The University of Vermont is proud to announce the appointment of three distinguished individuals to institutes and offices under the Office of Research: Patricia “Tricia” Coates will serve as the Director of the newly established Institute for Rural Partnerships and will act as the Director of the Office of Engagement; Sara Helms Cahan, Ph.D. will serve as the Associate Vice President for Research; and Beverley Wemple, Ph.D. will serve as the new Director of UVM’s Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH).

Patricia “Tricia” Coates

Patricia “Tricia” Coates has been appointed as the Director of the newly established Institute for Rural Partnerships (IFRP), a new institute at UVM that will help rural communities thrive in the face of challenges brought about by climate change and population shifts. Coates will also serve as the Director of the Office of Engagement.

The IFRP is made possible by a $9.3 million award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, with leadership and support from retired Sen. Patrick Leahy.

Coates has served in leadership roles with Vermont’s Congressional delegation, including Sen. Patrick Leahy, as State Director for then-Congressman Peter Welch, and most recently as a director for the Welch Senate transition. She has been an advocate for educational and economic opportunity in each of her roles, including her years as Director of Governmental and External Relations for the Vermont State Colleges System.  She guided Lund, the statewide family services agency, to financial stability during the COVID pandemic as President and CEO. Tricia is a former high school history teacher and department chair. She has a B.A. in history from St. Michael’s College and an M.A.T. from Union College. She lives in Jericho with her family.

Sara Helms Cahan, Ph.D.

The Office of Research encompasses over a dozen core facilities and institutes and serves the more than 1200 full-time research faculty members who engage daily in the pursuit of meaningful and impactful research, scholarship, and creative works. In order to meet the needs of the ever-growing research enterprise at UVM, Sara Helms Cahan, Ph.D. has been appointed as the Associate Vice President for Research, a new position in the Office of Research.

“Discovering new knowledge is a core pillar of the University’s mission,” Cahan said. “I am excited to help to support excellence in research, scholarship, and creative expression by faculty and students all across our campus.”

Cahan holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Her research has focused on consequences of sociality on the evolution of individual, population, and species characteristics, using the tools of ecology, ethology, and genetics to understand how social life affects the evolution and dynamics of ant populations, primarily in the southwestern and southern US.

Beverley Wemple, Ph.D.

Beverley Wemple, Ph.D. has been appointed to the Council of Fellows (CoF) for the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH). As UVM’s representative on the CoF, Wemple will participate in governance of the cooperative institute and contribute to facilitating collaboration across CIROH members and partners, providing input to enhance CIROH’s programmatic initiatives, and enhancing regional coordination to elevate CIROH’s national impact.

This new initiative was made possible through the tireless efforts of retired Sen. Patrick Leahy with transformative support of up to $25 million over the next four years from the federal government. Headquartered at the University of Alabama Water Institute, CIROH consists of academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and government and industry partners across the United States and Canada.

“CIROH represents a key opportunity to improve our national capacity in forecasting water-related threats and inform adaptation planning,” Wemple said. “I am excited to represent UVM in this national research cooperative to facilitate cross-institutional water research, serve stakeholders, and amplify the valuable contributions of our talented group of UVM faculty, post-docs and students.”

CIROH will work closely with two federal organizations—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Center and the recently announced U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility—allowing for highly productive collaboration between CIROH’s cooperative members and other federal agency scientists in pursuit of supporting four broad themes: water resources prediction capabilities; community water resources modeling; hydroinformatics; and application of social, economic, and behavioral science to water resources prediction.

Wemple’s research is uniquely suited for CIROH’s initiatives, as she focuses on the dynamics of hydrologic, geomorphic, and biogeochemical processes in mountainous, forested landscapes, examining the influence of environmental change on geophysical processes.

“The knowledge, experience, connections, and leadership these individuals bring to their respective roles is unmatched,” Vice President for Research Kirk Dombrowski said. “As our research enterprise continues to grows at UVM, it’s vital that we continue our land-grant mission, as Vermont’s premier research institution, to engage and support students, citizens, communities both rural and urban, businesses, and innovators across the state and throughout the region. I am confident that Tricia, Sara, and Beverley will work tirelessly toward these goals.”