Maine Voices Live Waterville: Embrace Your Wild Side

Join us for a wide-ranging discussion featuring guests Judy Camuso and Erin Merrill about the role of hunting in conservation, different paths to becoming involved in or supporting conservation, and current goals for making the outdoors a welcoming space for everyone on Tuesday, November 12 at 7 p.m. at Greene Block + Studios.

Erin Merrill is an award-winning writer from central Maine. She started deer hunting with her dad when she was 20. Since then, she has expanded her adventures to include hunting turkey, bear and coyotes. Merrill has learned how to trap bear and beaver, and enjoys fly fishing and foraging. In 2021, Merrill was successful in completing her “Big Game Grand Slam,” harvesting a bear, turkey, deer and moose in the same calendar year. Merrill has been interviewed across numerous podcasts and news stories about being a woman in a typically male-dominated field. She sits on the board of directors for the New England Outdoor Writers Association and is vice president for the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Her new monthly column, “Hunt & Harvest,” began recently in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.

Judy Camuso has been the commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife since 2019, when she became the first woman to lead the department. The agency oversees the preservation, protection and enhancement of the inland fisheries and wildlife resources of the state. Prior to becoming commissioner, Camuso was the director of the department’s Wildlife Division and worked with Maine Audubon. She is a licensed bird bander and an avid birder, as well as a hunter, who canoes, hikes and bikes.

Admission is free, but advance registration is requested.

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