All in environment
Hannah Fleming is an intern on the Sustainable Transportation Vermont (STVT) communications team, where she co-manages the Instagram account, @SustainableVT, among other tasks. She is a junior at the University of Vermont, studying environmental studies in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources with minors in political science and business administration. She is passionate about environmental change and sustainability policy.
In these times of uncertainty and mounting pressure in the wake of climate change, our desire for answers prompts us to look to experts for guidance. Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux is one of these experts. She has been a Professor of Geography at the University of Vermont since 1997. She also is an adjunct professor in Geology and is a Fellow in the Gund Institute for the Environment. Her research focuses on “hydroclimatic natural hazards and climate literacy as well as the use of remote sensing and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in the fields of spatial climate and land-surface processes” according to her profile page on the geography department’s website. She teaches GEOG 040: Weather, Climate, and Landscapes, a required introductory course for geography majors. I am taking this class this semester. Professor Dupigny-Giroux is also the Vermont State Climatologist.
Green Up Day 2022 falls on May 7th. There is less than a month to round up a group of friends, grab a trash bag, and choose a sidewalk or pathway you want to keep beautiful!
Cleaning up trash locally encourages walking. Walking is the most sustainable form of transportation because it only requires your own two feet. People want to walk more when they enjoy the spaces they travel in. Would you like to see piles of empty beer cans, old tires, and lost facemasks all along your journey? Pedestrians are more likely to choose the path that is cared for and vibrant.
Tune in for a conversation between Liam Johnson and Julia Lenz on using sustainable transportation systems in Burlington as a college student. Liam is a sophomore majoring in political science here at UVM, and is minoring in public policy analysis. Julia is a sophomore at UVM, and an intern with the Communities of Practice: Sustainable Transportation program at UVM.
The University of Vermont offers students the opportunity to participate in a mentored internship through one of their several Communities of Practice. Students that enroll in these programs build not just their resume, but their practical skills that they will use in a work setting after graduation. Once a student enrolls in one of the internships, they are paired up with an organization that they are interested in working with. As the name suggests, these internships are community-oriented, and all of the programs are focused on supporting local and state-wide organizations. The topics covered by the Communities of Practice include media, transportation, planning, legislation, sustainability, and public health.
The Energy & Transportation Planning Community of Practice will be led by a new faculty mentor starting in the Fall of 2022. Ravi Venkataraman will be stepping in for the current faculty mentor, Faith Ingulsrud. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Ravi about his new upcoming role.
Jon Copans, a Brattleboro native, has recently taken over as Executive Director at the Old Spokes Home in the North End. I sat down with him to chat about the new role and his passion for the bicycle.
Jon has always loved biking, and has been drawn to the sport forever. “Bikes are the thread that has run throughout my life,” he said. “[They are] incredibly elegant, simple, and efficient machines.” As he spoke, his eyes lit up with excitement. He continued on, speaking about the ways bikes connect people, and how people-centered, rather than car-centered, infrastructure is an incredibly important objective. “ A community where [people] are a priority is by definition, a more fun, more livable, more dynamic place to be,” he explained.
Net Zero Vermont is committed to providing paths to a carbon neutral future in the Green Mountain State. Their mission “is to encourage people to adopt a shared vision for a sustainable future, meaning to re-localize, re-direct, and leverage the necessary resources to build model sustainable towns and cities across Vermont and beyond.” Debra Sachs has a long history of sustainability work in the state and graduated from the University of Vermont twice with degrees in forestry and natural resource planning. Sachs is co-founder of the non-profit that is now Net Zero Vermont in the mid-90s as Community Climate Action.
I’m from a suburb in the South where I was able to drive everywhere. When moving a thousand miles to college, I had to consider transportation. I went car-free to reduce emissions and travel costs. Here’s how it went.
