UVM Student Becomes Youngest-Ever Public Works Commissioner
Zoe Kennedy, Environmental Studies Major and Community of Practice Intern, gets around campus on her bike.
Zoë Kennedy has been advocating for a more sustainable transportation system in Burlington for the past year as an intern with Sustainable Transportation Vermont – a College of Arts & Sciences internship program.
Now, the Environmental Studies major will be at the table crafting policy decisions for Burlington.
In mid-June, the Burlington City Council unanimously appointed Kennedy to the Public Works Commission, the body that oversees the Department of Public Works and has regulatory power over Burlington’s streets, sewage, bike lanes, sidewalks and more. At 20, Zoë is the youngest-ever member of the commission, which is one of Burlington’s most powerful citizen oversight boards.
“I’m honored to join the PWC, and I’m ready to dive deep into the work and bring a fresh perspective to the Commission,” Kennedy said.
With transportation accounting for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in Burlington, Vermont, and the United States, Kennedy sees this role as an opportunity to confront the greatest challenge her generation faces: the climate crisis.
“Serious change is needed to ensure that anyone can get around Burlington safely and easily without having to own a car,” Kennedy said. “The climate crisis demands that we move more boldly, and much more quickly.”
Kennedy attended the June Public Works Commission meeting as a resident, urging the commissioners to support a proposal to add raised and separated bike lanes and a new bike signal along Colchester Ave. At their July 21 meeting, Kennedy will be sitting on the other side of the table, listening to the public and deliberating policy changes with her fellow commissioners.
Kennedy is an Environmental Studies Major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a history minor, who grew up in North Reading, Mass. Her work on sustainable transportation is part of the College of Arts and Sciences Community of Practice internship program that provides students with hands-on learning experiences. The program pairs students with professionals to build their skills and ensure a high impact learning experience.
Community of Practice students conduct research, write news stories, staff Vermont’s citizen legislators and produce books for Vermont writers.
“Students do real work that matters and learn by doing it,” said Sophia Trigg, the Experiential Learning Coordinator for the College of Arts & Sciences. “All the evidence shows that the more internships students have, the more they build the networks and skills they will need.”
In the last four years, internships in the College of Arts & Sciences at UVM have doubled from about 250 a year to more than 500. Core to that has been the Communities of Practice internships, Trigg said, which enrolled 114 students in the spring, including Zoe Kennedy. Who will now take what she has learned about sustainable transportation and put it to work as the City’s newest and youngest public works commissioner.
