News

A delegation of Vermont EPSCoR participants attended the national NSF EPSCoR meeting in Portsmouth, NH on November 2 -3, 2015. Dr. John N. Evans, President of the Vermont Technology Council, was an invited speaker for a panel discussion entitled "Addressing the EPSCoR Trifecta: Research, Science & Technology, and Economic Development". University of Vermont Professor and Chair of Geography, Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, participated in several workshops including a facilitated breakout session on collaboration in jurisdictions focused on Climate Dynamics. Postdoctoral Associate, Dr. Steven Scheinert, was an invited poster presenter for his research entitled: Bridging the Meso and Micro Level Scales of Social Complexity within a Socio-Ecological System: Modeling the Relationship between Governance Networks and Land Use/Management Decisions in the Northeastern Segment of the Lake Champlain Basin.

Vermont State Director, Dr. Judith Van Houten, Cyber Specialist and Research Associate Professor, Dr. Patrick J. Clemins, Project Coordinator, Lillian Gamache and Center for Workforce Development and Diversity (CWDD) and Saint Michael's College Director, Lindsay Wieland also attended workshops and breakout groups on numerous topics.

Former Streams intern Maya Thomas is a GIS Specialist at Civil Solutions in southern New Jersey.

Big Heavy World is stepping into a new world of connectivity by announcing their participation in Vermont UCAN, the regional arm of the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network, which connects over 90,000 community anchor institutions (schools, museums, libraries, community centers, healthcare, etc.) to Internet2. Internet2 is a nationwide research and education network which is 100 times faster than current next-generation 1 Gigabit networks and supports next-generation network technologies such as software defined networking. Vermont UCAN is made possible through a public-private collaboration between Vermont EPSCoR which promotes and manages the network, the University of Vermont which provides the Internet2 connectivity and technical expertise, and seven internet service providers which connect their clients to the network.

NEWRnet PhD student Matthew Vaughan was awarded a research grant from the Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center. The funded project is entitled 'Developing high frequency in-situ methods to accurately quantify riverine phosphorus loading to Lake Champlain'. Andy Vermilyea, Beverley Wemple and Andrew Schroth are collaborators on the grant.

A day long workshop linking science, planning and policy

Over 50 members from state, local and regional organizations attended an interactive day-long workshop tackling the best approaches to ensure water quality in the Lake Champlain Basin (LCB). Representatives from Quebec, Canada and throughout Vermont participated. Members from the VT EPSCoR Research on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Lake Champlain Basin (RACC) teams provided valuable findings and methods to help policy and decision makers address the state of the Lake and its future. Biogeochemical hydrological data collected in the Missisquoi Bay, at stream bank erosion sites and climate modeling predictions and precipitation trends for the region, coupled with social elements that contribute to this overall ecosystem were shared.

Warming planet challenges ideology
Barre Montpelier Times Argus
So we, the people, must speak up, elect leaders who stand for the truth, start to work with the Earth, and build communities that are sustainable for generations to come. Alan Betts is a leading climate scientist who works with Atmospheric Research in ...

The University of Vermont held its third legislative summit, "Vermont's 21st Century Economy: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem," on Tuesday, attracting more than 40 legislators to campus for a packed-full day of presentations and roundtable discussions. Thirty UVM faculty and representatives from 20 state agencies also participated.

On Wednesday, October 28, 2015, the CWDD Staff met Harwood Union Middle School seventh graders at Lozelle Brook - right on the school campus! Seventh grade science teacher Angela Selvaggio has been teaching her classes about watersheds and the physical, chemical, and biological indicators of water quality.

The Vermont EPSCoR Center for Workforce Development and Diversity (CWDD) recently joined five EPSCoR representatives from jurisdictions around the country to represent NSF-EPSCoR at the SACNAS conference. SACNAS, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, hosts a national conference each year. The 2015 National SACNAS Conference, held in Washington D.C from October 29-31, hosted speakers, workshops, conference sessions, poster presentations, and more, for undergraduate and graduate scientists. It offers an opportunity for a diverse group of researchers to disseminate their research while networking and engaging in career development opportunities.

For decades, phosphorus pollution has been contributing to unwanted algae blooms in many lakes—including Lake Champlain. A raft of recent research has pointed a finger at eroding streambanks, suggesting that their washed-out soils are a major source of this phosphorus flow.

Vermonts NASA EPSCoR Project anticipates that a solicitation from the National Program at NASA Headquarters for a new 2016 NASA EPSCoR Faculty Research Team Competition will be announced sometime late in the Fall of 2015. Historically, NASA EPSCoR has made awards of $750,000 for a three-year period of performance to the selected research teams, including a 50% match (1-to-2) consisting of local non-Federal funds.

As in past years, it will be necessary to select the top project(s) ahead of time so as to be prepared once the formal announcement of the 2016 Competition is posted. This local selection of projects will be made on the basis of peer-reviewed pre-proposals. Vermont faculty researchers wishing to be considered as Science PIs for inclusion in this competition must submit a pre-proposal for their proposed team research project to the VT-NASA EPSCoR Office no later than COB on Friday, November 13.

Scientists frustrated that lake efforts oriented more toward management than ...
vtdigger.org
This goes on for more than 12 hours, as Middlebury professor Tom Manley guides student Perri Silverheart through a project involving sub-sediment mapping of the lake bed. Manley says information .... And as Vermonters embark on an ambitious task of ...

Apps: There's a Class for That
UVM News
One such stakeholder is Patrick Clemins, also a computer science professor at UVM and a cyber specialist with Vermont EPSCoR -- a program through the National Science Foundation that funds research projects in smaller states. Vermont EPSCoR's current ...

Stowe Today
A primordial lake monster
Stowe Today
It came from the lake. It is a life form nearly as old as life itself. Living peacefully in the depths for eons, it is awakened by humans' abuse of the environment. It strikes out with toxins that attack nerves or the liver. Attempts to kill it only ...

On Friday, October 23, 2015 the CWDD taught 20 Saint Michael's College students how to measure and calculate stream flow at Potash Brook in South Burlington, VT. The students are enrolled in Calculus I with Professor Craig Jensen, a new faculty member at the College. Dr. Jensen will use the stream flow activity to demonstrate the practical application of calculating integrals, and to have the students use hands-on learning techniques in their math class. Students learned how to measure a stream's cross-sectional area and calculate stream flow using the EPA standard protocol that is used in all VT EPSCoR Streams Project measurements.

On October 15, 2015, the Vermont EPSCoR Center for Workforce Development and Diversity (CWDD) had a table at the "Women Can Do!" Action Expo hosted by Vermont Works for Women at the Vermont Technical College in Randolph, VT. The event is a one-day career immersion experience for 9-12 grade girls. Students have the opportunity to test out various STEM and trades careers while networking with other girls around the state interested in STEM. The CWDD table, called "Let's BUG Out!" was a success. Students were asked to identify three benthic macroinvertebrates using dissecting microscopes, a dichotomous key, and the Macroinvertebrate App (free download on the iTunes store!). If they correctly identified two out of three correctly, they won a prize!

On Wednesday, October 21, NEWRnet graduate student Matt Vaughan along with CWDD Staff met Harwood Union Middle School eighth graders at Lozelle Brook - right on their school's campus! The eighth grade science teacher, Brian Wagner, has been involving the students in an ongoing project to learn about the school's storm water runoff infrastructure.

The 2015 Vermont Town and City Management Association Fall Conference was held in Burlington, Vermont on October 22 and 23. Dr. Asim Zia, Associate Professor of Community Development and Applied Economics at UVM, and a Science Leader for Vermont EPSCoR, Research on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Lake Champlain Basin (RACC) program was an invited presenter.

October 20, 2015 (Burlington, VT): The Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) and Hotel Vermont hosted the InnovateHER VT Challenge, a new business pitch event in Burlington, VT on Monday, October 19th to a packed house of area entrepreneurs, students, and innovation ecosystem participants. Mamava, a company who delivers design solutions for nursing mamas on the go, was named the contest’s $10,000 prize winner.

This summer saw extensive and disgusting blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) blooms in northeastern bays of Lake Champlain, but much has occurred on the recent policy front to send hope about the future of Lake Champlain.