Rick Paradis is the former Director of the University of Vermont Natural Areas Center and Lecturer in the Environmental Program.  He taught courses in research methods, land conservation and stewardship, natural history, ecological restoration, conservation biology, and ecology.  As Director of the Natural Ares Center, Rick oversaw administration and management of the University's Natural Areas System and provided outreach services and professional development for those interested in the protection and management of natural areas and other conservation lands.  His research focused on the landscape histories and land conservation legacies of distinct mountain and arid ecosystems where he attempted to elucidate the relationship between ecology and culture and how this relationship has influenced both historical and contemporary conservation, stewardship, and restoration beliefs and practices.  His field instruction and research took place around the New England landscape, the American Southwest, and the Highlands of Scotland.

Rick was awarded a Leopold Fellowship through the National Endowment for the Humanities where he traveled to both the American Southwest and rural Wisconsin to study the words and works of Aldo Leopold.  His long-term interests in regional alpine ecology and conservation resulted in his appointment as president of the board of directors of the Waterman Fund whose mission is to conserve the alpine areas of northeastern North America.  He served on the town of Middlesex Conservation Commission and is on the board of directors of the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier, Vermont.