News

Doug Denu, a GRA with Vermont EPSCoR, presented his masters defense on Tuesday, December 4, 2018. His defense, "Predicting Reach-scale Sediment Regimes to Prioritize River Restoration and Conservation," examined river data gathered from the framework provided by a Self Organizing Map (SOM) and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA).

BREE Integrated Assessment Co-Leader Dr. Asim Zia led a panel on December 8, 2018 titled "Implementing Food-Energy-Water Security Early Warning Systems for Adaptation to Climate Change" at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland.

Vermont EPSCoR Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Caitlin Crossett joined CWDD Coordinator Veronica Sosa-Gonzalez and CWDD Education and Outreach Liaison Janel Roberge on September 27, 2018, for a trip to Grand Isle State Park, where they led approximately 40 students from Camel’s Hump Middle School through site and water quality assessments. The group also took macroinvertebrate samples from the lake and looked at them under microscopes in an effort to more deeply understand the concepts of bio indicators and human impact on water systems. This provided attending students with a deeper knowledge about their impact on Lake Champlain.

Middle school students from Harwood Union Middle School in Moretown, Vermont participated in an engaging field day on October 24, 2018, with the help of CWDD members Janel Roberge and LeeAnn Trusela. Approximately 40 students were instructed how to make scientific observations that would indicate the health of Lozelle Brook, which ultimately flows into Lake Champlain. Students further investigated those observations using water and macroinvertebrate sampling techniques. These techniques included using a kick net and scrubbing rocks found in the streams.

Vermont EPSCoR post-doctoral associates, Drs. Scott Hamshaw and Dustin Kincaid, Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Daniel Demers, CWDD members Veronica Sosa-Gonzalez and Janel Roberge visited Courtney Asaro’s first grade STEAM class at Flynn Elementary School for three days in September 2018. The topic was “Life of a Scientist”. All Vermont EPSCoR members briefly talked to the students about what they did as scientists. The groups of roughly 20 students made observations about water samples and macroinvertebrate samples, using magnifying glasses for the first time in many cases, before playing an interactive game that involved students relating their own interests to activities that real scientists do.

The VT EPSCoR Policy and Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) Fall Meeting was held on November 30th, 2018. The biannual meetings offer a space for policy makers, decision makers, researchers, federal agency representatives, town and local officials from around the state and region to convene and take an active role in interactive sessions surrounding the Lake Champlain Basin.

On October 8, 2018 CWDD's Janel Roberge and LeeAnn Trusela traveled to Morrisville, VT to assist two science teachers from People's Academy in leading roughly 35 AP Biology students through an all-encompassing field day. At the Wild Brach and Ryder Brook stream sites, students were tasked with conducting site, water quality, and babitat assessments, along with learning and executing processes used to measure the flow of the streams. Additionally, students learned about the importance of biological indicators through sampling their sites for benthic macroinvertebrates.

Alan Betts presents his BREE seminar, "Climate Change and Vermont"

Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux. The professor and Vermont State Climatologist was selected from nearly 200 experts to serve as lead author of the Northeast chapter on the national report.

LeeAnn Trusela joined the EPSCoR team in October 2018 as the Project/Office Manager for the Center for Workforce Development & Diversity at St. Michael’s College.

Linyuan Shang, Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) with Vermont EPSCoR, successfully presented his PhD defense on Monday, October 29, 2018.

Vermont EPSCoR teamed up with UVM Innovations, the Vermont Department of Economic Development, and the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies to help sponsor an I-Corps workshop on November 2, 2018.

Vermont EPSCoR Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Caitlin Crossett joined CWDD Coordinator Veronica Sosa-Gonzalez and CWDD Education and Outreach Liaison Janel Roberge on September 27, 2018, for a trip to Grand Isle State Park, where they led approximately 40 students from Camel’s Hump Middle School through site and water quality assessments. The group also took macroinvertebrate samples from the lake and looked at them under microscopes in an effort to more deeply understand the concepts of bio indicators and human impact on water systems. This provided attending students with a deeper knowledge about their impact on Lake Champlain.

Our BREE colleagues continue to grow and receive recognitions for their expertise and accomplishments – most recently Dr. Declan McCabe who is a Co-PI on a new NSF S-STEM award that will help train more data-savvy students through scholarships at Saint Michael’s College; and Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, who will receive the 2018 Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) Professional Excellence Award.

Matthew Vaughan, RACC Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) with Vermont EPSCoR and now member of the BREE Political and Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) as a Technical Coordinator with the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), successfully presented his PhD defense on Friday, October 19, 2018.

Clelia Marti, PhD has officially joined Vermont EPSCoR and the University of Vermont as a Research Assistant Professor with the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. She is currently contributing to the development of a fully 3D coupled physical and biogeochemical model of Lake Champlain as part of the Vermont EPSCoR Basin Resilience to Extreme Events (BREE) project.

Wilton Burns, Vermont EPSCoR Graduate Research Associate, and members of the Center for Workforce Development and Diversity (CWDD) on October 11, 2018 participated in the Women Can Do! Action Expo hosted by Vermont Works for Women. Held at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont, the event encouraged high school-aged girls to consider their future careers as potential scientists.

A mini-BioBlitz event was held on September 20, 2018 at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vermont. Approximately 55 Environmental Science students from Woodstock High School participated. CWDD Technician Janel Roberge served as a macroinvertebrate specialist in partnership with the Place-Based Education Coordinator in Woodstock, VT providing instruction on the use of benthic macroinverebrates to determine water quality at the study site. Students collected, sorted, and identified stream bugs as water quality indicators. This experience was the first time that many of the students wore waders!

Newswise — Residents and property owners are more likely to adopt some green stormwater infrastructure practices if they have experienced flooding or erosion on their property or in their neighborhoods, according to new research from the University of Vermont.

Dr. Rick Stumpf from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Center for Coastal Ocean Science presented a seminar and then met with interested BREE researchers on September 17, 2018. The title of his seminar was "Satellites and Cyanobacteria Monitoring in Lake Erie and Elsewhere."