Program Details
The AX Fellowship is collaboration between UVM Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and coordinated by the Institute for Agroecology located on UVM’s main campus in Burlington, VT. Fellows will be matched with mentors engaged in various applied research and outreach projects including in pest management, vegetable/berry farming, fruit tree farming, ecological landscape design, environmental science, and sustainable cropping systems. Check out the following video that highlights an example from a past AX Fellowship project:
Program Goals
- Provide students with transdisciplinary experiential learning focused on developing adaptable research, leadership, and outreach skills
- Help prepare students for careers and graduate education in agroecology and extension
- Match students with UVM faculty and staff working within Vermont's multifaceted landscape
- Support and contribute to new and ongoing Extension outreach projects dedicated to UVM's Land Grant mission
While we are a largely white-led program in a predominantly white state, we work diligently to address topics of power and privilege in agroecology and extension. To do this, we collaborate with a broad and diverse network of researchers, farmers, organizational leaders, and academics. We invite them into the program to address complex contemporary issues through the lens of agroecology. In partnering with UVM Center for Cultural Pluralism, UVM Identity Centers and the Living Well Program, we further facilitate students’ connections with campus resources focused on wellbeing and belonging.
The AX Summer Research Fellowship is uniquely tailored for students looking to deepen their knowledge of sustainable agricultural approaches, developing transdisciplinary research and outreach skills, and engaging with extension in Vermont.
Check out AX featured on UVM Extension's TV program, 'Across the Fence'! Click here
Tiered Mentorship
The AX fellows will build on the sustainable leadership skills developed as a part of the Agroecology Enrichment and Leadership Program through their integration into the week-long AgroTek Summer Academy. Fellows will apply their learning through the mentoring by faculty, post-docs, and graduate students, as well as by being mentors to the middle/high school student participants in AgroTek. Check out more about AgroTek on UVM Extension's TV program, 'Across the Fence' Click here for that video!
Aspects of a sustainable leadership model that AX Fellows will apply in AgroTek include the following:
- The intentional overlap of AX Fellowship and AgroTek Summer Academy enables both programs to support and affect each other.
- In facilitating conversations during the academy week, AX Fellows will provide the AgroTek team with much-needed support.
- Mentors will build relationships by discussing share interests, challenges, educational trajectory, etc. with their mentees.
- AX Fellows will provide their teams with supportive ideas and foster a sense of direction as teams complete their work.