Tour Guide Bios

Our volunteer local tour guides are not only knowledgeable, but enthusiastic about what they do. This genuine enthusiasm carries forth in their ability to educate and inform people of all ages who attend our tours.

Jeanne and Dennis Drews

Jeanne has loved the outdoors from an early age, whether it was climbing trees, fishing, beach combing, or just digging in the garden dirt. As an elementary teacher she had a focus in teaching science, especially through hands on experiences and using the outdoors as a classroom. She continued to add to her own knowledge through science training workshops and courses. Jeanne also developed science curricula, and led workshops for fellow teachers. This area of Maine has been special to Jeanne for many years. It has become even more special since she and her husband have made Lubec their home. She enjoys hiking, birding, camping, and boating with her husband, as well as drawing and painting outdoor scenes. There are so many opportunities to explore during the changing seasons and weather and to enjoy different environments: rocky headlands, sandy beaches, fog forests, lakes, quiet bays, bogs.

Dennis' interest in the outdoors began when his family summered at Gardner Lake, near Machias. This interest and his formal education in the sciences eventually led him to become a high school science teacher. During his teacher preparation program he taught a course in marine resources and his professional teaching career included courses in advanced biology, field biology, environmental science, chemistry, and earth sciences, including a unit on the glacial history of Maine, which he helped develop. As a teacher, his love of science was surpassed by his desire to share his "sense of wonder" for the natural world with his students. Since his retirement he has relocated from central Maine, where he lived for 28 years, to be nearer the places he considers the most special in his life. He and his wife now reside on Cobscook Bay in Lubec.

Nan Rudolph

Nan Rudolph has had a life long interest in marine biology and has a degree in chemistry, an insatiable curiosity, and a scientist's focus on detail. She spent part of every summer for 55 years at her family cottage on the shores of Cayuga Lake, a large glacial lake in the Finger Lakes of western New York state. Thirty years in Houston, Texas with access to the beaches of Galveston Island allowed her to explore the beach on the gulf side, and the marshes of the back bay, broadening her knowledge of aquatic life along saltwater shores. She serves on the board of Maine's Fundy Audubon chapter with a particular interest in preserving the ecosystems of the Passamaquoddy Bay. We are happy to have this experienced tour guide share her knowledge and joy in the variety of creatures that live on and in the Downeast seashore.

photo by Chessie Crowe

The Bell Family

Jane Bell works as the dairy herd assistant and helps with public relations on her family's ninth generation farm on the shores of Cobscook Bay. Three generations on Tide Mill Farm produce organic milk, meats and vegetables, manage and harvest blueberry and forest lands and manage a balsam wreath business.

Jane loves exploring the shoreline, capturing images of wildlife, recording weather, and inspiring young and older to notice and appreciate the wonders of Nature. She received her Bachelor's degree in 1994 in the field of Environmental Studies with a marine focus.

She is an elected member of the County USDA Farm Services Committee and is an Information Specialist for the Autism Society of Maine. She is passionate in sharing her enthusiasm for learning about the marvels of the natural world, importance of healthy and nutritious food, and raising all creatures with love and respect.

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."
- Rachel Carson

Carly DelSignore works with her husband, Aaron Bell and their family to grow and market a diverse array of certified organic foods on Tide Mill Farm. Carly and Aaron met while studying sustainable ecology, natural resources, agriculture and philosophy at the University ofMaine in Orono. In 2000, they received certified organic status for Tide Mill Farm, which has been in Aaron's family since 1765. They teach their three children, as well as school groups, apprentices and community members how to grow healthy food that embraces sustainable and organic farming techniques. Carly has a passion for connecting people with where their food comes from and orchestrating the diverse enterprises that work together to make a sustainable farm. She can't wait to introduce you to their dynamic farm experience and the food they grow.

Ruta Jordans

Back when the Boston Museum of Science had an extensive exhibit on bogs, Ruta spent her whole visit there while her family traipsed through the rest of the museum. Recognizing that bogs are seen as eerie and forbidding in Europe, she was surprised to find that Native Americans harvested the bogs for food and medicines, even using sphagnum moss for diapers. On moving to Lubec she was delighted to find two rare arctic bogs with placarded boardwalks here along with Carrying Place Cove Bog, which has been designated a National Natural Landmark. Ruta enjoys sharing her fascination with bogs and the history and special places of in Lubec and Campobello.