Walter Poleman

Director, Field Naturalist Program

Senior Lecturer

Walter Poleman
Alma mater(s)
  • Ph.D., University of Vermont, 2010
  • M.S., University of Vermont, 1996
  • B.A., Cornell University, 1984

Area(s) of expertise

Landscape analysis, place-based education, land conservation, social-ecological systems science

BIO

Walter Poleman specializes in natural history, place-based landscape analysis, and education for sustainability. He teaches courses in natural history and human ecology, landscape inventory and assessment, and conservation science. Walter is the Field Naturalist Graduate Program director and an FN graduate himself. He teaches Fundamentals of Field Science in the fall and Landscape Inventory and Assessment in the spring, using the classic Field Naturalist "layer cake" approach to ecology.

He also serves as faculty advisor to the Sustainability Learning Community. Walter is the founding director the PLACE (Place-based Landscape Analysis & Community Engagement) Program, and co-coordinator of the Greater Burlington Sustainability Education Network.

He coordinates the Rubenstein School’s dual master’s degree program with Vermont Law & Graduate School and teaches ecology there each summer. His teaching awards include the President’s Distinguished Senior Lecturer Award, the Kroespsh-Maurice Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Outstanding Service-Learning Faculty Award.

Courses

  • Natural Resources
  • Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy

Bio

Walter Poleman specializes in natural history, place-based landscape analysis, and education for sustainability. He teaches courses in natural history and human ecology, landscape inventory and assessment, and conservation science. Walter is the Field Naturalist Graduate Program director and an FN graduate himself. He teaches Fundamentals of Field Science in the fall and Landscape Inventory and Assessment in the spring, using the classic Field Naturalist "layer cake" approach to ecology.

He also serves as faculty advisor to the Sustainability Learning Community. Walter is the founding director the PLACE (Place-based Landscape Analysis & Community Engagement) Program, and co-coordinator of the Greater Burlington Sustainability Education Network.

He coordinates the Rubenstein School’s dual master’s degree program with Vermont Law & Graduate School and teaches ecology there each summer. His teaching awards include the President’s Distinguished Senior Lecturer Award, the Kroespsh-Maurice Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Outstanding Service-Learning Faculty Award.

Courses

  • Natural Resources
  • Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy