Carey Hengstenberg
I am a geologist and environmental scientist working for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Since completing my Master's degree in Geology at the University of Vermont, I have worked as an environmental consultant, hydrogeologist and teacher. My interests include geology, groundwater protection, water chemistry, waste prevention and climate change. Outside of work I enjoy running, pottery, mountain biking and hiking with my husband and little Puerto Rican street dog, Ceiba. This is my third summer at GIV and I am looking forward to an exciting week.

David Jaffe
The summer of 1989 changed my life. I was a student on a 23-day Colorado Outward Bound Course. I remember on day 22 sitting at the lower reaches of a river and allowing my eyes to follow this flowing water toward its source. Snow covered mountains and thick coniferous forests lay before me. And like a tumbling flow of thoughts, it dawned on me that the wilderness I had been living in for the previous three weeks had become my home. I felt obliged to do whatever I could to protect such wild places so that others may have similar experiences. The reality is that wild places are becoming fewer and smaller. Integrated landscapes and multifunctional designs are the buzzwords of today. How can we accommodate economic needs and still maintain some degree of wild lands or at least connectivity? I came to the Field Naturalist Program to answer some of these questions and pursue my passion to learn as much as I can about our natural world and how various components within this world interact.

Michael Hendrix
I am a Masters-track graduate student here at University of Vermont, currently wrapping up my teaching certification in high school Biology. I attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and took my bachelor's degree in Psychology (Animal Learning and Behavior concentration) before heading north for a change of pace. My background and interests include evolution and adaptation, animal behavior, ecological studies, and man's impact on the environment. When I'm not at home tending my beehives or playing mandolin, one can often find me backpacking or out on Champlain in my kayak.

Heidi Hales
I am an environmental analyst working for the Agency of Natural Resources in Air Pollution Control. I have a Ph.D. in Soil Science from UVM where I studied nitrate deposition in high elevation forests at UVM. I also received my BA in Biology (with a Chemistry minor) and an MA in Conservation Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. My interests include running, traveling and exploring the trails of Vermont.

Elizabeth Jameson
is a science teacher and snowboard coach at Vergennes Union High School. She enjoys hiking mountains, gardening, biking, and cooking and eating. This will be her third season with the SAT.

Heather LaPointe
received her Master's Degree in Geology in 2007 from UVM. She teaches Physics, as well as the Freshman Environmental/Earth/Chemistry Rotation at Lyndon Institute in the Northeast Kingdom, where she lives with her husband, son and two dogs. She is an avid gardener, and recently turned house renovator.

Johanna Palmer
is from East Meredith, New York. I am 21 years old, and I just recently graduated from St. Lawrence University with a B.S. in Geology and also Anthropology. While at SLU, I played rugby and volleyball, and I enjoy being outdoors hiking and kayaking. I just got back from an awesome glacial geology trip to the Canadian Rockies, and am currently living in Underhill. I spent a semester in New Zealand and love travelling. I grew up on a dairy farm just north of the Catskills, and I love working in the dirt and helping to protect the Earth.

Carrie Pucko Parr
Though originally from Rochester, NY, I have been living in Burlington for 4 years now where I'm working on my PhD in Plant Biology from UVM. My research looks at the effects of climate change on the forests of the Green Mountains. By focusing on understory plants, the tree canopy and using satellite images I've seen a number of changes to forests over the past few decades. I have very broad scientific interests in ecology, geology and soils, but plants have always been my favorite. I went to college at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA where I studied biology and worked in the herbarium at the Worcester Ecotarium. Other than that, I love to travel, coach diving and be creative through photography or craft projects. I can't wait for GIV to start, it's going to be a blast!

Jeffrey Hughes
is director of UVM's Field Naturalist Masters Program and a Professor of Natural Resources. Most of his research is conducted in Vermont and at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Students sometimes drag me westward, however. I'm interested and involved in too many things, but two research interests predominate: ecosystem responses to events that upset the ecological status quo, and dynamics of ecotones, especially stream corridors and roads. Current research initiatives include trying to figure out: (i) how wide riparian zones need to be to conserve plant and animal populations, (ii) ways by which riparian zones might be managed to protect streams from upslope pollutants, and (iii) how roads (abandoned and active) impact the surrounding and future forest. In addition, I'm just now completing a detailed demographic analysis of sugar maple growing at the limits of its ecological range as a way of perhaps and predicting the effects of climatic/atmospheric change on forest ecosystems.

Christine Massey - Director
is an educational researcher in the Geology Department at the University of Vermont and holds a BA and MS in Geology. She also works at the Perkins Museum of Geology on grant-funded initiatives and facilitates science education for students and teachers in Vermont. Current projects include: 1) The Landscape Change Program where she helps coordinate a large historic photograph collection of Vermont landscapes, helps understand how students learn using images, and works with K-12 teachers to develop curriculum using images, 2) Directing the Science and Technology Governor's Institute for capable and motivated Vermont high school students, 3) Directing the Perkins Museum Environmental Science Day Camp for children in grades 1-7, and 4) coordinating the creation of electronic media associated with the textbook, "Key Concepts in Geomorphology." Christine is the mother of two daughters, aged 9 and 6, and lives in Burlington, VT. She enjoys cross-country skiing and baking pies.

Paul Bierman- Paul Bierman is a professor of Geology at UVM where he engages people of all ages in the study of how Earth's surface works. For more than 15 years, he's done research in Vermont and many other places around the world including the far northern Canada, central Australia, southern Africa, Israel and the American southwest. His latest efforts use historic imagery to document the impact of people on the Vermont landscapes and the impact of landscape events on people and societies in our state. Paul earned his BA from Williams College in 1985 and his MS and PhD from the University of Washington, the latter in 1993. He has been at UVM ever since then with appointments in Geology and the School of Natural Resources. Paul was recently awarded the one of the National Science Foundation's highest honors; the Directors award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. This award now supports the Vermont Landscape Change Program, a digital archive of historic imagery. Paul is a 15 year GIV veteran.

Luke Reusser - Luke is a doctoral student at the University of Vermont, where his research focuses on the impacts of human activities on natural rates of landscape change and erosion. Over the past several years, his studies have carried him to places close to home, such as the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, as well as places not so close to home, including the North Island of New Zealand. While Luke loves cooling off in the countless streams and lakes of Vermont during the summer, he can't wait for the snow to start falling again so he can get back on the skis.