The term summer vacation often conjures up images of long summer days spent relaxing by a pool, lake or one of Vermont's many natural swimming holes. But for many UVM students, summer vacation is another opportunity to deepen skills and gain first-hand professional experience through research, internships and experiential learning programs.  

Read on to see how just some of our students are learning on the job and making an impact from wildlife refuges in the Southern U.S. to the editor’s desk of The Winooski News.  

Photo: Courtesy of Hannah Leddy

Building a Career in Conservation 

Hannah Leddy, a rising senior in the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources and Environment with a double major in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Forestry, was thrilled to receive an opportunity to apply her two areas of study to one prestigious fellowship this summer. The opportunity came through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)’s Directorate Resource Assistant Fellows Program, which provides undergraduate students with 11-week career-building opportunities throughout the U.S.  

Hannah’s work this summer allowed her to travel and gain hands-on experience in ecosystems very different from those found in the Green Mountain State. In addition to a week-long orientation at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia, she worked at St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Sibley, Mississippi and Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge in Vidalia, Louisiana. Both refuges have a goal of conserving wildlife through wildlife habitat management. 

"This summer I developed a protocol to manage for invasive tree species that have been occurring on these lands,” explained Hannah. “I really enjoyed working with USFWS employees and learning about their work and career paths. I also loved being in a new ecosystem, I saw so many new plant and animal species!” 

Upon completion of her fellowship, Leddy will have gained invaluable experience and the opportunity to build a conservation career path within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after graduation. 

Photo: Janet Franz

Autism Support for Immigrant Families

At a space called the “Family Room” in Burlington’s Old North End, Mimi Falcone, a second-year medical student at the Larner College of Medicine, sits with a group of New American parents whose children are on the autism spectrum. The mothers eat watermelon and share parenting tips while their children play tag, toss balls and make arts and crafts. The group gathers twice monthly to socialize and gain insights on themes such as wandering prevention, with support from social workers and volunteers.  

For her research project, Falcone surveys the parents about their stress related to taking care of their child with autism and is tracking the impact the peer support group is having on relieving stress. 

“Parents with neurodiverse children often are cast aside and forgotten. Many of these parents have limited English proficiency and minimal family nearby, so they feel isolation to an even larger degree,” said Falcone. “The hope is that this style of peer support group has a positive effect on the participants and their families by providing a sense of community and camaraderie with other parents and a connection to educators, healthcare professionals and advocates.” 

Falcone became interested in maternal and child health equity as an undergraduate at UVM studying biochemistry with a minor in nutrition and food science. Through her project, Falcone aims to show that peer support groups can help build healthy communities and improve health care outcomes for immigrant families.  

“I hope to be an ally, advocate and educator within immigrant and low resource communities. I see myself working to improve health and wellbeing at a population level just as much as with individuals in an exam room,” she said. Read more.

Photo: Courtesy of Dom Minadeo

Shining a Spotlight on Local News 

Dom Minadeo, a senior English major in the College of Arts and Sciences, thinks he may have found a calling. As part of the Community News Service, a program that trains students in reporting and journalism and pairs them with local news outlets in need of help, Minadeo has devoted his summer to interning as the deputy news editor at The Winooski News.  

“I love writing and I love stories,” he says. That’s what drew him to begin studying journalism this past spring, and his summer internship has proven to be an excellent match-up for his emerging talents. At the paper, the Essex, Vt., native is in charge of working with other student reporters to develop article ideas, and also does his fair share of editing and writing, including coverage of the recent, hotly contested Vermont primary election. 

Minadeo transferred to UVM from American University this past spring. Not long after his arrival, he learned about the Community News Service and quickly discovered a new passion —one he was able to funnel into a rewarding internship for the summer.  

“The most valuable thing I’ve learned working at The Winooski News is communication skills, like how to interact with people in the field and on the phone, and how to ask them hard-hitting questions to find out what’s really going on so I get the real story.”  

His new, hard-earned knowledge will serve him well going forward as he has already landed a fall internship with VTDigger, a prominent local organization devoted to investigative journalism on issues that affect Vermont. It’s a step up the career ladder that Minadeo is happy to take. “I have such enthusiasm for everything, including the challenges,” he says. “Even when it comes to figuring out how to solve problems, it’s not stressful — it’s exciting.” 

Photo: Bailey Beltramo

Lifting Up Women in Public Service

“I felt like she spoke to me,” said Alaura Rich ’22 upon meeting Vermont Lt. Governor Molly Gray in the fall of 2020. Gray had come to present to her undergraduate political science class at UVM centered around the 2020 presidential election. “She talked about her background in international human rights law and I realized we shared a lot of common interests. Everything about that class made me think ‘I want to work for her.’” 

The encounter led to an internship with Gray in the Lt. Governor’s Office earlier this year and sparked a passion for addressing the underrepresentation of women in government. It also opened doors to a summer internship on the campaign trail with Kitty Toll, a member of the UVM Board of Trustees and former Vermont State Legislator. Rich served as Toll’s communications assistant in her run for Molly Gray’s Lt. Governor seat, while Gray campaigned for Vermont’s open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although Toll and Gray lost in the recent Vermont primary elections, the experience reaffirmed Rich’s commitment to helping more women get elected to public office. 

A first-generation student from St. Johnsbury, Vt., Rich, now a graduate student in UVM’s Accelerated Master of Public Administration Program, was drawn to a career in public service after seeing the disproportionate hardships that women in her family have had to endure without adequate support systems. Also this summer, Rich has been advocating for reproductive liberty and supporting women in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade through an internship with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Read more.

Photo: Rachel Leslie

On the Hunt for Avian Malaria Parasites 

Matt Heilbronn’s summer goal: catch as many house sparrows as possible. A Microbiology major with minors in Wildlife Biology and Zoology, Heilbronn is fascinated by how emerging infectious diseases jump from animals to humans and other animals and the environmental and behavior factors that contribute to this phenomenon. 

This summer, with funding support from a UVM Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and Dedrick Summer Research Award, he’s studying how changes in land use have influenced the spillover of avian malaria parasites in the house sparrow. A typical day involves heading into the field with Ellen Martinsen, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Biology, to catch the wild birds, taking blood samples and other measurements, and bringing the samples back to the lab to test for malaria parasites and other bacteria they may be carrying. This fall, he'll conduct PCR testing to screen for the parasites and then perform DNA sequencing to identify the specific parasites and which avian species they may have come from. 

“The house sparrow is my lab rat,” explained Heilbronn. Because the house sparrow is a non-native bird, it provides a model for exploring bigger questions around how land use contributes to spillover of a vector-borne parasite, like malaria.  

“You can look at us as the house sparrow. Humans change the land – we build farms, cities, and because of that, we interact with new animals in new ways. The more we understand how emerging diseases are impacted by these factors, the more we can predict future outbreaks.” 

“He’s going to be a disease hunter,” said Martinsen. 

Photo: Courtesy of Olivia Szumski

Taking the Summer by Storm(water)

Olivia Szumski '24 usually spends summers in the water, teaching swimming lessons in her hometown of Ludlow, Mass. This summer, however, she’s been wading, happily, as part of the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Scholars Program at UVM. She is one of eight scholars in the program from the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and College of Arts and Sciences participating in a variety of professional development activities on the Vermont and New York sides of Lake Champlain this summer.  

Each scholar is participating in a paid internship related to their major and career interest. Szumski, who is pursuing a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering, couldn’t be happier. She spent the summer as an intern with the campus Salt Mitigation Task Force, taking samples of water and examining them in one of UVM’s state-of-the-art labs with members of her cohort. The work she’s doing this summer will lead to a deeper understanding of how to protect the lake and wildlife in our region. 

“My favorite part about my summer work with the Sea Grant was developing amazing relationships with countless mentors,” she said. “They all shared so much valuable information and life experience that will help guide me in future endeavors.”  

As part of the program, she visited the Green Mountain Compost and Materials Recovery Center in Williston, Vermont; the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center; and Burlington's green stormwater infrastructure sites and wastewater treatment plant. The students also toured Lake Champlain onboard the UVM research vessel and visited Lake George in New York. During the tours and trips, they met with experts who broadened their perspectives about career possibilities in environmental fields. Szumski will start the fall semester having built new friendships, career connections, and an expanded understanding of how her work will help the environment.  

Photo: Courtesy of Drew Bates

Drew Bates – Learning the Business from the Ground Up 

Drew Bates, a rising senior in the Grossman School of Business, spent the summer working as a member of the fulfillment team at Skida, a Burlington-based company that designs ski-inspired headwear and accessories. The internship was an ideal opportunity for Drew to apply skills learned through her dual concentration in business analytics and marketing. 

During this experience, she learned how to use ecommerce inventory applications such as Brightpearl, Shopify, and Shipstation. Important aspects of the job included inventory maintenance, fulfillment of wholesale and web orders, understanding product lead times, quality control, and tracking high demand products.  

“I love working for Skida because of the always interesting work environment it provides, with a supportive and kind network of staff who share a passion for the outdoors,” said Bates.The job also called for a lot of heavy lifting, which she says helped keep her in shape for the upcoming season competing with the UVM competitive climbing team. 

Even though Drew is a Teaching Assistant as well as the incoming president of the Grossman Student Advisory Committee, she will be continuing her job as a Skida fulfillment specialist this fall. 

Photo: Sara White

Looking for Answers in the Lab

Biology major Eamonn Heney is spending the summer conducting research with Dimitry Kremenstov, professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, whose lab focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms behind the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis. 

Working with immortalized cell lines, Heney introduces plasmids, which are genetic structures in a cell that can replicate independently of the chromosomes, into cells to make them express certain receptors or enzymes. The results are part of a study investigating how the gut microbiome – microorganisms in the intestinal tract - may pose a risk for multiple sclerosis and could change the course of the disease.  

Heney got involved in research as a first-year student, after reaching out to Krementsov to learn more about the lab; his work is now also contributing to his senior thesis project. One of his favorite aspects of his work in the lab is the fundamental process of scientific inquiry.  

“A lot of times in science classes, you'll be given an experiment, and you'll be given expected results,” says Heney. “Here, we have a question, and we see if we can find an answer to it.” 

This story was reported by Janet Franz, Alayna Howard, Su Reid-St. John, Geeda Searforce, John Turner, Sara White and Rachel Leslie.