UVM Rubenstein School

09/03/2026

Where in the world were Rubenstein School faculty this summer?

Professor Jed Murdoch recently returned from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where he attended the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Conference of the Parties 17. The conference theme was Restoring Land, Restoring Hope.

The University of Vermont is now an accredited organization with observer status to the UNCCD. A whole crew of Rubensteiners got to catch up at the confernece. Pictured here is Myaga Lkhagvasuren, current Fulbright Scholar and former M.S. student of Jed's, Tom Offer-Westort, a current Ph.D. student working with Professor Helina Jolly, and the one and only Jed!

09/01/2026

Fall semester is underway here at UVM and we've welcomed a new class of first-years to the Rubenstein School! See your student? Say hi in the comments!

08/27/2026

The entire Rubenstein School faculty and staff gathered together today for our All-School Retreat! It was a delight to welcome folks back to campus and discuss what a great year it's going to be. We can't wait to welcome all our new and returning students to UVM!

08/24/2026

Internships and experiential learning are core elements of a Rubenstein School education, and provide excellent opportunities for students to utilize their skills and discover their passions.

Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy major Liz Moty '27 applied her experiences from her courses to her work as a field technician intern with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office over the summer.

She took the time out of her busy work schedule to answer some questions about her experience. Read her Q&A here: https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/news/student-qa-summer-internship-noaa

08/17/2026

Kim Coleman's lab has had a busy summer!

Photos 1-3: RSENR graduate student and member of Kim Coleman's lab Peyton Heisch, along with other students, set up information tables near trailheads in Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The students were gathering survey data from local mountain bikers in support of a larger project that seeks to understand the interconnections of mountain biking trails and rural communities. The opportunity to set up at the Rochester Ranger Station in Green Mountain National Forest was especially valuable thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.

Coleman lab Ph.D. student Reilly Becchina took the fourth photo on a field tour at the British Columbia Community Forest Conference in Vernon, BC.

Professor Coleman visited Vienna, Austria as part of Eramus+ program and took the fifth photo in Türkenschanzpark (Turkish Park) in Vienna.

08/13/2026

Where in the world is the PARC Listening Lab team this summer?

Rubenstein School Dean and Professor Peter Newman, Postdoctoral researcher Morgan Crump, and Ph.D. student JJ Daniell, a Ph.D. student recently traveled to Tatra National Park near Zakopane, Poland. Working alongside Tatra National Park staff, the team launched a new study to better understand visitor-use patterns and explore strategies for managing visitor capacity.

Tatra National Park welcomes more than 5.2 million visitors annually. The park’s goal is to protect its vital ecological resources while also preserving the quality of the visitor experience. Balancing public access with long-term conservation is challenging, and the data emerging from this collaboration will help inform future park planning and management decisions.

08/12/2026

Professor Bill Keeton's lab is having a great field season! They plunged into the 25th year re-measurement of Professor Keeton’s forest dynamics monitoring plots at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, VT. Second-year Ph.D. student Addie Colwell, Environmental Sciences alum Noah Moss '26, and Forestry Student Casey Seem '27 are working alongside Professor William Keeton.

08/10/2026

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wBqekypw6Mo

When you need gear, never fear! The Gear Library is here!

Whether it's rain gear, snowshoes, waders, neck gators, or anything in between, the Gear Library is here to make sure you have everything you need to make the most of outdoor experiential learning opportunities. Learn more at go.uvm.edu/gearlibrary.

The Gear Library always has your back! Whether it's rain gear, snow...

08/06/2026

It's been a busy summer down at the Rube Lab!

Ph.D. student Braden Whisler and his team became quite a crew of night owls. They completed five weeks of nocturnal field work sampling nearshore fish communities with an electrofishing boat.

Meanwhile, WFB 3610's teaching team are preparing for field classes this fall, particularly the snorkel survey. Who said summer work can't also be a blast?

08/04/2026

Alessia Noble was born in Sacramento, California, but has lived most of her life in Northern New Jersey. She is a rising senior at the University of Vermont studying Political Science and Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy. This summer, she is working with Forests, Parks, and Recreation in District 3 as a trail experience intern. With FPR, she is serving on two primary projects: creating environmental interpretation signage that narrates the history of the long-term Camels Hump research plots and doing trail work at various state parks. Last summer, Alessia interned with the Department of Environmental Conservation within the Solid Waste Management and Prevention Division, primarily doing outreach throughout the state. During the academic year, she works within the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources to improve indoor and outdoor lab accessibility practices. She feels lucky to combine her personal love of the outdoors with a professional goal of stewarding and conserving natural spaces for all to enjoy! In her free time, Alessia loves to swim in Lake Champlain, read, cook, scrapbook, and downhill ski (although she has torn both ACLs doing this, so maybe she should give cross-country a try). She is super stoked for the rest of the summer session with FPR!