About 1 — ELSPETH HAY

Since I was a kid growing up in Maine, I've wondered: what's wrong with humans? When it came to the ecosystems around me, we didn't seem to fit.
My parents were birdwatchers. Every species they introduced me to was perfectly adapted to its home place. But I noticed we were destroying these same ecosystems—for food, fuel, etc.
I began to believe that the living world would be better off if we shrank...or maybe just disappeared. But the day I learned that we humans can eat acorns, a whole new way of seeing things began to emerge.
Today I believe that our ecosystems need us—and that reconnecting with the skills and stories of our places is the great challenge and joy of our times. Curious? Come on in.

Hi there!

I’ve spent the past 15+ years learning from local ecologists, knowledge keepers, producers, harvesters, processors, cooks, policymakers and visionaries about what it means to be human and live thoughtfully in place.

Over the course of that inquiry, I’ve come to believe that the single most effective thing we humans can do to support our home ecosystems is to get back into relationship with the keystone species around us. (What the heck is a keystone species? I’ve got you.)

I explore this work at home in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and in Maine where I grew up—primarily through storytelling, local food, basket weaving, and teaching.

I’m also co-director of the new non-profit CommonsKeepers and part of the team behind my husband’s latest restaurant: The Wicked Oyster in Wellfleet.

Photo Credit: Joe Navas, 2021

Since I was a kid growing up in Maine, I've wondered: what's wrong with humans? When it came to the ecosystems around me, we didn't seem to fit.

My parents were birdwatchers. Every species they introduced me to was perfectly adapted to its home place. But I noticed we were destroying these same ecosystems—for food, fuel, etc.

I began to believe that the living world would be better off if we shrank...or maybe just disappeared. But the day I learned that we humans can eat acorns, a whole new way of seeing things began to emerge.

Today I believe that our ecosystems need us—and that reconnecting with the skills and stories of our places is the great challenge and joy of our times. Curious? Come on in.

Hi there!