As we welcome in a new academic year, the ENVS program would like to introduce our new co-director, Vic Izzo, and new Student Communications Intern, Victoria Leda, both of whom are involved in the field of Agroecology. Dr Izzo is the head of undergraduate education at the new UVM Institute for Agroecology, Senior Lecturer in the department of Plant and Soil Science and instructor of a variety of classes that introduce students to agroecology.
Victoria Leda is a senior undergraduate student at UVM who is majoring in environmental studies and minoring in agroecology. She was inspired to study at UVM due to its extensive environmental program. She moved away from her hometown of Brooklyn, NY in hopes of learning about environmental practices outside of a highly urban setting. Since moving to Burlington, she’s fallen in love with its community, nature, and academics. Victoria has taken advantage of the many opportunities that UVM offers including Dr. Izzo’s advanced agroecology class and an internship working for the ENVS communications department this semester. The advanced agroecology class has allowed her the opportunity to gain hands-on experience at a farm for the first-time using agroecology principles.
The advanced agroecology class includes a lecture, discussion, and lab section. Students are given the chance to dive deeper into agroecology practices and witness examples of it taking place, creating an in-depth understanding of the topic. In the lab sections, students are divided into groups of ten students, and assigned to a farm for the semester. Students assist their farm with planting, weeding, harvesting, and other tasks in order to give back to their local community. Social justice is a primary focus in the class; and discussions center on agroecology’s commitment to communities as a movement, feminist agroecology, and indigenous land practices. The class also considers the complex ecological requirements for successful farms. Students in PSS 3120 learn about pest management, soil health practices, biodiversity, and even take soil samples on their farms.
Dr. Izzo’s advanced agroecology class offers a unique blend of social justice, ecology, and service-learning that benefits students, farms, and members of the Burlington community. This interdisciplinary approach to agriculture has always interested a number of Environmental Studies students; this semester approximately one-quarter of the class are ENVS majors.
The Environmental Studies program welcomes Vic and Victoria, and looks forward to on-going learning in the field of Agroecology. See the image gallery from Jericho Farm, one of the farms advanced agroecology students have taken to, including Victoria Leda: