Gund Institute Podcasts

Growing variability in the natural environment is anticipated to increase the burden of infectious diseases, including diarrheal diseases, worldwide. The implications of this complex web of factors contributing to diarrheal disease are particularly concerning for the highest-risk populations, such as those living in refugee camps. As climate change and deforestation threaten to disrupt ecosystems globally, and as the burden of refugees continues to grow, a better and more comprehensive understanding of the association between the environment and diarrheal disease in complex humanitarian crises is necessary. This talk will give an overview of the nexus dynamics surrounding human health at the intersection of the environment and complex humanitarian crises with a particular focus on Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Kelsey Gleason is an Assistant Professor in the Larner College of Medicine, though will be transitioning to a new role as an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Department of Biomedical and Health Sciences in the fall. Her work focuses on the intersection of human health and the environment in complex humanitarian settings. An environmental epidemiologist by training, much of Kelsey's work has focused on disaster risk reduction efforts, particularly related to climate change, in low- and middle-income countries. She has conducted research all over the world, though her travel has slowed down a bit due to the pandemic and two pandemic babies who have kept me closer to their home in Moretown, Vermont. Gleason spoke at UVM on April 29th, 2022. Read more about Gleason: https://www.uvm.edu/publichealth/faculty/kelsey-gleason/ Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Elizabeth Palchak leads the Office of Sustainability, connecting academics, research, operations, and engagement to amplify UVM's impact and contributions to sustainable solutions. Elizabeth earned her BA from The College of Wooster and her Ph.D. from the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, with a focus on social science and the clean energy transition. Prior to her work in the Office of Sustainability, Elizabeth was a Senior Energy Consultant with VEIC, a sustainable energy company based in Vermont. At VEIC, she worked on sustainable energy projects throughout the country for municipalities, utilities, and universities, highlighting the human perspective in program and policy development. She is an active contributor to the Energy Equity Project, a national effort to address energy justice. Palchak spoke at UVM on April 22nd, 2022. Read more about Elizabeth: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/profiles/elizabeth-palchak Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

What value can the study of classical literature, history, and philosophy contribute to the modern world's ecological and economic challenges? Are older ways of thinking and living worth our time to consider, or reconsider? Are they viable modes of engagement with the world today? Mark thinks so, and his talk – a /précis/ of my latest book – aims to explain how and why. Mark Usher is a Lyman-Roberts Professor of Classical Languages and Literature and a faculty member in the Department of Geography and Geosciences, The Environmental Program, and the Food Systems Graduate Program. In addition to his day job at UVM, Usher and his wife built and operate Works & Days Farm in Shoreham, where they raise sheep, and Scottish Highland cattle, manage a sugarbush and dote on two lovely donkeys. Usher spoke at UVM on April 15th, 2022. Read more about Mark: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/geography/profiles/m-d-usher Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

In this talk, Jennifer Lai will discuss how the Social Construction of Nature complicates the discourse surrounding environmental factors in type 2 diabetes science. When discussed in relation to type 2 diabetes, health scholars and practitioners describe environmental factors as factors that are “not genetic” or as elements of a “kitchen sink,” i.e., myriad social and material infrastructures that prevent access to nearly all aspects of healthy living. Jennifer draws from feminist science and decolonial studies to argue that while our definitions of environmental factors matter, the impact of such definitions on the actual prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes should be further scrutinized. While scholars develop the concept of environmental factors in order to advance medical discourse, who is responsible for the amelioration of environmental factors is far less clear. Jennifer Lai is the Andrew Harris Fellow in the Department of Sociology, Health and Society Program, and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Program at the University of Vermont. Drawing from feminist science and decolonial studies, she investigates how knowledge is produced on “the environment” within type 2 diabetes science. Jennifer received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Michigan State University in 2021 and currently teaches courses on intersectional health and the American healthcare system. Lai spoke at UVM on March 25th, 2022. Read more about Jennifer: https://www.uvm.edu/news/cas/new-sociology-faculty-member-focuses-social-justice Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

The Vermont Climate Assessment (VCA) examines current trends and impacts of climate change within our state. This talk will highlight VCA findings on the effects of global change on Vermont's people, economy, and environment. VCA thoroughly examines the effects of climate change in Vermont and is a key input into climate planning actions. Gillian L. Galford is a Research Associate Professor in the Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources and a Fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont. She serves as Coordinator of the Geospatial Technologies program. As an ecosystem ecologist and earth system scientist, Gillian studies land-cover and land-use change and its impacts, particularly on greenhouse gas emissions and the water cycle. She works across scales, from plot level studies on farms to regional analyses through remote sensing and ecosystems modeling. In Vermont, her work focuses on resilience in the face of climate change and variability. Gillian leads the Vermont Climate Assessment and collaborates with state and national-level sustained assessments. She holds a B.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences and a Ph.D. from Brown University. Gillian spoke at UVM on March 18th, 2022. Read more about Gillian: https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/profiles/gillian_galford Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

In 2017 a small group of Vermont organic farmers met to decide the next steps after years of failed attempts to reform the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP).  The very foundations of organic were threatened as industry joined and then overwhelmed the NOP. Deciding that it couldn't go on, the farmers began the Real Organic Project. This quickly became a national movement that attracted many of the pioneers of the American organic movement.  Dave will describe the failures that drove the farmers to this action and what progress has been made. Currently, there are over 850 farms across the country certified by the Real Organic Project, which is recognized internationally as the authentic voice of the organic movement in the US. Dave Chapman is a lifelong organic farmer. He runs Long Wind Farm in East Thetford, Vermont. He is a co-founder of the Vermont Organic Farmers and was among those initially certified by the USDA's National Organic Program. He is co-founder, co-director, and Board Chair of the Real Organic Project. He serves on the Policy Committee of the Organic Farmers Association. He has worked for years as an advocate for reform of the USDA. He has helped to organize 17 rallies across the country to protect organic. Now he works to bring together the organic movement and regain the lost integrity of the organic brand. He has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR's Morning Edition, The New Yorker, BBC World, and many other media outlets. Dave has interviewed many farmers, authors, chefs, activists, politicians, journalists, scientists, and eaters for the Real Organic Podcast. Excerpts of these interviews have appeared in the Real Organic Symposia. Chapman spoke with UVM on February 18th, 2022. Read more about Dave: https://www.realorganicproject.org/board-members/executive-board/executive-board-dave-chapman/ The Real Organic Project: https://www.realorganicproject.org/ The Real Organic Podcast: https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-podcast/ The Real Organic Symposium: https://www.realorganicsymposium.org/ Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Compost is a controlled aerobic biological process that follows a trajectory of ecological succession and offers ecosystem services beyond fertility and carbon sequestration. As a living entity, compost is a substrate to disseminate consortia of microbes to soil that can promote plant growth by tipping the balance between pathogens and natural antagonists. Not all composts are created equal. Both recipe and compost process are manageable factors that affect the community ecology and can make the difference between reducing or exacerbating disease. Development of consistent products with disease suppressive properties demands a better understanding of ecology and mechanisms, so we get the right players and mechanisms. With a better understanding, we can learn the pivotal points where compost can be managed to enhance disease suppressiveness. Deborah (“Deb”) Neher, Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont. She is a soil ecologist, and her recent research focuses on biological communities in compost and their role in disease suppression by natural mechanisms. Dr. Neher has 30+ years of experience as a researcher, educator, and graduate student mentor. She has published more than 95 peer-reviewed articles and 24 book chapters on biological indicators of soil, ecotoxicology, and biotechnology risk assessment, climate change and soil biological crusts, and plant pathology and sustainable agriculture. Prior to the University of Vermont, she held faculty positions at the University of Toledo and North Carolina State University. Deb spoke with UVM on February 4th, 2022. Read more about Deb: https://www.uvm.edu/cals/pss/profiles/professor-deborah-neher Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Listen in as Gus Speth speaks about insights from his book, _They Knew_. As early as the Carter Administration, in which Speth served, experts in and out of government argued for climate action, urgings well-covered in the media at the time. Six administrations followed, with next to nothing being done to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and much being done to sustain them. There are lessons to be learned for the future, especially one big lesson. Gus Speth: In 2009, he completed his decade-long tenure as Dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.  From 1993 to 1999, Gus Speth was Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the U.N. Development Group.  Prior to his service at the U.N., he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute; professor of law at Georgetown University; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality (Carter Administration); and senior attorney and cofounder of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Among his awards are the National Wildlife Federation's Resources Defense Award, the Natural Resources Council of America's Barbara Swain Award of Honor, a 1997 Special Recognition Award from the Society for International Development, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Environmental Law Institute and the League of Conservation Voters, the Blue Planet Prize, the Thomas Berry Great Work Award of the Environmental Consortium of Colleges and Universities, and the Thomas Berry Award of the Forum on Religion and Ecology. Speth spoke with UVM on January 28th, 2022. Read more about Gus: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/profiles/gus-speth Learn more about the Gund Institute: www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Speakers: Eric Bishop-von Wettberg (he/him), Travis Reynolds (he/him), and Dan Tobin (he/him) We are launching the Consortium on Crop Genetic Heritage, a group of researchers and practitioners who view the maintenance and promotion of crop diversity as critical to building resilient agricultural systems positioned to address climate change, increase access to culturally meaningful crops, and promote empowerment and self-determination. Through our work, we conduct basic and applied research, collaborate with domestic and international partners, build networks and capacity, facilitate convenings, offer training, train students, and publish report and peer-reviewed publications. We value diversity, equity, inclusion, participatory processes, community engagement, and action-oriented scholarship based on the principle that crop diversity must be viewed and supported as a public good. Our partners include non-profit organizations, farmer collectives, BIPOC communities, smallholder farmers, international research institutions, and seed libraries, among others. Eric Eric von Wettberg is a Gund fellow, an associate professor of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont, director of UVM's Graduate Program in Food Systems, and a member of UVM's Consortium for Crop Genetic Heritage. As a conservation geneticist working to preserve the genetic diversity of legume crops, his research uses a combination of laboratory, greenhouse, and field approaches. Working in the legacy of the great crop geneticist, Nikolai Vavilov, many of Eric's recent projects have supported international crop genebanks by exploring and adding to the genetic diversity held in their collections. Travis Travis Reynolds is a Gund fellow and an assistant professor in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics at the University of Vermont. Dr. Reynolds' has studied the relationships between farm management, economic development, and ecosystem services – with an emphasis on poverty alleviation – for the past ten years. His work has been published in top interdisciplinary and agricultural development journals including World Development, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Food Security. Dan Daniel Tobin is a rural sociologist who is an assistant professor in Community Development and Applied Economics, a Gund Fellow, and graduate faculty in Food Systems. His research focuses on how small- and medium-scale farmers respond to external influences like market forces, policy mechanisms, and environmental changes. Particular interests include sociology of agriculture, development sociology, the political economy of agricultural development, crop diversity conservation, and seed systems. Eric, Travis, and Dan spoke at UVM on December 10th, 2021. Read more about their work: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/calsfac/190 Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​​​​

Although agroecosystems now dominate the terrestrial world, we have a limited understanding of how their origin and culture shape agrobiodiversity and its functioning. By studying these processes in Mexico, a major center of crop origin, we have been focused on understanding how people shape agrobiodiversity and the implications for sustainable agriculture. Since seed systems structure how people acquire seeds, changes in social context influence evolutionary processes within agroecosystems. Since the middle of the 20th century, major changes have occurred that have effectively limited farmer selection for locally-adapted crops. We propose that smallholder farmers play a central but underappreciated role in the management of eco-evolutionary processes in agroecosystems, which form the basis for sustainable agriculture under changing climates. Yolanda grew up in Illinois and New Jersey, where she developed a concern about human impacts on the natural world. As an undergraduate student, she majored in Natural Resource Management at Cook College, which was the Agricultural and Environmental School of Rutgers University. She helped start the two-acre Cook College Student Organic Farm, where she co-managed a group of student volunteers. After realizing that she was particularly interested in agroecology and insect-plant interactions, she did a Ph. D. in insect ecology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. After her Ph. D., she switched fields and did a postdoc in population genetics. In order to understand the role of science in sustainable development, she ran a research lab studying host plant resistance at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines for four years. She returned to the US to start a position at the University of Vermont, where she has held the position of Associate Professor since 2015. Chen spoke at UVM on December 3rd, 2021. Read more about Yolanda: https://www.uvm.edu/cals/pss/profiles/associate-professor-yolanda-fanslow-chen Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​​​​

During this presentation, Dr. Zent will offer an overview of several learning experiences acquired over 20 years of conducting research in the Amazon region. The challenges of articulating scientific and Indigenous peoples' epistemologies and ontologies have proven to be a complex and winding journey, filled with many trials and errors, but also insights and privileges. This trek between different worlds of understanding and being on the earth has allowed us to present a synthesis of teachings which, though not definitive in any sense, may have the potential to contribute to the development of more integrated (and hopefully effective) biocultural conservation strategies. Eglee Zent is a current MacMillan Visiting Scholar at the Gund Institute at UVM. She is a Venezuelan scholar with expertise in Indigenous knowledge and biological and cultural conservation. Her eclectic academic background includes anthropology, conservation biology, botany, and art. Since 2000, she has worked at the Human Ecology Lab at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research. Her lab has conducted applied and theoretical research in two tropical ecological systems in Venezuela: the páramos of the high Andes among the Parameros, and lowland Amazonia among the Jotï, an Amerindian group. These projects are collaborative and participative and have been carried out emphasizing the collective construction of knowledge and the needs of the people involved like their human, health, and territorial rights. Zent's work is transdisciplinary, with diverse epistemologies, drawing in material and ideological, quantitative and qualitative aspects. Her academic interests could be labelled as human ecology or ethnoecology/ethnobiology. An author of over 70 published texts, Zent is committed to the care and love of the Earth, human and non-human processes and dynamics. Zent spoke at UVM on Oct. 1st, 2021. Read more about Eglee: https://globalenvironments.org/profile/eglee-zent/ Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​​​​

What is changing, and what needs to change as sciences grapple with the increasing urgency of the moment?  Tewksbury will provide individual, institutional, and international perspectives on these questions, taken from the last 15 years of working around the world to support science organizations – universities, NGOs, funders, networks, and research institutes – to increase their reach, relevance, and impact on the major sustainability challenges we face today.  The talk will explore notions of strategic science, engaged science, and science in service, as well the  importance of both knowing your lane, and taking risks, to push science and action forward. Josh Tewksbury, the Ira Rubinoff Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, has worked in three continents to build more durable connections between research and decision communities. Josh will speak about the urgent need for engaged science, the critical force that science must play in the next 20 years, the importance of international science collaborations, and the connections between biodiversity, climate, and development. Read Josh's full bio: https://futureearth.org/contacts/josh-tewksbury/ Tewksbury spoke with the Gund Institute over Zoom on November 12th, 2021. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Interest in payments for ecosystem services (PES) has exploded over the past two decades around the globe, from China and Australia to Peru and Vermont. The lecture explores the ascent of PES, where it has worked, where it hasn't worked, and what we should expect going forward. James Salzman is one of the world's leading authorities on PES and has worked with governments worldwide to design their programs. James (Jim) Salzman is the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at the UCLA School of Law and the Bren School of the Environment at UC Santa Barbara. An international expert on environmental policy, he frequently appears as a media commentator and has lectured on every continent. In a dozen books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, his broad-ranging scholarship has addressed topics ranging from water to wildlife, from climate change to creating markets for ecosystems. There have been over 100,000 downloads of his articles. Read Salzman's full bio: https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/james-salzman Salzman spoke at UVM's Farrell Hall on November 5th, 2021. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Cheryl Pinto, Global Head of Values Led Sourcing for Ben & Jerry's, sits down with Alissa White, Gund Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Regenerative Agriculture, for an open conversation on a variety of topics spanning the opportunities and challenges of driving positive social impact while working with farmers at origin, all the way through the value chain to bakers and candy-makers. This fire-side chat conversation incorporates engagement and questions from the audience. Pinto spoke at UVM's Farrell Hall on October 29th, 2021. Read more about Cheryl Pinto: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/profiles/cheryl-pinto Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​​​​

Cheryl Morse reports on findings from a study titled “Who are the New Vermonters?” The research emerged from conversations with rural geographers across the Global North who began to see new in-migration streams to the countryside at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. This moment of new in-migration to Vermont, and other rural places, provides us an opportunity to learn what newcomers expect of rural places, and therefore to anticipate their impacts on social, cultural, and physical landscapes. Initial findings suggest Vermont may be experiencing a first wave of migration motivated by multiple forms of environmental displacement, and lessons we are learning now could inform efforts to prepare for future newcomers. Cheryl Morse is Associate Professor of Geography, co-director of the Environmental Program, a Gund Institute affiliate, and a Food Systems Graduate Faculty member at the University of Vermont. She is a rural geographer who researches human-environment interactions. Broadly, her work is concerned with how people perceive, co-produce and experience rural places. Away from UVM, she spends as much time as possible outside at home in Underhill, Vermont, serves on the board of the Vermont Land Trust, and is involved with youth lacrosse. Read Morse's full bio: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/geography/profiles/cheryl-morse Morse spoke at UVM's Farrell Hall on October 15th, 2021. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​​​​

Molly Brown is a NASA scientist and Gund affiliate from the University of Maryland. She speaks on “Better Scientist-Stakeholder Relationships for Greater Research Impact” at the University of Vermont. Brown explains how NASA uses quantitative data to measure the effectiveness of various research programs. The talk emphasizes using quantitative data over qualitative data to determine program funding. Brown spoke at UVM's Farrell Hall on September 24th, 2021. Read more about Molly: https://geog.umd.edu/facultyprofile/brown/molly Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​​​​

Rock Beckford, UVM's Extension leader, speaks on “The History and Future of The Land Grant University” at the Gund Institute. Beckford outlines how UVM research and extension programs affect Vermont farmers, decision-makers, and communities. Read more about Roy: https://www.uvm.edu/news/story/fitzroy-beckford-named-director-uvm-extension Beckford spoke at UVM's Farrell Hall on September 17th, 2021. The hybrid event kicked off the first in-person GundxChange for the Fall 2021 semester. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events ​

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is a leader in integrating biodiversity conservation with global development priorities such as improving health, strengthening food security, promoting inclusive economic growth, and mitigating and adapting to climate change. In this presentation, Anila Jacob discusses her experiences working with USAID on activities that integrate biodiversity conservation with development sectors such as food security, global health, and climate change adaptation. In particular, Anila highlights how USAID activities like Measuring Impact (MI), Biodiversity Results and Integrated Development Gains Enhanced (BRIDGE) and Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) support the operationalization of biodiversity conservation integration including strategic and technical approaches, challenges to integration, and successes. Anila Jacob is the Food Security and Global Health Specialist for USAID's Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) activity, which supports the implementation of the Agency's Environmental and Natural Resource Framework and promotes biodiversity conservation integration in USAID programming. Anila has worked with USAID for the last decade where her focus has been on conducting research on linkages between biodiversity conservation and human well-being. She is also a practicing internal medicine physician with a MD from Penn State. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​​​​ Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​​​​

Learning from personal mistakes and mistakes of others to create new cultures and systems, moving from theory to practice in the world of community development. Exploring the intersections of applying nature's natural systems to issues that affect oppressed African American communities in DC. In this talk, Xavier Brown highlights and analyzes three initiatives: Soilful, SouthEats & Black Dirt Farm Collective and discusses how these practices are used in different ways. Xavier Brown is a member of the Black Dirt Farm Collective, Founder of Soilful and Co-founder of SouthEats. Alumni of RobertWood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leaders and Alumni of the UVM Masters in Leadership for Sustainability Program. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​​​​ Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​​​​

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) leads equity-centered, transformative community-driven climate solutions and sustainability projects in the US, India, China, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. As the first African-American woman to lead a US-based international climate organization, president and CEO Deeohn Ferris is changing the landscape in a white male-led field. In this GundxChange talk, Ferris discusses equitable environmental, economic, social and health solutions in response to climate change driven natural disasters disproportionately affecting the prosperity and resiliency of low income and communities of color. To learn what's possible, visit www.sustain.org. Deeohn Ferris, President at ISC, is an environmental lawyer, racial and social justice practitioner, and systems change thought leader. She began her career at US EPA and became the first Director of Special Litigation in the enforcement office. As CEO of the Sustainable Community Development Group, she promoted equity, health, land use, and community resiliency best practices. Prior to ISC, Deeohn was the VP for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the National Audubon Society, where she prompted organizational changes to broaden opportunities for people of color, women, youth, people with different abilities and of different cultures. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​​​​​ Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​​​​

Christian Cooper. George Floyd. John Muir. Systemic racism. Cancel Culture. In this moment of racial reckoning, how do we call ourselves out in order to call ourselves in? What does "keeping it real" look like in this moment? Our loftier ideals won't matter if we don't deal with the truth on the ground. No matter how rigorous we are in our articulation of diversity and sustainability, our good intentions don't necessarily translate into real change if we haven't dealt with the underlying issues. We need to go beyond what is academically sanctioned. What does total transformation demand? Are we ready? Carolyn Finney, PhD is a storyteller, author and a cultural geographer. She is deeply interested in issues related to identity, difference, creativity, and resilience. Carolyn is grounded in both artistic and intellectual ways of knowing - she pursued an acting career for eleven years, but five years of backpacking trips through Africa and Asia, and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Motivated by these experiences, Carolyn returned to school after a 15-year absence to complete a B.A., M.A. (gender and environmental issues in Kenya and Nepal) and a Ph.D. (where she was a Fulbright and a Canon National Science Scholar Fellow). Carolyn's first book, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors was released in 2014. Recent publications include Self-Evident: Reflections on the Invisibility of Black Bodies in Environmental Histories (BESIDE Magazine, Montreal Spring 2020), and The Perils of Being Black in Public: We are all Christian Cooper and George Floyd (The Guardian, June 3rd 2020). She is currently doing a two-year residency in the Franklin Environmental Center at Middlebury College as the Environmental Studies Professor of Practice. Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​​ Learn more about MacMillan Scholars in Residence: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/visiting-scholars​

In this talk, Dr. Mads Almassalkhi presents an overview of how power engineering and energy systems modeling and optimization can play key roles to support large-scale integration of renewable generation to enable a clean energy future and mitigate climate change. According to the United Nations, numerous scientific reports, and the majority of Americans, climate change is a global challenge that should be prioritized. One major path forward to mitigate climate change is to install lots of new renewable generation: wind turbines and solar PV arrays. However, as seen in Hawaii, California, and Vermont, having lots of renewables and can impact reliability of the electric grid. In fact, the grid must become more flexible and efficient to absorb the windy and sunny days and more responsive to unexpected events. Mads Almassalkhi is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering (EBE) at the University of Vermont, director of Vermont's new center for sustainable, resilient, and autonomous systems (VECTORS), and co-founder of tech startup Packetized Energy. His research interests lie at the intersection of power systems, mathematical optimization, and controls and focus on improving responsiveness, efficiency, and resilience of power and energy systems. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​​ Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of society and the environment. Seafood and fisheries are potentially particularly vulnerable to such a shock event given the highly globalized trade of seafood, the seasonal nature of many fisheries, and their dependence on restaurant sales. In addition, data on production, trade, and demand for seafood is often only released many months after when they might be useful to manage an emerging event. In this talk, Gund Fellow Easton White combines novel data sources with more classic indicators to present a holistic picture across the entire seafood production pipeline. Dr. Easton White is a quantitative marine ecologist working to solve problems in ecology, conservation, sustainability, and ecosystem management. His current projects include designing protected area networks, building tools to optimize species monitoring, studying the impacts of COVID-19 on seafood and fisheries, and modeling coupled socio-ecological systems. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​​​ Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​​​ Watch other GundxChange talks: https://go.uvm.edu/8yk02​

In this talk, food systems researcher Dr. Teresa Mares explores the idea of social sustainability as she highlights the contributions of farm and food workers in building more sustainable food systems, both locally and nationally. Teresa Mares is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont and Associate Director for the Food Systems Graduate Program. Her research has focused primarily on issues of food access amongst immigrant communities in the United States. She is the author of Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont (UC Press: 2019). She is currently developing a new ethnographic project examining the production and consumption of hemp and hemp-derived projects. In her talk, Dr. Mares revisits the work of feminist food scholars Patricia Allen and Carolyn Sachs, who called our attention to the social dimensions of sustainability. Thirty years later, a three-pillar understanding of sustainability is now the norm, and yet, the rights and needs of food and farmworkers continue to be denied and dismissed. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​ Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events

There is growing scientific consensus that substantial changes to consumption behaviors are needed to reduce the global burden of disease and achieve more sustainable food systems. These changes include, but are not limited to, shifting towards dietary patterns that emphasize plant-based foods and limit animal-source proteins, and reducing food waste. In this talk, Dr. Emily Belarmino discusses individual food-related pro-environmental behaviors and the context in which people engage in these behaviors. She will introduce research projects examining food-related pro-environmental behaviors among US consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic and consumers' and health professionals' knowledge and beliefs related to dairy and plant-based sources of protein. Gund Affiliate Dr. Emily Belarmino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences and faculty in UVM's Food Systems program. Her research program in public health nutrition explores two primary areas related to sustainable food systems: (1) sustainable dietary patterns and (2) food and nutrition security among at-risk populations. She has a PhD in public health and policy and postdoctoral training in community nutrition. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund​ Explore Gund Events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​

Crop evolution under domestication is a process that continues today in many parts of the Global South for numerous crops, driven by smallholder farmers growing native varieties of crops. They provide an "evolutionary" service to society by sustaining crop evolution that generates the broad and novel genetic variation necessary for crops to adapt to change, fundamental to achieve sustainable agricultural and food systems. Current agricultural development strategies and related policies sponsored by international and national development and research organizations, as well as private companies, are based on promoting higher crop productivity while discouraging crop evolution. In this talk, Gund MacMillan Scholar in Residence Mauricio Bellon discusses the need to rethink these strategies to find the right balance between high crop productivity and the delivery of evolutionary services to agriculture and food systems. Mauricio R. Bellon is an independent scientist and Honorary Fellow at the National Commission for the Use and Knowledge of Biodiversity (CONABIO), Mexico. He received his MS and PhD in ecology from the University of California, Davis and his undergraduate degree in agronomy from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico. His research focuses on the reasons, incentives and dynamics of crop diversity in agricultural systems-both at the inter-specific and infra-specific levels-in the developing world. Previously, Mauricio was Coordinator of Studies on Agrobiodiversity at CONABIO. Before this he was Principal Scientist and Programme Director, Diversity for Livelihoods Programme, at Bioversity International (Italy). He also has worked for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT, Mexico), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, The Philippines) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Science. Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events​ Learn more about MacMillan Scholars in Residence: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/visiting-scholars

In this talk, Eugenia (Gina) South critically examines the links between place and health, including the impact that structural racism has had on neighborhood environments. Using urban nature as a case example, this talk looks at the links between nature and health, and the experience of research in vacant lot greening as an example of action-oriented, community relevant scientific inquiry. Eugenia South is Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, as well as the Faculty Director for the Penn Urban Health Lab. As a physician-scientist, her broad vision is to improve health and quality of life for residents in low-resource and Black communities through both research and clinical work. Eugenia's work on vacant lot greening has been published in JAMA Network Open, PNAS, and AJPH, as well as been covered by national and international media outlets such as the Washington Post, NPR, and Time Magazine.

Urban areas produce about 75% of greenhouse gas emissions from final energy use but occupy a small land area on Earth. How can cities be part of the climate solution? In this talk, Gund Institute Advisory Board Member Karen Seto draws on the IPCC 5th Assessment Report to discuss how urban areas can mitigate climate change as well as highlight key knowledge gaps. Karen Seto is the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science at Yale University, School of the Environment. A geographer and urban scientist, she is an expert on contemporary urbanization, especially in Asia. Her research focus is how urbanization will affect the planet. She has pioneered methods to reconstruct urban land use with satellite imagery and has developed novel methods to forecast urban expansion. She is currently co-leading the urban mitigation chapter for the current IPCC 6th Assessment Report and co-lead the same chapter for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, published in 2014. She is co-editor-in-chief of the journal, Global Environmental Change.

Climate change is increasing the challenge, and urgency, of finding agricultural management solutions to address water quality concerns and improve resiliency on farms in Vermont. Innovative solutions in how we manage soil, water, and nutrients hold much potential for improved outcomes, but we do not fully understand the effects of conservation practices and their tradeoffs. Gund Affiliate Joshua Faulkner is a Research Assistant Professor and coordinates the Farming and Climate Change Program in UVM Extension's Center for Sustainable Agriculture. He does applied research and outreach on soil, water, and nutrient related issues across the state and region, and works with farmers on practices and innovative solutions to improve management of these resources and enhance farm resilience to climate change. He has a BS from Virginia Tech and an MS and PhD from Cornell University. He grew up on a beef farm, and currently has a small pastured pork farm business. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Floodplain inundation maps provide insight into ecosystem services and help communicate flood risk, yet existing maps are spatially limited and difficult to update. In this talk, recent Gund Postdoctoral Fellow Rebecca Diehl discusses how her team developed a probabilistic, low-complexity floodplain mapping tool capable of identifying flood inundation extents relatively rapidly and applied it to the Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont. The resulting maps help describe patterns of phosphorus retention on floodplains and are informing Vermont's Functioning Floodplain Initiative, a multi-disciplinary initiative to develop a mapping and tracking tool for protecting and restoring floodplains and wetlands. Rebecca Diehl is a Research Assistant Professor in the Geography Department at UVM. Her research is motivated by the need for science-based tools to assist in the management of rivers and watersheds. Currently, she is focused on building an understanding of the functioning of floodplains in Vermont using terrain-based models and a network of monitoring sites.

The climate crisis is a crisis of leadership. For too long, too many leaders have prioritized corporate profits over the public good, exacerbating climate vulnerabilities while reinforcing economic and racial injustice. But leaders who are connecting climate and energy with job creation and economic justice, health and nutrition, housing and transportation, are advancing exciting transformative change. These bold, diverse leaders are resisting the "polluter elite" to restructure society by catalyzing a shift to a just, sustainable, regenerative, and healthy future. Jennie C. Stephens, a Gund Affiliate, is Director of Northeastern University's School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs, Dean's Professor of Sustainability Science & Policy, and Director for Strategic Research Collaborations at the Global Resilience Institute. She is an internationally-recognized expert on renewable transformation, energy justice, climate resilience, and gender in energy innovation with two decades of experience linking environmental science and technology with policy and social change. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund Explore Gund events: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/events

Crop diversity is essential to enhance global food security and adapt to climate change, but market requirements, climate change, and agricultural industrialization contribute to high rates of erosion. Still, many small farmers around the world continue to conserve diverse varieties of crops. In this talk, Daniel Tobin (University of Vermont) provides an overview of various projects across Vermont, Peru, Mexico, and sub-Saharan Africa, investigating who conserves crop diversity, their reasons for doing so, and the outcomes they experience.

Nitrogen (N) is a critical, often limiting element for plant and microbial productivity in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in agroecosystems. In this talk, Stuart Grandy (University of New Hampshire) integrates emerging understanding of soil bioavailable nitrogen transformations with progress in understanding plant-microbe-mineral networks and their regulation of the nitrogen cycle.

How can we improve human welfare without destroying the planet? In this talk, Gund Fellow Brendan Fisher discusses projects across Asia, East Africa and South America looking at when, where, and how well-functioning ecosystems improve human health, increase household income, and protect biodiversity. While trade-offs between conservation and human development always exist, these projects show that many can be mitigated at low cost to society.

In this presentation, Gund Institute Director of Policy Outreach Stephen Posner describes various pathways available for researchers to engage with and impact policy. He also shares insights from the practice of linking environmental research with policy decisions at multiple scales, from state legislatures, to the Executive Office of the President, to the United Nations. Examples cover a range of topics, including ecosystem services, water security, governmental economic accounts, and what climate change means for the management of ocean resources. In his role at the Gund, Stephen leads programs and develops strategic partnerships to connect Gund research with leaders in government, business, and NGOs - internationally, nationally, and in Vermont. Learn more about the Gund Institute: https://www.uvm.edu/gund

Locals in Burlington, Vermont see firsthand some of the downstream problems associated with phosphorus utilization and management. However, phosphate-containing ore reserves are limited by many estimates, indicating new upstream problems as well. In this talk, Gund Affiliate Rory Waterman looks at some of these broader issues in efficient phosphorus use as well as phosphorus utilization and remediation. Atoms, like phosphorus, are small but this is a big picture; there will be just enough chemistry to set the stage but a lot of bigger issues to consider. Rory Waterman is a long-time molecule maker, and as an inorganic chemist, he is fortunate to have the entirety of the periodic table is his workspace. He is a Professor in UVM's Chemistry department and Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and has spent the entirety of his 13-year independent career at UVM and has earned some recognition, most recently being named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.

In this talk, Gund Global Fellow Ian Deshmukh defines critical enabling conditions for community-based forestry enterprises in developing countries. The goal of this analysis is to develop guidance for project implementers to improve community success in sustainable timber extraction. Ian Deshmukh spent 15 years in academia where he taught ecology, conservation biology and evolutionary biology, and conducted research focused primarily on ecosystem processes in African savannas. Prior to his retirement he worked for ARD (now Tetra Tech) in the international development field.

In this talk, Mark Bradford (Yale University) presents evidence from his group's field research to show that considering local interactions in the context of regional climate gradients suggests the need to update dominant conceptualizations about controls on broad scale carbon cycling. Mark A. Bradford is Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. His group's research reveals how soil microbial processes govern carbon cycle responses to global change and environmental management. Their current work spans questions that address uncertainties in Earth system feedbacks to quantifying soil health outcomes and forest processes.

This Earth Week panel discussion on the COVID-19 crisis covers preliminary research, early lessons, and the new Gund Institute COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/research/covid-19-rapid-research-fund Speakers include: - Director Taylor Ricketts (welcome) - Postdoctoral Fellow Luz de Wit (disease ecology) - Fellow Chris Danforth (mental health) - Fellow Meredith Niles (food insecurity) - Fellow Stephanie Seguino (equity) - Fellow Brendan Fisher (UN SDG impacts) - Fellow Jon Erickson (economy)

In this illustrated talk, prize-winning journalist Andy Revkin outlines his environmental journey and his call to action for anyone interested in being the signal amid the noise. Revkin describes how storytelling still matters, but shaping constructive conversations may matter more, and how top-down governance still matters, but community-up solutions hold the key.

In this talk, Gund Global Affiliate Pamela Matson (Stanford University) raises the question: how can society make faster progress in the transition to sustainability, and how can science help? Matson discusses models for and pathways by which scientists can encourage transformative change for intergenerational well-being.

As climate change increasingly affects agricultural landscapes, supporting both mitigation and adaptation is critical. The design and implementation of agricultural management strategies that increase social-environmental resilience while reducing negative effects is central to this need -- and there remain many knowledge gaps and decision-making challenges. Grounded by three years of an ongoing four-year study to assess dominant agricultural field management practices in Vermont, we present soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data with a focus on two emerging environmental and technological considerations. First, we examine the potential for reducing agricultural soil greenhouse gas emissions along with possible benefits and trade-offs. Second, we consider the opportunities and possible adverse effects in the use of information technologies for monitoring agroecosystems.

The Next System Project stimulated over two dozen articles spelling out possible "next systems" - alternative political economies looking beyond both state socialism and today's varieties of capitalism. When we step back and look at them together, what do we see?

Studies of tailpipe emissions from hybrid-electric passenger cars show some unexpected results.

In response to environmental challenges, policymakers and other actors draw from a basket of well-worn tools, unfortunately yielding a suite of unintended consequences and larger systemic effects that counteract global sustainability. In this talk, I will introduce the notion of relational values (preferences, principles and virtues about human relationships involving nature), and show how these values can guide the implementation of these sustainability tools and their better integration in 'smart mixes' to leverage the structural and societal changes needed for sustainability.

Currently 86% of primary energy use in Iceland is derived from renewable and domestic energy resources. Two sectors still rely on imported fossil fuels: the fishing industry and transportation. Transitioning to a low-carbon, close to fossil fuel free economy is therefore a possibility in Iceland in the near future and the Icelandic government has proposed to reach carbon neutrality by 2040. Multiple different development pathways are possible towards a low-carbon and a more sustainable energy system in Iceland as the Icelandic energy resources can be developed and the energy used in diverse ways. Given the capital intensity and longevity of energy infrastructure and technologies it is important that decision-makers realize the multifaceted implications of energy development choices as these will influence the Icelandic society and government budgets for years to come. This presentation will provide insights to these issues, and present an integrated decision-making framework, based on system dynamics, multi-criteria decision-analysis and sustainability indicators that has been developed to assist decision-makers in Iceland make robust decisions.

Nick Richardson of Vermont Land Trust (VLT) speaks on the emerging opportunity of forest carbon offsets in Vermont. VLT research shows that carbon offset programs in the state could promote conservation and improve forest management, if made accessible through aggregation and brought to scale. Richardson says the science clearly outlines where we can have the most impact, and how we can best manage our woodlands.

Resource conserving technologies are regarded in policy documents and multilateral agreements as win-win solutions that both reduce the amount of energy and water we use daily, and are also a good investment in itself. In this talk we will explore potential caveats to that argument as we discuss a randomized control trial conducted in Costa Rica precisely to explore both claims.

Efforts to understand and address health effects of climate change are on the rise in the U.S., from the most recent National Climate Assessment to state and local assessments. While these reports enrich our understanding of which types of climate change-related health effects are more likely to affect particular geographic regions and populations, there is little understanding of how residents rank their own vulnerability to health effects of climate change, and the drivers of these responses. This presentation provides findings from a national, mixed-methods study to understand how vulnerable and affected residents perceive and respond to health impacts linked to climate change.

Localized natural disasters can have substantial impacts to communities, but support for mapping, monitoring, and mitigating these disasters at the local level is often lacking. This talk will highlight how the UVM Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) team is employing drone technology throughout New England to help communities assess the damage from natural disasters and plan for a more resilient future

Exploring a complex network across macro and micro scales means qualifying systemic trends with unique anecdotes. Data visualization can help us reduce dimensionality in large data sets to better understand groupings and movements, but also affords us the opportunity to support quantitative values with humanistic, qualitative communication.