Ecological Planning Laboratory

The Ecological Planning Laboratory helps communities tackle vital projects on their land,

offering long-term support in partnership with UVM Extension and the Field Naturalist graduate program, with an emphasis on social-ecological health at the watershed scale.

Sustaining momentum over years is often the greatest challenge of land-based projects, from starting a riparian tree nursery to coordinating multi-town climate resilience plans. The EPL offers a guiding hand throughout the project, connecting communities with funding to leverage UVM resources and expertise — faculty, graduate student consultants, and undergraduate interns. We can provide everything from project design to GIS technical assistance to hands in the dirt.

Ecological management can be contentious. Rather than trying to step in and resolve all conflict, the EPL uses the tension in these thorny issues to drive and deepen civil engagement, cultivating resilience for people and communities in Vermont's watersheds.

6-minute introduction to the EPL

What We're Working On

Fostering Flood Resilience
Body
farm buildings near a calm river

The Ecological Planning Laboratory finds its projects based on the needs of Vermont communities. After the devastating floods of July 2023 and 2024, we are focusing on flood resilience for the foreseeable future. Click through some current projects we're coordinating with the arrow at right.

Foiling Knotweed
Body
knotweed on a river bank

Three conservation commissions in the Mad River Valley — Waitsfield, Warren, and Fayston — are joining forces with UVM ecologists and student interns to better understand and stop the spread of erosion-causing Japanese knotweed, with an eye toward developing a statewide plan for effective control.

Meeting the Need for Trees
Body
oak seedlings

North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier is building a riparian nursery to serve floodplain and riverbank restoration along the Winooski River. The EPL will coordinate student internships and community engagement, provide technical support, and promote similar projects in other watersheds around the state.

Multi-Town Climate Planning
Body
map of the Otter Creek watershed

The EPL is working with the VT Department of Emergency Management and VT Bond Bank to explore viable ways for neighboring municipalities to pool resources and collaborate on watershed-level strategic plans for long-term climate resilience.

small group of people outdoors crouched over some sort of document

Partnerships

We work with local nonprofits, conservation commissions, town selectboards, and state agencies. Communities build resilience when they work together at all scales.
people at a conference, seated at round tables, talking

Engagement

In our partnerships, we strive to give voice to everyone involved, telling their stories through audio and video and reaching across political and social divisions.
someone crouched over soil and greenery, digging in it

Service Learning

Undergraduate and graduate students at UVM work with our partners on projects to benefit communities and jumpstart their own real-world learning.

Our Collaborators

Body

We look far afield for inspiring examples of community resilience. Our partners in New Zealand, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico have worked with us on models of watershed-scale planning.

Recent Events

Body

10/4/24 Marvin Seminar Series: Leveraging UVM's Resources to Empower Community-based Projects at the Watershed Scale

Watch the recording

Contact

Body

Questions? Email Hans Estrin, UVM Extension: hestrin@uvm.edu