On a cool, sunny day in early April, three University of Vermont Rubenstein School students, armed with a tape measure, compass, and clipboard, headed into a stand of pine, hemlock, and red maple trees. The woods are part of the 225-acre LaPlatte River Marsh Natural Area in Shelburne, Vermont. The students, all majoring in wildlife and fisheries biology, followed a flagged transect set up on a previous visit. 

“We used GIS to randomly generate 12 plots throughout the preserve, and each plot has five transects,” said Alissa Young ’18.

At regular intervals, the students stopped and reeled out the tape to measure a circular sub-plot. Within its perimeter, they scoured the dead leaves on the ground for deer pellets. 

“We’re counting the number of pellet groups – a group is a pile with ten or more pellets,” said Nick Tepper ’18. “A deer poops on average 25 times a day, so from the number of piles we record, we can extrapolate the number of deer in the whole park.” 

They identified understory vegetation, both native species and introduced invasives, and checked for deer browse. 

“We’ve got honeysuckle, glossy buckthorn, dogwood, and white ash that’s heavily browsed,” called out Tepper, the plant identification expert in the group. Young jotted down notes on the clipboard, and Blake Thomas ’18 oriented the trio onto the next checkpoint with the compass. 

The undergraduates conducted this service-learning project for the Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as part of NR 206 Environmental Problem Solving and Impact Assessment, a required, senior-year capstone course. The course, offered both fall and spring in the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, ties together four years of classroom learning and field training into real world, hands-on community projects with purpose.

“My goal is to get students to practice putting their skills, knowledge, and unique perspectives to work to create positive change in systems that they're a part of,” said Zac Ispa-Landa, lecturer in the Rubenstein School who has taught the course for seven years. “This class offers seniors an opportunity to transition from structured coursework to creative problem solving and active relationships with the larger community while engaging in critical reflection and analysis of the issues underlying their service learning projects.” 

Seventy-seven seniors in six majors took the course this spring. They worked on 20 projects for 18 different community partner organizations that benefited from this increased capacity to accomplish studies and projects. Partners included The Nature Conservancy, Sugarbush Resort, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, communities, local farms, and several other organizations, centers, and schools. 

“The community projects allow students to work with professionals in their fields to address authentic needs in the community,” said Ispa-Landa. “It raises the level of accountability, responsibility, and purpose far beyond what normally exists in the classroom.” 

Deer Density Dilemma

Six students in total collaborated on the project with The Nature Conservancy to problem-solve white-tailed deer density and browsing impacts on native and invasive plants on TNC’s conserved wetland. Possibly the most used of all TNC lands in Vermont, the LaPlatte preserve is open to public use on a mile-long trail and allows in-season bow hunting by permission. 

“As one of our preserves with the greatest proximity to development, it is important for us to understand the effects the deer population may be having on forest regeneration,” said Jenny Moffett, TNC field assistant and volunteer coordinator. “TNC would like to better understand the size and impact of the deer population at LaPlatte to inform the management of this natural area. We anticipate the students’ work will give us an accurate picture of how LaPlatte deer populations are affecting the balance of native and invasive flora.” 

During their semester-end presentation, the student team reported an estimated 33 deer per square mile or 11 deer on the 225 acres. They conjectured that the high incidence and success of invasive species they found, especially honeysuckle, could be related to excessive browsing of native plant species. They also described project challenges, such as this year’s late winter and spring snow cover, time management, and communication. 

“We all have a new appreciation for the work that goes into managing wildlife and natural areas,” said Young during the presentation. “This project opened our eyes to how hard it is.” 

Understanding Trail Use 

A separate group of four students conducted a trail-user impact assessment for TNC at both the LaPlatte preserve and at TNC’s Williams Woods Natural Area in Charlotte, Vermont, also heavily used for year-round recreation. The students used infrared trail counters installed at trailheads and on-site visitor surveys to answer TNC’s questions about trail use. 

“Before this project, we had no way of measuring public use to make informed decisions on how to best steward the trails,” said Jack Markoski ’14, TNC stewardship and volunteer coordinator and a Rubenstein School environmental studies graduate. “The data that the NR 206 students collect will provide us with a much better understanding of when, why, how, and how many members of the public enjoy our Williams Woods and LaPlatte River Marsh Natural Areas.” 

On presentation day, the student team reported a count of 463 visitors at LaPlatte, and somewhat fewer at Williams Woods, from late January to late April. Birding enthusiasts, by far, made up the largest visitor category, and they rated a bird blind as a favored future improvement for LaPlatte. Based on project successes, shortcomings, and findings, the student team gave TNC their recommendations for the natural areas and suggested improvements to the survey process. 

“It was an amazing opportunity to work so closely with members of the Vermont Chapter of TNC,” said Emily Bogan who majored in parks, recreation and tourism. “My team members and I were put into a professional setting where we acted as consultants instead of just students. Hearing what TNC had to say after our presentation assured us that we did a good job with our project and prepared us for other professional opportunities we might have in the future.”  

Getting to the Bottom of Bus Ridership 

In another recreation-based project, a student team of three chose to partner with Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont to get to the bottom of how to increase bus ridership in the Mad River Valley and identify barriers to bus use for ski and ride guests and resort staff. 

“We know taking public transportation has many environmental and social benefits,” said Margo Wade, director of planning and regulatory compliance at Sugarbush. “What we’d like to learn is what is keeping folks from riding the bus, what would make riding the bus easier, and if passengers are riding the bus for the environmental benefits or other reasons.” 

Students on this project ended up collaborating with multiple community partners. They gained exposure to operational aspects at Sugarbush and Green Mountain Transit and with Mad River Valley Planning District and the local transportation advisory committee. 

"One of our greatest challenges throughout the project was communicating among three students and four partners,” said Leah Goldberg who graduates with a degree in parks, recreation and tourism. “At first, we overcame this challenge by setting up conference calls, but once we got further into the busy semester we resorted to email. This was definitely tricky and overwhelming at times, but we managed to communicate everything we needed in order to be successful in the project." 

The undergraduate trio developed a survey they sent to Sugarbush passholders and local community members. They received more than 500 responses from an even split of bus riders and non-riders. 

Based on responses, the students discovered little demand for a bus route outside the Mad River Valley and that riders use the bus for convenience, not because of environmental concerns. The student group recommended that their community partners increase the number of bus stops within the Mad River Valley and create or enhance a mobile app with real-time bus tracking. 

“This was our community partners’ first time working with NR 206, so it was a learning experience on both ends,” said Goldberg.

Challenges, Collaboration and Creative Products 

Although the 18 student teams worked on widely different environmental assessment projects throughout the semester, groups reported similar conclusions related to collaboration and group dynamics. Students came out of the course with the realization that environmental and natural resource management is often as much about people and time management as it is about deer, hiking trails, and ski resorts. 

“I’ve taken several service-learning courses at UVM, and projects rarely go the way you expect. There are always challenges that come up in communicating and scheduling time with project experts,” said Adam Wechsler, an environmental studies major who partnered with the Community Sailing Center on Lake Champlain. 

Those lessons learned are nearly, but maybe not quite, as impressive as the semester-long project final products. Wechsler and teammate Samantha Seals, who majored in natural resources, crafted content for interpretive signs to explain the sustainability of the Center’s new green building and surrounding ecological footprint. 

“The text we came up with will be used on educational signage for the public and will contribute to the Sailing Center’s environmental and sustainability legacy,” said Seals.