In Honor of Erica E. Cummings
It is with great sadness that we write to let you know a beloved member of our team, Erica Cummings, passed away on Saturday, March 27, 2021. Erica was not only a colleague but a dear friend to our team and to those she worked with during her time at UVM. Erica joined the Northwest Crops and Soils (NWCS) Team in 2008 and immediately took on a leadership role in grain research and outreach. Under Heather’s leadership, she worked to develop and implement hundreds of research trials. She was proud of her work and was excited to share it with the farming community. Erica’s commitment went beyond just conducting the research, she was also a generous teacher and mentor, sharing the results of our work with farmers, scientists, students and other audiences interested in our projects. Erica was a pillar on our Team, and it was hard to see her leave for a new opportunity at the end of the grain season of 2018.
Of her greatest gifts to our Team was her commitment to grains quality. If it wasn’t for Erica, there would be no UVM Cereal Grain Testing Laboratory. In honor of Erica, the lab that she established will be dedicated in her name as the E. E. Cummings Crop Testing Laboratory at the University of Vermont. We intend to honor Erica’s passion for agriculture and commitment to farmers by continuing to offer our research and services, knowing that she will still be there watching over us all, and remembering her beautiful smile, kindness and willingness to pitch in. Thank you, Erica!!
In honor of Erica, we have created a web page called In Honor of Erica E. Cummings.
Remembering Jack Lazor
Among the many gifts Jack gave to us and the world was cultivation. Cultivation of plants and animals to provide nutritious foods. Cultivation of knowledge through his teaching at UVM and beyond. And, perhaps most importantly, cultivation of relationships – bringing together people throughout the food system to find a common path to sustainability. Jack’s work to help found the Northern Grain Growers Association is an example of this cultivation. Bringing together not only farmers but bakers, millers, and buyers that he met through his business and travels – all with the common goal of feeding people healthy foods while healing the earth.
Through the Northern Grain Growers Association, there is a donation opportunity to the Northern Flint Corn Consortium in honor of Jack.
Click here to learn about donating to the Northern Flint Corn Consortium in honor of Jack. The primary goal of the Northern Flint Corn Consortium is to help increase food production among Indigenous people and to help them find ways to sustain it. Education of students, participatory learning with the public, new connections, and new seeds for those who desire them.