Partnerships & Facilities | The Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources

The Rubenstein School

Partnerships & Facilities

Rubenstein School Campus

	George D. Aiken Center The George D. Aiken Center, which opened in 1982, was specifically designed to house The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The building's name honors Vermont's distinguished late senator and governor. The Rubenstein School community, along with William Maclay Architects & Planners of Waitsfield, Vermont, created a vision for a green renovated Aiken Center, designed for more efficient space, sustainability, and a reduced ecological footprint. The project was completed in January 2012. The renewed Aiken Center blends ecologically designed systems and technology to clean the building's air and water, naturally light the interior, and house occupants and greet visitors in a welcoming, healthy, and stimulating environment.
	University of Vermont Environmental Program The Environmental Program, known nationally for its interdisciplinary approach, engages students in local and international internships; immerses them in course work, sometimes in far-flung reaches of the world; and intimately exposes them to faculty in such varied pursuits as environmental law and policy, restoration ecology and ecofeminism. Vermont's landscape, accessibility, government and non-profit organizations give students unrivaled chances to engage in research and then develop and promote policy initiatives. The Program is housed in the Bittersweet Building on the UVM campus.
	Gund Institute for Ecological Economics At the Gund Institute, we're developing, testing, and implementing innovative methods and models that reflect the need to integrate the social, built, natural, and human capital components of our world. Our work is to guide the way to true global economic sustainability through teaching, research, design, and the practical application of those economic solutions that will generate natural capital even as they create human profit. The Gund Institute is housed in the Johnson House on the UVM campus. Watch recent videos of the Gund Institute in action.
	Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory The Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory is an extension of the Aiken Center and Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources and is located at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington waterfront. The laboratory houses state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities, including laboratories for the study of water and sediment quality, contaminants, and aquatic biota including fish, invertebrates, and algae. The laboratory provides researchers with the tools necessary to investigate and understand the ecosystem processes that determine ecological health and influence the quality of life for the human community in the Lake Champlain basin.
	U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station The George D. Aiken Forestry Sciences Laboratory is part of the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station. The Lab, located in South Burlington, Vermont consists of 3 research projects: Biological and Environmental Influences on Forest Health and Productivity; Ecological Processes: A Basis for Managing Forests and Protecting Water Quality in New England; Integrating Social and Biophysical Sciences for Natural Resource Management. Forest Service scientists work closely and share facilities with Rubenstein School faculty.

Rubenstein School Collaborations

	Green Forestry Education Initiative The Rubenstein School is revolutionizing its forestry program through The Green Forestry Education Initiative. We are defining and demonstrating a new niche for forestry and forest conservation education that emphasizes the integration of sustainable design, land ethics, and real-world learning.
	Lake Champlain Sea Grant The Lake Champlain Sea Grant is a cooperative program of the University of Vermont and Plattsburgh State University of New York and part of a national network coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Our mission is to identify and address critical ecological and economic issues affecting the Lake Champlain basin and its resources and to share that information with communities, businesses, and other stakeholders.
	National Park Service Conservation Study Institute The National Park Service Conservation Study Institute, based at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock, Vermont, works with national parks and partners to advance leadership and innovation, and in collaborative conservation for the stewardship of our national system of parks and special places.
	Northeastern States Research Cooperative The Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC) is a competitive grant program jointly directed by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and a designated institution in each of the four Northern Forest states. NSRC supports cross-disciplinary, collaborative research in the Northern Forest — a 26 million acre working landscape and home to over a million residents and stretches from eastern Maine through New Hampshire and Vermont and into northern New York. A central component of the program is the importance of the Northern Forest to society and the need for research activities to have relevance and benefit to the people who live within its boundaries, work with its resources, use its products, visit it, and care about it.
	University of Vermont Extension Located throughout the state, UVM Extension links you to the University and provides timely, research-based information and education. Together, we can educate individuals and families, support agriculture and the environment, and strengthen communities.
	University of Vermont Watershed Alliance The University of Vermont Watershed Alliance (UVM WA) is an Extension program in partnership with Lake Champlain Sea Grant and The Rubenstein School. Our primary objective is to increase awareness and knowledge of watershed issues in Vermont youth. The Alliance provides curriculum, equipment, and instructors to schools and youth groups participating in our programs, as well as support and guidance to teachers who wish to integrate watershed education into their current curriculum.
	Vermont Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit The Cooperative Research Units were created to enhance graduate education in fisheries and wildlife sciences and facilitate cooperative research among federal and state natural resource agencies and universities. Research at the Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is problem-oriented and provides our cooperators (Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, the University of Vermont, U.S. Geological Survey, and Wildlife Management Institute) and other agencies with useful and practical information needed to understand and manage fish and wildlife resources in Vermont.
	Vermont Monitoring Cooperative The Vermont Monitoring Cooperative is a partnership of the State of Vermont, the University of Vermont, and the USDA Forest Service that manages Vermont's forest ecosystem data intended to benefit research, natural resource management, education, and public interest. VMC supports over 100 forest ecosystem projects on Mount Mansfield in northern Vermont and Lye Brook in southern Vermont. VMC staff also support long-term air quality and forest health monitoring programs for Mount Mansfield and Lye Brook and two meteorological stations on Lake Champlain.
	Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center The Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center at the University of Vermont is one of 54 institutes established by Congress through the Water Resources Research Act of 1964. Throughout its history, the Center has served the citizens of the state of Vermont by funding research on major issues of concern to the state, by disseminating and distributing information on water resources throughout Vermont, and by helping to educate students about the various aspects of water resources.

Research & Teaching Facilities

	Carbon Dynamics Lab The Carbon Dynamics Lab is supervised by Drs. William Keeton and Jennifer Jenkins. We are interested in the social and biophysical processes that determine the stocks and fluxes of greenhouse gases between terrestrial systems and the atmosphere. Our projects range widely, from field studies of carbon cycling in urban and suburban turfgrass systems, to inventory-based analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of forest carbon cycling at the national scale, to modeling analysis of forest management effects on carbon sequestration in the Northeast.
	Park Studies Laboratory The Park Studies Laboratory is comprised of faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students with an interest in research, planning, and management applied to national parks, wilderness, and related areas. Special focus is placed on outdoor recreation and related public uses of parks. The Laboratory conducts a program of research in the U.S. national park system and also conducts studies applied to national forests, national wildlife refuges, state parks, nonprofit institutions, and related areas and organizations.
	Research Vessel Melosira The Rubenstein School owns a 45-foot research vessel, the Melosira, which is docked at the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Center on Lake Champlain in Burlington. The vessel is used for research and teaching on the Lake.
	Spatial Analysis Laboratory The Spatial Analysis Laboratory is a research facility located in The Rubenstein School. Laboratory staff are employees or students in the School, but our facilities are often shared with collaborators from other units (e.g., Geography Department, Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, and the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Research Station). The mission of the Laboratory is to apply appropriate techniques in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial statistics to problems in natural resource ecology and natural resources planning. The Lab specializes in biodiversity analysis, land-cover mapping, planning for conservation lands, and development of new applications for natural resource management.
	University of Vermont Forests The University of Vermont owns five forests throughtout the State of Vermont used for research, education, and demonstration: Jericho Research Forest, Talcott Forest, and Wolcott Research Forest in northern Vermont; Washington Forest in central Vermont; and Ethel Pew Research & Demonstration Forest in southern Vermont.
	University of Vermont Natural Areas In 1974, the University of Vermont Board of Trustees established the University of Vermont Natural Areas. By this action, the Board of Trustees recognized the University's responsibility of leadership in the identification, protection, and management of important natural areas on University-owned lands. From over one thousand acres along the shoreline of Shelburne Pond to less than three acres at Redstone Quarry, these natural areas provide outstanding resources to meet the teaching and research needs in disciplines that require or can benefit from field experience.
	Vermont Tourism Data Center The Vermont Tourism Data Center is the only research center in the state focusing on tourism and recreation. We specialize in tourism that strengthens community vitality and promotes environmental stewardship. Our experienced staff and affiliates include professors, research specialists, business owners and managers, and graduate students.
	Watershed Research Lab The Watershed Research Lab in The Rubenstein School is directed by Dr. Breck Bowden. Our research focuses on interactions between hydrological and biogeochemical processes, especially as these processes are influenced by land use practices and land cover characteristics at catchment scales. We work in two different but related areas. In Vermont, our research focuses on management of stormwater impacts from development on urban streams. In Alaska, our research focuses on understanding climate change impacts on arctic streams. In both areas our research is designed to improve the uptake and use of science knowledge by resource managers, policy makers, and community stakeholders.