News The Rubenstein School W

The Rubenstein School
of Environment and Natural Resources
News
Vol. XXIX, No. 1, October 2007, The University of Vermont, www.uvm.edu/envnr
WELCOME TO THE RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL!
WELCOME TO ALL NEW STUDENTS AND WELCOME BACK TO RETURNING STUDENTS.
This year, The Rubenstein School has two new faculty:
• Dr. Margaret Shannon, Associate Dean Undergraduate Education and Faculty Development
• Dr. Kimberly Wallin, Assistant Professor
And three new staff members:
• Kate Westdijk, Coordinator of Community-Based Learning
• Meredith Curling, Lab Research Technician
• Joshua Halman, Lab Research Technician
The Rubenstein School
News, published monthly
from October through May,
is one of the school’s primary vehicles for keeping
students, faculty, and staff
informed. We publish news
and highlight coming
events, student activities,
and natural resources employment opportunities.
Copies are available in the
Aiken Center lobby and the
Student Resource Area (336
Aiken) in the Dean’s office.
http://www.uvm.edu/envnr
Editor:
Rachael Beddoe, ‘09G
Aiken Center 218
[email protected]
ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:
• Publications and
Presentations
• Focus on Undergraduate Internship—
Sumana Serchan
• Green Forestry Update
• Help Wanted
• RSENR New Office of
Experiential Learning
• What Would You Do
with a Mil?
• and more...
THE RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL HAS A NEW ASSOCIATE DEAN
Professor Margaret Shannon arrived
in Burlington this past August. “I am very excited to be here,” says Margaret. “I have
known about the School
for a very long time.” She
visited nearly 15 years ago
when its faculty members
were first experimenting
with integrated courses,
blending social science
and ecology. “The Rubenstein School is the most
integrated natural resource
school in the United
States,” she emphasizes.
Believe it or not, one of
the challenges of Margaret's position is to make
the School's core curriculum even more interdisciplinary—a goal she has
been working toward her whole career as a
natural resource social scientist.
“I grew up in Missoula, Montana,
where I learned to fly fish on the very same
large, flat rock along the Blackfoot River that
Norman Maclean writes about in A River Runs
Through It,” she explains. Margaret was
strongly influenced by her father, the late
Richard Shannon, Professor of Forest Policy,
Law, and Economics at the University of Montana, who was one of the authors of the first
report criticizing clear-cutting.
After earning a BA in anthropology
and sociology in 1973 from the University of
Montana, Margaret headed to the University of
California at Berkeley's Department of Forestry and Resource Management, where she
eventually received both an
MS (1977) and a PhD (1989)
in Wildland Resource Science
with a specialization in Sociology and Policy. She came to
UVM from SUNY Buffalo
Law School where she coordinated the Environmental
Law program, including a
research working group on
“Environmental Governance
and Stewardship.” She has
been the policy professor at
both SUNY ESF and the College of Forestry at University
of Washington. At UW she
was the first Corkery Endowed Professor of Forest
Resources. Then, as a specialist in public land
management, she was on the Public Administration faculty of the Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship for several years.
Currently Honorary Professor at the University
of Frieburg in Germany and Honorary Fellow
at the University of New England in Australia,
Margaret's career has spanned the globe. Her
second challenge as Associate Dean is to create a more international Rubenstein School.
“All of us have a responsibility to the globe,”
she states. “We need to learn to think beyond
the little dot that is Vermont and learn to be
good global citizens.”
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The Rubenstein School News
THE RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL IN ACTION
PUBLICATIONS
Abbe, D. and R. Manning. 2007. Wilderness Day Use: Patterns, Impacts, and Management.
International Journal of Wilderness 13(2): 21-25, 38.
Ali, Saleem H. ed. Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution. Cambridge MA and
London UK: The MIT Press. Foreword to the book was authored by the executive director of
IUCN, Julia Marton Lefevre (cover endorsement by E.O. Wilson).
Ali, Saleem H. “Resolving environmental conflicts in Pakistan’s energy policy.” In Fuelling
the Future. Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson Center, April, 2007.
Cox, G.L., Erickson, J.D., Porter, W.F. and A.M. Woods, "How would you invest in a sustainable future for your community? North Country respondents make their choices clear in research conducted by SUNY ESF and UVM," Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies
14(1), 2007.
Erickson, J.D., Messner, F. and I. Ring (Eds.), Ecological Economics of Sustainable Watershed Management, Series on Advances in the Economics of Environmental Resources, Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2007.
Erickson, J.D. and J. Gowdy (Eds.), Frontiers in Ecological Economic Theory and Application, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK,
2007.
Hermans, C., Erickson, J.D., Sheldon, A., Noordewier, T. and M. Kline, "Collaborative Environmental Planning in River Management: an Application of Multicriteria Decision Analysis in the White River Watershed of Vermont, USA," Journal of Environmental
Management 84: 534-546, 2007.
Li, Wenjun and Saleem Ali. “Property Rights and Grassland Degradation: A Case Study of Xilingol Biosphere Reserve, Inner Mongolia of China.” Journal of Environmental Management, Vol 85, No. 2, 2007.
McEvoy, T.J. 2007. Important Elements of a Timber Sale Contract. Farming -- The Journal of Northeastern Agriculture. Vol. 10,
No. 6. June issue. pp 45 51.
McEvoy, T.J. 2007. The Hidden Forest of Soils: Part II
Journal. Vol. 15, No. 10. June issue. pp 26 29.
The Chemistry of a Healthy Environment. Forest Products Equipment
McEvoy, T.J. 2007. The Forest Tent Caterpillar. Tree Services. Vol. 3, No. 6. pp 28
31.
McEvoy, T.J. 2007. Keeping Family Forest Intact. Wisconsin Family Forests, Vol. 4, No. 2
[Reprint from Farming Journal].
Spring/Summer 2007. pp 5
6.
Miller, E. B. and M. C. Watzin. 2007. The effects of zebra mussels on the lower planktonic foodweb in Lake Champlain. Journal of
Great Lakes Research 33(2): 407-420.
Sullivan, S. M. P., M. C. Watzin, and W. S. Keeton. 2007. A riverscape perspective on habitat associations among riverine bird assemblages in the Lake Champlain Basin, USA. Landscape Ecology
22: 1169-1186.
8TH ANNUAL DOC DONNELLY DAY
And the WINNERS are:
Ventriss, C. “The Substantive Importance of Ethical Citizenship in
• Croquet Golf: Jonahnnes Griesshammer, FOR '10
Public Policy”, Public Policy and Management Review (September,
• The "Cup" Race: Tanner Williamson,
2007).
ENSC '09
• Bocce Ball: Ryan Kelley, ENVS '11
Watzin, M. C. 2007. The Promise of Adaptive Management. Pages
• Stringball: Sarah Donelson, ENSC '10
147-158 in: Managing Agricultural Landscapes for Environmental
• Toss-Your-Cookies: Nick Costello,
Quality: Strengthening the Science Base, M. Schnepf and C. Cox,
ENSC '10
eds. Soil and Water Conservation Society Press, Ankeny, IA.
The Rubenstein School News
3
PRESENTATIONS
Master's student Corrie Blodgett gave a presentation entitled "Context Matters: Why ecosystem-level studies can be hard to
figure out" at the 92nd Annual ESA Conference, which this year was held as a Joint meeting with the SER in San Jose, California. This presentation summarized her thesis research investigating non-additive interactions in an ecosystem ecology experiment.
Sally Dickinson DeLeon presented at the 7th Annual Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM) Conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Her presentation, titled "From Mines to Markets: Developing Feasible Systems of Fair Trade for Gems and
Gold," comprised the academic portion of a multi-stakeholder panel on Fair Trade for Minerals. As a member of CASM's
working group on fair trade she will continue to participate in facilitating development of policies and networks that address
mining-related poverty and environmental challenges through cooperation along mineral supply chains.
Christina Erikson recently presented "Eco-Reps Programs: Conducting Peer Outreach in Residence Halls" at the Greening of
the Campus Conference at Ball State University in September.
Jon D. Erikson was invited to make several presentations over the summer:
1. "Poverty Reduction and Ecological Resilience through Genuine Development," Department of International Environment
and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway, April 10, 2007.
2. "The Nature of Resources, and the Resources of Nature: Framing an Ecological Economics Approach to ProblemSolving," Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Oslo, Norway, August 9, 2007.
3. "An Ecological Economics Capital Stock Approach to Quality of Life Assessment in Burlington, Vermont, USA," Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Oslo, Norway, August 8, 2007.
4. "Naturaleza Humana, Termodinámica, y una Economía para el Siglo del Ambiente," Pontificia Universidad Católica
Madre y Maestra, Santiago, Dominican Republic, April 9, 2007.
The AgBio Forum recently accepted Valerie Esposito and Jane Kolodinsky’s paper entitled “Consumer Attitudes and Policy
Directions for GM Labeling and Pollen Drift Regulation: Evidence from the 2006 Vermonter Poll.”
Bob Manning Speaks at International Conferences
Rubenstein School Professor Bob Manning spoke at three international conferences over the summer. Bob participated (along
with several other UVM faculty, staff and graduate students) in the 13th International Symposium on Society and Resource
Management (ISSRM) in June in Park City, Utah. Bob was a co-author on several papers, including the following:
• Rebecca Stanfield McCown and Robert Manning, “Range Effect as a Methodological Issue in Normative Research”
• Jerry Vaske, Lori Shelby, Robert Manning and William Valliere, “Crowding in National Parks: Results from 30 Years
of Research”
• William Valliere, Robert Manning, and Steven Lawson, “Multiple Manifestations of Crowding in Outdoor Recreation: A
Study of the Relative Importance of Crowding-Related Indicators Using Indifference Curve Analysis”
• Jeffery Hallo and Robert Manning, “On the Edge, Peering In: Indicators for Managing the Near-Wilderness
Experience of Visitors on the Denali National Park
Road”
Later in June, Bob presented a keynote address at the Fifth
Brazilian Congress of Protected Areas held at Iguacu National Park. The Congress hosted nearly 2000 professionals
in parks and protected areas, mostly from South and Central
America. The title of Bob's address was “Commons without
Tragedy: Measuring and Managing Carrying Capacity of
Parks and Protected Areas”, and was adapted from his new
book on this subject. In August, Bob presented a paper at the
conference of the International Union of Game Biologists in
Uppsala, Sweden. This paper described work that Bob and
colleagues at Virginia Tech University and the University of
Montana conducted on the efficacy of management practices
designed to reduce feeding of wildlife at national parks and
related areas.
Belvidere Bog wetland, Vt. Photo taken by graduate student Erin Haney
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The Rubenstein School News
PRESENTATIONS (cont’d)
David Raphael, Lecturer, was a Presenter and Panelist at the July conference held at the
University on “Transportation and Historic Preservation: The Road to Affordable Context Sensitive Solutions” sponsored by the University of Vermont’s National University
Transportation Center and the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. Mr. Raphael
is also assisting in the writing and review of the chapter on aesthetics for the Electric
Power Research Institute’s upcoming publication Compact Line Design (for Electrical
Transmission Lines). Mr. Raphael continues his work as an Aesthetic Consultant for the
Vermont Department of Public Service.
During the summer, Dr. Saleem Ali, Associate Professor at RSENR, gave two invited guest presentations at the University of Melbourne Law School and the Asia Institute at Monash University, Australia on his efforts to develop an environmental education
curriculum for Islamic schools in Pakistan. Saleem also visited Pakistan and did a pilot study of implementing such a curriculum in
two schools in Lahore (Pakistan's second largest city).
Paul Schaberg (USDA Forest Service and Rubenstein School) made a presentation on “Root freezing injury as a possible contributor to yellow-cedar decline” at the Ecological Society of America's 92nd Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA, August 5-10, 2007. Paul
also contributed to two other oral presentations at this meeting - one on “Calcium addition at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest increases sugar storage, antioxidant activity, and cold tolerance in native red spruce” (presented by Josh Halman with Gary
Hawley as a coauthor), and a second on “Interdisciplinary ecosystems health education at the University of Vermont” (presented by
Patti O'Brien). Following the meeting, Paul traveled to Juneau, Alaska and met with Gary Hawley to conduct field assessments of
yellow-cedar decline and plan additional research on this topic with scientific collaborators from the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Station.
Associate Professor Patricia Stokowski presented a paper entitled, "The Smile Index: Assessing Community Vitality during Periods of Social Change," at the 13th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management in Ark City, Utah, in June
2007. That conference brings together several hundred social scientists and resource manages, and will be held at UVM in June
2008. Associate Professor Patricia Stokowski has been appointed as the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in UVM's Graduate College, effective summer 2007. She will maintain a half-time position in The Rubenstein School, and continue to teach in the undergraduate Recreation Management program and the graduate Natural Resources program, advise students, and conduct research.
Mary Watzin was invited to participate in a harmful algal bloom (HAB) workshop at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June
25-28, 2007.
Katherine Westdijk will be presenting her research at the ‘International Research Conference on Service-Learning and Community Engagement' in Tampa, FL on October 8th. Her presentation, entitled "Collecting Data to Inform Decision-Making and Action: Research and Planning for School-Wide Faculty Civic Engagement" will highlight the results of a survey and interviews of
RSENR faculty conducted in 2006. Katherine will also conduct a workshop at the New England Grassroots Environment Fund Retreat in Moultonborough, NH on September 28th entitled "Connecting Community Groups with Interns, Partners & Resources".
AWARDS and APPOINTMENTS
Associate Professor Patricia Stokowski has been appointed as the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in UVM's Graduate College,
effective summer 2007. She will maintain a half-time position in The Rubenstein School, and continue to teach in the undergraduate Recreation Management program and the graduate Natural Resources program, advise students, and conduct research.
David Raphael recently received two awards on behalf of his firm, LandWorks, from the Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The publication of the Project Manual Planning, Permitting and Management of Growth and Development for Sensitive Shoreland & Upland Areas of Lake George prepared for the Fund for Lake George, received the Award of
Excellence, the highest award given in the Planning Category. Mr. Raphael also received a Merit Award for the publication Wayfinding, Principles and Practice,which he authored, published by the American Society of Landscape Architects as part of their
Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series.
MEDIA
On August 29, 2007, Mary Watzin gave an interview on the Mark Johnson show on WDEV about current water quality issues in
Lake Champlain.
The Rubenstein School News
5
GRADUATE WORK
Graduate student Mary Ackley conducted two months of intensive field work on the perceptions of environmental risks at
the Vatakoula Gold mine in Fiji (where she had previously been a peace corps volunteer). Her research, under the supervision of Dr. Saleem Ali, was funded by a grant from the Tiffany & Co. foundation. Mary designed a detailed household survey in English and Fijian and administered it to over 400 households around the mine with a response rate of over
90%! Mary was also accompanied by film professional Kristian Maynard (also worked on Discovery channel's Planet
Earth) who took over 18 hours of video footage which will be made into a 23 minute documentary on the project.
...ON SABBATICAL FOR 2007-2008…
Walter Kuentzel, Suzanne Levine, Ellen Marsden (Fall 2007), Deane Wang (Fall 2007)
...AND BACK FROM SABBATICAL...
Jon Erickson, Tom Hudspeth, Curt Ventriss
Curtis Ventriss was on sabbatical leave as a Visiting Professor of Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University (2006-2007).
He worked with graduate students in the policy program as well as the International Fellows program. He conducted research
on a variety of issues related to public policy and economic development. He co-edited and co-authored three articles in a
special symposium on the significance of Alberto G. Ramos's works (one of the leading social scientists from Brazil) on the
issues of economic development, public policy, and political economy (Administrative Theory and Praxis). He was invited
with 47 other scholars to present a research lecture at the University of Oxford (St. Anne's College and Oxford Union). His
research lecture presented was entitled, “The Efficacy of Policy Instruments in Confronting Global Warming.” And finally,
he is also an Adjunct Professor of Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
PARK STUDIES LAB STUDIES PARKS
2007 was another busy and productive summer for the Park Studies Lab. Faculty, staff and students conducted studies at
three national parks and a unit of the national fish and wildlife refuge system. Former doctoral student Jeff Hallo (now Assistant Professor at Clemson University), faculty member Bob Manning, and undergraduate students Lauren Chicote and Allison Prokop traveled to Denali National Park, Alaska to conduct research on the carrying capacity of the park for outdoor
recreation. Bob also traveled to Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California to conduct similar research at several sites
within the park. Graduate students Carena Van Riper and Rebecca Stanfield McCown collected field data at these sites.
Continuing research was conducted at Acadia National Park, this year focusing on the park's extensive trail system. This
work was coordinated by staff member Bill Valliere. Continuing work was also conducted at Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in northern New Hampshire and Maine. This work was conducted by Bill Valliere and undergraduate student
Lecia Babeu. Lab staff are now busy coding summer field data.
LAURA ANDERSON JOINS PARK STUDIES LAB
In late August, Laura Anderson joined the Park Studies Lab and The Rubenstein School as a postdoctoral associate. She
came to UVM from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she completed her Ph.D. in the Human Dimensions of
Marine and Coastal Ecosystems unit within the department of Natural Resources Conservation. Her dissertation research
examined the relationship between scuba diver specialization level and
Lauren Chicote and Allison Prokop conducting visitors surnorms for underwater behaviors, resource conditions, and crowding at
veys at Denali National Park, Alaska.
coral reefs in the Florida Keys. A Wooster, Ohio native, Laura earned
her bachelors in biology at Wittenberg University and masters in Natural
Resources at the Ohio State University.
As a member of the Park Studies Lab, Laura will work on several research
projects related to outdoor recreation planning and management. Additionally, Laura is coordinating the 2008 International Symposium on Society
and Resource Management (ISSRM), along with Symposium Executive
Committee members Bob Manning, Patricia Stokowski, and Morgan
Grove. ISSRM 2008 is the largest international meeting of social scientists
who focus on environmental and natural resources issues, and will be
hosted by The Rubenstein School and UVM this June.
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The Rubenstein School News
Congratulations to the following students
who made the Spring 2007 Dean’s List!
Dafna Alsheh
Meghan Bannan
Brent Barry
Patrick Bird
Ethan Bond-Watts
Andrew Book
Stephanie Brontman
Elizabeth Calcutt
Kerry Canton
Lucas Chapman
Tyler Cohen
Nicholas Costello
Hannah Davie
Kayla DeCarr
Dana Demetrio
Nicole Desnoyers
Ciara DeVozza
Forest Donaj-Keys
Amy Doolittle
Eliese Dykstra
Jonathan Ellermann
Abby Farnham
Lisa Fredette
Sasha Freeman
Samuel Graulty
Dana Gulley
Michael Haulenbeek
Heidi Henrichs
Katelyn Homeyer
Ian Howes
Avery Hurst
John Ibsen
Sofia Iwobi
Benjamin Janes
Claire Johnson
Matthew Jokajtys
Emily Kinghorn
Bryce Klein-Perler
Martha Klepack
Karen Klinger
Anna Kovaliv
Daniel Lee
Michael Lester
Arielle Leva
Daniel Lim
Dexter Locke
Maggie MacKillop
Douglas Maisey
Jacqueline Maisonpierre
Roger Masse
Daniel Mills
Madison Monty
Katherine Moser
Amy Niemczura
Caitlin O'Neil
Torey Olson
Erika Partee
Calvin Patterson
Kaitlin Perlmutter
Rhys Probyn
Allison Prokop
Kesha Ram
Allison Rapp
Alison Reeve
Audrey Reid
Kimberly Reinhardt
Mark Rosenberg
Elias Rosenblatt
Kellen Ryan
Terra-Nova Sadowski
Matthew Sarcione
Charles Schaefer
Alison Schymik
Matthew Scott
Richard Seery
Nicholas Segal
Sumana Serchan
Benjamin Shafer-Rickles
Caitlin Shea
Meredith Simard
Kai Starn
Katherine Stinchcomb
Kathleen Stutzman
Kate Sudhoff
Daniel Swanson
David Toye
Maria Tsuji
Ashley Veselis
Alena Warren
Jacob Weissman
Emily Wellington
Katharine White
Sarah Wilkins
Erica Wilson
THE RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL
RESOURCES ANNOUNCES
THE TWENTY FOURTH ANNUAL GRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
Presentations by Graduate Students on a Variety of Topics Including:
Ecosystems Ecology and Health; Environmental Policy and Planning; Sustainable Communities; Sustainable
Forestry; Aquatic Ecology; Wildlife and Fisheries Biology; Environmental Thought and Culture
Please Join Us
Thursday & Friday, October 11-12, 2007
5:00 - 7:00 PM
Reception: Friday the 12th at 7:00 PM
RSVP to Carolyn at [email protected]
Livak Grand Ballroom, 4th floor
Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus
The Rubenstein School News
7
FOCUS ON GRADUATE RESEARCH:
BY ERIN HANEY, AEWS ‘08
Orange County Headwaters Project (OCHP) is a
rural community’s grassroots land conservation effort and
considered a model for future private landowner conservation initiatives. Neighbors and communities work collaboratively to accomplish landscape-level conservation
through local actions, approaching land trusts with their
conservation goals and working with them on land conservation options. Started by homeowners, citizens, and local
stakeholders, OCHP began on the forethought that planning and conservation of the land and land-uses from the
local community level would dampen development pressures. OCHP participants have been working hard to conserve over 30 parcels and over 4,500 acres since 2005.
This summer and throughout the fall I have
worked with OCHP to inventory and assess the wetland
complexes in the 50,000-acre project area in Corinth and
the eastern half of Washington. The outcome of the assessments will be a list of priority water resources for potential conservation pursuits, with OCHP acting as the
community bridge between landowners and land trusts.
The summer field work had both technical and social aspects, which together helped build community engagement
for the Orange County Headwaters.
The project area is located at the headwaters of
three rivers: Waits, White and Winooski; the two former
rivers feed into the Connecticut river system the later Lake
Champlain. Basically, I went to every state-mapped wetland and large unmapped wetlands observed on color in-
Tenney Road wetland, OCHP project area
frared photographs and performed a functional evaluation
of the wetlands. I also typed wetland natural communities
based on vegetation and hydrologic features like the occurrence of springs, old and new stream channels, scour
marks on the ground, pit and mound topography, and moss
growing on trees, to name a few. These wetland natural
communities describe the current state of the wetland and
help predict the potential type of land the site could evolve
into. This work is important for prioritization of land conservation efforts in the Orange County Headwaters.
I found out that Corinth and Washington are rich
with cold-water springs, small hillside seeps, perched fens,
an abundance of Threatened and Endangered plant species
(showy lady slipper and swamp thistle), and a multitude of
beaver influenced wetlands in various successional stages.
HIGH LATITUDE ECOSYSTEMS IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
Breck Bowden (Faculty member in Environmental Science), Michael Flinn
(Post-Doctoral Fellow, Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory), and Julia Larouche
(M.Sc. graduate student in Aquatic Ecology and Watershed Science) attended an invited
conference on "High Latitude Ecosystems in a Changing Climate", which was held at the
Abisko Mountain Station in Abisko, Sweden from 11-14 September 2007. The conference included participants from all of the Arctic countries and focused on the various
ways in which climate change would affect the structure and function of Arctic land and
water resources, including the potential impacts on the Lapland Sami people who have
herded reindeer in this region for 4000 years.
Breck presented results from a collaborative research project focused on the
environmental effects that may be caused by thawing permafrost (permanently frozen
ground). Michael presented results from a related project that is focused on assessing the
characteristics and health of aquatic ecosystems in pristine Arctic park lands in Alaska's
North Slope region. Julia presented preliminary results from her efforts to utilize stateBreck with Norwegian troll friend
of-the-art molecular techniques to assess the microbial diversity in Arctic stream ecosystems. Support for Breck, Michael and Julia to attend the conference was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation
and The Ecosystem Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts."
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The Rubenstein School News
FOCUS ON UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIPS:
SUMANA SERCHAN, NR ‘08
ECOLOGY INTERN AT CONSERVATION AND
RESEARCH CENTER (CRC)
I woke up to the call
of the pileated woodpecker on
my first morning at the Leach
House. Once a farmhouse, the
Leach House is now a group
house for GIS and Ecology
interns at the Conservation
and Research Center. This
summer, I worked as one of
10 Ecology interns under the
supervision of William J.
McShea, research scientist at
the Department of Conservation Biology at the Conservation and Research Center
(CRC), a program of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological
Park. I was awarded this internship through the Smithsonian
Institution Minority Awards Programs offered by the Office
of Research and Training Services, Washington D.C. The
Department of Conservation Biology includes research that
encompasses an extensive range of subjects, including ecology and biodiversity monitoring, animal health and GIS
(Smithsonian, National Zoological Park).
A 3200 acre facility located in the foothills of Blue
Ridge Mountains in Front Royal, VA, the CRC houses between 15 and 25 endangered species, including Oryx, Mongolian wild horse and three different crane species. As Ecology interns, our work excluded working with captive, endangered animals. Rather we spent our days doing field
work. For example, I worked on a project to understand the
impacts of deer browsing on native plant species and the
impacts of invasive plant species like the Japanese stiltgrass
and garlic mustard on native plant species. Done by Smithsonian Institution in collaboration with the National Park
Service and Wildlife Conservation Society, this study involved surveying about 300 plots at CRC, Great Falls Park
and Gold Mine. I learned how to identify trees that provide
canopy and understory plants by examining barks, twigs,
tearing leaves, examining leaves and leaf-bases, and using
one’s senses of smell and touch. I observed deer browsing
twigs at the browse line and applied invasive species removal strategies at certain plots.
I spent a week at a trailer within the “Jefferson National Forest Trails Crew camping area” in the forested habitat at Mount Rogers, located in southwest Virginia. I was
one of several interns who assisted one of Dr. McShea’s
students who is conducting a study to correlate bird population with their habitat in higher elevations forests throughout
Virginia. We focused our work along the Appalachian Trail
(AT) corridor, obtaining vegetation survey information and
taking motion-sensitive infrared cameras from their tree
mounts. These cameras were set last month to capture images of passing mammals found along the AT trail. Through
this survey, my supervisor hoped to create a
complete inventory of large mammals found
along the trail and understand the impacts of
surrounding environment on wildlife population (Dufour 2007).
Another project I worked on was the Butterfly Survey, designed to increase awareness about the importance of
natural resources and at the same time make citizens aware
of what’s in their backyards (see McShea et al. 2006 for
more information). And finally, I was trained in monitoring
movement of radio-collared does by using telemetry. This
was to estimate the home range of radio-collared does and
use the data in GIS. Not only did I get to track deer from a
far distance, but while assisting in trapping and capturing, I
also got opportunity to be very close to some and feel them
breathing near me.
By assisting in different projects, I was exposed to
diverse arrays of ideas, techniques, working methods and
skills. These projects are not isolated projects; they relate to
each other in terms of understanding the impacts of environmental changes and land management in biodiversity and
wildlife population. As my supervisor said, “Ecology is a
team sport and we work together to accomplish an important
job.” I have learned to respect teamwork and consider the
uniqueness in people who depend on and trust each other to
get work done. In addition, this internship experience provided me with the opportunity to apply the GPS and compass skills I learned in Measurements and Mapping class last
year to “real-life” work. This experience also enhanced my
field botany skills and helped me learn new skills like radiotracking and identifying butterflies. This internship has indeed sparked my interest in field work and narrowed my
broad interest in conservation of mammals.
Reference:
Dufour, Caroline. 2007. Wildlife along the A.T.- the tales the cameras tell. AT JOURNEYS. 3, 11-15.
McShea, William J., Peters, Alan, DeWitt Tamsen, and Kearns,
Laura. 2006. Biodiversity from the Mountains to the Bay: Citizen
monitoring butterflies across an urban-rural gradient.
Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Overview. Retrieved
08/03/2007 from web site: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/
ConservationAndScience/CRC/
The Rubenstein School News
9
THE GREEN FORESTRY EDUCATION INITIATIVE UPDATE
By David Brynn, Director, and Kelly Hayes
The Green Forestry Education Initiative is now 2
years old. Our mission is quite simple: “To integrate sustainable design, land ethics, and real world learning in communitybased forest conservation.” We started our work at the 500acre Jericho Research Forest and are beginning to radiate outward. Sustainable design requires that we act in
ways that are at once ecologically viable, economically feasible, and socially responsible. In
short, it means taking care of the land and the people.
Students have been actively engaged in a host of
projects at Jericho. Here are a few examples.
• This year students from Matt Kolan’s NR-206
class are redesigning and reconstructing the boardwalk at the Colchester Pond Natural Area under
the mentorship of Rick Paradis. They will use
Japanese Larch that was planted at Jericho in 1941
and then tended, harvested, milled and air-dried at
Jericho for a portion of this.
• Other Japanese Larch lumber from Jericho will soon be
arriving as benches and paneling in the tunnel leading to the
Dudley Davis Center. This project was designed and completed
by Stark Mountain Woodworking of New Haven, Vermont
with then-graduate student Brendan Weiner (UVM 2006) coordinating the effort.
• Emily Schaedler’s Community Wood Energy Project is
helping Mt Mansfield Union High School (MMUHS) procure
wood for their boiler that is produced sustainably used, efficiently used, sources locally, and accessed fairly. The Jericho
Research Forest will be one of those sources.
• Students in Forestry 223 -- Multi-Resource Silviculture -are developing silvicultural prescriptions that meet or exceed
the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification standards for
three stands in Compartments 3, 6 and 7 at Jericho. Some of the
wood will be harvested and sold to MMUHS. Other students
are doing similar work on a forest in Lincoln that will supply
wood for the wood-fired boiler at Mount Abraham Union High
School.
• Having cycled from Montpelier via Bolton, Roel Bouman’s Vermont Field Studies class camped out and spent the
next day exploring Jericho with David Brynn, Bill Keeton, and
Terry Donovan.
• The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s new 32-foot
rowing gig named The Crouching Lion was launched this past
spring. It was made with white pine grown in the Old Farm
Woodlot at Jericho.
• Ralph Tursini teamed up with David Brynn to offer the
second edition of their Woodturning and Forest Conservation
course – a one-credit class offered through UVM Continuing
Education. And members from GreenHouse are signing up for
their annual Healthy Forests and Humble Bowls internship with
Ralph in October.
Phase One of the Roger’s Tract Restoration Project is
in full swing. Led by Ben Machin (UVM - 2003) and Tii
McLane (UVM Class - 1984) of Redstart Consulting and The
Rubenstein School’s Jesse Mohr (UVM–2006), a comprehensive assessment of the fluvial geomorphology of the Roger’s
Tract and a paired watershed in Compartment 2 is being conducted. Once the base line data are established, a comprehensive restoration plan will be designed and implemented.
A highlight of the late summer was Carl
Newton’s retirement party. Don Tobi spiffed up
the house, Marcia Caldwell and Emilie Riddle
arranged for spectacular food, decorations, and
drink, and lots of Rubenstein School folks and
more showed up to celebrate. Over the course of
the party, over 30 people participated in turning a
humble bowl for Carl under the watchful eye of
Ralph Tursini. This past summer our beloved
American Chestnut succumbed to the blight and
was taken down. Several large bolts suitable for
bowls were saved. The rough bowl was presented
to Carl and later dried and finished superbly by Ralph. The
sister bowl – each bolt makes two bowls of course! – is traveling to the Ukraine with Bill Keeton. By the way, Peter Hannah,
Emeritus Professor of Forestry, told us at the gathering that he
planted that chestnut in Jericho. He had obtained the seed from
Edith Turner in 1955. Edith was the wife of George Turner,
Chittenden County’s first forester. George’s last official act
was to attend a Selectboard meeting in Hinesburg and to convince them not to sell the Hinesburg Town Forest. George died
later that evening. And so it goes in community-based forestry!
Last but not least, we are delighted to welcome back
Kelly Hayes Hamshaw. Kelly graduated in ‘06 and is back at
UVM as a Graduate Student with Community Development
and Applied Economics. Among many other things, Kelly will
be working with Brendan Weiner on the Wolcott Research Forest Lab Rebuild Project. She is also serving as the Assistant
Director of the Green Forestry Education Initiative and will be
helping to coordinate events and get the word out.
There is a lot happening at Jericho. We hope you will
join in the festivities. Please check our website:
www.greenforestry.org for details and upcoming events.
10
The Rubenstein School
INTRODUCING RSENR’S NEW OFFICE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING!
The Office of Experiential Learning seeks to enhance the academic experience of students in The Rubenstein
School of Environment and Natural Resources (RSENR) by incorporating a diversity of experiential learning opportunities. Our goal is to integrate reflective career development, courses, and co-curricular activities to foster
competencies that will make RSENR graduates highly competitive professionals and engaged, effective citizens.
Our services are roughly divided into 1) support for community-based learning through academic classes or faculty and student research projects and 2) support for career development through pre-professional experiences.
Kate Westdijk coordinates Community-Based Learning through a shared appointment between RSENR and the
Community-University Partnerships and Service Learning (CUPS) Office. Information
and support is available for faculty, students and community members interested in
collaborating on community-based projects related to the field of the environment and
natural resources through academic courses or research projects. Typically, support is
offered through an initial consultation meeting to brainstorm ideas and connect to relevant information resources and/or potential partners in the community or the university. Community-based learning projects are sustained and enriched by ongoing programs such as the Service-Learning Teaching Assistant Program, Service-Learning
Implementation Grants, and various development and networking opportunities. The
office also advocates for RSENR and university policies that support communitybased scholarship, and works to document community-based learning activities in
RSENR.
UPCOMING DEADLINES
A MESSAGE FROM MARIE
Questions and/or to apply, see Kate Westdijk or visit
www.uvm.edu/partnerships
A hearty welcome to everyone, to the returnees and especially to the new students, staff, and faculty joining The
Rubenstein School. As the Career Services Coordinator for
RSENR, I've spent the first few weeks of this semester hearing about the exciting summer activities of our many interns
who spent time working in such places as Mono Lake, CA;
Denali National Park, AK; Six Flags Wild Safari, NJ; and
the Smithsonian Institution, VA to name only a few. You
will read about their experiences in this and upcoming newsletters. You will also notice that we have changed our name
to the Office of Experiential Learning which includes Kate
Westdijk as the Coordinator of Community Based Learning.
For Faculty:
• Service-Learning 101: A Basic Introduction to the
Pedagogy. Wednesday, September 26, 12:00 1:30pm, Bailey Howe 303 (Lunch Provided)
• Designate your winter or spring course as servicelearning by October 5th to be eligible for a TA
and to get it listed on the registrar's page. The
deadline for a FREE service-learning TA is coming up on October 5th. Don't miss out. They go
fast!
• Apply for a GRANT to implement a new (or improved) service-learning course by November
2nd.
For Students:
• Apply to be a service-learning TA (stipends and
training available). Deadline: October 12th.
As always, I look forward to working with all RSENR students to develop your career skills through research, internships, study abroad, and many other opportunities as well as
a act as a resources for resume & cover letter writing. We
are located in 336 Aiken and please visit the Natural Resources Employment pages at
http://www.uvm.edu/envnr/?Page=employment/employmt.html
All three positions exist in collaboration with UVM Career Services and the Office of Community-University Partnerships and Service-Learning (CUPS).
Marie Vea-Fagnant
Career Services Coordinator
336 Aiken Center
802-656-3003
[email protected]
Kate Westdijk
Americorps VISTA/ Coordinator of
Community-Based Learning
336 Aiken Center
802-656-5480
[email protected]
Samir Doshi
Graduate Assistant
219 Aiken Center
[email protected]
The Rubenstein School News
11
UPCOMING CAREER RELATED EVENTS (FOR MORE INFO GO TO WWW.UVM.EDU/CAREER):
UVM Career Fair
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 1:30 - 5pm
Sheraton Conference Center, Burlington
Fellowship Day
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 12-4pm
L/L Fireplace Lounge
Internship Hop
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 1 -4 pm
L/L, Bldg E
UPCOMING INFO-SESSIONS:
Duke University Nicholas School
Graduate Environmental Prof Studies
www.nicholas.duke.edu
Thursday, Oct. 25, 12:30 - 1:30pm
L/L E 166
Student Conservation Association
www.theSCA.org, October 29 - 31
International Wilderness Leadership School
www.iwls.com
Wednesday, Nov. 14
Informational Booth- 12-2pm Davis Center
Presentation- 6:30pm to 7:30pm Davis Center
HELP WANTED
The following is a sampling of positions listed at The Rubenstein School. Job postings are updated daily on the Job Board outside the Dean’s
office in the Aiken Center and weekly on the web at http://www.uvm.edu/envnr/?Page=employment/help_wanted.html. For further information
contact: Marie Vea-Fagnant, Career Services Coordinator, 656-3003, email: [email protected]
hydrology education in both science and engineering departments. The student will also
develop an MS thesis project in the general
area of relating watershed structure and behavior within the Civil Engineering Water Resources Program. The student will be part of a
multi-disciplinary team of hydrologists making
this a unique opportunity to obtain in-depth
quantitative and qualitative hydrology training.
A research assistantship of ~ $20,000 per year,
plus full tuition, is available for a 2-year period. For more information, please contact Dr.
Thorsten Wagener ([email protected], 1- 814Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Communication/Media Coordinator: Fish & 865-5673), or visit our department website at
http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/.
Wildlife
For more information on the project see http://
Departmental Contact: Tom Decker 241Wildlife Society
watershed.montana.edu/hydrology/
3247 or [email protected]
The Wildlife Society has an opening for two
Marketing and communications development, REACH.html.
Wildlife Policy Interns with an interest in wild- planning and evaluation for the Department of
life resource and policy issues. This 6-month
Fish and Wildlife. Duties involve: assisting the
internship runs every year from January-June
Fish and Wildlife Department with external
PHD REQUIRED
or July-December at the TWS Headquarters in communications, marketing initiatives and
Bethesda, MD. TWS is currently accepting
activities along with educational and outreach
Assistant Professor of Ecology—Ursinus
applications for an internship from January to
materials development. Waterbury
College
June 2008.
Application deadline: 10/11/07
The Biology Department at Ursinus College is
Please send completed applications (email
For more information and to apply online:
searching this fall for a recent Ph.D. in ecology
preferred) to:
http://www.vermontpersonnel.org/jobapplicant/ who is eager to combine her or his scholarly
Laura Bies, Associate Director of Government index.php .
interests with teaching. We ask that you pass
Affairs
on this information to graduate students and
The Wildlife Society
post-docs in your department who might be
5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 200
interested in this kind of position. They can
MASTER’S DEGREE REQUIRED
Bethesda, MD 20814-2144
find a short version of the announcement at
E-mail: [email protected]
http://aaas.sciencecareers.org/texis/jobsearch/
Hydrology Education Project Graduate
details.html?
Research Assistant—Penn State
id=46b353614a03d0&q=ecology&qField=All
We are currently looking for an enthusiastic
BACHELOR’S DEGREE REQUIRED
MS student to work on a hydrology education &qSort=date&qMatch=all&pp=20&view=1&p
age=4 and a more detailed version at http://
project funded by the National Science FounVermont Agency of Natural Resources
www.ursinus.edu/content.asp?
dation and located at the Pennsylvania State
Environmental Conservation
page=FacultyAndStaff/
University,
Department
of
Civil
and
EnvironDepartmental contact: Rick Hopkins 241mental Engineering. The project’s main objec- FacultyPositions.htm#eco
3769 or [email protected]
The primary function of the position is bringing tive is to develop a web-based curriculum for
INTERNSHIPS
Snelling Center for Government
The Snelling Center is working with AARP
Vermont on advancing initiatives to improve
the livability of Burlington for an aging population. I am looking for one or more research
assistants interested in these issues who want to
be part of a project team this fall.
To apply: Send a letter of interest, resume,
references.
Contact Information:
Glenn McRae | Program Coordinator
130 South Willard Street
Burlington, VT 05401
Email: [email protected]
people together to identify and solve surface
water quality and aquatic habitat problems in a
watershed. At its basic level, this involves
helping people appreciate how important good
water quality and aquatic habitat conditions are
to the enjoyment of the environment, to business and to public health. Waterbury
Application deadline: 10/12/07
For more information and to apply online:
http://www.vermontpersonnel.org/jobapplicant/
index.php .
chase land or a house (34%). While some students were interested
in the benefits of owning a home, there were also land purchases
for environmental preservation, and dreams of starting farms and
ecovillages.
By Tatiana Abatemarco
In a move that demonstrates a good amount
of common sense, 28% said they would pay off their
On the first day classes, Professor Jon
student loans. Possibly reflecting a good upbringing,
Erickson asked the students in NR 104 (Social Procor just a hefty amount of guilt, 16% would give all
esses and the Environment) what they would do if
or some of the money to their parents.
they were given $1 million and had the rest of the
It is not surprising that some of the students
day to spend it. Their answers were anonymous and
would hope to spend a little of the money on themthey reveal some interesting things about RSENR
selves. 18% of the students would spend at least
students.
some of the million on gear such as ski and snowboard equipBy far, the most common response (53%) was to donate ment, a guitar, and a new camera. Taking the long view, 16%
all or a portion of the money to a charitable cause. Causes ranged would invest all or part of the money in places like mutual funds
from supporting local farmers, to environmental education, to
or IRAs. Also, 11% would like to use the money to travel.
medical research, to global hunger. Students were also interested
On the lighter side of things, two students in the class
in decreasing their impact on the planet by purchasing some form would use all $1 million to throw a huge party. One student
of renewable energy or a hybrid vehicle (23%).
would randomly give a server a $10,000 tip. Another student
Another common responses was that they would purwould use the money to install air conditioning in Aiken 104.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH
$1 MILLION AND A DAY TO SPEND IT?
The Vermont Monitoring Cooperative (VMC)
will hold its annual meeting and conference in the North Lounge of Billings on
Monday, October 29th
This year's theme is “Past, Present, and Future of Vermont's Forested Ecosystems.” To register, please go to the
VMC website at: http://www.uvm.edu/vmc and fill-out and submit the online form. Lunch and snacks will be
provided to participants registered on or before October 22, 2007. There is no charge to attend. The agenda will
soon be available on the VMC website.
The UNIVERSITY of VERMONT
THE RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT
AND NATURAL RESOURCES
George D. Aiken Center
81 Carrigan Drive
Burlington, VT 05405-0088