It might be useful for me to provide some background as to who I am and what I do. I'm a bit of a fixture at the Environmental Program, having arrived here in 1985. My position can best be presented as having three equal halves: 1) I am responsible for the care and administration of the University's Natural Areas System. 2) I am the director of the Natural Areas Center at UVM. 3) I have a faculty appointment through the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. These three elements dovetail nicely with one another as my professional interests revolve around the ecology, protection, management and restoration of natural areas and other conservation lands. If you had to affix a disciplinary label to me, conservation biologist or landscape ecologist would fit as well as any.

I distribute my time while at UVM in office, classroom and assorted field settings. A typical day (if there is such a thing) might begin with an early meeting with a group of campus administrators discussing the threats of a housing development to one of the University's natural areas, continue with teaching a class on environmental research methods to a group of Environmental Studies students, and end with a romp through a local bog accompanied by a state botanist keen on locating a number of listed endangered plants. Although my physical appearance and dress habits tend towards the informal (some would suggest grubby or retro-hippie), I'm able to fit in to most social settings with little trouble, training or grooming.

I have recently developed a professional affection for what I call comparative landscape studies. This has come about as a result of some research that has taken me from my hometown landscapes of northern New England to the Highlands of Scotland. These two mountain settings enjoy similar geographical and ecological characteristics but have been shaped by different political and social forces. Both regions have deep and troubling histories of land use and exploitation as well as noteworthy conservation initiatives and ongoing ambitious stewardship and restoration efforts. With a focus on the landscape histories and land conservation legacies of these distinct mountain ecosystems, my research attempts to elucidate the relationship between ecology and culture and how this relationship has influenced both historical and contemporary conservation and stewardship beliefs and practices

Other interests include hiking, kayaking, assorted winter sports on snow, gardening, music, and eating pies. My musical interests are rather eclectic, although if disco had never been discovered, I'd shed nary a tear. I did play rhythm guitar in a four piece rock combo while in high school and probably know most of the three-chord progression rock and roll tunes of the 1960's and 1970's. I don't have a favorite color and in my opinion warm furry cuddly things belong either in the woods or in the stew pot. I admit to having been arrested once while protesting nuclear power back in undergraduate school at the University of New Hampshire. Susan and I have been together since the late 1970's. We reside in Middlesex, Vermont surrounded by fields and forests and have one daughter, Emma Rose. As of this writing, I ride herd on a small group of Buff Orpingtons, a hardy breed of chicken that possesses an ironic sense of humor.

Last Update: August 2010

Last modified March 28 2012 01:38 PM