Raised on an Aroostook family farm, Bo arrived in the Mysterious DownEast in 1970 to provide tutorial support to alternative K-8 “Our School.” After a few subsequent seasons of carpentry and horse-powered logging, he spent nigh two decades as a social worker and community development specialist on significant projects, including serving – under Wayne Newell’s mentorship - as Indian Township’s health planner soon after federal recognition. The final decades of his values-based professional efforts embraced a range of leadership roles in post-secondary education settings as diverse as WCTC (now WCCC) and Cornell University, including outward-facing positions with two medical schools and ultra- innovative SNHU. Bo has also taught at the undergraduate level, his favorite module being “Education and Social Oppression”.
A strong commitment to socioeconomic justice and ecological integrality characterized Bo’s volunteer service, on boards local (Calais Regional Hospital) to national (National Center for Missing and Abused Children). He was catalytic in the formation of organizations such as MOFGA, the Maine Public Health Association and the Maine People’s Alliance. His co-leadership in establishing Protecting the Environment from Sprayed Toxins ended decades of the largest annual aerial pesticide program on the planet…operated by the State of Maine. As a founding board member of the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides – now “Beyond Pesticides”-a national informational resource is now established.
When he graduated from UMaine – with nigh 150 of the 120 credits required for his B.S. Ed. (Social Sciences) – Bo was disillusioned with higher education. But years later, as the recipient of a National Rural Fellowship, he completed a M.R.P. in planning/rural policy at UMass-Amherst in the hope of better serving the Public Good. That was followed by an M.S. in community economic development via New Hampshire College (now SNHU) and eventually an 18-month residential doctoral fellowship in adult & continuing education with Nova University.