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Hanem AbouelezzI came to the University of Vermont after three very wild summers; two in the Rockies, one in Alaska. It became increasingly clear to me that these beautiful places which evoke emotions that strip malls and diners never could, are under attack. I heard constantly that "someone should do something to save the environment." I decided to be one of those "somebodys" and started my graduate work at the University of Vermont in Wildlife Biology. My co-advisors were Terri Donovan and Allan Strong. My focus revolved around course work in Geographic Information Systems, behavioral ecology, and avian ecology. I also worked on the effects of land use change in Vermont on the black bear population with Terri and fellow graduate student Jake McGrew. I continued with this analysis to determine the effects on ovenbird, a small neotropical migrant that is heavily impacted by forest fragmentation. From there I focused on behavioral work, as my first love is indeed behavioral ecology (the focus of my previous work with USGS was wild mustang behavioral study).Hanem has been hired as a Natural Resources Specialist for the Bureau of Land Management in Needles, California. In this position she helps oversee 3.5 million acres of land and looks specifically at the impacts of wind/solar renewable energy projects on species listed under the Endangered Species Act (threatened or endangered), such as the desert tortoise and Southwestern willowflycatcher. She also researches the impacts on "sensitive species," or species of concern such as the desert bighorn sheep, a variety of bats and mohave fringe toed lizards. She also continues to work with her former advisor here at the University on manuscripts detailing her Masters research on bobcat movement in Vermont. They currently have one paper on bobcat homeranges in review at the Journal of Biological Conservation and a second paper, on bobcat movement, habitat selection and corridor planning will be submitted soon. Once those are complete, they will continue their analysis on the characteristics of bobcat road crossings. |
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Nathaly Agosto FiliónA USDA Multicultural Fellow, Nathaly Agosto Filión completed her Ecological Planning Master's project defense in August 2010. Raised in New York City, Nathaly is a 2005 UVM graduate with a B.S. in Natural Resources (self-designed major in "Outdoor Education") and a B.M. in Vocal Music Performance (mezzo-soprano). As an undergraduate, Nathaly was active in the leadership of Alianza Latina and several diversity and leadership initiatives around campus. Upon graduation, she worked as school teacher and environmental educator using New York City's parks and green spaces to encourage a love of conservation in Black and brown youth. Realizing that her passion was really for personal behavior change, activism, and civic engagement, she returned to academia and joined UVM's Ecological Planning program in order to work alongside fellow change-makers.Nathaly's graduate project, entitled "Preparing and Adapting to Climate Change in Rural Dominican Republic: An Assessment of Community Preparedness for Lake Enriquillo Flooding," enabled her to return to her birth country to work at the community-level with various stakeholders on climate change and disaster preparedness. Through this journey, she developed a deep appreciation for community-based adaptation to climate change and is striving to break into that career field in Latin America or the Caribbean. Nathaly is an avid 350.org volunteer and is passionate about practicing sustainability through environmental and social justice activism, personal behavior change, community organizing and civic engagement. She currently works as a Program Officer on the U.S. Climate and Environment program team at the Institute for Sustainable Communities in Montpelier, Vermont. In her current role, she helps to develop, design and deliver national and regional Sustainable Communities Leadership Academies, including the U.S. program team’s flagship program, the Climate Leadership Academy as well as the Urban Sustainability Leadership Academy and the Gulf Coast Sustainable Economies Leadership Academy. |
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Mia AkaogiGrowing up in rural Vermont and on my parents’ organic farm instilled an appreciation of the environment at an early age. My connection to the natural world was a product of childhood explorations of our property and working with my parents to grow crops for our livelihood. These experiences influenced my decision to attend Cornell University and pursue a degree in Natural Resources. I enjoyed the interdisciplinary approach to the program but found after four years of education that I wanted to see what opportunities were available for me outside of academia. It was at this time that I heard about AmeriCorps and decided that this would be a great way to explore potential career options while at the same time gaining experience from real professionals in the field. I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee and became a part of the CAC AmeriCorps Water Quality Team. As an AmeriCorps member I implemented the Adopt-A-Watershed program into Knox County middle and high schools and worked alongside members of the local government, environmental agencies and the public on many watershed improvement projects. After two years I decided I wanted to go back to school and I looked for a graduate program that would give me both scientific knowledge but also tools to work with many different interest groups and incorporate environmental action into land use planning issues. Many of our environmental problems come from our inability to balance increasing development pressures and the need to conserve the environment. Through my current enrollment in the Ecological Planning Program at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources I hope to gain the necessary skills that will allow me to become a valuable asset to any community.Since graduating in February 2010, Mia has been working full-time as the Water Quality Program Coordinator for the Green Mountain Conservation Group (the non-profit she partnered with for her MS Project). Mia is responsible for the Ossipee Watershed School Program Initiative, which is focused on developing a Watershed Workbook (a curriculum of watershed-specific lessons and activities for teachers) and implementing watershed education programs in local schools. In addition, Mia coordinates the river monitoring program with volunteers, assists with a quarterly newsletter, provides press releases to local newspapers, and facilitates meetings with School Program Initiative partners. |
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Pooja KanwarI was born and raised in Iowa, while everyone else in the history of my family lineage was born in India. Being a first generation Indian I was exposed to a multicultural upbringing, growing up in America while maintaining my roots of Indian background. My interest in the environment was strongly influenced at a very young age by my father who is a Hydrologist and Agricultural Engineer. I received my Bachelors of Science from the University of Iowa, in Geography and Environmental Studies. I went on a study abroad to India my final semester of college truly falling in love with my culture, family and research. My B.S. thesis focused on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Issues in the district of Mysore, Karnataka India.Once my undergraduate schooling had completed, I spent some time traveling in India and came back to the Midwest. I worked in the Water Supply Division with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The temporary position came to an end a year later and in 2005 I enrolled at Antioch University New England to receive my Master’s of Science in Resource Management and Administration. I continued my thesis research with rural areas of India, though focusing in more on rainwater harvesting and the relationship between community participation and the quality of harvested water. In 2008 I started working for the University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA) at the Water Resources Research Center. I coordinated various statewide projects ranging from volunteer water quality monitoring programs, acid rain monitoring, helping organize a storm water best management practices database, and working with an environmental analysis laboratory on campus. I look forward to begin my Ph.D. under the excellent advising of Breck Bowden. I hope to continue my research with international water resources management on both a qualitative and quantitative level. My ultimate goal is to be the director of my NGO, which will work with rural water supply and quality issues in the developing world. |
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Jonathan KatzI graduated from Middlebury College in 2002 with a B.A. in Biology. After college I taught 8th grade earth science for one semester at the Mt. Snow Ski Academy, then I moved to Northern California to do plant surveys for the US Forest Service in the Plumas National Forest for a season. After six more years in California doing breeding bird surveys and monitoring water quality for the US Forest Service, UC Davis, and a private consultant, I joined Therese Donovan's lab in the Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UVM in the fall of 2009 as a masters student. In 2010 I transferred to a PhD track in the same lab. With professor Donovan I have been pilot testing methods of monitoring ecosystem dynamics and health using bioacoustic surveys, autonomous recording units, and computer mediated automatic species detection. We hope these tools will ultimately be put to use in an efficient statewide monitoring program that could be applied to any taxa that vocalizes consistently. I intend to continue developing and using innovative tools for land and wildlife monitoring and management here in Vermont for years to come. |
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Jean LeeAfter an itinerant lifestyle in the past decade, I'm happy to be "settling down" in Vermont. In the past decade, I have pursued my interest in environmental biology at Columbia University, where I was exposed to the colorful underwater world of coral reefs in Belize. After a series of internships as an environmental educator with the Audubon Society in Maryland, as an Americorps volunteer at Joshua Tree, and as an intern at Union of Concerned Scientists in Boston, I returned to graduate school at Duke, where I studied the role of palm fruits in the carbon budget of tropical rain forests in Costa Rica. I spent the past year with the Forest Service in Metaline Falls, Washington coordinating the National Visitor Use Monitoring project for the Colville National Forest. I am currently working with Dr. Lini Wollenberg of the Gund Institute researching the role of payments for ecosystems services in the livelihoods of local farmers in East Africa. |
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Chenin LimbackBorn and raised in Michigan, I was exposed to the natural world at an early age through frequent family trips "up north" and to zoos, aquariums, and nature centers. I have always been fascinated by the beauty and tranquility of nature. I am an animal lover from way back, and that love is what inspired me to major in biology in my undergraduate studies at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. After taking an entomology class there and learning about the fascinating world of insects, I was hooked. In my Master's program, my interests expanded to include forestry and forest health, and I completed my degree in Entomology at Michigan State University with a thesis on "Tree Vigor and its Relation to Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) Adult Host Preference and Larval Development on Green and White Ash Trees." I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of insects, trees, and invasive species ecology in my Ph.D. program here at UVM. I am the recipient of a USDA Multicultural Fellowship in the study of Forest/Ecosystem Health and will be pursuing these studies under the advising of Dr. Kimberly Wallin. Some of my many other interests include reading and writing fiction, drawing, singing along to my favorite music, and swimming for exercise and recreation. I also have a longtime interest in Japanese language and culture and spent a semester abroad in my undergrad studying in the Kansai area of Japan. I love Japanese food, music, and traditions and hope to continue exploring these interests. I am enjoying living in Burlington near beautiful Lake Champlain and looking forward to meeting new people in the area as I pursue my studies. |
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Felix WaiAn itch to travel and constant restlessness has carried Felix to many places doing many things. Highlights of last several years are being a lead instructor in a wilderness therapy program, founding and directing a volunteer organization in post-Katrina New Orleans, tending a fancy bar, and being a 6th grade classroom science teacher at a charter school in New Orleans. After the last several years of traveling and community-oriented work, Felix landed at UVM. Co-advised by Mary Watzin and John Todd, Felix is investigating mulit-functional urban agriculture as a planning priority. His research centers around exploring the multiple functions and benefits of urban agriculture, how these benefits can revitalize communities, and how to position urban agriculture as a viable tool for grassroots changemakers and policy makers to use in creating resilient, thriving, and equitable communities. Also, Felix helped found and directs the Ecological Learning Institute whose mission is community self determination through ecological design strategies. This grassroots group is dedicated to a social justice vision while utilizing ecological design techniques and principles in partnership with community. Through the integration of community work and academic research, Felix hopes to push into new innovative territory while keeping relevant to the needs of under-represented, disempowered communities who are disproportionately affected by environmental problems. |
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Aiko WeverkaBorn and raised in San Francisco, I am excited to return once more to Vermont to pursue higher education. I completed a B.A. in Biology/Environmental Studies at Middlebury College in 2009 where I developed a keen interest in forests and landscape ecology. I spent the last year interning with the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming and with the National Park Service in Yosemite doing a combination GIS data management and natural resource monitoring tasks. Highlights included getting to backpack on the job, learning to ride an ATV, and being able to explore some of the most beautiful areas of the country. These experiences confirmed my interest in natural resources and I decided to pursue a master's to gain stronger quantitative skills and get a better grasp on how to scientifically address current environmental concerns. I look forward to beginning my studies at UVM this fall under the advisement of Dr. Jennifer Pontius as a master's student. My research will focus on some aspect of monitoring forest health at the landscape scale, and I hope to integrate geospatial technologies into the project. I ideally see myself pursuing a career in public land monitoring and management. |
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Jennifer WrightI was born in southern California to a French Canadian mother and a Filipino-American father. At the age of four, my family and I moved to the suburb of Montréal, Québec where I was raised. My upbringing was strongly influenced by the French Canadian side of my family. I completed my Diploma of Collegial Studies (DCS) in applied sciences at John Abbott College in 1995. I pursued to complete a four year bachelor of science in forest management at Université Laval, Québec city, in 1999.Prior to returning to school, I worked as a Stewardship Forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry. The agency’s support for my continual desire to learn has allowed me to gain knowledge in many fields such as adaptive management, strategic planning, integrated pest management, adult training, and policy making. The environmental, economical and social needs of a community rely on sustainable landscape management. My work with ODF has provided ample opportunity to apply my knowledge to contribute to balancing this fragile act. I am motivated and enthused to continue such work. In the end, I wish to positively influence decision makers by providing solid information pertaining to the use of natural resources in addition to contributing to allow family forestland meet their needs by advocating scientifically sound ecologically based natural resource management policies. Over the years through my travels, I’ve learned to appreciate even more my uniqueness and I think this has developed in my natural acceptance of people’s individuality. I am committed to educate natural resource topics to my community. I truly benefit from teaching especially with a diverse population. I often find myself wondering who has benefited the most after such contact. |
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Helen YurchencoAlthough I grew up amongst the ever-expanding sprawl of central New Jersey, I received my B.S. in the mountains of western North Carolina, from Warren Wilson College, which is situated on nearly 1300 aces of woodland and farmland. There I quickly developed an appreciation and curiosity for the natural world and consequently studied environmental studies and biology. Between September of 2009 and August of 2010 I lived in rural West Virginia doing an AmeriCorps service year. I worked for the West Virginia Division of Forestry on nonnative invasive plant control in a state forest. In college I had really only studied trees and woody shrubs and hadn't learned much about other plants. In West Virginia I learned a lot about many of the other occupants of the forest; herbs, mushrooms, and herbivores. I'm very excited to begin my M.S. research with Kimberly Wallin; examining the effects of reduced snow-cover on our northern forests. I spend much of my free time playing old-time and bluegrass fiddle, something that improved greatly in my time in the southern Appalachians. |
