When Erin O’Neill began her undergraduate degree in plant biology at UVM, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do as a career, only that she loved plants, nature, and the environment.

“The plant biology department helped me find my footing as a young person by offering a close-knit community of peers and incredibly supportive faculty who believed in me. That sense of belonging and encouragement is really what carried me forward,” O’Neill said about her time as an undergrad at UVM.

The connections she made in the department led to exploring plants in Costa Rica, an undergraduate research position, a summer research job at the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center (HREC), and then into the accelerated master’s program in the Biology Department. Eventually, it led to the job she has now at UVM, working for the Plant Biology Department as the BioCore (BCOR) Lab Coordinator. The BioCore curriculum consists of a series of introductory biology courses covering all aspects of basic biology, including molecular biology, physiology, biodiversity, genetics, ecology, and evolution and serves majors primarily in Animal Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biological Science, Environmental Science, Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, Plant Biology, Neuroscience, and Zoology, as well as students in the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical program. First-year student classes in the BioCore program have a limit on class size to promote interaction with professors and the lab coordinator, which better facilitates the transition between high school and college-level science.

“For a long time, I thought I’d pursue a PhD and become a professor, following in the footsteps of the incredible mentors I had here. But over time, I realized I’m happiest in an outdoor classroom, not an office or lecture hall. I’m now working to educate the community in a way that feels best to me,” O’Neill offers.

It was a project O’Neill completed for a National Science Foundation grant while a graduate student that opened her eyes to the enjoyment of teaching children science in a natural setting. That setting was one of her favorite UVM facilities, the 97-acre UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center (HREC) located in South Burlington. HREC includes the Catamount Farm, which is the education-focused portion of the facility. In 2021, O’Neill set out to establish a kids’ camp at the Catamount Farm, which would combine science education with the kind of immersion in nature many adults of her generation enjoyed as children, but which is becoming more of a rarity for today’s kids. She began with just a couple of weeks of camp offerings.  

In 2024, her fledgling camp expanded into the Eco Explorers Vermont camp of today.  Eco Explorers Vermont offers five weeks of individually themed ecology camps. Themes range from Nature-Art to Animals to Scavenger Hunt. Kids can join for as many weeks as they register for, and she has several kids who have returned from her original group, as well as new kids who join each year.

The kids track animals, play in the stream, play hide and seek, and enjoy other classic outdoor games, all while soaking up life on a working farm.  Their joyful expressions and exuberant demeanors suggest why her camp has grown each year. As one camper, Luke, who has attended for all four years, put it, “My other camps were in places with cars and buildings and inside.  Here, you get to explore, and look for animals, and it’s fun to catch minnows, and frogs, and just be outside all day.”

O’Neill credits her UVM education with equipping her with the problem-solving skills and tenacity to keep evolving her ideas. “My business wasn’t immediately profitable, but I kept trying new things.” When she first started, her focus was on delivering more traditional, structured educational experiences in STEM. Over time, she’s realized the incredible value of play in children’s development. Now, her priority is creating opportunities for kids to have joyful experiences in nature and ones that encourage exploration, creativity, and a lasting connection to the outdoors. 

“I want to give them positive experiences that aren’t on a screen or a device. Over time, I see the kids who come back take ownership of this environment and become leaders in our activities.  I think this is how we can change the world.”