Dr. Cheryl Morse has been selected for funding by the prestigious James M. Jeffords Fund grant Program for Policy Studies, for her project Who are the new Vermonters? Learning from Very Recent Migrants to Rural Vermont.

The James M. Jeffords Fund was established to support activities and projects that reflect one or more of the following areas of interest to Senator Jeffords: education, agriculture, environment, public works, and government. The grant program is intended to support efforts that advance public policy and policy studies in issues with clear immediate or future potential impact on Vermont. The review committee includes members of the Jeffords family and former staff.

“Dr. Morse is a leading rural geographer and expert on all things Vermont,” said Dr. Richard Watts, Director of the Center for Research on Vermont. “Given the demographic crisis the state faces and the challenges for our more rural areas, this project could not be more timely or important. We look forward to collaborating and supporting this important project.”

Dr. Morse is a social geographer who researches the production of place and everyday experience in rural contexts. She conducts research in the areas of working landscapes, rural migration and immobility, place and identity, Vermont’s social geography, and nature-culture theory.

Dr. Morse is a member of the Environmental Program Faculty, the Food Systems Graduate Program faculty, and the Center for Research on Vermont. Dr. Morse is a Sustainability Fellow and a Service Learning Fellow. She directs the Earth and Environment Scholars Program (part of the Liberal Arts Scholars Program) for the College of Arts and Sciences.