Celebrating 50 Years of Environmental Research and Action

ENVIRONMENT | In the late 1960s, long-accepted views on the health of our environment were shaken to the core. Oil spills and clear cutting of forests were altering the environment on a global scale. Anti-nuclear protests reflected public discomfort with the dangers of nuclear waste. Rachel Carson’s urgent book, Silent Spring, focused attention on chemical pollutants in the environment and called out for a new approach to the ecological web of life.

UVM responded in 1972 by creating the Environmental Program. Led by the late Carl Reidel, the program aimed at creating a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to teaching about the environment that involved colleges and researchers across the university. In 1973, the School of Natural Resources was established. In 2003, the school became the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the first named and endowed academic unit at the university, following a generous gift from the late Steve ‘61 and Beverly Rubenstein. Today the school has over 1,100 undergraduates, 120 graduate students, and more than 6,000 alumni.

The program celebrated its 50th anniversary this spring with a ceremony on April 21 at Ira Allen Chapel, and the UVM Board of Trustees heard a broad-ranging presentation at its May meeting that opened with Environmental Program Director Brendan Fisher presenting an overview of the past half-century of accomplishments for the program, describing the growth in student interest, research, scholarship, and engagement.

“Fifty years ago, UVM leaned in to creating space for the study of the environment, one of the first universities in the country to do so,” Fisher said. “Its

Environmental Program started with four students and a vision. Today, over a quarter of UVM undergraduates are engaged in environmentally related majors and a large percentage of our research funding is related to environmental and sustainability research."

Elizabeth Palchak, director of the Office of Sustainability, capped off the presentation by reviewing UVM’s first Comprehensive Sustainability Plan. Palchak said the plan—anchored by a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030— has been enthusiastically received.

“Reaction to the plan has been overwhelmingly positive,” Palchak said. “We’ve heard from students, faculty, and alumni who are excited about the plan and especially proud that the university is declaring a commitment to carbon neutrality.”

Geography professor Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, who also serves as climatologist for the state of Vermont, shared details of how UVM students are helping town planners prepare for local climate change. Her upper-level service-learning geography seminar recently developed a naturalhazard mitigation plan for the town of Underhill.

Students from the Restoration Ecology and Community class spoke on the immersive learning taking place in UVM’s natural areas.

“More people visit the top of Mount Mansfield— one of UVM’s Natural Areas—every year than attend games at Patrick Gym,” Fisher said. “This is our classroom. This is our lab."