R s ubensTein chool

The
Rubenstein School
of
Environment and Natural Resources
News for our alumni and friends
Winter 2008-09
Greening of Aiken Includes Eco-Machine™ to Treat Wastewater
Matt Beam (NR ’07)
plankton,
invertebrates,
higher plants,
and fish to
clean the
building’s
gray (sink)
water and
black (sewage) water.
“We’ve
designed a
lot of flexibility into the
system for ongoing research
and education
purposes,”
explains Matt.
“We can run
numbers on
the different
flow configuRendering of solarium, to house the Eco-Machine™ and indoor wetland, to be
rations. For
constructed on the southwest side of the green Aiken Center.
instance, is
it more efficient for the wastewater to
Although the current global financial
flow to the Eco-Machine™ tanks or to an
situation has delayed the start date for the
indoor wetland first?”
green renovation and expansion of the
A solarium to house the tanks and the
Aiken Center, designing continues for
associated wetland will be built onto the
current graduate student and alum Matt
second and third floors on the southwest
Beam (NR ’07) and his advisor Professor
side of Aiken. The solarium will look and
John Todd. Matt’s Master’s project is
feel like a tropical garden and will serve
the design and creation of an ecological
as a community meeting place, but much
system to treat the building’s wastewater
more will be going on underfoot. The
and divert it from Burlington’s sewage
sunken wetland ecosystem will purify
system.
wastewater below a floor of flagstone,
It wouldn’t be a green Aiken Center
gravel, and cedar bark mulch.
without an Eco-Machine™, originally
The five-foot tall, five-foot diameter,
invented by John Todd, world-renowned
bubbling Eco-Machine™ tanks will inpioneer in the emerging field of ecohabit an adjacent room. “We’ll construct
logical design and engineering. John
the tanks out of translucent fiberglass that
recently received the first annual $100,000
will allow for photosynthesis by resident
Buckminster Fuller Award for his bold
algae,” Matt explains. “The assembled
proposal to use plant-based systems to
ecologies of microbes, invertebrates, fish,
detoxify vast lagoons of coal slurry, build
and plants will use waste chemical energy
new healthy soils, and yield raw products
and radiant sun energy to transform
to benefit the economy in Appalachia’s
polluted water into biomass products and
devastated coal lands.
pure water.” Clean water will be recycled
John Todd Ecological Design, Inc. of
back into the building’s plumbing to flush
Woods Hole, Massachusetts is generously
the low flow toilets.
contributing the Aiken Center’s Eco“Our fundamental approach is to allow
Machine™ which will use bacteria, algae,
nature to do as much of the designing and
maintenance as possible,” says Matt. The
plant roots will support and provide nutrients to microbial communities of bacteria
and algae. As the workhorses of the
system, these microbes will breakdown
pollutants into smaller compounds that
the plants can absorb. The microbes are
a food source for the plankton, which in
turn are eaten by snails and other invertebrates that serve as food for the fish.
Matt sees his project as a “meshing
of human and natural systems.” “Society
has systematically separated them, and we
are now seeing the harm we have caused,”
Matt explains. “The Eco-Machine™
breaks down barriers between inside and
outside. It will have a low impact waste
treatment function as well as educational,
social, and aesthetic functions.”
This makes his Master’s work more
collaborative than most. “The project
belongs to the Rubenstein community as
a whole,” he admits. He works closely
with Rubenstein School students in John
Todd’s Ecological Design Studio and with
the building architects, Maclay Architects
& Planners of Waitsfield, Vermont; UVM
Architect Ken Bean; and Rubenstein
School staff and faculty, especially his
advisor, John Todd.
John and Matt are working diligently
to design the Aiken’s water treatment
system for sustained research and to
strengthen the Ecological Design curriculum in the School. According to Matt,
John would like his students to research
production of non-edible crops for fuel
(bio-diesel) or structure (bamboo).
But the team’s most pressing interest
is how to mine phosphorus out of the
waste stream into an agriculturally usable
form. “We’re running out of phosphate
rock for agricultural fertilizer,” Matt
explains. “Yet, we are dumping excess
phosphorus into our freshwater systems.
If we can learn how to mine it out of our
wastewater, we’ll be reducing water pollution and maintaining supplies for food
production.”
Dean’s Message
Shari Halik
Greening of Aiken Needs Your Help
Interim Dean Larry Forcier
This newsletter is produced bi-annually
to share news of The Rubenstein School
of Environment and Natural Resources
with alumni and friends.
School web site: www.uvm.edu/envnr
Interim Dean
Larry Forcier (802-656-4280)
Associate Dean
Undergraduate programs
Margaret Shannon (802-656-4280)
The Greening of Aiken project is
the first extensive renovation project the
School has planned since The George D.
Aiken Center was built in 1982. The renovation will create the greenest building on
the UVM campus – which I feel, and I am
sure you will agree, is most appropriate
for the home of The Rubenstein School of
Environment and Natural Resources.
The green Aiken Center will be a model for sustainable building and learning for
UVM, Vermont, and beyond. The project
will increase energy efficiency, reduce
water use, and create an ecological system
to treat and reuse wastewater inside the
Aiken Center. Please see the insert in this
newsletter for further green features.
I need your help to reach our goal. I
am asking each graduate of the School to
give to the Greening of Aiken project. The
School has $800,000 left to raise towards
its $5 million goal for the Greening of
Aiken project. I am hoping all of our
alumni will want to participate in this
project. Therefore, I offer this challenge:
If every graduate of the School gave
$20.00, an additional $67,440.00 would
be put toward the project. If alumni
contributions reach a significant level, a
designated space could be recognized as a
gift from The Rubenstein School alumni
body. Any amount you give will help
the project move forward. Our hope is
to announce a high percentage of alumni
giving towards the project to reflect the
spirit of School community.
I recognize these are trying times to
ask for funds, but I am driven to ask you
to give to celebrate your School, your
community, and your memories. The
renovated Aiken Center will enhance opportunities for students, community partners, alumni, staff, and faculty to gather,
study, teach, and learn. The building will
provide constant monitoring information
about the School’s carbon footprint so
others can learn from our creation of a
living, evolving building.
Thank you for your consideration and,
please, if you are inclined to donate to
the Greening of Aiken Project, please go
to http://alumni.uvm.edu/giving/ and be
sure to designate your gift to Rubenstein
School Greening of Aiken.
With my sincere wishes, I hope 2009
has already been a great year for you.
Interim Associate Dean
Graduate programs (M.S. and Ph.D.)
Mary Watzin (802-656-4280)
Program Chairs
Environmental Sciences
Alan McIntosh (802-656-4057)
Environmental Program Director Ian Worley Retires
Environmental Studies
Stephanie Kaza (802-656-4055)
Forestry
John Shane (802-656-2907)
Natural Resources
Walter Kuentzel (802-656-0652)
Recreation Management
Walter Kuentzel (802-656-0652)
Wildlife & Fisheries Biology
Allan Strong (802-656-2910)
Newsletter Editor
Shari Halik (802-656-8339)
Please send news or suggestions to:
Shari Halik, Aiken Center, 81 Carrigan
Drive, UVM, Burlington, VT 05405 or
[email protected].
Professor Ian Worley, director of the
Environmental Program, retired in May
2008. A founder of the program in the
early 1970s, along with Professors Carl
Reidel and Tom Hudspeth, Ian became
director following Carl’s 2000 retirement.
A botanist and ecologist, Ian was an
active researcher of Maine’s coastal peat
lands and Alaska’s glacial landscapes. At
UVM’s Colchester Bog and Shelburne
Pond, he studied core sediments, plant
communities, and ecological history.
An accomplished pilot since his youth,
Ian conducted aerial surveys of natural
areas and wildlife conservation projects
for Vermont’s Natural Heritage Program
and Department of Fish and Wildlife. He
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served as chair of the Vermont Endangered Species and the Vermont Fragile
Areas committees.
Ian taught ENVS 1, Intermediate Environmental Studies, Research Methods,
Environmental Practicum, Environmental
Ethics, and Environmental Theory. For
many years, he co-taught a course with
Geology Professor Jack Drake on the
ecology and geology of the Lake Champlain Basin. Ian enthralled hundreds of
students with aerial field trips along the
Lake’s shorelines.
According to longtime colleague Rick
Paradis, lecturer and director of the Natural Areas Center, Ian most enjoyed teaching the popular, field-based Landscape
Natural History, designed by Lecturer
Walter Poleman. “Ian was both introspective and challenging in his teaching,”
says Rick. “His strong environmental
ethic and probing, intellectual mind brings
up profound philosophical questions regarding society and the natural world.”
Ian’s strong environmental values
influenced countless ENVS students,
including his sons, Josh (ENVS ’01) and
Eli (ENVS ’03).
Dave Hirth Spends 30 Years Teaching and Studying Wildife Behavior
Associate Professor David Hirth will
retire this spring. For 30 years, he captivated our wildlife students in the field and
classroom with courses in wildlife biology, ecology, and behavior.
Dave started out as an assistant professor in wildlife ecology at the University of
Florida. In 1979, as an associate professor,
he joined the School of Natural Resources
at UVM. He served as chair of the Wildlife & Fisheries Biology program from
1982 to 2007.
Most infamous for his Wildlife Behavior course, Dave also taught courses on
terrestrial and wetlands wildlife, ornithology, and habitat and population measurements. More recently, he instructed the
Lola Aiken Scholars Seminar for many of
our first-year students. “I tried to create a
program of engaging guest speakers that
cut across environmental disciplines,” he
explains. He also hosted a yearly session
with Lola Aiken, long-time friend and
supporter of the School.
Year after year, Dave led students
on alternate spring break field classes to
Florida or Texas. He introduced them to
the flatwoods, sandhills, cypress swamps,
and Everglades of Florida and the coastal
prairie, lower Rio Grande Valley, and
desert habitats of Texas.
Dave’s foremost passion was to study
deer behavior. He first became involved
in white-tailed deer research in Texas
as a doctoral student at the University
of Michigan, and he admits, “Vermont
is a lousy place to study deer behavior
because observing deer in a forested
environment is next to impossible.” But in
Texas, Dave says, “There are a lot of deer
and you can actually see them!”
He spent one sabbatical leave in Texas
observing white-tailed deer and a second,
studying breeding behavior of free-ranging fallow deer, which, according to Dave,
are an exotic species originally from Asia
Minor and Iraq and introduced to Europe.
“It’s believed that George Washington had
Dave Hirth, associate professor in wildlife biology, retires after 30 years at UVM.
a hand in bringing them to this country,”
Dave notes.
Along with deer research, Dave and
his graduate students offered much to our
knowledge of behavioral ecology and
population ecology and genetics of songbirds, black bears, bobcats, and coyotes
and foxes in Vermont. He particularly
enjoyed the coyote and fox project with
graduate students David Person (MSWFB ’88) and Moira Ingle (MS-WFB
’90) in the mid- to late 1980s. “Coyotes
had just arrived in large numbers in Vermont at that time and no one knew much
about them,” Dave explains.
Using telemetry to track radio-collared
coyotes throughout the farmlands of Vermont, the research team discovered that
each coyote pair “owns” a piece of ground
roughly five by eight square kilometers
in size. Pups disperse from the parental
territory in search of a suitable habitat
with no coyotes or an established territory
where a mate of the same sex has died.
“The territories remain, but the animals
get replaced,” Dave observes.
Because the team was catching just as
many foxes in their humane traps, they
studied the behavior of red and gray foxes, both prey of coyotes. They found that
red foxes survive in the seams between
coyote territories, but gray foxes, or “tree
foxes,” will roam into coyote territory and
use their ability to climb trees to escape.
Dave will miss his work with graduate
students and his interaction with undergraduates. “UVM was a good-sized institution for me,” he says. “There is a strong
emphasis on undergraduate education, and
I could keep my research program small
and focused.”
Dave and his wife Dana will head
south this winter in their newly acquired
diesel camper van. First stop is Oklahoma
City to visit their daughter Molly and two
grandchildren. (They regularly see their
son John and two other grandchildren
who live in Burlington.) They will spend
the rest of the winter in south Texas.
Summers will find the Hirths enjoying their house on Cliff Island in Casco
Bay, Maine, where they wisely purchased
island property 35 years ago before it was
highly sought after. But wherever Dave is,
we can assume that wildlife viewing will
be included on his retirement itineraries. Joshua Brown, UVM Communications
Environmental Program Welcomes Stephanie Kaza as Director
Professor Stephanie Kaza
Professor Stephanie Kaza has accepted the position of Director of the Environmental Program. She will administer
major and minor degrees in ENVS in the
College of Arts and Sciences, the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and The
Rubenstein School. 
A UVM faculty member since 1991,
Stephanie was instrumental in creating the
Environmental Council, now the Office
of Sustainability, recognized nationally
for its leadership. She is committed to
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pursuing scholarship in the environmental
humanities and is a leader in the field of
Buddhist environmental thought.
In her classes, she helps students
articulate and develop their own values in
the context of their learning. Her courses
address topics such as Ecofeminism,
American Nature Philosophers, Radical
Environmentalism, and Religion and Ecology. Stephanie was the 2002 KroepschMaurice Award winner for excellence in
teaching at UVM.
—Rachael Beddoe
Shari Halik
Staff Members Celebrate 25 Years of Service
Staff Assistant Murphy Maclean on the job.
Murphy MacLean (UVM ’06) began
working in the School of Natural Resources in 1983 as what was then called
a Secretary I. She answered phones,
greeted visitors, and did typing, filing,
and photocopying for faculty and staff
in Wildlife & Fisheries Biology and the
Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center, including Jack Clausen, Bob
Fuller, George LaBar, and Don Meals,
each of whom has retired or moved on to
new endeavors.
As her responsibilities grew, Murphy’s
job title changed to Secretary II, then
John Shane (FOR ’81, MS-FOR
’88), senior researcher, lecturer, and chair
of forestry, has held one of the most varied positions in The Rubenstein School.
After graduating with a B.S. in Forestry
in 1981, he began working on his Master’s degree with Professor Don DeHayes
on the relationships of photosynthesis
and genetics in yellow birch. In 1983, he
began working for Professor John “Doc”
Donnelly as a research field technician.
John continued to work on his thesis
while managing research projects in the
School’s forest physiology laboratory.
Projects included: a soil-timber
harvesting study on the Green Mountain
National Forest; a cooperative study with
NASA assessing remote sensing as a tool
to detect high-elevation red spruce decline; a study of lead mobility in stems of
red spruce seedlings with Master’s student
Paul Schaberg (FOR ’81, MS-FOR ’85,
PhD-NR ’96); acid rain-related studies to
correlate concentrations of soluble metals
Secretary III, and now Staff Assistant,
with growing financial responsibilities
that include reconciling the School’s
credit card purchases, handling travel
and expense reports, administering
grants for the Water Center, Lake
Champlain Sea Grant, and Vermont
Monitoring Cooperative, and managing invoices for the School’s two
research vessels.
“I most enjoy the financial side of
my position and all the different nuances. I like to watch out for the little
things that some people don’t catch
and enjoy educating faculty, staff, and
graduate students about financial processes. I try to get things right.”
In the early days, Murphy recalls,
work was left on her desk, and she was
expected to get the job done without
much interaction with the faculty
member, but now she says, “Times
have changed, and the onus is back on
the person using the funds, but I help them
get through the complicated financial
maze.” Interacting with people in UVM’s
Procurement Services, and Grants and
Contracts gives Murphy useful networking ties to fall back on.
Murphy has developed numerous
skills over the years, many from Jeanne
Pallotta, former business manager for the
School, but many through Training and
Development or through the on-line information offered at UVM. She serves as administrative support for several faculty including Breck Bowden, Jeffrey Hughes,
Suzanne Levine, Alan McIntosh, Leslie
Morrissey, Pat Stokowski, Austin Troy,
and Mary Watzin and works closely with
Rose Feenan, the School’s current business manager, and Kathleen Wells, the
School’s business support person.
Murphy also took on maintenance
of the School’s website and intranet,
launched several years ago, and helps faculty with individual teaching and research
websites and UVM’s online teaching
system, Blackboard. She is editor of the
Water Center’s “Reflections on Water”
newsletter with Director Breck Bowden
and up until this year, posted the School’s
weekly calendar of events.
Taking advantage of tuition remission
benefits at UVM, Murphy began taking courses in 1986. “In 10 years, I had
built up quite a repertoire of credits and
decided to apply to the College of Education and Social Services,” she explains.
Murphy graduated in 2006 with a B.S. in
Human Development and Family Studies. That same year, she did her required
internship with Women Helping Battered
Women in Burlington. Every Saturday
for eight months, she worked the Hotline.
“That’s when I decided the field of counseling wasn’t for me,” Murphy admits.
Nonetheless, she is proud of her college degree, her 25 years at UVM, and
her growing position in The Rubenstein
School. She spends her free time at home
in Essex, Vermont with her husband David MacLean, her cats (Max and Casey),
and the various birds, squirrels, and other
wildlife that visit her many feeders and
gardens. —Shari Halik
in red maple with concentrations in soil; water relations
in yellow birch with Master’s
student Tim Wilmot (UVM
’84, ‘87); and several studies
looking at seasonal carbohydrate reserves, photosynthesis,
and transpiration in red spruce
with graduate students Michael Snyder (FOR ’85, MSFOR ’90), John Alexander
(FOR ’86, MS-FOR ’91), and
Paula Cali Murkami (MSFOR ’94).
John was mastermind and
builder of a large electronic
apparatus to measure photosynthesis which he used in his
graduate work and in much of
the lab’s later research. Because of his technical prowess
and vision, John became the IT
Researcher, Lecturer, and Chair of Forestry John
person in the School for many Senior
Shane enjoys fishing in his spare time.
years and played an important
Continued on Page 5
4
Staff Member John Shane continued
role in bringing computer networking
from the Waterman Building to the Aiken
Center long before the technology was
commonplace on campus.
As Doc neared retirement, John began
assisting with his forestry courses, including Dendrology and the Forest Ecology
laboratory (FOR 121). As a lecturer, John
eventually inherited both courses along
with NR 103 Ecology, Ecosystems & Environment; Forestry Seminar; Advanced
Forestry Seminar; and Forest Ecosystem
Analysis, part of the forestry summer
camp.
In 2000, John became chair of forestry
at the time of the School’s SAF (Society
of American Foresters) reaccreditation.
“Dean Don DeHayes encouraged the forestry faculty to re-examine the direction
of SAF and the School,” John explains.
“The majority of the faculty shared the
vision for a move toward a more progressive forestry curriculum and voted to
decline reaccreditation.” John has been
a strong advocate for sustainable forestry
in the School and, with external financial
support, was instrumental in bringing
David Brynn (FOR ’76, NRP ’91) to the
School as director of the Green Forestry
Education Initiative and its demonstration
efforts at the Jericho Research Forest.
As he looks back over his 25 years
in the School, John is most proud of his
teaching accomplishments. He received
UVM’s 2000 Kroepsch-Maurice Award
for Teaching Excellence. “I just like
students,” he admits with a shrug. “I
never thought I’d be good at teaching, but
when you engage with students, you learn
from them more than they learn from you.
Shari Halik (FOR ’83, MS-FOR ’90)
grew up enjoying the outdoors. She was
a member of a Boy Scout Explorer post in
high school where she learned orienteering and made her own sleeping bag and
snowshoes for winter survival adventures
and possible search and rescue missions.
We are very fortunate that she left her
hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York
to pursue her passion for the outdoors
to study forestry at UVM. Shari arrived
at the School of Natural Resources as
an undergraduate forestry student in the
fall of 1979. She graduated in 1983 and
launched her UVM career as a research
field technician, working with Professor
Dale Bergdahl on a multi-year, multi-faceted pinewood nematode research project.
During the past 25 years at The
Rubenstein School, she earned her Master’s degree in forestry and worked on
several other research projects, including
studies of high elevation spruce decline,
butternut canker, and the exotic pine shoot
beetle. Shari is proud of the journal articles she published while researching relevant issues for the region. Her work on
the pinewood nematode also had international ramifications when Japan, Finland,
and other countries shared concerns about
global movement of the nematode. “My
position was a nice combination of field
and lab work as well as writing; looking
back on the work I realize how much I
enjoyed it,” Shari recalls. In addition, she
was a teacher assistant in Dale’s forest
pathology course for over 20 years and
helped forestry students make sense of
fungal terms and Latin names.
When Dale retired in 2006, Shari shifted her focus to writing and web design.
She has been editor of the School’s alumni
newsletter since 1991 and also helps
maintain websites for the School,
the Northeastern States Research
Cooperative, and several faculty
members. When asked what she
likes most about her current position, Shari talks about the flexibility
of and variety in her workdays. “I
enjoy the newsletter editor position
because it keeps me in touch with
students and alumni and it allows
me to be creative. I am always
impressed with what our students
are accomplishing as they balance
classes, internships, jobs, and other
activities,” Shari comments.
Shari has seen many changes in
the School throughout her career.
Forestry students today are exposed
to a more integrated curriculum and
are taught or advised by both male
and female faculty. “It is good to
see the increasing number of female
faculty members at the School; that
is a huge change from the 1970s and
‘80s when I was a student,” says
Shari.
She lives in Richmond,
Vermont with her husband, Greg
Zajchowski, and their 14-year-old
Former Research Technician and current Communicadaughter, Rachel. Shari spends
tions Specialist Shari Halik with a young butternut tree.
much of her free time supporting
worked with, and the accomplishments
Rachel’s travel ice hockey team and
she has celebrated. It also provides the
continues to enjoy the outdoors, biking,
opportunity to consider what lies ahead.
hiking, and gardening. She and Greg own
“I want to travel and see more of the
a Christmas tree farm in Jeffersonville,
country, and I hope someday to write
Vermont, and Shari spends many days
children stories using my knowledge and
in November and December making and
observations of trees, fungi, and insects.”
selling wreaths for the family business.
Commemorating 25 years at UVM
—Kate Baldwin, Advancement Officer
gives Shari a chance to look back at the
positions she has held, the people she has
Rachel Zajchowski
5
Every year, I see trees differently because
I see through students’ eyes.”
An avid fisherman, John and his wife
Mary Lou Doxey Shane (FOR ’81) live
modestly in Duxbury, Vermont on the side
of Camel’s Hump where they have raised
two sons, a cow, goats, sheep, chickens,
and bees in the past and currently garden
and maple sugar. Their son, Connor,
received aeronautical engineering and
material science degrees from Clarkson
University, and son, Jacob (UVM ’08),
majored in economics and minored in
forestry at UVM. John was a founding
member of the Duxbury Land Trust and
helped to conserve several small parcels
of open land and buffers along streams.
He and Mary Lou hope to retire in the not
so distant future to Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia where they own a second home.
—Shari Halik
Founder of Gardener’s Supply Company Integrates the
Economy and the Environment
ing by Design Committee, examining
the sustainability of the campus. Years
ago, with world-renowned ecological
designer and UVM Research Professor John Todd, Will created a
business using “living machines” to
process waste water ecologically.
He has volunteered with Vermont
Businesses for Social Responsibility,
Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Natural
Resources Council, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, and other non-profits.
He is launching several new businesses including a carbon off-set business and Earth Partners, a consulting
business to help major landowners
optimize ecological, economic, and
social benefits of their land. He is
creating the first community-supported agriculture membership farm in
Central America, and he recently traveled to the west coast to teach at the
Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute
and its green MBA program.
Will has been a member of The
Rubenstein School’s Board of Advisors since 2003. “I have been a
Will Raap, founder of Gardeners Supply Co. and
member of The Rubenstein School Board of Advisors consistent advocate for UVM to
become an environmental university.
“Everything I do is about the environI have tried to support any effort where
ment and economy intersect,” Rubenstein
UVM could take advantage of opportuniSchool Board of Advisor’s member Will
ties and become a leader in the integraRaap passionately explains when asked
tion of economics and the environment.
about his background, his current work,
There are so many world issues: climate
his community service, and his future
change, energy, limited natural resources,
business endeavors. “Vermont is a great
and healthy food systems that UVM could
place to bring these issues together since
focus on and provide needed expertise.
the environment is high on just about
The Rubenstein School has delivered with
everyone’s agenda.”
their research and teaching in many areas,
Will is founder and chair of the board
and I would like to see other parts of the
of Gardeners Supply Company and the
university seize the opportunities to do the
non-profit Intervale Center. His mission
same,” Will states.
is the Company’s mission — “to spread
“Will Rapp really walks his talk,” says
the joys and rewards of gardening because Interim Dean Larry Forcier. “For me, he
gardening nourishes the body, elevates the
is the epitome of what I think John Dewey
spirit, builds community, and makes the
would have described as an ideal scholarworld a better place.” Founded in 1983 in
teacher — he reads voraciously, critiBurlington, Vermont, Gardeners Supply
cally analyzes ideas, learns by doing, and
is one of the largest online and catalog
shares the experience. I have been forgardening companies in the country. The
tunate, The Rubenstein School has been
Intervale Center develops farm- and landvery fortunate, and Vermont has been
based enterprises that generate economic
exceedingly fortunate to have this creative
and social opportunity while protecting
businessman-environmental stewardnatural resources.
philanthropist as an active, caring, highly
Through his volunteer work and busisupportive member of our communities.”
ness ventures, Will is making a difference
When asked what or who has influto improve the health of the planet. He
enced him the most, Will says his formadesigned and taught a Rubenstein School
tive thinking was founded by the book,
environmental and business course offered Small is Beautiful, and its message to
in Costa Rica for three years beginning in
practice economy as if people matter.
2004. He is a member of the UVM LeadWill’s version is to practice economy as
6
if people and the environment matter. He
credits mentors, Lyman Wood and John
Todd, with helping to sharpen his thinking
in the area of environment and economy.
Will worked for Lyman, a visionary businessman who owned Garden Way in the
1980s. Will and John met in the late 1980s
when John was creating a demonstration
living machine for wastewater treatment
at the Sugarbush Ski Resort.
Will leaves you with a sense that he
spends 24 hours a day following his passion for bringing together concepts and
values related to the environment and the
economy. He looks for small successes
amongst the most challenging environmental problems and times. In his encounters with students, customers, and others
concerned about the environment, he
consistently delivers a message of hope.
Will received a BA in economics from
the University of California-Davis and
a Master’s degree in business and urban
planning from the University of California-Berkley.
If you ask Will how he relaxes, he will
tell you “by digging holes and being on
the land, in my garden, or in the orchard.”
He savors the time when he is without
a phone and away from email and can
simply enjoy nature.
—Kate Baldwin, Advancement Officer
The Rubenstein School
Board of Advisors
Chair
Ann Pesiri Swanson (WFB ’79)
Ned Austin (UVM ’57)
Mark Biedron (UVM ’74)
David Blittersdorf (UVM ’81)
Sally Bogdanovitch (FOR ’77)
Herb Bormann
Casey Cullen (ENSC ’11)
John Douglas
Eugene Kalkin (UVM ’50)
Kay Henry
Matthew Kolan (UVM ’05)
Crea Lintilhac (UVM ’78)
Kristina Pisanelli (UVM ’97)
Peter Rose (UVM ’54)
Beverly Rubenstein
Ross Whaley
John Wilson (FOR ’75)
Honorary Member
Lola Aiken
Lake Champlain Sea Grant Awarded for Shoreline Stabilization Manual
Since 1996, the Lake Champlain Sea
Grant (LCSG) program in The Rubenstein
School has connected with Vermont’s
communities. LCSG addresses critical
ecological and economic issues affecting
the Lake Champlain basin and its resources. The program works with communities to empower them to make informed
decisions about management, conservation, utilization, and rehabilitation of their
aquatic resources.
At the helm, is Jurij Homziak,
UVM Extension watershed specialist
and executive director of the LCSG, part
of a national network of state Sea Grant
programs coordinated by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Jurij partners with Mark Malchoff, Extension program leader at SUNY Plattsburgh in New York.
“We identify gaps in the knowledge
needed to sustainably manage lake and
basin resources,” explains Jurij. “We then
gather information and provide tools,
training, and results of applied research
to bridge those gaps.” LCSG has coordinated seminars and workshops on topics
ranging from algal blooms and invasive
aquatic species, such as sea lamprey and
water chestnut, to hydro-acoustic sampling and trawl net building and repair.
Recently, Jurij has helped communities work to stabilize eroding lake shorelines. He collected information on erosion
control and stabilization techniques from
experts in the Great Lakes region. With
Vermont’s Northwest Regional Planning
Commission and other local partners,
LCSG helped produce The Shoreline Stabilization Handbook for Lake Champlain
and Other Inland Lakes. This hands-on,
how-to manual summarizes the erosion
process, then illustrates shoreline stabilization options for Lake Champlain,
including cost effective, non-structural
approaches, such as bioengineering.
The handbook received the 2004
Outstanding Project of the
Year from the Northern
New England Chapter
of the American Planning Association and the
Vermont Planners Association. The American
Planning Association then
selected the manual as
the Outstanding Planning
Tool of 2005. “Thousands
of copies are on planners’ desks all over the
Northeast,” admits Jurij.
“It has led to workshops
and demonstrations for
community members and
Jurij Homziak (far right), executive director of Lake Champlain Sea
town officials to help
them recognize and miti- Grant, works with community members on watershed issues.
gate shoreline erosion.”
reaches young people in Vermont. The
Jurij works closely with local business
Lake Education and Action Program
owners to protect water quality. Several
(LEAP), a joint project with the Univeryears ago, he observed that businesses in
sity of Maine and the University of New
Burlington were unaware of their impacts
Hampshire, funds college interns to work
on the local Englesby Brook watershed
with high school students on Lake St.
which feeds Lake Champlain. Jurij and
Catherine in Poultney and Wells, Vermont.
LCSG staff and students encouraged
Water quality projects include: buffer
businesses, such as Lake Champlain
plantings to filter runoff, a welcome garChocolates and Burlington Country Club,
den to showcase buffer plants, and educato switch to environmentally responsible
tion of lake homeowners about invasive
landscaping. “Both business owners and
species and septic maintenance.
lawn care companies benefited financially
LCSG partners with UVM’s Vermont
by adopting green practices,” says Jurij.
Watershed Alliance, coordinated by
Water quality education specialist
Bethany Hanna (NRP ’05). The Alliance
Emma Melvin coordinates the NEMO
increases awareness and knowledge of
(Non-point source Education for Municiwatershed issues in local schools. Handspal Officials) program which provides
on projects in Burlington’s middle schools
education, technical assistance, and leadempower 7th and 8th graders to participate
ership on local water quality protection,
in water quality monitoring in their comnon-point source pollution, and stormmunity by collecting and analyzing water
water management to local officials and
samples from nearby Englesby Brook.
regional planners. Emma’s Rain Garden
“We work with young people as much
Projects teach residents, business owners,
as we can,” explains Jurij. “Good, longand town officials how to use plantings of
term, cumulative education programs
wetland edge vegetation to take up excess
on water-related issues can dramatically
stormwater runoff.
change people’s behavior to positively
LCSG’s water quality protection also
affect our watersheds.”
UVM Photo Services
Beverly Rubenstein Joins The Rubenstein School Board of Advisors
Beverly Rubenstein
Bev Rubenstein, of New Vernon, New
Jersey and Palm Beach, Florida, has been
appointed to The Rubenstein School’s
Board of Advisors by President Daniel
Fogel. Beverly, and her late husband,
Steve, are benefactors of the School.
Their family gifts have named the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory at the
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington waterfront and
The Rubenstein School of Environment
and Natural Resources. The Rubenstein
School is the first named school or college
7
at the University of Vermont.
Bev is a former member of the UVM
National Campaign Steering Committee which helped UVM exceed its recent
capital campaign goal of $250 million.
She serves on the Jewish National Fund
Board in Florida and supports animal
rights organizations.
“While serving on the board, I hope to
continue working on projects Steve was
concerned about, including the Greening
of Aiken,” Bev states.
The Rubenstein School Honor Roll of Supporters
The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources gratefully acknowledges the following contributors for their generous support
in fiscal year July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.
Class of 1950
Jane Gates Capizzi
Eugene W. Kalkin
Class of 1954
F. Peter Rose
Class of 1955
Janet Tudhope Austin
Class of 1957
Edward L. Austin, Jr.
Class of 1958
Clare Louise Dyer
Martha Scott Perkins
Class of 1963
Philip M. Lintilhac
Class of 1964
Linda Herzenberg Sparks
Class of 1965
Michael John Burke
Peter Stern
Class of 1967
Susan Elisabeth Bowman
James O. Collins
Class of 1968
Sandra Wynne
Class of 1969
Stephan A. Morse
Class of 1972
Jacqueline Hoyt Ross
Class of 1974
Mark Winslow Biedron
Willem W. S. van Hees
Class of 1975
Jorgene Zetta Barton
Patricia Jeri O’Brien
John D. Wilson
Class of 1976
Jill Jones Agnew
Peter Andrew Beekman
Kathleen Marr Chesney
Susan C. Hudson-Wilson
Sean Malachy McKenzie
Susan Cushing Orr
C. Bertram Plante, III
Beth Frances Volker
Richard R. White, Jr.
Class of 1977
Charles Dutilh Agnew, Jr.
Sarah Bogdanovitch
Gabrielle Overholt Deen
Class of 1978
Martha Louise Agan
Marjorie Victor Alig
Gregory Palmer Allen
Stephen William Feder
Donna Austin Hawley
Robert S. Houghton
Thomas Frederick Ketcham
David Brayton Kittredge, Jr.
Crea Sopher Lintilhac
Jay Francis Madden
Christopher Russell Matlack
Charles Robert Ross, Jr.
Kim Norman Way
Class of 1979
George Stafford Bucknall
Tami Furman
Julie A. Lundgren
Ann Pesiri Swanson
Eric Swanson
Robert Louis Wanner, II
Class of 1980
George Montgomery Lovejoy, III
Laura Ellen Robison
Katharine Tannahill Sexson
Susan Jane Warren
Mansfield W. Williams, Jr.
Class of 1981
David Charles Blittersdorf
Paul Gerard Schaberg
Marjorie McNaughten Stern
Class of 1982
Lorri Marquez Chapman
David Brian Krause
Mark Mazzola
Andrew McGuinness
Michael Roche
Jacquelyn Trilling Sattler
Sarah Phillips Yarborough
Class of 1983
Matthew Anatole Baratz
Donald Joseph Dewees
Michelle Simpson Mazzola
Emilie Mead Pryor
Arthur Carson Smith
Daniel Dolbear Sperduto
Sam Wear
Class of 1984
Jan Blomstrann Blittersdorf
Megan Cowles Camp
Melanie Kittel Haberl
Jane Susan Kaufman
Michelle Simpson Mazzola
David R. Shepard
Class of 1985
Dawn MacCombie DiGiovanni
Richard Alan Epinette
Diane White Mealo
Phillip Joseph Royer
Class of 1986
Margaret E. Clancy
Class of 1987
Harley Daniel Donnelly
Class of 1988
Debra Ann Drucker
Delia Rosalind Kaye
David Karl Person
Class of 1989
Ethan Shawn Meginnes
Brooke Doherty Mindnich
Charles William Rasmussen
Scott William Smith
Class of 1990
Robert Sean Cassady
Robyn Rehak McGuinness
Class of 1991
Sarah Ibershof Bidwell
Class of 1992
J. Denny Gignoux
Andrea Kavanagh
Damon Kevin Kinzie
Kenneth Karl Sturm
Class of 1993
J. Macveagh Murphy
Christy Anne Perrin
Daniel J. Whitney
Class of 1994
Derek Manning Beard
Andrew Stephen Carlo
Gregory Alan Smithers
Class of 1995
Stephanie Rogers Sherman
Class of 1996
Todd McMurray Rohlen
Class of 1997
Hilary Stuart Cooley
Deborah A. Lynch
Martha Sansbury Manning
Brett Daniel Waite
Class of 1998
Robert Bellows McNitt, III
Harrison Brady Schmitt
Class of 1999
Genevieve Quinault Kent Pence
Class of 2000
George A. Cook
Heather Elizabeth Leahy-Mack
Class of 2004
Joseph Hollis Bartlett
Ryan Henry Morse
Class of 2005
Jennifer Louise Plourde
Joshua Lane Sky
Class of 2008
Min Zheng
Faculty and Staff
Herb Bormann
William Breck Bowden
Marcia McAllister Caldwell
Donald H. DeHayes
Maria Dykema Erb
Jon D. Erickson
Gary Flomenhoft
Anne Trask Forcier ’79
Lawrence K. Forcier
Clare A. Ginger
Caryn D. Gronvold
Gary Jon Hawley ’78
Nancy J. Hayden
Jurij Homziak
David A. Kaufman
Matthew Peter Kolan
Sean William MacFaden ’97
Robert E. Manning
Ashley Prout McAvey
Alan and Barbara McIntosh
David Allen Raphael
Matthew Jason Sayre
Deane Wang
Mary C. Watzin
Friends
Lola Pierotti Aiken
Steven and Robin Altschuler
Alan and Judy Barry
Holly Ehug Bartlett
Barbara B. Beekman
Pierce H. Beij
Gretchen Johnson Biedron
Felix Blanchet
Linda B. Bowden
8
Doris L. Candioto
Kathryn B. Candioto
John and Julienne Douglas
Andrea Farley
R. Michael Feazel
Mary C. Ferrell
Marc and Robin Fisher
Theresa M. Foley
Ruth Fried
Stephen Dundeen Galipeau
Mary Griswold
Gordon and Llura Gund
Phyllis A. Harmon
Barbara E. Hawley
Lindsay Hawley
Lucus Hawley
Wendell H. Hawley
Joanne Heidkamp
Alan George Henderson
Kathryn Wilson Henry
Beth G. Hertz
Charles D. Hertz
Karen Hollands
Steve Hulsey
Linda C. Jokela
Joan L. Kalkin
Rita T. Kitchel
Mary Ann Klemm
Robert Alexander Kovacs
Kristen LaBonte
Alexandra Loeb
Jo-Ann Giordano Lovejoy
Susan A. McCaslin
Bette McDevitt
Joan McGuinness
Elaine G. McKelly
Daniel Olson
Joshua G. Olson
A. Kathleen O’Neil
Brandt Peterson
Joan M. Piccini
Margaret E. Prough
Joseph William Pryor
William Raap
Radell C. Rasmussen
Matthew Breton Richards
Robert E. Rickett
Carolyn Walker Rohlen
Karl V. Rohlen, Jr.
Peter H. Ross
Charlotte H. Ross
Beverly H. Rubenstein
Andrew Rubenstein
Robert William Satkowski
Michael Shea
Roger and Roberta Soll
Ellen and Frank Svitek
Alexander Webb
Duane Eri Webster
Ross S. Whaley
Susan P. White
Robert and Victoria Young
Member of Rubenstein School
Board of Advisors
Continued on page 9
Rubenstein School Honor Roll of Supporters continued
Corporations, Foundations, and
Organizations
Morris & Bessie Altman Foundation
America’s Gardening Resource, Inc.
Brewster Uplands Conservation Trust
Bunbury Company, Inc.
Cape Branch Foundation
Capital Soccer, Inc.
Capizzi Family Trust
Casella Waste Systems, Inc.
Dartmouth College
Docktors Construction
George Gund Foundation
Gordon and Llura Gund Foundation
Hannaford Charitable Foundation
High Meadows Fund
Hunter Grubb Foundation
Kalkin Family Foundation, Inc.
Kate Svitek Memorial Fund
Lintilhac Foundation, Inc.
Magnolia Bistro
Mesa Leasing, LTD
MLG Foundation
Nelson Mead Fund
Rohlen Foundation
Seventh Generation, Inc.
Shelburne Farms, Inc.
Shelburne Shipyard, Inc.
Stowe Tree Experts, Inc.
TAUPO Fund
The Farm Between
The Loeb-Meginnes Foundation
The Windham Foundation, Inc.
Vermont C.A.R.E.S.
Vermont Community Foundation
Vermont Land Trust
Wynne Associates, Inc.
Rubenstein School GIS Analysis Helps NY City’s Million Tree Campaign
“It looks
like some
kind of fungus is growing in those
areas,” Dan
says, pointing to several
neighborhoods
covered with
spots. Each
spot of the
“fungus” is
actually a
vacant lot,
he explains.
“These
might be
good places
UVM students and instructors join New York City’s Parks Department to help
plan the planting of trees as part of the MillionTreesNYC campaign.
to plant
trees,” he says.
An urban forest might sound as
Overlaying this data with other informafar-fetched as a rural subway. But New
tion, like asthma-related hospitalizations,
York City already has more than five
he identifies a few areas in the borough as
million trees, and these create a canopy
top priorities for new trees.
that shades 24% of the city according to
Dan and his classmates, mostly una 2006 study by the U.S. Forest Service
dergraduates, spent four days in August
and The Rubenstein School’s Spatial
2008 tramping around the city, studying
Analysis Laboratory. While not a mooseits trees, meeting neighborhood groups,
filled wilderness, New York’s urban forest
and collecting data. It was the beginning
exists now: cooling city streets, soaking
of NR 378/285: GIS Analysis of New York
up rainfall and carbon, reducing pollution
City’s Ecology taught by Associate Profesthat triggers asthma, and making twiggy
sor Austin Troy.
homes for New Yorkers’ beloved birds.
Led by three scientists—Austin Troy
Still more trees are needed, which
and Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne (MS-WR
is why a dozen UVM students at The
’04) from The Rubenstein School and
Rubenstein School are speaking by vidMorgan Grove from the Forest Service—
eoconference to Fiona Watt, New York
who have been working with officials in
City’s chief of forestry. Together, they’re
New York for several years, the students
looking for places to put a million trees.
saw New York’s realities. These realities
Graduate student Dan Erickson points include burgeoning population, disapto a digital map of Brooklyn that he and
pearing open space, increasing summer
his classmates created with a geographic
heat brought by climate change, and the
information system (GIS) program on
city’s current tree stock enduring life in a
campus, while Watt and other officials
concrete jungle.
watch the presentation on computers in
In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
New York.
announced an ambitious goal using analy9
sis from the UVM and Forest Service
team: plant a million trees in the next
decade. More than 125,000 trees have
been planted since the MillionTreesNYC
campaign began.
But there’s a problem. All of the
$400 million Bloomberg allocated to the
Parks Department is for trees and none for
planning where to plant them. How to add
another 875,000 trees by 2017—on what
land, in what neighborhoods, with which
stewards, at what cost—remains an open
question.
As the students’ slides roll by, the answers seem closer. The city has extensive
data on land use, existing trees, pollution,
parks, pavement, stewardship groups
and the like but not the resources to fully
explore it all. UVM has the technical
expertise—and student labor—to analyze
this information and search for a balance
of suitable planting locations with neighborhoods in need.
“We don’t want a million dead trees,”
says Dexter Locke ’09, whose group assessed Manhattan and developed a planting prioritization based on reducing urban
“heat islands” and improving air quality.
“This is real service on a real problem,”
he says.
The four-day field trip to New York
was essential, says Austin. “It’s so easy
with GIS to be completely abstracted.
You don’t get a sense of the people, the
neighborhoods, the significance of real
world constraints,” he says. But on the
other hand, without the spatial data and
remote imaging, many opportunities and
best-odds locations would be missed.
“It’s amazing to see so many projects with our data,” Fiona Watt says via
speakphone, as the students complete their
video presentation. “We’d have to commit
our GIS person to a year’s worth of work
to come up with what your class did in a
few weeks.”
—Joshua Brown, UVM Communications
Alum Issa Sawabini Connects Big Name Brands with the Youth Market
consumer market, mostly
through action sports.
While a student, he
interned with Fuse and
helped plan events for
the New England Mountain Bike Festival. The
day after graduation, he
started with the company
as an unpaid intern. “The
internship opportunities
got me in the door and
eventually paid off,” he
says.
Issa partners with
Brett Smith and Bill
Carter to run Fuse and
direct its 45 full-time
staff. “Our mission is to
connect product brands
with the youth market
in a credible way,” he
explains. “We specialize
in action sports but have
branched out into music,
fashion, gaming, and
other areas of youth culAlum Issa Sawabini (RM ’99) co-owns Fuse, a marketing firm in
ture.” Fuse offers several
Burlington that connects national brands with the youth market.
marketing services to
clients,
including
brand strategy developIssa Sawabini (RM ’99) develment, event marketing, public relations,
oped his passion for event planning and
and print design and website development.
marketing while at UVM. Classes on
Fuse was founded by Theresa Bowker
marketing and entrepreneurship, taught
in
1995.
Her original goal was to create a
by Rubenstein School Lecturer David
marketing agency focused on snowboardKaufman and faculty in Community
ing with Burton snowboards as the first
Development and Applied Economics,
client. The focus quickly expanded to
grabbed his attention. He built experiinclude all action sports. Today, with 15
ence by working for UVM Athletics as
to 25 clients a year, Fuse has a long and
a disc jockey and host at varsity events,
impressive client list which includes such
running campus concerts as a member
brands as Pepsi’s Mountain Dew, SoBe,
of the Student Association, interning and
Gatorade, Harley-Davidson, Yahoo, Conworking for Catamount Outdoor Family
verse, and PlayStation, among others.
Center, and founding the UVM mountain
“We’ve worked with the Mountain
bike team. “I organized several big mounDew brand since 1996 to help them develtain bike races and landed the team’s first
op and execute youth marketing programs
sponsors,” Issa explains.
He is now part owner of Fuse, a grow- focused on action sports,” Issa explains.
Fuse urged Mountain Dew to sponsor
ing marketing firm in Burlington that
certain action sports events and convinced
connects big-name product brands to the
them to sponsor Olympic snowboardmulti-billion dollar 12- to 34-year-old
ers Hannah Teter and Shaun White three
years before they won gold.
“We usually recommend our clients
have a presence at ESPN’s X-Games
and other action sports events, where we
help them set up. We work at 10 to 20
major action sports events each year and
have gone to the X-Games for the last 10
years,” says Issa. At these events, Fuse
succeeds in placing its clients at the hub
of youth culture and at the same time
keeps current on the latest trends in youth
fashion, music, and sports.
Issa is pleased that Fuse has been
recognized as one of the top 20 sports
marketing agencies in America by Sports
Business Journal and one of the top
100 event marketing agencies by Event
Marketer Magazine. “One of the websites
we designed was nominated for a sports
Emmy. It felt good to be included up there
with ESPN,” he admits.
Issa has three key roles at Fuse. First,
he works closely with staff and clients
on a daily basis to deliver the company’s
services. “This means I have many specialties,” Issa explains. “Some days, I’m
meeting with the CMO of Pepsi, and other
days I’m helping our event team pack up
pallets at the X-Games.”
Second, Issa develops new business
pitches and meets with perspective clients.
Third, he handles media interviews and
speaking engagements. “PR is the best
way to get our name out,” he states. “I
speak at marketing conferences a few
times a year. Reporters often call us for
information on action sports or youth
marketing.” In the past year, Issa has
been quoted in The New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal, Transworld Business,
Forbes, and other publications. And,
he was interviewed about youth fashion
trends on National Public Radio.
Issa lives in South Burlington and
enjoys the very same sports and activities
that help his clients sell their products—
snowboarding, wakeboarding, surfing,
mountain biking, hiking, playing basketball, and DJ-ing. —Shari Halik
Alum Nicole Desnoyers Monitors Black-throated Blue Warblers
The summer after graduation, Nicole
Desnoyers (ENSC ’08) returned to the
Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
in New Hampshire, where she interned
the summer of her junior year through
advisor Assistant Professor Allan Strong
(WFB ’83). She continued working on
a long-term study of the Black-throated
Blue Warbler, a neo-tropical migrant
songbird whose populations have been
studied intensively at Hubbard Brook for
over 25 years. The study has provided
unique insights into the effects of predators, food availability, vegetation structure,
climate, and competition on avian population dynamics.
“It was exciting to be part of a research
program that was started back in 1969,”
she says. As part of a bird crew, Nicole
followed the breeding activity of each
10
individual Black-throated Blue Warbler
in a high elevation study plot. Each adult
warbler is captured in a mist net and
marked with a unique combination of
colored bands on its legs.
“It’s fun to observe the return of these
same birds in early May and watch them
immediately start establishing their territories,” she says. “My job was to determine each individual’s arrival date, map
Continued on page 11
Alum Nicole Desnoyers continued
the males’ territories, find and track every
nest, band the nestlings, take blood for paternity tests, and ultimately determine the
fate of every nest.” Nicole also collected
data on other aspects of the study plot
such as nest predator densities, caterpillar food source densities, and vegetation
characteristics.
Nicole would like to continue along
the career path her summer research on
the warbler has taken her and plans to
eventually go to graduate school. “I’ve
learned how to do intensive research, read
and evaluate scientific publications, and
look at things from a basic science-based
perspective,” she says. “Those skills will
serve me well in any career path. The
ENSC curriculum also exposed me to
many different areas of environmental
science that I feel I have a good basic understanding of. There are things I learned
in my conservation biology and biodiversity focus track that I often would directly
apply in my day to day work at Hubbard
Brook.”
For now,
to fill the gaps
between seasonal
bird research
projects, Nicole,
a native of northern Vermont,
relies on the practical, hard skills
of farming and
maple sugaring.
“I really appreciated the opportunity at UVM
to explore things
outside my major
and gain experience in other
disciplines,” she
says. She spent Nicole Desnoyers (ENSC ’08) releases a female Black-throated Blue Warbler
summers working as part of a long-term monitoring study at Hubbard Brook Experimental
on organic farms Forest in New Hampshire.
in Swanton,
Nicole’s next field season will begin
Vermont and across Ireland through World
in early January 2009 when she heads to
Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms.
Jamaica to study wintering migrants and
resident birds.
Alumni Notes
We’d like to hear from more of you. Please send your updates to [email protected].
’73
Jeffrey Gordon (FOR) retired from the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
in September, 2007 after 32 years. At
the time, he was the district forester for
the Salem (Oregon) District, as well
as BLM’s national technical expert on
special forest products. He and his wife
Wendy (White) (UVM ’74) reside in
Oregon, but Jeff is currently attending the
Methodist Theological School in Ohio,
with graduation set for May of 2009.
He will then return to the Oregon-Idaho
Conference of the United Methodist
Church to be appointed to one or more
churches.
’85
Joel Schmutz (WFB) has been a research
wildlife biologist in Alaska since 1989
and is presently employed by the USGS
Alaska Science Center.  He principally
manages projects on water birds in tundra
and coastal marine ecosystems.  His
projects are motivated by such issues
as contaminants and international
movements, climate change, harvest by
indigenous people and sport hunters,
avian influenza (bird flu), and Endangered
Species Act concerns.  Joel and his wife
Bev live in Anchorage with their 2 young
daughters.
’00
Kim Frashure (NRP) is currently
completing a PhD program in the
Environmental, Earth, and Ocean
Sciences Department at the University
of Massachusetts, Boston.  Kim is also
a recipient of the prestigious Greater
Research Opportunities Fellowship
awarded by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.  Her research focuses
on “A Protocol for Selecting Indicators
of Ecosystem Health in Urban Estuaries.” 
Kim currently resides in Gloucester,
Massachusetts with her husband, James,
and son, Derek. 
2007-2008 Graduate Theses, Projects, and Dissertations
Masters theses and projects
Ackley, Mary A. Thesis: Evaluating Environmental Risks in Mining: A Perceptual
Study at the Vatukoula Gold Mine in Fiji.
Advisor: Mary Watzin
Baumflek, Michelle J. Thesis: Putting the
Pieces Together: Vermont Partnership Approaches to Sustainable Forest Management
in Parcelized Landscapes. Advisor: Clare
Ginger
Biasiolli, Traynor G. Thesis: Using Stable
Isotopes to Understand Seasonal Interactions
in a Long-Distance Migratory Songbird.
Advisor: Allan Strong
of Microcystis aeruginosa and Anabaena flosaquae. Advisor: Mary Watzin
Blodgett, Corrie A. Thesis: Contextual
Interaction as a Component of Biocomplexity Evidence from a Mesocosm Experiment,
Vermont, USA. Advisor: Deane Wang
Curzon, Miranda T. Thesis: Spatial Characteristics of Canopy Disturbances in Riparian
Old-Growth Hemlock-Northern Hardwood
Forests, Adirondack Mountains, New York,
USA. Advisor: William Keeton
Coutinho-Sledge, Piper E. Thesis: Seeing
Gender in the Trees: A Feminist Perspective
on Community-Based Forestry.
Advisor: Cecilia Danks
Crawford, Kathryn A. Thesis: The Effects
of Nutrient Ratios and Forms on the Growth
11
Dombrowski, Peter G. Thesis: Calcium
Availability for Black-Throated Blue Warblers
in a Calcium-Depleted Habitat.
Advisor: David Hirth
Continued on page 12
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No.143
Burlington, VT
The Rubenstein School
George D. Aiken Center
81 Carrigan Drive
Burlington, VT 05405-0088
Printed on recycled paper
Theses, projects, and dissertations continued
Dickinson DeLeon, Sally W. Thesis: Jewels
of Responsibility from Mines to Markets:
Comparative Case Analysis in Burma, Madagascar and Colombia. Advisor: Saleem Ali
Kiuama Frey, Sarah J. Thesis: Metapopulation Dynamics and Multi-Scale Habitat Selection of a Montane Forest Songbird.
Advisor: Allan Strong
Eisenhower, Marc D. Thesis: DoubleCrested Cormorant and Fish Interactions in a
Shallow Basin of Lake Champlain.
Advisor: Donna Parrish
Lozano, Sacha. Thesis: An Ecological Design Approach to Wastewater Management in
Rural Communities of Colombia.
Advisor: John Todd
Foley, Julie E. Thesis: Development of an
Integrated, Watershed-Scale, Planning Tool
for the Stormwater Management in Vermont.
Advisor: Breck Bowden
Martinez Melendez, Luz A. Project: Applying Ecological Economics Approaches to
Relate Social Capital to the Integrative Management of la Antigua Watershed in Veracruz,
Mexico. Advisor: Roelof Boumans
Gurney, Kendra M. Thesis: Initial Research
to Assist the Restoration of American Chestnut
to Vermont Forests. Advisor: Paul Schaberg
Hackman, Alexander M. Thesis: The Influence of Stormwater Impairment on WholeStream Metabolism of Suburban Vermont
Streams. Advisor: Breck Bowden
Haney, Erin K. Project: Helping Communities Understand and Protect Their Landscapes:
Vernal Pool and Wetland Inventory and
Community Engagement in Rural Vermont.
Advisor: Deane Wang
Harrington, Michael R. Thesis: Using
Pheromone to Attract Female Sea Lamprey
(Petromyzon marinus) in the Presence of Ambient Males. Advisor: Donna Parrish
Haza, Jimena. Project: Dynamic and Spatial
Modeling of the Effect of Land Use on Water
Regulation: A Case Study in la Antigua Watershed, Veracruz, Mexico. Advisors: Roelof
Boumans and Robert Costanza
Holland, Amanda K. Thesis: Linking Suburban Development to Soil Quality: A Field
Study in Chittenden County, Vermont.
Advisor: Breck Bowden
Horn, Eileen R. Thesis: Towards Participatory Education for Sustainable Development:
The Case of Sol Verde Cooperative, Costa
Rica. Advisor: Stephanie Kaza
Miles, Brian C. Thesis: Putting Aesthetics in
its Place in the Vermont Wind Power Debate.
Advisor: Adrian Ivakhiv
Morse, Stephanie A. Thesis: Participatory
Modeling of Recreation and Tourism.
Advisors: Lisa Chase and Jon Erickson
Mulford, Sara E. Project: Making the Most
of the Fragments: Prioritizing Prairie Patches
for a Habitat Conservation Network in Western
Oregon. Advisor: Deane Wang
Newcomb, Dani L. Thesis: Links between
Geomorphic Condition, Water Quality, and
Phosphorus Loading in Hungerford Brook,
Vermont. Advisor: Mary Watzin
Peters, Matthew J. Project: Inventory and
Ecological Ranking of Vernal Pools and Wetlands for Corinth and Eastern Washington, VT.
Advisor: Deane Wang
Pollock, Noah. Thesis: The Northern Forest
Canoe Trail: Economic Impacts and Implications for Sustainable Community Development. Advisor: Clare Ginger
Quigley, Erin E. Thesis: A Land-Use-Based
County-Level Carbon Budget for Chittenden
County, Vermont. Advisor: Jennifer Jenkins
Ridgeway, Jessica D. Thesis: Seeds of
Sustainability: A Sustainable Agriculture
12
Curriculum and School Garden for Cambridge
Elementary School in Jeffersonville, Vermont.
Advisor: Adrian Ivakhiv
Riley, Jacob W. Thesis: Predation Pressure
on Emergent Lake Trout Fry in Lake Champlain and Techniques for Assessing Lake Trout
Reproduction in Deep-Water Habitats.
Advisor: Ellen Marsden
Rockefeller, Rebecca A. Project: Liquid
Biofuels Policy: A Report to the Maine State
Legislature. Advisor: Curtis Ventriss
Smith, Kimberly J. Thesis: Understory Plant
Response to Uneven-Aged Forestry Alternatives in Northern Hardwood-Conifer Forests.
Advisor: William Keeton
Doctoral dissertations
Foster, Bryan C. Green Forestry? Case Studies of Sustainable Forestry and Forest Certification. Advisor: Deane Wang
Hallo, Jeffrey C. Understanding and Managing Vehicle-Related Crowding as an Influence
on the Visitor Experience in National Parks.
Advisor: Robert Manning
Huang, Ganlin. Mining and Tourism:
Comparing Spatial Patterns, Socioeconomic
Contributions, and Environmental Impacts in
China. Advisor: Saleem Ali
Liu, Shuang. Valuing Ecosystem Services:
An Ecological Economic Approach.
Advisor: Robert Costanza
Schwenk, W. Scott. Interactions among
Birds, Insects, Trees and the Environment in a
Northern Forest Ecosystem. Advisor:
Allan Strong
For more information about these theses, projects, and dissertations, contact Mary Watzin at
802-656-4280 or [email protected].
The Rubenstein School
of Environment and Natural Resources
at The University of Vermont
The Greening of Aiken
A Beacon for an Environmental University
and Beyond:
Educating for a sustainable future
at The University of Vermont
The Green Aiken Center
The Rubenstein School community at The University of Vermont (UVM), along with William Maclay
Architects & Planners, created a vision for a renovated George D. Aiken Center. Besides designing
for more efficient space, the vision strives towards sustainability and reduces the School’s ecological
footprint. The Green Aiken Center will blend ecologically designed systems and advanced technology
to clean and renew the building’s air and water, naturally light the interior, and house occupants and
greet visitors in a welcoming, healthy, and stimulating environment.
The School will educate a new generation of ecologically literate citizens who understand the
“environmental costs” of traditional construction and building operations and the benefits of designing
and living within a space integrated with and connected to ecological systems. The renovated
Aiken Center will be a harbinger of a sustainable future, a “Green Beacon” for the University and
Burlington communities and their visitors.
The School has $800,000 left to raise for its portion of the project. Please help us reach our goal.
Green features include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Matt Beam
•
system in a functional, multi-purpose
solarium;
Composting toilets and waterless/low-flow
fixtures with a projected 52% less water use
over similar-sized conventional buildings;
Green roof, designed for testing microwatershed strategies for stormwater
management;
High performance building envelope and
windows to maximize energy efficiency and
occupant comfort;
Enhanced natural ventilation and natural
lighting;
State-of-the-art green conference room
to support experiential education and
community service courses;
Environmental/energy monitoring systems,
providing efficiency data to all via the web;
Local, renewable, recycled, and recyclable
building materials and furnishings; and
Potential LEED Platinum building rating,
signifying one of the greenest renovated
buildings in the nation.
(CNN)
• EcoMachine natural wastewater treatment
Rubenstein School
Professor John Todd is the
world-renowned inventor
of the EcoMachine and
recent recipient of the
Buckminster Fuller Award.
As a gift from his company,
Todd Ecological Design,
Inc., John and his graduate
students are designing and
building an EcoMachine
to treat the Green Aiken
Center’s wastewater.
Green Beacon for an Environmental University
The Aiken Center is strategically located at the gateway to The University of Vermont, along
Main Street in Burlington and adjacent to the Davis Student Center. At this interface of the
academic and residential/athletic campuses, the thousands of students, university employees,
and campus visitors who daily pass by and through the George D. Aiken Center will experience:
• a model for sustainable building and learning for UVM, Vermont, and beyond;
• a vibrant, green building that welcomes and teaches all who learn, work, and visit there; and
• a living, evolving ecosystem that conserves, cleans, and reuses resources.
Educating for sustainability
• Students, faculty, and staff engage in
formal classes ranging from environmental
problem solving to ecological design to green
art.
• The UVM campus and Burlington
community will learn from tours, seminars,
and presentations on green technology.
• Undergraduate interns and graduate
students have contributed information
to advance the LEED rating and located
local sources for building materials and
furnishings.
• Students and the community will continue
to learn from the Green Aiken Center’s
evolving demonstration and research
projects.
The future
• Once renovated, the Green Aiken Center
will continue to change and adapt into the
future, much like a living ecosystem.
• Our School will learn and evolve based on
feedback provided by the environmental
monitoring systems.
• Our future goal is to transition the Green
Aiken Center into a carbon neutral building
as soon as possible.
To help support the Greening of Aiken, contact:
The Rubenstein School
University of Vermont
George D. Aiken Center
81 Carrigan Drive
Burlington, Vermont 05405
802-656-4280
[email protected]
www.uvm.edu/envnr/?Page=greeningofaiken/default.html
The Rubenstein School
of Environment and Natural Resources