The Graduate College is pleased to announce the two Thomas... Scholarship winners for 2014:

The Graduate College is pleased to announce the two Thomas J. Votta
Scholarship winners for 2014:
Chester Harvey is a Masters candidate in the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, a
Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center, and
a Graduate Fellow at the Gund Center for Ecological Economics. His research focuses on GISbased measurement and assessment of street environments for livability, particularly for nonmotorized users. Chester has a diverse professional background including
work as a renewable energy development consultant, an undergraduate
instructor of GIS and cartographic design, a freelance cartographer, and an
architecture and land planning researcher specializing in historical GIS. He
is the cartographer for Anne Kelly Knowles’ recently published monograph,
"Mastering Iron: The Struggle to Modernize an American Industry, 18001868," from the University of Chicago Press. Chester holds a B.A. in
Geography from Middlebury College and lives in Burlington, Vermont.
Laura Yayac is a Master's candidate in the Field Naturalist and Ecological Planning program at
the University of Vermont. Laura engages with people and helps connect them to the natural
world, and uses her knowledge of natural science to inspire people to care about nature.
Laura's master’s project combined these aspirations with her passion for experiential
education. She worked with the LANDS program, a college internship that offers students a
chance to develop and apply skills while accomplishing real-world conservation work, and spent
the summer co-leading LANDS in Vermont and consulting with the member land trusts of the
Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative in Portland, Maine. Using LANDS as a model, she
developed an internship program for the Collaborative in which students
gain field and professional skills while inventorying natural resources and
crafting management plans.
Before coming to UVM to pursue a graduate degree, Laura worked as an
environmental and outdoor educator. She plans to continue teaching the
amazing details of the natural world while cultivating skills to create strong
relationships and vibrant communities. She also intends to throw a Frisbee
on every continent, and has only one more to go!
For criteria and an application form: http://www.uvm.edu/~gradcoll/pdf/Votta%20%2011-6-13.pdf