Richard Watts is the Director of the Center for Research on Vermont, a senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and the founder of the Center of Community News (CCN). Richard is the coordinator of UVM’s Community News Service program, pairing students with professional editors to write stories for community papers. Richard is also the former coordinator of the internship program in the College of Arts & Sciences. During Richard's leadership of the CAS internship programs, student for-credit internships tripled from about 250 to almost 800. In coordination with CRVT, the College of Arts & Sciences created the Community of Practice intern program which led to the successful spin off of the Community News Service and served as a model for the Center for Community News. As Director of CRVT, Richard increased the budget ten-fold and added new programs in book publishing, internships, media and communications, video and podcasts. Richard also led student research teams that investigated police funding, telecommuting, town official demographics and Vermont in-migration among others. Richard is a co-founder of Sustainable Transportation Vermont and the teacher of classes in transportation planning, reporting and Vermont studies.

Trish Denton is an art director, producer, and storyteller specializing in socially engaged art & community-based projects.  She is the founder of In Tandem Arts, a nonprofit organization that creates collaborative theater, storytelling, and multimedia experiences with youth and community groups. At Dartmouth College, Trish was involved with Telling My Story, a documentary theater project producing work within rehabilitation and correctional facilities. She has taught ethnographic storytelling approaches, community documenting, and visual storytelling at Dartmouth College and Castleton College, as well as a variety of university, college, library, and historical society classrooms with Vermont Folklife. As CRVT Coordinator, Trish mentors our interns and oversees research, projects, and publications supported by the center. Trish also produces CRVT's events, publishes our research newsletter, and develops content and visual storytelling to strengthen our membership and student initiatives. 

Kevin Graffagnino began his career at the University of Vermont library, where he served as curator of Vermont history from 1978 to 1995, as head of Special Collections for two years, as a member of the graduate faculty, and as an adjunct member of the Canadian Studies program. Graffagnino was Library Director at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin from 1995 to 1999, Executive Director of the Kentucky Historical Society from 1999 to 2003, and Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society from 2003 to 2008, and director of the William L. Clements library at the University of Michigan from 2008 to 2019. He was an antiquarian book dealer during his undergraduate years and has conducted benefit book auctions for a number of libraries and museums in Vermont. Graffagnino is the editor or author of 22 books and numerous articles on various aspects of early American history, book collecting, history administration, and related topics. He has served on a variety of state, regional and national boards, committees and commissions, and has given more than 1,000 public lectures on historical subjects.

Katherine McGee is an Undergraduate Student in the College of Arts and Sciences, studying Environmental Studies and History. Some of her interests include Environmental and Indigenous history as well as any history having to do with the Hudson River Valley, where she grew up. Holding the position of Illustrations and Book Editor Intern at the Center for Research on Vermont, she will be collecting documents, maps, artifacts and many other items from the Special Collections. This includes working on current CRVT projects and contributing a column to the Research Newsletter.

Hello, My name is Holden Middleton I am a major in history with a focus on the Americas. I am the Vermont research assistant. My job is to find fun and interesting historical articles and contribute to our Digital Newsletter! Some other things about me are, I am minoring in forestry and I am a Vermont local from the Northeast Kingdom. I also like to hike and ski and my historical interests include Vermont history, Black/African American history, and indigenous history.

Maddie Sherer is an Undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, studying psychological science and history. Her interests include clinical/behavioral psychology, Greek/Roman History, and early eastern Asian history. Maddie is the Social Media Intern where she will focus on posting research, highlighting undergraduate work, networking, and gaining engagement for events hosted by the center. She will also be contributing to bigger projects for the center such as the Research Newsletter.