Susan Cottle
Raised in NYC and rural Pennsylvania, Susan has felt at home only in the Maine woods, where she spent her first ~25 summers. Her dream was always to live year round in Maine, with her good friends—moss, lichen, granite, and hemlock. After being lucky enough to marry a Maine man she met as an undergraduate in Philadelphia, she completed an MA in English Rhetoric in Wisconsin. Returning to Maine, she and her husband settled in South China, where they have lived in the woods for over 35 years.
Susan’s professional life has included managing programs and staff for several different organizations; it has focused on providing consumer, licensing, financial, or other services to a wide array of constituencies and on building good relationships between often contentious parties. Work for the State of Maine in several areas, including the BMV, retirement system, PUC, and DHHS, was her longest gig and most meaningful work, and led to her earning an MPA from the University of Maine.
Susan also has served on several nonprofit boards and continues to hike and paddle as much as possible. Retirement has allowed her to volunteer a lot more time as an AMC trip leader focusing on trail work, a steward caring for a couple land trust properties, and a Maine Master Naturalist taking folks outside to learn how to perceive—and thus appreciate and care about—nature.
