Graduate Fulbright Scholars from RSENR and Ukrainian National Forestry University

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The Rubenstein School News
Graduate Fulbright Scholars from RSENR and Ukrainian National Forestry University
Trade Places for Carbon Studies
By Emily Brodsky
This year, Associate Professor and Senior Fulbright Specialist Bill Keeton organized an exchange of Fulbright Scholars between UVM and the Ukrainian National Forestry University in order to study forest carbon sequestration potential in the
Carpathian Mountains. “This is an exciting opportunity,” Bill says, “for a bilateral exchange spanning the Atlantic, with everyone working together. We were
fortunate to secure the Fulbright funding that could make this happen.” Ukrainian
Ph.D. Student Dmytro Karabchuk (Dima, for short) joined us here at RSENR at
the beginning of the fall semester. A few weeks later, our own M.S. Student,
Amanda Egan, departed for L’viv, Ukraine. The two will remain in their respective locations for a full academic year.
Dima is spending his time at UVM conducting research on forest carbon issues at
the Carbon Dynamics Lab (CDL), and working toward completing his dissertation
on forest biomass and carbon estimation methods. Prior to his graduate studies,
Dima studied forestry at the Storozynetc Forestry Technical School. He then
worked as a forester in western Ukraine and was Head of the University Graduate Fulbright Scholars Dmytro Karabchuk
Student Scientific Board. Currently, he works as a teaching assistant in the
(“Dima”) and Amanda Egan
Forestry Department at the Ukrainian National Forestry University, and is
Deputy Director of the University’s Botanical Garden. Dima is excited about
the opportunity to spend a year at RSENR, and optimistic about the connection
between his own institution in Ukraine and UVM. “I already feel we are moving to the point where our research project will have a real impact on Ukrainian
forest carbon markets. We have a lot of opportunities for future work and collaboration,” he says.
While Dima is hard at work in the CDL, Amanda is interviewing community
members, forestry professionals, and academics in the Carpathian Mountain
region to assess the capacity for community-based forest carbon projects. “I
have been fortunate to have the guidance of Dr. Ihor Soloviy in the Institute for
Ecological Economics at the Ukrainian National Forestry University as I try to
understand the intricacies of Ukraine’s forest sector,” she says. At UVM,
Amanda has focused her studies on community-based forestry and carbon markets, working with her co-advisors Cecilia Danks, who leads the Forest Carbon and Communities Research Group, and Bill Keeton in the CDL. Previously, Amanda studied International Relations and Russian Studies at Colgate University. She then worked for a foreign policy think tank in Washington,
DC, and for an international non-profit in Denver, Colorado. Of her time in Ukraine, Amanda reports, “Perhaps my
most important accomplishment thus far has been to dispel the myth common among Ukrainians that all maple syrup
is produced in Canada.”