The Future Potential of Back Cove: Panel Discussion with Four Perspectives

Please join us for the final event in our Back Cove Lecture Series, an engaging panel on the future potential of the Back Cove, moderated by Glenn Page (COBALT), and followed by an Audience Q and A. The panel discussion will take place from 1 PM-2:30 PM in the University Events Room, Glickman Family Library, University of Southern Maine. During the panel, Troy Moon will offer the local perspective of how the future potential of Back Cove fits with the "One Climate Future” Vision. Nicole Diroff will share a Bioregional perspective of the future potential of Back Cove through a lens of spirituality in a climate changed world. Ryan Davis will elaborate upon the future potential of Back Cove as an ecological treasure – focused on large scale tidal wetland restoration/regeneration, and Bill Reed will reflect on the first three presentations and highlight how and why defining the future potential of Back Cove is so critically important.

We will close the event by introducing Dr. Curtis Bohlen, Executive Director of the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, who will lead an optional guided walk around the Back Cove from 3 PM -4:30 PM (for anyone attending who is interested in joining).

When you register for the event, you are registering to attend the panel. Guests may choose to join the Back Cove walk (or not) on the day of the event. All are welcome.

WHAT: “The Future Potential of Back Cove: A Panel Discussion with Four Perspectives”

WHEN: Saturday, March 21st, 2026 1PM - 2:30 PM

WHERE: University Events Room, 7th Floor, Glickman Family Library

University of Southern Maine, Portland Campus

WHO: Panel: Troy Moon (City of Portland), Rev. Nicole Diroff (BTS Center), Dr. Ryan Davis (Anchor QEA), Bill Reed (Regensis) , Glenn Page (COBALT), Dr. Curtis Bohlen (Casco Bay Estuary Partnership)

Troy Moon, the Sustainability Director for the City of Portland, ME will focus on the future potential of Back Cove through the One Climate Future perspective. Troy leads efforts to achieve the City’s climate and resilience goals. Key projects include procuring renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and implementing neighborhood resilience projects. In his role he collaborates closely with a wide range of stakeholders including community members, business owners, and community-based organizations. He also serves as the staff liaison to the City Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee, which oversees the development and implementation of climate action and policies related to transportation and the environment. In 2022, the Natural Resources Council of Maine recognized Troy with a Conservation Leadership Award for developing the City’s climate action plan, One Climate Future, and for his efforts to promote regional collaboration to fight climate change. He speaks regularly with civic leaders across the State of Maine about municipal climate action. He helps lead the New England Municipal Sustainability Network and is a member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network.

Rev. Nicole Diroff will focus on the future potential of Back Cove through spiritual dimensions. She is ordained in the United Church of Christ and serves as Associate Director at The BTS Center. Located in Portland, Maine, The BTS Center is the organizational successor to Bangor Theological Seminary and focuses on nurturing spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world, both in the Casco Bay bioregion and more broadly. She holds expertise in program design, facilitation, data management, and strategic planning. Nicole is a certified Maine Master Naturalist and volunteers with the Scarborough Land Trust. Prior to her work with The BTS Center, Nicole served as the Associate Director at Interfaith Philadelphia, where she coordinated the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia and directed the creation and expansion of the organization’s many Dare to Understand initiatives. She lives with her family and a menagerie of pets in Scarborough, Maine.

Exploring the future ecological potential will be Dr. Ryan Davis who leads Anchor QEA’s ecological restoration practice on the East Coast and has over 30 years of experience in coastal, estuarine, and riverine habitat assessment, restoration design, and monitoring. Dr. Davis works collaboratively with engineers to design and implement habitat restoration projects related to beneficial use of dredged material, sediment remediation, and mitigation for dredging projects related to port redevelopment and channel improvements. He is also currently focusing on integrating green designs and habitat restoration into coastal restoration and resiliency projects. He has negotiated with natural resource agencies and trustees to gain approval of habitat-related work plans, restoration designs, operations, maintenance and monitoring plans, and mitigation requirements for compliance with CERLCA and CWA Section 404 projects. Dr. Davis has also taught continuing education credit classes on natural channel design and adaptive management for landscape architects, and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration and living shoreline design for stakeholder groups.

Our final panelist is Bill Reed, an internationally recognized proponent, author, and practitioner and will focus on the “Future Potential of Back Cove” with a major focus on regeneration. Bill is a principal in Regenesis, Inc., a living system design and education organization working with the built environment as an instrument to develop a co-evolutionary relationship between people and place. This work centers on developing the capability of participants to engage in mutually beneficial relationship with life and each other. The purpose: to regenerate the physical, social, natural, and spiritual life in our communities and the planet. He is a founding Board Member of the U.S. Green Building Council and a co-developer of the LEED Green Building Rating System. He is also a co-author of the influential book Integrative Design Guide to Green Building and has contributed to numerous technical publications on green design. With experience on hundreds of green design and regenerative development initiatives, Bill is widely regarded as a thought leader in this field. He frequently speaks at major planning, building, and design conferences and serves as a guest lecturer at universities across North America and Europe, including Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, the University of British Columbia, Universidad Iberoamericana, and the University of Pennsylvania.

After the panel concludes, a special invitation will be shared to all attending to walk the Back Cove with Dr. Curtis Bohlen. Curtis Bohlen is an aquatic and wetland ecologist and conservation leader with an interdisciplinary background in ecology, economics, and public policy. He leads the work of the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, working with partners both inside and outside of the University to seek creative solutions to environmental challenges, support local communities, and improve the health of Casco Bay.

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