A Letter from Board Chair Nancy Dempze
Dear Friends of Manomet,
In August 2019, we launched our celebration of Manomet’s 50th anniversary—an historic milestone made possible by the generosity and dedication of our donors. Much has changed since August 4, 1969, when a single paid staff member and a band of volunteers opened the doors of the Manomet Bird Observatory for the first time. But what has not changed is our unwavering commitment to using science to better our world.
Whether we’re collecting migration data, working to recover shorebirds and protect their habitats, preparing forests to adapt to climate change, or any of our other initiatives stretching across the Western Hemisphere, Manomet is first and foremost a science-based organization.
But, we learned a long time ago that the challenges we face today are just too big to solve alone. If we’re going to mitigate climate change, reverse the loss of biodiversity, and leave future generations a livable, resilient world, we need everyone working together on solutions.
That’s why Manomet partners with local communities, land managers and foresters, fishermen, farmers, and business owners who are uniquely positioned to create change. We are able to help them apply the latest science and identify solutions to make their sectors, and thus our world, more sustainable.
In this Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report, we introduce you to a few of our partners. I hope you’ll take a moment to read their stories and see how we are working together to make changes today to ensure our world thrives tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Nancy Dempze
Manomet Board Chair
Celebrating 50 Years of Manomet
Manomet turned 50 on August 4, 2019. This means 50 years of connecting people of all ages to nature; 50 years of maintaining critical data on trends of bird migration and populations; 50 years of conserving threatened and endangered shorebird species across the Western Hemisphere; 50 years of giving everyone a seat at the table to solve the complex challenges presented by climate change. We’ve been celebrating our history all year long through August 2020 with newsletter and magazine features, interviews with Manomet alumni, events, and campaigns. Join us now as we reflect on Manomet’s 50th year and look to the future for our next chapter applying science and engaging people to sustain our world.
Our history: 1969-2019
In the fall of 1966, at the oceanfront property that would eventually become Manomet, a crew of volunteers began banding birds as part of a project to study migration along the East Coast. Based on their visits to other bird observatories, Kathleen “Betty” Anderson, Rosalie Fiske and her husband John approached Ruth Ernst, the property owner at the time, to bequeath her house and land to establish their own environmental research non-profit. The goal of Manomet’s founders was to provide a site and opportunity for long-term studies of birds and other aspects of the natural history and ecology of southeastern Massachusetts. Anderson was asked to be the first director and in August 1969, the Manomet Bird Observatory was created.
Manomet Bird Observatory has become a reality, the first of its kind on the Atlantic Coast of North America…The response of the volunteer workers and of the public to the membership drive has enthusiastically ratified the decision to open permanently on August, 4, 1969.
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Since Manomet’s beginnings, its science programs have branched out far beyond the Plymouth-based banding operation. With shorebird recovery and habitat management, forestry and climate science, fisheries, and more, Manomet has its foundation in science, but seeks diverse viewpoints from its many partners to work toward solving the problems we’re facing today.
Manomet is engaging people and increasing participation, building relationships with those best positioned to make change, and using science to develop practical solutions our partners can use to make our world more sustainable.
Together, we are building a better, more sustainable world—a world filled with beautiful birds to admire, healthy forests that keep our air and water clean, and fisheries and farmland that nourish us with delicious and sustainable food.
How We Work
Active Participants
Our partners are leading change to create a more sustainable world in the systems they manage: creating new sustainable agricultural practices; reducing greenhouse gas emissions; safeguarding our air and water; and teaching children how the natural world is changing around them.
Richard Carbonetti is the Senior VP and Timberland Director with LandVest, a consulting firm that works primarily with private landowners, families, and investment groups to manage forestland effectively and sustainably. LandVest, a member of Manomet’s Climate Smart Land Network (CSLN), manages two million acres in the eastern U.S.
We rely on trees for a multitude of public benefits. Healthy forests offset the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions, as trees naturally absorb carbon from the atmosphere (a process known as carbon sequestration)—about 13% of our annual emissions. In addition, 70% of our clean drinking water is a result of forests’ natural filtration of rainwater. We need our forests to stay healthy in the face of a rapidly changing climate.
But, climate science is an inherently complex subject. Foresters—the people who are best-equipped to make a difference on the ground—need guidance on how their forests can best adapt to the changing climate.
That’s where Manomet comes in. The CSLN bridges the gap between the complexity of the science and on-the-ground management. Manomet makes sense of the science and packages it in a way that foresters like Richard can use. Few people spend as much time in forests as management experts. Combined with their professional training and years working in the forestry sector, their observations of forests’ response to climate change are particularly relevant.
I can’t control climate but I can control what trees we grow for the future. If I can make that better, that means climate will have less of a change. We’ll have a more resilient forest that way.
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Leaders for Change
Our partners also become leaders for change in their own business sectors, industries, classrooms, and communities.
Jordan Kramer is an oyster farmer in mid-coast Maine. In 2017, he began working with Dr. Marissa McMahan, Director of Manomet’s Fisheries Division, after receiving a USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) grant to grow and farm quahogs, or hard-shell clams.
Soft-shell clams are the second most valuable fishery in Maine—valued at about $18 million in 2014. Unfortunately, soft-shell clam landings in many coastal communities have reached historic lows. A soft-shell clam farm involves seeding sub-productive intertidal flats with hatchery-raised clams and then covering the seeded area with plastic netting to protect the clams from one of its main predators, the European green crab.
This “seeding and netting” method has been used in Maine and elsewhere to protect shellfish beds from predators for over 30 years. As predation of wild clam flats intensifies with warming seawater temperatures, there is growing interest in clam farming as a means of adapting to changing conditions.
The northern quahog is a lucrative fishery in Massachusetts and the mid-Atlantic, and has promise to expand in Maine as the waters continue to warm. Northern quahogs may provide a potential adaptive solution for Maine’s soft-shell clam harvesters who have been hard hit by predation from green crabs and milky ribbon worms. Manomet is partnering with shellfish harvesters and aquaculturists like Jordan to test the viability of quahog aquaculture as well as working with communities looking to diversify their shellfish resources.
We need more farmers trying to grow quahogs within the next year or two. If we can research ways to improve our nursery products to get larger quahog seed, which can benefit both farmers and wild harvesters by supplying larger municipal shellfish growers, that would be something that can lift both the wild fishery and the aquaculture fishery.
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Scaling Impact
How does Manomet amplify its impact? Networks of diverse partners working throughout the Western Hemisphere to create the sustainable future we all want.
Shorebirds are among nature’s most ambitious long-distance migrants, but their numbers are declining rapidly with some species projected to go extinct within our lifetime. Protecting these birds is an important international conservation priority that requires proactive and coordinated efforts within each of the countries these birds fly through during their vast, pole-to-pole migrations.
The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) launched in 1985 in response to worrying population declines of many shorebird species. The Delaware Bay was nominated as the first WHSRN site and dedicated on May 21, 1986. Using the concept of linking sites, as inspired by aerial surveys of coastal South America performed by the Canadian Wildlife Service and Manomet, WHSRN grew exponentially over the course of its over 30-year history.
Today, WHSRN continues its mission to conserve shorebirds and their habitats across the Americas through action at a network of key sites. There are 107 sites in the network with 17 participating countries, including 412 partners helping to protect 38 million acres of shorebird habitat. Like many of Manomet’s programs, WHSRN’s partners are the foundation of its work. Site partners are responsible for making shorebird conservation among the highest priorities at their location, protecting and managing habitat to benefit shorebirds, and updating contact and other information for the WHSRN website and database.
And WHSRN’s partners are diverse. Members of the network range from conservationists to farmers to members of the oil industry. It takes everyone participating in the conversation of protecting habitat to make change on the ground.
The inclusion of part of the Bahía Blanca estuary managed by the port in WHSRN is the result of dialogue and collaboration between the Management Consortium and local and national conservation groups. If we conserve the estuary and its biodiversity, the port, the surroundings, and the local community all benefit.
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FY 2019 Financials
FY 2019 Donors
$100,000+
Bobolink Foundation
Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation, Inc.
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Emily V. Wade
$50,000 - $99,999
Anonymous (2)
Doree Taylor Charitable Foundation
Edwin F. Gamble Lead Trust
Hermann Foundation
Jane’s Trust Foundation
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
The Seth Sprague Educational & Charitable Foundation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
$25,000 - $49,999
Anonymous
The Bromley Charitable Trust
Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation
Susan Galvin
Georgia Department of Natural Resources – Coastal Incentive
Halsey Family Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Weston Howland III
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Ms. Marjorie W. Rines
Eaglemere Foundation
Russell G. Schipper & Ilse Gebhard
Schwab Charitable
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1
$10,000 - $24,999
Anonymous (2)
BAND Foundation
Elizabeth & Redington Barrett
Diana & Peter Bennett
The Rev. Louise & Dr. Loring Conant
Dwight DeMay & Janne Corneil
Nancy Dempze & Dan Bailey
Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
John & Janet Fuller
Jane Hallowell
Hancock Natural Resource Group
Horizon Foundation
Frank & Emily Hunnewell
Sally Leighton
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Project
Northeastern University
Nancy B. Riegel
Schrafft Charitable Trust
Brooke Stevens
Andrew & Patty Towle
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pollution Prevention Grant Program
University of Southern Maine
Vanguard Charitable
Edwin S. Webster Foundation
$5,000 - $9,999
Anonymous (4)
David & Nancy Bryan
Eastern Bank
Evergreen II Fund
Nancy Hammond & John Hammond III*
Howland Capital Management
Gwyn Loud
John & Carolyn Marsh
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney GIFT, Inc.
Claire Corcoran & Will Murphy
Patagonia Latin America Grants Program
Mr. & Mrs. William E. Peterson
John & Thalia Pryor
Sea Breeze Foundation
Maine Sea Grant College Program
Nick Skinner
Dean H. & Katharine C. Steeger
USDA, Rural Development New Mexico State Office
Van Liew Trust Company
The William P. Wharton Trust
Tracy Winn & Joe Rigali
$2,500 - $4,999
Natasha Atkins & Scott Wing
Robert & Jennie Baker
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Broad Reach Fund of the Maine Community Foundation
Ian Carnathan
Charles Stanhope Adams Nature Research Foundation
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Mary Danner
Boynton Glidden
Cynthia Hallowell
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Hemenway & Barnes, LLP
Sue & Chris Klem
Geoff Kronik
Sonia Loizeaux
The Maine Shellfish Restoration and Resilience Project
Suzanne & Neil McGinn
Mennen Environmental Foundation
Roger & Margot Milliken
Mintz
Lawrence & Rosslyn Selzer
John & Sara Sharp
Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative
State Street
Michael Taubenberger & Kristen McCormack
Jill & Jack Whiting
Mark & Susan Zankel
$1,000 - $2,499
Martha Andersen
Nancy Anderson
Anonymous (6)
Mr. & Mrs. Reed P. Anthony Jr.
Reinier & Nancy Beeuwkes
The Benevity Community Impact Fund
Bevlin Networks
Robert & Genie Birch
The Boston Foundation
Cheryl & Michael Botieri
Cricket & John Braun
Phyllis Brissenden
Lalor & Patricia Burdick
Charles Burnham, Burnham Foundation
Robert Campbell
Chimento & Webb, P.C.
Church of the Pilgrimage
Charles Clapp III
David & Susan Clark
Cornelia & Stewart Clifford
Joyce & Lester Coleman
Charles Collins
Marian Cross
Mr. & Mrs. William K. Doggett
Jeanne Donovan Fisher
Benjamin & Dianna Emory
Andrew Falender & Jacquelyn Lenth
Penelope Farley
Patricia & Larry Finley
Linda & John Fiske
Flyfishermen’s Invitational Striper Hunt, in memory of Jon Nash
Susan Frey
Mary Gartung
Trudy Gerlach
Leslie Fraser Gold & Alex Gold Jr.
Google Matching Gifts Program
Gale R. Guild
Susan Gunderson
Susanna Hinds
JMC Food Equipment
Shawna & Sherwood Johnson
Jeffrey Kramer
Andrea Kreitman
Allie & Jim Loehlin
Christine Loizeaux
John Cole & Charlotte Lord*
Jo-Ann & Monty Lovejoy
Nancy Luke
The Maine Community Foundation
Barbara A. McMillan
Michael Moore
Virginia M. Murray
Ms. Ann R. Nichols
Dr. Ian C.T. Nisbet
Joanne & Richard Norton
Patricia O’Neill*
Mr. Leonard M. Passano & Ms. Elizabeth A. Howe
Peter Post
Pat Randall
Zannie & Pete Richards, in memory of Nancy Richards
Rockland Trust
Kirkland Ropp Crosby
Gloria Schlaepfer
Mildred Solomon
Jennifer Speers
Martha Stearns
The T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving
The Whole Earth Center
Amy Thornton
Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Timberlake Jr.
Tufts Health Plan
Peter Vancura & Brinda Adhikari
$500 - $999
100 Miles
Anonymous (2)
Ann Baruch
John Biderman
Charles Sumner Bird Foundation
Margaret Briggs
Susan & Wendell Chamberlain
William C. & Katherine A. Dixon
Mr. & Mrs. Charles W.H. Dodge
Dominion Foundation Matching Gift Program
The Echo Charitable Foundation
A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds
John Flender
Judith Gilbert
Mary Helen & Tim Goldsmith
Deb Harrison
Tom & Emily Haslett
Mr. & Mrs. William J. Hearn Jr.
Mr. R. Tod Highsmith
Patricia Hilpert & John Cloninger
Cyrus Hopkins
Natalie Houghton
HUB International
William C. Hunter
Sandra Hurlong
Charles F. Kane Jr.
Martha Kropf
Woodrow & Elaine Lackey
Dr. & Mrs. William J. Laws
Edward & Janet Lawson
Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge
Lukes Liquors
Jim & Sarah Ann Mahoney
Dorothy Mayer
John McGlynn
Lisa Meeks
Wilhelm Merck & Nonie Brady
Barbara W. Meyer
Andy Mims
Network For Good
Elizabeth & James Nichols
Ben & Anne Niles
Benjamin Olewine IV
William & Lynn Osborn
Arthur Page
Dr. Leroy M. Parker
Dr. & Mrs. Douglas D. Payne
Joan Person
Robert & Veronica Petersen
Peter & Meghan Quigley
Dr. & Mrs. J. Michael Reed
Katharine Sterling & Benjamin Reeve
Lynn & Bill Rice
William Ris, Jr. & Nancy Dorn
Hanson & Linda Robbins
Marilyn & Jay Sarles
Dr. Henry F. Sears
Jay Shah, in memory of Nan Harris
Alice Shaner-Simpson
Bill Sinnott, in memory of Dorothy Sinnott
Janice Spence
Nancy & Jim Stager
Mary & Wade Staniar
Leif Taubenberger
The Lyme Timber Company
Linnet Tse & John Forsyth
Mr. & Mrs. John Valentine
Tom & Linda Veblen
Susan Veligor
Mary Frances Wagley
Jeff & Elizabeth Wallace
Kim & Bill Walser
Sally Weedon & Deirdre Robinson
Wendell Family Foundation
Lynn Wendell, in honor of Barbara Folger
Stephen E. & Anne R. Williams
Paul Wood
Henry & Annie Woolsey
J.A. Wunderlich III
$250 - $499
Anonymous (3)
C. Redington & Diana Barrett
John & Molly Beard
LeBaron & Aileen Briggs
Elizabeth Bruhmuller, in memory of Nan Harris
Sandy & Sissy Buck
Charles & Kristen Carlson
Josette & Stephen Carter
Mary Nee & Jimmy Chapin
Claudia & Allen Clark
Carole Clarkson
Betsyann Duval & Bob Clawson
Coastal Heritage Bank
Eric & Christine Cody
Robert Corroon
Nicholas & Jennifer Crocker
Maureen Curley & Ken Stone, in honor of Michael Taubenberger
Amy Doering Smith
Patricia Donahue
Elizabeth & Alfred Dube
Kate Dumas
Anne L. & Robert G. Eccles
Alexander & Robin Ellis
Nancy Frederick
Clay Frick
GE Foundation
Steve & Lee Gifford
Elizabeth & Jeffrey Goodwin
Eva Greger Morse & Christopher Morse
Dr. Sarah Groves
Eric Grunebaum & Miram Tendler
Maury Hall
Jerry Haller & Penny Axelrod
Mark & Joyce Halloran
John Hannan
Karsten & Jo Anne Hartel
Charles & Theresa Hewitt
Cate Hopkinson
Audrey McCarthy & Dr. John Hoye
Carol James & Michael Moss
Deborah Krupenia
Linda Lancaster
David Lange
Cynthia Lee, in memory of Carol Wilder
David & Lucinda Lee
Emily Lewis
Jim Lifton
Thomas Loring
Maine Tree Foundation
Massachusetts Master Gardener Association
Marcia McKeague & Christopher Austin
Eric McNulty
Met Life
Eugene & Susan Mickey
Sandra & Marc Molinsky
Mrs. Anne M. Morgan
Amy & Shapur Naimi
Oconee Rivers Audubon Society
Janet Offensend
Marian Goldeen & Arthur Ogawa
Pell Osborn
Lisa Paige
Brooks Patterson
Elizabeth Perry
Jon & Andrea Plate
Mark & Dalia Post
Jennie & Gil Robbins
Andrée Robert & Tom Burger
Cianne & Hugh Roberts
Jenny & Mark Sawyer
Lisa & Erik Sebesta
Joe & Nell Sedransk
Elizabeth & Jonathan Seltzer
William Sloane
Elizabeth & Joseph Strauch
David & Patricia Straus
Ev & Tadhg Sweeney
The Coca-Cola Foundation Matching Gifts Program
Stephen Travis
Stephanie Turner
Philip & Janet Warren
Christine & Steven Whitebread
Karon Wierman
Chesney Wright
Dr. Julia K. Yoshida
In-Kind
Atlantic Sea Farms
Birds Unlimited
Boston Organics
BR Alexander & Co.
Farmers to You
Five Way Foods
Future Chefs
Hemenway & Barnes, LLC
Howland Capital
Island Creek Oysters
The KITCHEN at The Boston Public Market
Kowa American Corporation
Leena’s Kitchen
Mass Bay Brewing Company DBA Harpoon
Mintz Levin
Quicksilver Baking Co, LLC
Row 34
Salt Raw Bar
*Deceased