Acadia Partners Mission

Acadia Partners for Science and Learning ("Acadia Partners" for short) is a non-profit organization that was created by Acadia National Park to manage the Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC). SERC is one of about twenty Research Learning Centers in the National Park network; the centers share a common mission:

The Mission of National Park Service Research Learning Centers is to increase the effectiveness and communication of research and science results in the national parks through facilitating the use of parks for scientific inquiry, supporting science-informed decision making, communicating the relevance of and providing access to knowledge gained through scientific research, and promoting science literacy and resource stewardship. (from the Research Learning Center Strategic Plan)

Every Research Learning Center has different assets in a different setting and approaches this mission in a different way. At SERC, Acadia Partners:

  • Raises money to provide direct support for park research
  • Provides logistic support for research activities
  • Provides logistic support for on-campus educational programs offered by the staff at Acadia National Park
  • Supports and directs a substantial professional development program for teachers that introduces them to research at Acadia National Park and that helps them use this research as part of classroom science instruction

Continuing a Tradition of Public Support for Research

Acadia National Park has a long tradition of science-based decision making, dating back to the water quality work that provided much of the original impetus for protecting the lands that are now inside the park. At Acadia, we can also draw on the groundbreaking, historically significant work that William Procter did in cataloging the area's insects between 1918 and 1945. Heir to one of the founders of the Procter and Gamble company, William Procter published seven scientific volumes of summarizing his collecting efforts, an invaluable and timely look at the park's ecosystem before the 1947 fire. This tradition of scientific research within the park continues with the "bioblitzes" that SERC hosts each year to catalog current insect species. It also continues through long term work such as the more than twenty years of research on mercury in the park. This mercury research is now the starting point for much of our work with teachers and students across Maine.

Over the past hundred years this important scientific work in and around the park has been supported by a combination of public and private funding. In some cases, such as the Procter work, the funding has come from a small number of individuals who have been able to make a substantial difference in what we know and understand about this beautiful place. In other cases the support has come in the form of hundreds of smaller donations.

Acadia Partners is a continuation of this flexible, practical tradition of bringing private money together with public resources to support scientific research. Recognizing the need to promote scientific literacy and stewardship in future generations, we couple that natural science research with educational research and with new programs to take park science out to schools.

We do depend on private support to do this work. You can contribute online by clicking here.