Jordan Rowell grew up in Essex, Vermont, just a few miles away from Lake Champlain. But it wasn’t until he took an introductory natural resources class at UVM taught by Chris Brooks and Walter Poleman that he realized he was practically a stranger to the lake.

“The course material was all oriented to Lake Champlain—not just the lake as the dominant feature in our landscape, but a place that’s central to our lives,” he said.

Now a junior majoring in natural resources in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Rowell has a much more intimate relationship with Lake Champlain. Last summer he paddled its length from Whitehall, N.Y. to Missisquoi Bay, a water journey of about 140 miles. During the two-week trip he stopped to interview people along the way to talk about the biggest challenges facing the basin, and "examine our relationship with natural resources in the face of a changing climate."

Friend and videographer Duane Peterson documented the journey and together they are using the footage to make a film “No Other Lake” which they plan on presenting later this spring in partnership with the Grand Isle County Natural Resource Conservation District, the fiscal sponsor for the project.

An experienced hiker and backpacker, Rowell is used to camping outdoors. But he had spent very little time in a kayak.

“I knew next to nothing about long-distance paddling,” he said. “I’d never even spent more than a few hours in a kayak. A good friend canoed about two-thirds of it in four days so I knew you could do it pretty quickly. My goal was to take my time and talk to people along way—basically embed myself with the sprit of the lake.”

Rowell began thinking seriously about the project in the fall of 2020 and he developed an internship proposal accepted by the Office of Fellowships, Opportunities & Undergraduate Research (FOUR). He also obtained funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and the John M. Bissell Foundation. Teaming up with the Grand Isle County Natural Resource Conservation District was essential in becoming eligible for this external funding.  

Fundraising was part of a long period of preparation which included scheduling conversations with citizens who live and work near the lake. The introductory interview for the film features environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben, filmed at the summit of Mount Mansfield.

“I must have cold-called 50 different people,” Rowell recalls. “Lots of emails never got responded to but others led to some conversations and introductions,” Rowell said. “Bill McKibben was like the third email down the chain. The next thing I know I’m hiking up Mt. Mansfield with him.”

McKibben‘s interview, recorded from the apogee of the Lake Champlain watershed, provides a thematic overview of the lake and the watershed from the point of view of an informed and incisive environmentalist.

Rowell’s subsequent voyage satisfied both his appetite for adventure and interest in film as a medium that creates new understanding through imagery. He embarked on the voyage with no agenda except to keep an open mind and open ears, listening to what others had to say about their personal connection to the lake

“I wanted to see what it looked like to have a better relationship with the place I call home,” Rowell said. “To do that I’m going out there and explore it and talk to other people who consider this place home.”

Rowell is offering a sneak preview of "No Other Lake" March 16 at the South Hero Land Trust and March 17 at the Green Mountain Club.