featured-sustainability
UVM Online Course Explores Food and Social Justice in Oaxaca
The food of Oaxaca is as diverse as the region’s geography, ecosystems, languages, and people. The choices people make about food in this region—or anywhere—can also shed light on what’s happening politically, socially, and economically. UVM instructor Oliver Froehling, who has lived in Oaxaca since 1996, says what people eat represents a confluence of power, […]
Heather Kraemer Plants the Seed for a Farm-Based Brewery
Heather Kraemer is brewing beer with lemon balm and basil grown in her garden. In the future, she hopes to add fruit, perennials, and wild edibles to the mix. Ultimately, she plans to operate a farm-based brewery in Vermont’s Champlain Islands. Kraemer, who completed the UVM Farmer Training Program in 2018, moved from Alaska to […]
Oregon Consultant Charlotte Morrow Helps Cannabis Growers Become Energy Efficient
Charlotte Morrow was eager for more well-rounded conversations with indoor growers. Morrow is a project manager for Evergreen Consulting Group in Oregon, which focuses on light efficiency for utilities. When cannabis became legalized in the Pacific Northwest, local utilities found that indoor growers were using a significant energy load. In 2019, Morrow enrolled in the […]
Shaileen Swan Discovers the Joy and Healing of Farming
Shaileen Swan understands the healing power of farming. While she worked as a senior recreation therapist at a psychiatric facility in Syracuse, New York, Swan helped patients grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a small courtyard. The sense of community and pride that the garden instilled for patients was enough for Swan to realize she […]
Higher Ed Professionals Learn Best Practices in Sustainable Certification Program
Clean energy, waste reduction, and developing innovative practices for sustainability are more important than ever on college campuses. That’s why Lindsey Abernathy enrolled in the Campus Sustainability Leadership Professional Certificate, a five-day residential program at UVM where participants can find strategies for achieving sustainability goals on campus. Abernathy is the associate director of the Office […]
Farmer Training Certificate Program Inspires Student To Open Tortilleria
Brandon Chase’s personal and professional goals include living sustainably, spending time outdoors, and opening a tortilleria in Washington State. After living in Vermont for the past six months, the California native is looking to make big changes in his life as he plans to move to the San Juan Islands with his wife, Lila. Chase, […]
Seeing the Big Picture for Sustainable Food Systems Leadership
Molly Clark came to UVM to get a broader perspective on sustainable agriculture. The environmental studies graduate student from the University of Pennsylvania enrolled in UVM’s Breakthrough Leaders for Sustainable Food Systems Professional Certificate Program last summer for a high-level understanding of food, farms, and sustainability. Clark is an assistant field manager of Rushton Farm—owned […]
Farmer Training Student Taps into His Entrepreneurial Side
Sam O’Brien comes from a family of dairy farmers. His paternal great-grandparents ran a dairy farm in North Ferrisburg, and O’Brien grew up hearing stories about his father’s childhood on the family farm. O’Brien, 19, will follow in his great-grandparents’ agrarian footsteps and focus his career on vegetable farming. The Colchester resident is a student […]
UVM Alumna MJ Pickett Realizes Her Power in the Food System
MJ Pickett knows she can make a change. The UVM alumna, who graduated in 2010 with a degree in Natural Resources Management, grows vegetables and raises hogs with her husband at their farm in Gunnison, Colorado. Their farm, Calder Farm Ltd., produces pork, root crops, and cut flowers. The couple started their farm in 2016 […]
New Cannabis Plant Biology Program Focuses on Horticulture and Post-Harvest Best Practices
-Monique McHenry, PhD, program director for the UVM Certificate in Cannabis Plant Biology program Cannabis-based products, including hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD), are marketed as improving health, but few regulations exist to ensure product quality. Horticulture, extraction, and storage practices are critical to the quality of any cannabis product. That’s where the UVM Professional Certificate in Cannabis […]
