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October, 2022

Friends,

October is a busy month on college campuses and UVM is no different. The leaves turn, the academic metabolism turns up a notch, and the work of learning, educating, researching and serving continues. This month’s Office of Engagement newsletter features a story on UVM’s contribution to the science of fall foliage--the annual show that Mother Nature displays all across the Green Mountains. And there are green jobs to be had in these hills! Read about a new grant from the Henry Thoreau Foundation to support student skill development for the green economy. Some of those jobs are on farms practicing regenerative agriculture methods. Read about the role that Extension is playing to support Farm Field Days events in Franklin County.

Speaking of job opportunities, Vermont, like many other parts of the country are facing a shortage of occupational therapists. Read about a new grant that will be used to build new learning labs for our state’s next generation of occupational therapists. This month’s PACE corner shows how research at UVM is leading to new product development—in this case, making CBD, which has been used to treat epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases and many other disorders, more easily absorbed by the body. PACE is helping this new knowledge gain traction in the marketplace with professional certificate offerings.

Also read about UVM’s involvement in a regional I-Corps Hub that will support the training of faculty, staff, and students in the finer art of founding start-ups and new commercialization ventures. Past graduates of I-Corps trainings have gone on to found companies located here in Vermont.

In this month’s newsletter we also spotlight a new member of our faculty in the College of Education and Social Services who is a nationally recognized expert in inequity and bias in the classroom. Building a more welcoming and inclusive culture not only for our classrooms, but in our communities as well, exemplifies UVM’s Our Common Ground values.

We end this month’s newsletter with some exciting news about the housing project in the new downtown of South Burlington. This public-private partnership venture will help to ease the housing burdens of the region and provide some much needed housing opportunities for new members of our UVM community.

Chris Koliba, Ph.D.

Director, Office of Engagement

• The Science of Fall Foliage and Climate Change: UVM Expert

• First UVM Thoreau Grant Cohort Trains for Green Jobs

• Franklin County Farm to Host Field Day for Farmers

• University of Vermont Receives $5.75 Million to Build Occupational Therapy Labs

• Cannabis Research: Whey-Based Technology Improves CBD Absorption

• UVM joins National Science Foundation's interior northeast I-Corps Hub

• Challenging Inequity, Bias, and Classism in Education

• UVM Enters Joint Venture to Build Housing

The Science of Fall Foliage and Climate Change: UVM Expert

With leaf peeping season here, University of Vermont forest scientist William Keeton explains the science behind why trees explode into colors each fall, and where in North America to find the most vibrant colors. Besides dazzling the eyes, Keeton says fall foliage generates over a billion dollars for the U.S. economy—$800 million in Vermont alone. However, without action, climate change, drought and invasive species put this seasonal phenomenon at risk, he says.

First UVM Thoreau Grant Cohort Trains for Green Jobs

Twenty-five juniors comprise the first UVM cohort of the “UVM Fellowship in Restoration Ecologies and Cultures: Training Leaders for the Green Work Force” program funded by a $40,000 grant from the Henry David Thoreau Foundation. This fall the group is taking Amy Seidl’s Landscape Restoration and Leadership course. The academic experience will lead to internships with local partners including Vermont Audubon and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. The program provides a direct path that leads students from the classroom, to internships, to employment in the burgeoning green economy.

Franklin County Farm Hosts Field Day for Farmers

The University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program hosted the 2022 Fall Farm Meeting in collaboration with the Franklin Grand Isle Farmer's Watershed Association and Friends of Northern Lake Champlain on October 20. The meeting included project updates from the three host organizations along with discussions on corn harvesting, planting cover crops, grassland manure injection, precision sustainable agriculture and the state of soil health in Vermont.

UVM Receives $5.75 Million to Build Occupational Therapy Labs

The University of Vermont received a $5.75 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to build laboratories and renovate classroom space in preparation for the launch of a new occupational therapy doctoral degree program. Senator Patrick Leahy directed the funding to support UVM’s program through the FY22 Appropriations bill. “The demand for occupational therapists is growing exponentially as Vermont and the country’s demographics age.,” Sen. Leahy said. “UVM will now have state-of-the-art OT classrooms and laboratories that will put the school at the national forefront training Vermonters for this growing field.”

(PACE) UVM Cannabis Research Ties in with Professional Certifications

CBD, the naturally occurring, non-psychotropic cannabinoid of the hemp plant, doesn’t cause a high and is not addictive. It’s been used to treat epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases, mental health disorders, nausea, and inflammation and inhibit cancer cell growth. Dr. Mingruo Guo, a food science professor at the UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Dr. Kalev Freeman, a physician-scientist at the UVM Larner College of Medicine, are at the forefront of the development of new technology that they anticipate will make CBD six times more bioavailable, or easily absorbed by the body. PACE is helping this new knowledge gain traction in the marketplace with professional certificate offerings for dispensary personnel, growers, and quality control and compliance workers.

University of Vermont Joins National Science Foundation’s Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub

UVM is honored to be a partner in the newly awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hub: Interior Northeast Region (IN I-Corps). Founded by the NSF in 2011, I-Corps programming empowers researchers to combine their technical and scientific knowledge with an entrepreneurial mindset to develop new technologies and startups that benefit society. The I-Corps curriculum addresses the knowledge gap between the skills needed to develop an innovative technology in a lab and the skills needed to bring that technology to market.

Challenging Inequity, Bias, and Classism in Education

During her undergraduate years at Hampshire College, Dr. Brittany (Brit) M. Williams remembers when her first student affairs supervisors and mentors were University of Vermont Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) alumni. Since then, UVM has always piqued her interest. "Beyond my interpersonal connections, UVM HESA and The Vermont Connection have strong national and international reputations; graduates who are doing field-altering, meaningful work; and a strong commitment to equity and justice,” says Williams, who joins the program as an assistant professor this year. “Given education's shifting cultural and political landscape, I wanted to be in a program where those values . . . are embedded, embraced, and intentionally financially supported.”

UVM Enters Joint Venture to Build Housing

UVM recently announced a joint venture with local development firm Snyder-Braverman to create much-needed housing for UVM graduate students, faculty, and staff, to be located in the newly developed South Burlington City Center. The venture will create nearly 500 beds in 295 apartments, to be constructed in three phases. The first phase will yield about 170 beds in 100 units, with a target occupancy of summer 2024. “This initiative will increase access to housing within close reach of campus, primarily for students in our graduate and professional programs and for the talented employees we are attracting to UVM and the Greater Burlington area.”

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