995

Late in 2019, CURRY CAPUTO was hired as a full-time faculty member at Central Maine Community College in the Building Construction Technology Department. In December 2020, he was promoted to department chair. He writes, “Every other day, I teach students of all ages with friend and fellow alum Troy Ireland ’95. My eldest son Milo is safely ensconced at Colby College, while my twin teens chart new pandemic territory at Erskine Academy in China. Finally, my wife Andrea Lani ’95 gives more than she gets every day at the Capitol working for the Revisor of Statutes and she writes and she reads like she’s running out of time.”

2005 MARJOLAINE WHITTLESEY and husband Ian Carlsen welcomed Robin Alan Whittlesey Carlsen on March 28, 2020—just in time to cozy up during the pandemic. He already takes after his parents and loves being outside and eating everything.

2006 ASHLEY BAKKEN-MARTIN and husband, Matt, welcomed twin girls on October 5: Camille “Millie” and Juliet “Jules” Martin. Ashley is still practicing pediatric hospital medicine at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California.

1996

LAURIE ANNE BREWER and her family (partner Derek Schusterbauer and kids Otto and Violet) moved to Barrington, Rhode Island, in June and purchased an early 1800s home that was formerly the village cobblers shop. During the pandemic they’ve remained well and added 11 chickens to the family too! Laurie continues to work at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum, right now in a remote capacity, and continues her courses for the RISD Apparel Department (The Uses Of Animals In Relation To The Industry Of Man: Design and Nature, 1851 and Now, and Fashion: A Global Context) which have been held virtually as well. She presented at several conferences remotely: the RISD Weekend Symposium, where she exhibited research for her forthcoming show with the working title, Sedna; and at The Costume Colloquium VII: Fashion and Dress in Place and Space, where she presented, “Location is Everything: Examining the ‘Alaskan Sealskin’ Industry.” In February she is looking forward to participating in a symposium at the Anchorage Museum, “Landscapes of Change,” made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation.

RICHARD MACDONALD published a book in December. Little Big Year: Chasing Acadia’s Birds is the story of a year of birdwatching in Hancock County, weaving together stories of birding, birds, and his life experience with them. He was inspired to spend 2018 in a year of local birding to celebrate the 100th anniversary of passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The book is available by contacting The Natural History Center info@TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com

2008 MEESHA GOLDBERG has created a community mural entitled Kinfolk in Charlottesville, Virginia. Families of multi-racial deer leap across a turquoise, 90-foot wall between two giant star quilt symbols borrowed from Pennsylvania Dutch barn art and Indigenous ceremony. The mural is punctuated with a land acknowledgment, reminding the viewer that the mural occupies Monacan Nation territory. Profits from the mural were returned to the Monacans and their fight to protect their ancient capital city, Rassawek, from a proposed water pump station. To find out more visit: culturalheritagepartners. com/saverassawek

1997

MARGARET HOFFMAN joined the board of trustees at Maine Audubon back in July. She is serving on the Marketing Committee, primarily helping to better connect them to Maine’s tourism industry.

2002 Last year, GIDEON CULMAN earned a Master Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation. Out of about 35,000 credentialed coaches worldwide, only 1350 hold the MCC, so this is a huge deal. He continues to own and operate K Street Coaching and live with his wife and

For JESSICA HARDY, 2020 saw a full transition to telehealth working as the director of nutrition and wellness for a longevity-based medical practice. She moved her own personal training business to a telehealth platform, and was welcomed onto an advisory board for a company called Esports Healthcare, working to optimize and support health for professional gamers. This year saw the loss of her dog, Dozer, but she recently welcomed a new pitbull pup named Honey. Looking forward to a new year!