News and Events

2021 Forest Health Monitoring Report released

2023-03-21

The complete report summarizing results of the 2021 forest health monitoring season has been released. The report includes a complete description of field monitoring methods and summaries of data across the regional monitoring network, which included CT, ME, RI, NH, VT, and MA in 2021.

The full report is available here.

FEMC Hires New Director - Alison Adams

2022-11-03

We are excited to announce the hire of our new Director, Alison Adams. Alison brings a wealth of experience in interdisciplinary environmental work, spanning disciplines from remote sensing and landscape modeling to ecosystem services and stakeholder engagement. Her work coordinating and translating research for both expert and lay audiences, along with her personal commitment to engaging diverse stakeholder groups make her an ideal leader to expand the reach and impact of the FEMC.

Alison leaves her current position as the Watershed Forestry Coordinator with Lake Champlain Sea Grant and UVM Extension. In this role, she established and developed the Watershed Forestry Partnership, a program that facilitates research, communication, and collaboration related to riparian forest restoration and management. In its inaugural year she grew this collaborative network to over 250 diverse partners representing a wide variety of nonprofits, state and federal agencies, watershed groups, and universities to perform outreach and knowledge sharing around riparian forest restoration in the Lake Champlain Basin.

Alison’s scholarship ranges from remote sensing and landscape modeling of forest cover change, forest fragmentation, and carbon storage to examinations of the ways in which environmental change affects individuals’ relationships with nature in terms of values like identity, heritage, and sense of place. She is currently completing her PhD in Natural Resources at UVM and is expected to graduate in 2023. Alison has also worked in environmental advocacy in Washington, DC, and in community outreach building recreational spaces in under-served communities. This preparation highlights how Alison is uniquely equipped to work and communicate across disciplines.

The FEMC is excited to have recruited Alison to this position and is looking forward to seeing her implement her vision for how the organization can expand its scope and impact. Her first objective is to learn from the FEMC collaborative network to understand how the FEMC can better meet its mission. Feel free to reach out to Alison in this new role and welcome her to the FEMC Community.

Jen Pontius – FEMC Principle Investigator

Tracking Shifts in Disturbance Regimes online tool now available.

2021-10-26

We are so excited to announce the release of another new tool: "Tracking Shifts in Disturbance Regimes." The tool focuses on four drivers of forest disturbance: Extreme Weather, Pest or Pathogen, Fire, and Drought. There is also information about some responses to disturbance: Stream Macroinvertebrates, Coldwater Fisheries, and Invasive Plants. You can explore the tool now at www.uvm.edu/femc/disturbance and register for a webinar that will be held on November 3 at 12pm. The webinar has been approved for 1.0 Category 1 SAF credit.