News and Events | Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources | The University of Vermont(title)

Rigo Melgar standing at a mountainous lookout with the sunsetting behind him and a lake below

Planetary Health from the Ground Up: Co-creating a Wellbeing Economy in Vermont and Beyond
Walter Poleman giving a lecture at the front of a classroom with the COP16 logo on the screen behind his head

UVM's Walter Poleman to Join U.N. Biodiversity Conference
an image of vermont mountains at sunset with a globe icon superimposed over it

What is Planetary Health?

Marie Vea smiling during an event in the Davis Center. Vea is wearing glasses and a scarf.

Dr. Marie C. Vea Receives Award for Inclusive Excellence
researchers stand in the alpine zone collecting samples

Introducing UVM's First Presidential Doctoral Fellows

A group of people gathered outside on UVM campus at an event with multiple white tents in the background

Events

The Rubenstein School community hosts and participates in many in-person, virtual, and hybrid events throughout the year.

Rubenstein School Event Calendar

More News

09/23/2024

UVM Awarded $2.7M for National Climate Measurements Center of Excellence

Temperature, precipitation, wind speed—the U.S. government has plenty of ways to measure our climate. But how do we measure the impacts of climate on our communities, economies, and ecosystems? The new Climate Measurements Center of...

An overview of a college campus from above. Photo credit: Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab

09/20/2024

How to Love a Forest

Ethan Tapper '12, an alumnus of the Rubenstein School's forestry program and a current graduate student, released his book How to Love a Forest, earlier this month. In his book, Ethan asks readers what it means to live in a time when...

09/19/2024

A Man for All Seasons

On Friday September 13, 2024, the Rubenstein School hosted an intimate gathering at the George D. Aiken Center to honor Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, who passed away on January 6, 2024.   The gathering was a ceremonial unveiling of two stands of Paper birch trees that frame the first...

A plaque marking the memorial trees planted next to the Aiken Center in memory of Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne

09/12/2024

Saving "Bills": A Summer Spent with Loons

Rubenstein School students spend their summers in countless ways: some take courses, some conduct research, other travel, work, or simply relax and recharge between semesters. Not many students spend the summer living in almost complete solitude down a dirt road in a house with no service or...

Lauren sitting on a wooden railing holding a camp chair and wearing a green backpack. Lake, mountain, and forest in the background.

09/05/2024

A Warm Welcome from Peter

We’ve just completed the second week of classes here at UVM! We are so glad to have students, faculty, and staff back on campus, and I’m excited to get to know everyone as the semester continues.   As you may know, I’m new in this position—I started my work as dean in July...

Peter standing in the front of a classroom addressing students. Some of the students are sitting, others are standing against the wall.

08/20/2024

When the Ice is Gone: What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earth’s Tumultuous History and Perilous Future

In his new book, When the Ice is Gone: What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earth’s Tumultuous History and Perilous Future, Paul Bierman, geoscientist and Professor in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont (UVM), drills into the...

Paul Bierman in his lab

08/19/2024

The Captain and Crew of the R/V Marcelle Melosira

If you were to walk along the path at Waterfront Park on an August morning in Burlington, VT, you would no doubt see a flurry of early-rising exercisers, visitors enjoying coffee and crepes, and bike/scooter/rollerblade commuters on their way to work. But you might overlook the quiet bustle of...

Captain Taylor Resnick at the helm of the R/V Marcelle Melosira showing the boat controls to two students

07/25/2024

Burlington’s Riverside Avenue Faces Ongoing Landslide Risk: UVM Study

At least 20 times in the past 70 years, part of the hill by Burlington’s Riverside Avenue has tumbled into the Winooski River, according to new UVM research. With structures atop the unstable slope, it’s just a matter of time before the next landslide, with the potential for property and...

Trees are broken on a dirt hillside, with rocks and/or chunks of concrete mixed into the dirt

06/06/2024

Taking Flight

Two weeks ago, we concluded the Spring semester by celebrating the nearly 200 seniors who graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. We were thrilled to welcome back two-time alumna...

Allan Strong wearing regalia at the RSENR Graduation Celebration 2024

06/05/2024

Setting the Table: Alumna Dr. Rebecca Stanfield McCown Encourages Graduates to Build Diverse Support Networks

Alumna Dr. Rebecca Stanfield McCown MS ’06 and PhD ’11, returned to the University of Vermont (UVM) campus on May 19 to share advice with the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources graduating class of 2024 at UVM Commencement Weekend. Rebecca is a two-time alumna,...

Rebecca Stanield McCown standing at the podium at the 2024 Graduation Celebration

06/05/2024

Gone Fishin’: Ellen Marsden Retires after 26 Years with the Rubenstein School

Dr. J. Ellen Marsden, Professor of Fisheries Biology, retired from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont (UVM) in May 2024. She was celebrated for her countless contributions to UVM and the state of Vermont at a ceremony during the spring...

Ellen Marsden on the deck of a boat handling a fish

06/03/2024

Clare Ginger Retires After 30 Years of Leadership and Teaching in the Rubenstein School

Dr. Clare Ginger, Associate Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, received the distinction of Emerita from the University of Vermont (UVM) in May 2024. After 30 years of dedicated teaching and leadership in the Rubenstein...

A headshot of Clare Ginger

05/31/2024

Adrian Ivakhiv Retires, Leaving a Legacy of Interdisciplinary Scholarship

Dr. Adrian Ivakhiv, Professor of Environmental Thought and Culture in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and Fellow in the Gund Institute for Environment, retired from the University of Vermont (UVM) in May 2024. During his 21 years at UVM Adrian had a great impact on his...

A closeup picture of Adrian Ivakhiv

05/24/2024

UVM Researchers Help Shape First National Nature Assessment

Taylor Ricketts, Director of UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment, and Rachelle Gould, a professor in UVM’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, have been selected to serve as chapter author and chapter lead, respectively, for the first-ever U.S....

A flyer for the First National Nature Assessment, with the text "The Writing Begins"

05/20/2024

UVM Student Creates Roadmap For a Bee-Friendly Campus

Erin Camire ’24 picked up their diploma last week as a newly minted forestry graduate from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. They will leave behind a legacy that positions UVM to have more pollinator-friendly landscaping, a specific goal laid out in the university’s...

Erin Camire in front of UVM gardens.

05/19/2024

The F.T. Kidder Medal: Soham Mehta

The F.T. Kidder Medal is presented to the senior student who best exemplifies the qualities of character, leadership, and scholarship. It is named in honor of Fred T. Kidder, a graduate of the class of 1880 and the College of Medicine in 1883, who later served on the University of...

Portrait of Soham Mehta

05/16/2024

Saying Yes to Opportunities, at Home and Abroad

Cole ZuWallack ’24, a Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT) major, was travelling to Auckland, New Zealand for his semester abroad when the unthinkable happened: the pilot came over the loudspeaker and told the passengers that...

Cole on the side of a boat with water and mountains behind him.

05/15/2024

Senior Spotlights: Class of 2024

The entire Rubenstein School community is so proud of the Class of 2024. Over 150 seniors will earn their diplomas on Sunday May 19th, and while the journey hasn't been easy (this class started their first year in the fall of 2020, after all), these students have made the most of their...

A collage of the five students featured in this article. From left to right: Emma Wetsel, Parker Kimberly, Soham Mehta, Sara Sexton, and Val Kostelnik.

05/10/2024

Trusting the Process: How Gus Lunde '24 Leaned into his Passions for Biking and Birding to Design an Honors College Thesis

On April 30, a group of students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in the Aiken Center to watch Gus Lunde ’24 present his Honors College thesis seminar. Gus has been working toward this culminating event for nearly two years, and his thesis is the result of many early mornings of...

Gus performing a mountain bike jump in the forest.

04/25/2024

Introducing the Planetary Health Initiative

Consider your breath. In that inrush of air you bring oxygen to your lungs, keeping you alive. It’s the same air that covers the whole planet—oxygen produced by green life. The intricate interplay that we call the environment is not scenery; it’s the fundamental health care system. ...

aerial view of UVM campus, Lake Champlain, and the Adirondack Mountains beyond

04/24/2024

Community Building In and Out of the Classroom

Juliana Ward ’24, an Environmental Studies (ENVS) major and economics minor, is a member of the second to last cohort of students to earn their B.S. degrees in Environmental Studies from the Rubenstein School. The program migrated to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) in the fall of 2022....

Juliana posing on the roof of a building overlooking the city and mountains.

04/19/2024

Mieder, Rubenstein to Receive Honorary Degrees at UVM’s 2024 Commencement

At the 2024 University of Vermont Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 19, philanthropist Beverly Rubenstein and Wolfgang Mieder, UVM distinguished professor emeritus of German and Folklore, will receive honorary degrees. Mieder and Rubenstein embody the values of UVM’s Our Common...

Portraits of Wolgang Mieder and Beverly Rubenstein

04/17/2024

UVM PhD Students Lead International Team in Carbon Flux Research

Amelia (Mia) McReynolds is a third-year PhD student in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont (UVM). As an ecologist studying fish population dynamics in the Great Lakes, McReynolds didn’t imagine research abroad would be a part of her graduate...

Researchers taking zooplankton samples at the LakeLab

04/17/2024

Scientists Discover Forests That May Resist Climate Change

While it’s common knowledge that mountaintops are colder than the valleys below, a new University of Vermont (UVM) study is flipping the script on what we know about forests and climate. The study, published in Ecology...

An image of forested mountains with a white cloud through the valley between them

04/11/2024

Americans More Willing to Pay for Climate Action After Extreme Weather

People who personally experience extreme climate events, especially wildfires and hurricanes, are willing to pay significantly more for climate action, even if they report skepticism about human-caused climate change, finds new research from the University of Vermont. Trump voters who...

An image of a forest fire. There are green trees and orange flames.