The University of Vermont Magazine, Fall 2023

SOME STRANGE SONGS UVM researchers search for answers to a puzzling question– w hy d o t h e w h a l e s s i n g?

+ B E YO N D O P I O I D S + L E A H Y A RC H I V E

+ T H E O P E N L I B R A RY

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UVM MAGAZINE

DEPARTMENTS

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President's Perspective

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Books & Media

The Green On Course UVM People:

Adam Nagler '89

Catamount Sports Class Notes Extra Credit

FEATURES

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LISTENING TO LEVIATHANS Costa Rican native and UVM professor Laura May-Collado explores the 50-year-old mystery of why humpback whales sing—and what their songs might be saying. | BY JOSHUA BROWN

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BEYOND OPIOIDS When fentanyl became part of Vermont’s drug supply it changed the rules. Overdoses surged and more people are dying than ever before.

UVM researchers are devising new pathways to recovery for opioid use disorder. | BY KRISTEN MUNSON

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PRESERVING A LEGACY The “Leahy Papers”are an invaluable resource for studying the senator’s remarkable career and the history of a dynamic period of time for Vermont, the nation, and the world.

OPEN ACCESS UVM Libraries are open to all, and exploring new ways to provide information to everyone who needs it. | BY ED NEUERT

FRONT COVER: A humpback swims in the nearshore waters of Costa Rica. UVM researcher Laura May-Collado spotted this whale from a boat and then her teammate plunged underwater with a scuba tank to take this photo—while May-Collado listened for singing. An evolutionary biologist, May-Collado records many hours of whale song, then returns to her Vermont lab to look for meaning in the music.

Cover Photo: Ana Lucía Rodriguez Tinoco Back Cover: Andy Duback

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In late July, UVM’s new, state-of-the-art research vessel, the Marcelle Melosira, left the Mamaroneck, N.Y., shipyard where it was built and began a four-day journey around Manhattan Island and up the Hudson River and Champlain Canal to its permanent home dock at the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington.

On August 10, Marcelle Leahy, the craft’s namesake, christened the first-of-its-kind, hybrid diesel-electric craft. She offered a heartfelt benediction to the research vessel that will bear her name through decades of service on Lake Champlain: “She will be in my heart always, as she sails…. I wish her, and all those who will sail with her, fair winds and following seas.”

Photo by Cody Silfies

| PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

Solutions for a Healthier Environment and Society As our university’s 233rd year began I had the pleasure, on a beautiful August evening, to join with faculty, staff, and students for our annual Convocation and Twilight Induction. The focus was, of course, our newest Catamounts, the Class of 2027. They are among the most extraordinary new classes in the university’s history: the best prepared in terms of academics and with the greatest diversity in backgrounds and experiences, and in the states and countries from which they come.

themselves in research and community engagement. They see that UVM is grounded in an unwavering mission to help people and planet thrive.

These students are already adding to an expanding list of superlatives at UVM. For the fourth consecutive year, our researchers garnered record-setting external support for our research enterprise–over $262 million from state and federal agencies, corporate partners, foundations, and generous individual donors–cresting the quarterbillion-dollar mark for a second year.

Closer to home, we bring our expertise to bear on the most pressing problems of our time. There may be none more heartbreaking than the effects of opioid dependence–a tear in our social fabric that seems to consistently resist repair.

But UVM clinicians and scientists whose story is told in this magazine have made successful inroads into the problem and in the process made Vermont a national model for the treatment of substance use disorder. Today, with the nature of addiction changing, researchers and clinicians are retooling their approaches, using the impressive body of knowledge developed at our university to help build a healthier society.

This significant growth in research funding and our National Science Foundation ranking as a top-100 public research university signal that UVM is a place our nation looks to for solutions to the most pressing needs of our time. Just as important, these research accomplishments are among the key reasons this university attracts the best young minds from near and far. Our students come here to make a difference in the world by immersing

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That whale on the cover is not, of course, a Vermont whale. It is part of a UVM research project off the coast of Costa Rica, one of many studies that extend far beyond the Green Mountain State, part of our global footprint, contributing— in this case—to scholarship in evolutionary biology and acoustics.

We’ve had many partners in our work– more than could ever be listed here. But one standout is clearly the Honorable Patrick Leahy who served Vermont, and Vermont’s flagship university, for

nearly five decades in the U.S. Senate.

His support and guidance were crucial to the growth and success of so many areas of research, education, and service at UVM, and will continue through his appointment as my first President’s Distinguished Fellow. I also look forward to the many years ahead during which our new research vessel, named in honor of the partner in so much of his successful work, Marcelle Leahy, will allow faculty and students to add to the knowledge and care of our precious Lake Champlain.

I am pleased that we can illustrate in this magazine a small part of the voluminous archive of the senator’s legislative career–the third longest in U.S. history. The senator has entrusted his papers to the university to curate and maintain as a primary resource for scholars, leaders, and others addressing contemporary challenges.

Senator Leahy set a high bar in his service to our beloved state and country. The students, faculty, and staff of UVM are committed as ever to the same, now and for the future.

I hope you share my pride in reading about their efforts in this edition.

—Suresh V. Garimella President, University of Vermont

ANDY DUBACK

UVM MAGAZINE

Your support shows that there are people out there that believe in this generation and this set of kids at UVM and that they’re going to make a difference someday.

Marcus Aloisi ’24

PUBLISHER The University of Vermont Suresh V. Garimella, President

EDITORIAL BOARD Joel R. Seligman, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, chair Krista Balogh, Joshua Brown, Ed Neuert, Rebecca Stazi, Barbara Walls, Benjamin Yousey-Hindes EDITOR Edward Neuert ART DIRECTOR Cody Silfies CLASS NOTES EDITOR Cheryl Carmi CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lisa C. Bailey, Joshua Brown, Cheryl Carmi, Elizabeth Crawford, Christina Davenport, Chris Dissinger, Joshua Defibaugh, Angela Ferrante, Janet Franz, Nicholas Hall, Alayna Howard, Kristen Munson, Ed Neuert, Su Reid-St. John, Krista Malaney, Adam White PHOTOGRAPHY Bailey Beltramo, Joshua Brown, Joshua Defibaugh, Andy Duback, Brian Foley, Ana Lucía Rodriguez Tinoco, David Seaver, Cody Silfies, Jonah Steinberg, Adam White, Zane Zopan, Driven Studios, Library of Congress, Robin London Photography, Sherpa Productions, UVM Spatial Analysis Lab PROOFREADER Maria Landry ADDRESS CHANGES UVM Foundation 411 Main Street Burlington, VT 05401 (802) 656-9662, alumni@uvm.edu

Your UVM Fund gift makes a difference.

The UVM Fund gives you an easy way to directly impact students and know exactly how your money is spent.

Your gift will support student scholarships, the Career Center, and academic support services.

Read Marcus’s full story here: go.uvm.edu/marcus

CORRESPONDENCE Editor, UVM Magazine 16 Colchester Avenue Burlington, VT 05405 magazine@uvm.edu CLASS NOTES alumni.uvm.edu/classnotes UVM MAGAZINE Issue No. 93, November 2023 Publishes April 1, November 1 Printed in Vermont UVM MAGAZINE ONLINE uvm.edu/uvmmag instagram.com/universityofvermont twitter.com/uvmvermont facebook.com/universityofvermont youtube.com/universityofvermont FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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WELCOME BACK, CATS Use a mobile camera or visit go.uvm.edu/ welcome23 for a video recap about the start of the academic year.

COMMON GROUND With a nod to the past and a firm embrace of the future, UVM celebrated the beginning of its 233rd year at the formal Convocation Ceremony, held on the Harris Commons with a procession to the University Green on Sunday evening, August 27. Convocation brought faculty, students, and staff from across the university together to welcome the newest Catamounts, the incoming Class of 2027, to the UVM community with a focus on the university’s Our Common Ground values of respect, integrity, innovation, openness, justice, and responsibility.

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This first-year class is the most diverse group of new undergraduates in UVM’s history, with a 37 percent increase in international students over last year, a 16 percent increase in students who identify as BIPOC, and a higher percentage of first-generation college students. Fifty percent of the class is from outside New England, an indication of the university’s broadening national and international recognition and appeal. Class members represent 45 states and 23 countries. At the same time, UVM is welcoming more Vermont students, with a projected 8 percent increase in the number of undergraduate students from the state over last year.

LEFT: ANDY DUBACK; RIGHT: BAILEY BELTRAMO (TOP)

YOU SHOULD KNOW ALUMS NAMED “OBAMA LEADERS” Kesha Ram Hinsdale '08 and Daniel Fairley II G'16 are among the first cohort of 100 emerging changemakers chosen to participate in the Obama Foundation’s Leaders USA program. A graduate of the Master of Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (HESA) Program, Fairley is a youth opportunity coordinator focused on black male achievement for the City of Charlottesville, Va. Ram Hinsdale, a graduate of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, was the first Vermont state senator of color and currently serves as chair of the Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee of the Vermont State Senate.

Read more: go.uvm.edu/obamaleaders

NEW GRADUATE COLLEGE DEAN Holger Hoock, an accomplished historian, became the dean of the UVM Graduate College on August 14. Previously, he held the J. Carroll Amundson Chair of British History at the University of Pittsburgh, with a secondary appointment as professor of history of art and architecture. Hoock has a background in modern history, including a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford, holds an M.A. in history and political science with a minor in public and international law from Universität Freiburg i. Br., Germany, and is an elected fellow of the Royal Historical Society, UK.

HONORS COLLEGE NAMED At their meeting in May, the UVM Board of Trustees approved the naming of the Patrick Leahy Honors College, aligning student and faculty excellence across a wide range of academic programs with the ongoing legacy of the retired senator’s 48 years of service to the nation and support for his home state of Vermont. “Just as the Honors College is synonymous with academic excellence here at UVM, Senator Patrick Leahy has long personified exemplary leadership and advocacy for the state of Vermont and the nation,” said UVM President Suresh Garimella.

Read more: go.uvm.edu/leahynaming

Read more: go.uvm.edu/graddean

POINT OF PRIDE: UVM GAINS 5-STAR LGBTQ RANKING On the eve of Vermont Pride Week in September, UVM was named one of the top colleges and universities for LGBTQ+ students by Campus Pride, an organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ students and allies at colleges and universities nationwide. UVM is among three institutions in New England, and 30 nationwide, to achieve 5-out-of-5 stars and the highest percentage scores on the Campus Pride Index (CPI), a national benchmarking tool measuring LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs, and practices on college and university campuses.

Read more: go.uvm.edu/pointofpride

HARNESSING THE DATA REVOLUTION A groundbreaking data science effort to better understand and harness the power of stories has earned UVM a five-year, $20 million research capacity building award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The project is titled Harnessing the Data Revolution for Vermont: The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS). "In astronomy and biology, the telescope and the microscope helped us describe phenomena far beyond our limitations, opening up vast new scientific realms,” said Vermont Complex Systems Center Director Peter Dodds. “With the SOCKS program, we’re working to do the same for stories by building and refining instruments that can ‘distantly read’ and make sense of enormous collections of texts.”

Read more: go.uvm.edu/harnessdata

A NEW HOME FOR FUTURE STUDENTS In mid-August, the university announced its intention to partner with AAM 15 Management LLC to build undergraduate housing on the east side of its main campus. “Catamount Woods” will accommodate approximately 540 undergraduate students in apartments near the southern edge of Centennial Woods. UVM already leases the property to AAM 15, owners of the neighboring DoubleTree Hotel, for use as a parking lot. Barring any delays, the parties hope to begin the permitting process immediately with the goal of breaking ground in early 2024. The goal is to have the building ready for occupancy in time for the fall 2025 semester.

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| THE GREEN

UVM Responds to Record Flooding The UVM Spatial Analysis Lab's Unoccupied Aircraft Systems team took these drone images of the flooded towns of Montpelier (above) and Cambridge (opposite) on the mornings of July 11 and 12, respectively.

VERMONT | In the course of two days at the beginning of the second week of July, Vermont and other parts of the northeastern U.S. received more total rain than usually falls over two summer months. Coming on the heels of other recent rains that saturated much of the ground, this precipitation went where gravity directed: right into streams, creeks, and rivers.

When those waterways quickly reached their capacity, floodwaters spread out across lowlying farmland, residential neighborhoods, and commercial and downtown areas of cities and towns. Many culverts were no match for the flow, and roadways and bridges across the state were washed out. Vermonters awakened in the early morning hours of July 11 to find themselves in a changed state, challenged by the effects of the second “hundred-year storm” to hit the region in the last 12 years.

Many UVM faculty, staff, and students were directly impacted by the flooding, and many others came forward to help. Abra Levin ’24, a global studies and environmental studies double major, was in the middle of a summer internship with New Farms for New Americans (NFNA) in Burlington’s low-lying Intervale when it became clear that massive rainstorms

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were on the way. She quickly shifted from general maintenance and youth outreach to helping harvest what crops could be saved and then, post-flooding, helping the farmers clean up while also running the NFNA social media accounts, where she was able to interact with people looking for help or willing to donate time and effort to the cleanup. “It’s devastating to see the heavy burdens caused by the flooding, but thanks to so much support from individuals and external organizations, there seems to be hope rising within this community,” she said.

Across the campus, led by UVM’s Division of Safety and Compliance, about 400 volunteers came forward to help throughout the state. This included teams deployed to cleanup efforts in the especially hard-hit town of Barre. UVM staff were also part of Task Force 1, the state Urban/ Swift Water Rescue Team, and others assisted the state Division of Fire Safety with inspections of buildings. On campus, a community flood response drive that was expected to fill one van with potable water and other items wound up filling three and getting those supplies out where they were most needed within three days of the flooding.

Even as dawn broke on the morning of July 11, the Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) team members of the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources’ Spatial Analysis Lab (SAL) had already been up for hours. A UAS –better known by most as a drone– provides an aerial perspective that would prove crucial to the response and recovery efforts.

It is a privilege to be able to help our home state during a time of need.

The SAL’s UAS team logged 15-hour days recording conditions in areas from Cambridge and Jeffersonville on the Lamoille River, to Richmond, Waterbury, and Berlin in the Winooski watershed.

“We realized that we had a limited time to acquire data near peak flood levels, so we knew we had to move quickly,” said Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, director of the SAL. A survey team also covered the flooded UVM SPATIAL ANALYSIS LAB

Otter Creak near Middlebury and was called in to assess damage from a landslide in Ripton, one of the largest of nearly 50 landslides across Vermont that were triggered by the initial storm and further rainfall in the week afterward. Work in Barre included recording damage to mobile home parks that may help affected residents receive aid. Back on campus, teams of analysts worked behind the scenes to process and disseminate the data to local, state, and federal agencies via web apps. Estimates are that the release of assistance funds crucial for individuals to recover were sped up by weeks because of the SAL’s work. The SAL was by far the largest supplier of the accurate, mapping-grade imagery that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could use for work that would ultimately provide recovery funds to hard-hit Vermonters.

“It is a privilege to be able to help our home state during a time of need,” said team member Lauren Cresanti, who received her environmental science degree from UVM this past May. FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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| THE GREEN handful of institutions who can tackle just about anything related to human and societal health.”

“Five years ago, there was certainly influential research conducted at UVM, but it was isolated to a handful of high-performing areas,” said Kirk Dombrowski, vice president for research. “What the faculty and staff have accomplished in a very short time has led to a broad set of interdisciplinary research centers and research support systems, realizing the true potential of a comprehensive university.”

UVM Tops $260 Million in Research Support RESEARCH | The University of Vermont set a fourth consecutive yearly record for total external support for its rapidly growing research enterprise. Funding by federal and state agencies, corporate partners, foundations, and individual donors reached nearly $263 million in the fiscal year ending June 20, 2023—only the second time the figure has soared above a quarter-billion dollars. Two years ago, UVM was ranked for the first time among the nation’s 100 largest public research universities by total research support according to the National Science Foundation.

Since 2019, the university has expanded investment in initiatives to enhance its research footprint across all parts of the institution. This focus has paid off in terms of absolute growth and in diversifying the research portfolio to encompass more areas where UVM has unique and powerful strengths, particularly in advancing healthy societies and a healthy environment.

“Our faculty’s scholarly work addresses some of the most urgent challenges of our time,” UVM President Suresh Garimella said. “UVM’s longtime leadership role in environment and climate, combined with our outstanding health sciences programs, positions us among a

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External support for UVM research has doubled since 2018. The Larner College of Medicine—the long-time top performer in attracting funding for UVM research—until recently accounted for the vast majority of UVM’s research. In 2023, while still growing its research, Larner College of Medicine accounts for 35 percent of the total. That means all the other colleges and schools have grown fast, including the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, up 58 percent in research funding since last year.

The growth in campus-wide research activity has also been greatly facilitated by new shared resources for researchers, no matter where they are based within UVM. For example, the new Firestone Medical Research Building includes shared core research facilities and support for biomedical sciences used by teams of collaborating researchers from diverse disciplines—including from outside UVM. UVM plays a special role in the region as a hub for government, corporate, and other researchers.

UVM houses state and federal research expertise and facilities such as the Vermont State Climate Office (VSCO) and the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program for the northeast U.S. region.

UVM’s fulfillment of its mission as Vermont’s flagship land grand university includes prioritizing the availability of research findings to the citizens, businesses, organizations, and government entities in the state.

“Our relative size and the breadth of our research allow us to be the region’s convenor on critical topics that call for discovery, innovation, and creativity,” said Dombrowski. “We expect to do more in the coming years to bring people together around tough challenges.”

JOSHUA DEFIBAUGH

4 QUESTIONS and on a number of university campuses. We’re rapidly increasing the number of electric vehicles in our campus fleet, including the very popular Ford F-150 Lightning (we now have 17 EVs in our fleet!), and we’re installing over 100 charging ports in the next year, representing one of the largest electric vehicle station installations in the state.

Between now and 2030, we’ll install renewable heating systems in new buildings, and after we’ve done everything we can to reduce on-campus emissions, we’ll purchase forest carbon offsets from Vermont landowners that will help support rural families and maple sugar producers.

SUSTAINABILITY CHECK-IN WITH

ELIZABETH PALCHAK, PHD In April, Elizabeth Palchak, director of the UVM Office of Sustainability, announced the university’s new comprehensive sustainability plan (CSP). Its cornerstone: a commitment to a carbon-neutral UVM by 2030.

Palchak leads the Office of Sustainability, connecting academics, research, operations, and engagement to amplify UVM’s impact and contributions to sustainable solutions. She earned her B.A. 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 return to UVM in 2021, she was a senior energy consultant with VEIC, a sustainable energy company based in Vermont.

Besides the individual goals of the plan, what are the main benefits for a university in actually having a sustainability plan?

PALCHAK: The University of Vermont has a long history of sustainability leadership in higher education. There are many important initiatives occurring all over campus— in our buildings, the curriculum, and on our grounds.

This plan gets us all moving in the same direction. It is critical that we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and we now have a roadmap for how to make progress. It’s also important to our students and the entire university community that we continue to lead on these issues!

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, UVM's plan involves three key efforts: more renewables, emission cuts, and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions by investing in Vermont's forests.

What's already happening in these areas?

PALCHAK: I’m excited that we’ll be drilling several geothermal test wells on campus this fall to investigate the feasibility of heating and cooling our campus buildings with geothermal energy. Ground source heating is an exciting technology that’s being used all over the country

Earlier this year UVM was awarded a “gold” rating by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). What’s the significance of this?

PALCHAK: It’s an enormous accomplishment. This is work that started long before I arrived and is the result of consistent and focused effort of many staff members, leaders within the administration, and visionary faculty who prioritize sustainability in the curriculum and in our operations. Our students care deeply about our work in this area and it’s important that we track, evaluate, and report on our progress.

You’re charged with leading this plan, but it was built by a large group of contributors. Can you talk about that process and those groups?

PALCHAK: I was originally charged with this work by Richard Cate, our VP for finance and administration, who understood the need for this plan and has been a longtime champion of sustainability on campus. The main CSP Work Group was composed of representatives from across campus, including students, faculty, and staff. This was a team of engaged, deeply intelligent, and thoughtful people who contributed their time and expertise to the creation of the entire framework. The group met monthly and more frequently in subcommittees as we refined the topic areas and goals. My staff in the Office of Sustainability took on leadership roles to lead planning, conduct analysis, and draft sections of the plan. The Student Government Association offered important feedback along the way and was a critical partner in keeping students apprised of our work. Our draft plan was presented to all of the major governance groups, leadership groups, and a number of student classes. At each presentation I received valuable feedback that informed the final plan. This was a universitywide effort and we strove to integrate many perspectives and voices. The outcome was much stronger because of it! Our goal was always to create a plan that makes the university community proud—I think we did that!

PLAN OF ACTION Use a mobile camera or visit go.uvm.edu/cspvideo to watch the Campus Sustainability Plan announcement.

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| THE GREEN

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Fulbrights Forge Connections | The Fulbright Program was created in 1946 by Around the Globe AWARDS the U.S. government to share knowledge and forge lasting

connections among American institutions and entities abroad.

Each year, about 8,000 scholars and professionals are selected to travel, teach, and research in over 160 host countries. Six faculty members and staff as well as three recent alumni from the University of Vermont were awarded Fulbright grants to continue this legacy during the 2023-24 academic year. This a snapshot of UVM’s most recent faculty and staff projects.

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1. Antonio Cepeda-Benito

2. Jeanne Harris

3. Alex Lindsay

Expanding the Science of Health Stigmas

Thinking Big About Soil Microbes

Showing Young People the World

Antonio Cepeda-Benito studies the prevalence of health-related stigmas such as smoking and disordered eating and how they differ between cultures. He runs UVM’s Cross Cultural Psychology Lab and spent the summer in Chile on a Fulbright grant working to assess stigma associated with being overweight in adolescents and young adults. Weightrelated measures of stigma have been validated in many English-speaking countries where many academic journals are published, Cepeda-Benito explained. He and collaborators aim to develop a measure and validate it for a broader population.

Jeanne Harris thinks small.

Microscopic really. She studies how microbes and abiotic material such as hard metals in soils affect plant development and evolution. She chairs UVM’s Department of Plant Biology, and her research focuses more on basic science than on the applied side of the equation. But while participating in the Fulbright Specialist Program this summer in Colombia she was forced to think big about protecting biodiversity through sustainable agriculture. “This is pushing me into thinking … how can I use what I know to help tackle some big problems?”

Part of Alex Lindsay’s job at UVM’s Office of International Education is to help students explore the world. He knows the value of studying abroad because he spent a semester in South Africa and led tours to Mongolia. But Lindsay manages UVM’s exchange programs with Asian universities— the majority of which are in Japan.

He was awarded a Fulbright to visit Japan and learn more about the country’s educational system and culture. “I'll be a much better resource for our students in terms of advising them for the programs they're interested in,” he said.

4. Jane Molofsky

5. Cynthia Reyes

6. Safwan Wshah

Examining How Invasive Plants Function

Centering Non-Dominant Voices in Education

Using Artificial Intelligence to Tackle Drought

Jane Molofsky, a professor of plant biology at UVM, recently co-developed a hypothesis called optimal differentiation to the edge of trait space—the idea that plants become invasive when they enter a plant community with functional traits that are similar enough to infiltrate the space, but different enough to establish and take over. In other words, when they are novel enough to take off. Molofsky will head to South Korea’s Andong National University in the spring on a Fulbright grant where she will work with experts in the field to explore a conceptual framework using goldenrod.

Cynthia Reyes previously taught middle schoolers in Chicago Public Schools and English as a second language to adults. She understands the importance of engaging immigrant and refugee communities in education. That is why Reyes, associate dean for academic and faculty affairs for UVM’s College of Education and Social Services, is in Canada on two Fulbright research grants studying anti-racism and equity in pedagogy. “How do people do research with people who have been displaced … How do you do that in a culturally sensitive way?” Reyes said. Her work fosters difficult but needed conversations in academia.

Safwan Wshah grew up in Jordan, one of the most water-scarce regions in the world, and suspected artificial intelligence (AI) might play a role in tackling unwieldy problems. At UVM, Wshah directs the Vermont Artificial Intelligence Lab (VaiL), and after a recent visit to Jordan he noticed a growing gap in AI science there. With his Fulbright grant, Wshah will spend the next year co-developing a master's degree curriculum for AI at Princess Sumaya University for Technology and working with investigators to better predict droughts using AI. The project is a proof-of-concept study designed to scale beyond Jordan.

Use a mobile camera or visit go.uvm.edu/fulbright23 to read more about these Fulbright winners and their projects.

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| THE GREEN

Current UVM students from the Academic Research Commercialization (ARC) program and the Entrepreneur Club will introduce the challenge to high schoolers, judge the submissions, and mentor the finalists as they prepare to pitch in-person at UVM in April 2024.

“We believe in nurturing the next generation of innovators and providing them with the tools and mentorship needed to turn their ideas into reality, and this unique opportunity achieves exactly that,” said Jay Jacobs, UVM vice provost for enrollment management.

Ideas into Action Speakers at the Joy and Jerry Meyers Cup announcement event (L-R): Grossman School of Business Acting Dean Barbara Arel, UVM President Suresh Garimella, Chip Meyers, Louise Meyers, and Vermont ACCD Secretary Lindsay Kurrle.

INNOVATION | What’s a promising entrepreneurial idea worth? For both future and current UVM students the answer could easily be in the neighborhood of $200,000. This fall the university rolled out both the Vermont Pitch Challenge for high school students and the Joy and Jerry Meyers Cup for current undergrads— both designed to spur innovative ideas.

We believe in nurturing the next generation The Joy and Jerry Meyers Cup is an annual initiative to help fund the businesses of of innovators and undergraduate entrepreneurs at UVM. Announced in April by the Grossman providing them School of Business, this is the first business launch competition of its kind in Vermont and aims to help mentor and finance with the tools UVM undergraduate entrepreneurs to and mentorship create new Vermont-based business ventures. Each year over the next 10 years starting in April 2024, one grand needed to turn prize winner from the current year’s graduating class will receive $212,500 in their ideas cash plus in-kind services from corporate partners to start their business. into reality.

The Vermont Pitch Challenge is an entrepreneurial-focused competition that gives high school students from across the world in grades 10 – 12 a chance to pitch innovative and impactful business plans—all while competing for individual cash prizes and full tuition scholarships to UVM. The new program is free to enter and offers young students a unique opportunity to learn from UVM faculty and alumni as well as top entrepreneurial experts about how to write a business plan, create a compelling pitch, and achieve their ultimate career goals. The Challenge is open to high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors—as individuals or as teams of up to three people.

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Prizes will be awarded to all individual members of each of the five winning teams. Firstplace students will each earn a four-year tuition scholarship to the University of Vermont, valued at up to $180,000; second and third place winners will each receive $5,000; fourth and fifth place winners will each receive $1,000.

The competition offers ongoing opportunities for eligible entrants to develop mentorship relationships with corporate partners and improve pitches. Each application draft submission is also an opportunity to receive feedback from corporate partners who will review and send feedback following each submission.

The annual competition is funded through 2033 by Chip and Louise Meyers, representing the Meyers Family Trust, in honor of Chip’s late parents, who met as students at UVM. ANDY DUBACK

Next-Generation Research STUDENTS | The biennial Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases Conference has served as a powerful platform for scientific discovery and collaboration since its inception in 2005, led by Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine. This gathering of the world's leading regenerative medicine researchers brings together distinguished experts from academic research institutions worldwide, converging with junior investigators, fellows, and graduate students to share knowledge, exchange insights, and push the boundaries of lung biology and disease research.

Lessons in Hidden History STUDENTS | You might think a political science, sociology, and gender, sexuality, and women's studies triple-major who juggled three jobs while carrying a full course load during the past school year would want to take a break over the summer.

But, as with hundreds of UVM students who take part in summer internships and research projects, downtime was not on the agenda this year for Zane Zupan, a junior from Manchester, Vt., with a passion for LGBTQ+ history. Instead, having amassed a sizeable TikTok following over the past few years for their thoughtful commentaries on politics and current events, Zupan (who uses the pronouns they/them) applied for and received an award from UVM’s Brennan Summer Research Fellowship Fund to be used for a somewhat unconventional research project.

Called “Making Queer History Accessible to LGBTQ+ Youth During a Period of Targeted Erasure,” Zupan’s project educates viewers about key historical LGBTQ+ events, parsing them into mini history lessons tailor-made for Gen Z. “I designed the project to help make it easier for the younger generations to digest and interact with LGBTQ+ history, which is more important than ever as states across the U.S. actively work to censor this history,” Zupan says. Their goal is to provide young people, especially those in school districts and states in which virtually anything queer-related has been banned or restricted—think books, drag shows, gender-affirming care—with a reliable source of easy-to-digest LGBTQ+ history via TikTok videos.

ZANE ZUPAN

This summer, amid the esteemed experts and accomplished researchers, Vermont high school students were also granted unprecedented access to laboratories and activities designed to ignite their passion for science and inspire the next generation of stem cell researchers. During tours and demonstrations, the students observed investigators performing state-of-the-art techniques for examining lung function, including using a flexivent—a device that measures respiratory biomechanics—and applying organoids—tiny, three-dimensional tissue cultures derived from stem cells—to investigate diseases.

Henry Nasse, a senior at Essex High School, enjoyed the opportunity to explore and learn more about this cutting-edge field. Nasse recounted a prior experience in a UVM microbiology lab, where he saw a machine designed to isolate stem cells. That experience sparked Nasse’s curiosity about regenerative medicine. Along with his penchant for building robots, Nasse realized that stem cells, the fundamental building blocks of the human body, resonated profoundly with him.

“Research is an avenue to understanding,” Nasse said. “The more we learn, the greater our ability to make a positive change in the world.”

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| THE GREEN

Celebrating 50 Years of Environmental Research and Action ENVIRONMENT | In the late 1960s, long-accepted views on the health of our environment were shaken to the core. Oil spills and clear cutting of forests were altering the environment on a global scale. Anti-nuclear protests reflected public discomfort with the dangers of nuclear waste. Rachel Carson’s urgent book, Silent Spring, focused attention on chemical pollutants in the environment and called out for a new approach to the ecological web of life.

UVM responded in 1972 by creating the Environmental Program. Led by the late Carl Reidel, the program aimed at creating a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to teaching about the environment that involved colleges and researchers across the university. In 1973, the School of Natural Resources was established. In 2003, the school became the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the first named and endowed academic unit at the university, following a generous gift from the late Steve ‘61 and Beverly Rubenstein. Today the school has over 1,100 undergraduates, 120 graduate students, and more than 6,000 alumni.

Elizabeth Palchak, director of the Office of Sustainability, capped off the presentation by reviewing UVM’s first Comprehensive Sustainability Plan. Palchak said the plan—anchored by a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030— has been enthusiastically received.

“Reaction to the plan has been Today over a overwhelmingly positive,” Palchak “We’ve heard from students, quarter of UVM said. faculty, and alumni who are excited the plan and especially proud undergraduates about that the university is declaring a commitment to carbon neutrality.” are engaged in professor Lesley-Ann environmentally Geography Dupigny-Giroux, who also serves as climatologist for the state of Vermont, related majors shared details of how UVM students

The program celebrated its 50th anniversary this spring with a ceremony on April 21 at Ira Allen Chapel, and the UVM Board of Trustees heard a broad-ranging presentation at its May meeting that opened with Environmental Program Director Brendan Fisher presenting an overview of the past half-century of accomplishments for the program, describing the growth in student interest, research, scholarship, and engagement.

“Fifty years ago, UVM leaned in to creating space for the study of the environment, one of the first universities in the country to do so,” Fisher said. “Its

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Environmental Program started with four students and a vision. Today, over a quarter of UVM undergraduates are engaged in environmentally related majors and a large percentage of our research funding is related to environmental and sustainability research."

are helping town planners prepare for local climate change. Her upper-level service-learning geography seminar recently developed a naturalhazard mitigation plan for the town of Underhill.

Students from the Restoration Ecology and Community class spoke on the immersive learning taking place in UVM’s natural areas.

“More people visit the top of Mount Mansfield— one of UVM’s Natural Areas—every year than attend games at Patrick Gym,” Fisher said.

“This is our classroom. This is our lab."

BAILEY BELTRAMO

Grad Student Promise Recognized by NSF

Searching for Resilience to Sea Star Wasting Disease Sea stars, like humans, normally have a healthy community of microbes on their skin that serve as “the first line of defense” against pathogens or microbes that might try to enter the body, explains Andrew McCracken, a Ph.D. student who studies how animals adapt to deal with stressors in their environments. Problems occur when those natural microbial communities are disrupted and opportunistic microbes move in. And environmental stressors may topple the community altogether.

Since 2013, sea star wasting disease (SSWD) has wiped out about 90 percent of the giant sea stars along the West Coast.

McCracken was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to see if populations might be able to rebound. He will run a metagenomics test to identify bacteria that significantly increase with SSWD and investigate how resilient populations may be over time and under various conditions.

Adding Up The Numbers on Brain Health and Power Grids From the orbits and rotations of the planets in our solar system to the machines that BAILEY BELTRAMO, JOSH DEFIBAUGH

STUDENT SUCCESS | Graduate students are key partners in the research enterprise of the University of Vermont. Its success both fosters and grows from their spirit of inquiry. This spring, four UVM graduate students were awarded prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships.

Here are brief views of their groundbreaking work.

influence our daily lives: it’s mathematics all the way down. Tobias Timofeyev, a doctoral student in UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to use mathematical biology to study and model the neuronal connections in the human brain. The majority of neurons in the brain are excitatory, activating the electrical current that run’s through everyone’s brains. Inhibitory neurons restrict that flow and make other neurons less likely to send signals of their own. “I’m looking at models of regions in the brain and understanding how the fibers connecting them should impact the voltage of other regions,” Timofeyev says.

A common approach to modelling such activity might involve super computers.

Timofeyev, however, is extracting models from complex mathematical equations.

Uncovering the Digital Footprints of Anxiety in Young Children Right now, your smartphone—part texting device, part camera, mostly digital oracle—is collecting data. Where you go.

The number of steps it takes to get there.

Elevation climbed. Your phone listens for you to speak to Siri, the angel of search.

Data is gathered as we traipse around the Internet, inadvertently dropping cookie crumbs behind. Big data adds up. But how can it all become individually useful? For Bryn Loftness, a doctoral student in the University of Vermont’s Complex Systems and Data Science program, the answer involves getting personal with it. Loftness studies wearable technologies and develops

algorithms that can improve human health. She was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to uncover the digital phenotypes (think digital fingerprints) for internalizing disorders like anxiety and depression that often go undetected in young children. But what if a simple device could potentially flag cases early on?

Redesigning Evolution, One Robot at a Time Piper Welch, a Ph.D. student in UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, works with Professor Josh Bongard’s team of computer scientists to design and build “xenobots,” the world’s first self-replication living robots. And it isn’t a quick endeavor. Plus there isn’t a clearly defined stopping point for a xenobot’s evolution. Welch and team members aim to program the xenobots to perform a specific task—made more difficult because the xenobots have a limited range of mobility. Another problem is building the xenobots. “The process of sculpting their bodies is very time-consuming and hinders the scalability of our work,” Welch says.

“What I hope to discover is a way of controlling the behavior of biobots without having to do this—by selecting for behaviors at the swarm level.” Welch was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to do just this. One potential application for xenobots is to carry payloads like delivering chemotherapy or pain medication to a particular site.

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needn’t perform time-consuming ritual handwashing before eating them, she explains. Bagels were and remain the perfect to-go food.

Eli Davis, a nutrition sciences major leading the bagel-making portion of the class, fills four steaming pots of water with barley syrup and baking soda. The students gingerly peel raw bagels from metal trays, trying not to disturb the signature ring shape. After the bagels are boiled, coated in “everything” seasoning, and placed in the oven, Davis demonstrates how to roll and shape the dough for a second batch.

Learning with Every Bite Everything heaped onto plates and ladled into bowls is a reminder that we are shaped by the past.

At least, that is the idea behind Natalie Neuert’s course, The Jewish Diaspora in Twenty Recipes, a fusion of a cooking class and Jewish studies seminar. As both a lecturer in music and director of the University of Vermont Lane Series, she thinks about the ways culture is transmitted, often through music, across generations and geography.

But culture is passed down at the table, too. Neuert grew up consuming the food and stories that Yiddishspeaking family members shared.

“The big three things that carry a diaspora culture from place to place are music, language, and food,” Neuert explains. “When Jews went to another place, they were confronted with a different growing season, sometimes different ingredients, and the local population and what they cooked and ate. So that became hugely influential in their cuisines.”

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Neuert’s class tackled dishes like a fish curry from southwestern India.

The Malabar coast was home to Jews who fled Spanish territories after the Alhambra Decree of 1492, which forced Jews to convert to Christianity, leave the country, or be executed, Neuert explains. “I tried to come up with recipes that tell a story like that.”

One evening in May, the class sits in a circle of desks discussing the final.

They have a paper due in a week, but no one has questions about it. Instead, they parse the menu and muse about potential guests to invite. And then it’s onto the night’s agenda: bagels.

As the students tie their aprons, Neuert reminds them why bagels are a traditional Jewish food. One story holds that observant Jewish merchants needed something that wouldn’t spoil while traveling, and because bagels are boiled, they are arguably not technically bread under kosher law. This means one

Senior Joia Putnoi perches on a wooden stool by the doorway. This is the first time she has connected her Jewish roots to her studies, she says, and she is not alone. Several of her classmates describe the course as the first time they’ve examined their Judaism through an academic lens.

For Putnoi, her family has both Ashkenazi and Sephardic lineage.

She conducted an audio interview of her “Granfran” for a class project and opted for a specific location: “Where else than in the back of a cab leaving [New York’s] Chinatown?” she asks with a smile.

Putnoi’s grandmother is a secondgeneration American who grew up in Long Island. Her mother emigrated from Izmir, Turkey, in the 1920s, and her father came to America from Vienna, Austria, after surviving Dachau concentration camp in World War II. During the interview, Granfran describes her motivations for writing her memoir as a cookbook.

“I do believe in our tradition that the table is an extension of the sanctuary,” she says. “It’s really about wanting to keep that part of our culture alive.”

Class assignments have prompted students to explore family histories through food.

BAILEY BELTRAMO

ON COURSE |

I do believe in our tradition that the table is an extension of the sancuary. It's really about wanting to keep that part of our culture alive.

“That is something that students have mentioned to me that they are grateful for,” Neuert says. “It has made them more aware of the need to talk to elders, to get family recipes. … There are many sources for Jewish, Eastern European recipes that are pretty standardized. What is unique is what your bubbe put in her brisket.”

Recipes change because people make them change. Preferences change.

Health trends change. Work changes, Neuert muses. “It also changes based on the people who you live amongst. I hope that I get [students]

JEWISH FISH CURRY FROM KER AL A INGREDIENTS 1-2 lb filleted white fish ¼ cup rice flour 1 tsp turmeric Tamarind paste Ginger 3 peeled garlic cloves 1 jalapeno / spicy pepper Cilantro 1/3 cup dried coconut (unsweetened) 1/3 cup coconut milk 1-2 tomatoes S e r ving s i ze 4

1 tsp garam masala 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 6 curry leaves 1 tbsp coconut oil 1 tbsp peanut oil 1 onion

to look at all of those different things … It’s all about not taking your food for granted. It comes with a heavy, heavy history and it’s like a key and a lock—it tells a story.”

Teams of student bakers pull plump bagels from the oven. They admire their bakes and hold cell phones up to snap photos. Minutes later the bagels are sliced, smeared with cream cheese, and topped with lox, capers, and thinly sliced red onion. As students munch, Neuert delivers the course’s last lecture, on Israeli foods—one she knows is fraught with ownership issues.

“The foods we think of as Israeli are really traditional Palestinian foods and foods from other Arab lands that Jewish settlers found there,” Neuert explains. She reminds the class that the foods they will cook for the final are foods that originate from and are found throughout Arab cultures.

The night of the final, a giant glass bowl of pita dough rests covered on a table in the Marsh Food Lab. The room smells vaguely of yeast. A second bowl of raw falafel mixture

is parked beside a deep saucepan of oil. Neuert looks at her watch.

The last session of “controlled chaos” is about to start, she says.

The menu includes baby spinach salad with dates and almonds, Israeli salad, pita bread, falafel, a lemon-mint drink limonana—and tahini chocolate chip cookies.

The students divide into groups to prepare their dishes. Knives clack against cutting boards as mint and lime wheels are stacked into bright green piles.

Citrus and sugar are muddled in pitchers with wooden spoons.

“Don’t let the oil see your fear,” says a student plopping falafel balls into the fryer.

Half an hour later the teams have all diced, chopped, rolled, fried, pickled, and baked their contributions.

They carry the platters into an adjacent room and place them on a long table. Then they step back to snap photos of their handiwork before digging into the spread.

What makes this fish curry distinctly Jewish? The frying of the fish prior to adding it to the sauce, and the addition of the sweet and sour tamarind is also quite traditional in Jewish cookery.

This recipe is adapted from Esther David’s cookbook Bene Appétit: The Cuisine of Indian Jews.

D I R EC T I O N S 1. Mix rice flour with a dash of salt and pepper.

Spread across a large plate. Dip white fish so that flour adheres to both sides. Set aside.

7. In the same pan, add peanut oil and chopped onions, and brown over medium heat.

2. Break off about a 2’’ square piece of tamarind paste and pour about 1/2 cup boiling water over. Let sit. Once tamarind has softened, you can sieve to remove seeds.

8. Add tomatoes and cook about 6 minutes until they break down.

3. Make a green masala paste by blending peeled ginger, garlic cloves, jalapeno, cilantro, dried coconut, and coconut milk until a paste-like consistency. Set aside.

4. Chop onion and tomatoes into small pieces. Set aside.

5. Create spice mixture by mixing garam masala, turmeric, cumin, coriander powder, salt, and pepper. Mix together and set aside.

6. Melt coconut oil in pan until hot. Add fish. Fry 4-6 minutes until golden. Flip and repeat on other side. Remove fish to plate.

9. Add spice mixture and curry leaves.

Allow to fry in oil. Stir in tamarind and let cook for 1-2 minutes.

10. Stir in garam masala paste, coconut milk, and ½ cup water. If too dry, add more water.

11. Allow sauce to simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Taste for salt.

12. Slide fish into sauce. Cover.

Warm fish through.

13. Service with rice, raita, and/or chutney.

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UVM PEOPLE ADAM NAGLER '89 LIVING (AND PADDLING) ON THE EDGE On the night of July 28, 2023, Adam Nagler ’89 was crossing the mouth of Delaware Bay and then heading north—an open-ocean passage of 53 miles. Suddenly, the wind gusted to 35 knots, tossing big swells. Pea-sized raindrops smacked his head. For most of the night, the water and sky were tied together with lightning. Nagler clipped himself in with an emergency tether, put out a sea anchor, lay down on the deck, “and held on for dear life.”

By Joshua Brown

provides post-traumatic stress support for veterans and other mental health services. Nagler suffered depression after 9/11 and is grateful for the help he got at that time. Another reason: to be present in his life. In 2009, he got a rare infection that required open heart surgery. Then, in 2013, his mom died. Nagler was her caregiver. “I looked in the mirror one day and said, ‘If you don't do something about how you're living your life, you're going to die young from bad eating, tons of stress, sitting on the couch.’” So Nagler began creating adventures that push him to the edge of his abilities, even to the edge of survival. He calls his project the “Sufferfest Tour” and has no plans to stop.

His boat is no Coast Guard cutter. It is, he says, “a little piece of foam,”—a battered, off-the-shelf, 14-foot paddleboard like those you might see wobbling along the shore of Lake Champlain— except Nagler, 56, uses his as a seagoing vessel.

“It’s all DIY and on the cheap,” he says.

Since 2018, Nagler has covered some 3,500 miles in the Atlantic on this paddleboard. Last summer’s trip aimed to be his longest and most complex. He began at Little River Inlet, S.C., on June 25. His destination: north to Martha’s Vineyard and then finish near Montauk Point on the tip of Long Island—a passage of more than a thousand miles through dangerous shoals and currents, navigating past three capes— Fear, Lookout, and Hatteras—crossing some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Sometimes, Nagler lives on his board for six straight days, paddling for hours, catnapping when he can. He carries two rubber fenders to keep from rolling off. He wears a winter wetsuit with his GPS and other electronics strapped to his chest.

Sometimes he’s out of sight of land. He survives on liquid nutrition—and watches for sharks, whales, and quarter-mile-long container ships.

Why does he do this? One reason is to raise money for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, which

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That July night he was wide awake. He took down his light mast and stopped paddling. “You don’t want to show the sky anything,” Nagler says. “I was like, ‘If I live through this, I’m indestructible.’”

After surviving cellulitis (contracted in the first leg of the journey while portaging through an oyster-filled salt marsh for eight hours when he was blown off-course); crossing the six shipping lanes into and out of New York City; being pushed out to sea as far as 30 miles offshore by an eddy coming off the Gulf Stream; landing on Martha’s Vineyard; and, finally, making a 39-mile nonstop paddle from Rhode Island—fighting rips and standing waves tossed ashore by Hurricane Franklin—Nagler arrived at Three Mile Harbor, Long Island, on September 2, waving to his friends and living his dear life—69 days after launch.

ABOVE: SHERPA PRODUCTIONS; RIGHT: ROBIN LONDON PHOTOGRAPHY

| THE GREEN RSV is a virus that can cause acute respiratory infections in people of all ages. While the majority of infants and young children may exhibit minor cold-like symptoms from RSV, certain babies, particularly during their initial infection, can encounter more severe lower respiratory tract ailments, such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis. Premature infants and those with chronic lung conditions or notable congenital heart problems are at the greatest susceptibility to severe RSV disease.

Innovative Breakthrough Advances RSV Prevention L ARNER RESEARCHER’S C O L L A B O R AT I V E E F F O RT S O F F E R H O P E F O R I N FA N T H E A LT H .

MEDICINE | In 2022, about one in every 500 babies ages six months and younger was hospitalized due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the second leading cause of infant mortality in the U.S. But thanks to the contributions of Larner College of Medicine researcher Sean Diehl, Ph.D.’03, associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, and colleagues, this may soon no longer be the case.

In 2010, Diehl, alongside researchers at Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), made a breakthrough — they found an antibody that offers protection against this life-threatening virus for newborns.

After over a decade of tinkering and testing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alongside the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), this summer unanimously approved to recommend that the antibody drug, known as Beyfortus (nirsevimab) and dispensed through Sanofi and AstraZeneca, be incorporated into the vaccination schedule for infants under eight months of age.

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Beyfortus stands apart as a passive immunization, delivering a single dose of a long-acting monoclonal antibody that blocks RSV’s ability to infect cells.

This unique approach offers timely and direct protection against disease without requiring the activation of the immune system in the ways that traditional active immunizations or vaccines do. And research has also shown that Beyfortus additionally allows a baby’s immune system to generate its own protective responses to RSV. Behind the development of Beyfortus were two decades of work that began in 2003 in Amsterdam while Diehl was a postdoctoral fellow at Amsterdam UMC. Working with immunologist and professor of cell biology Hergen Spits, Ph.D., Diehl invented a technique—one that involved mimicking the activation process of human immune system B cells while lengthening their lifespan—that was later applied to the RSV prevention efforts.

Human B cells serve as formidable defenders, producing antibodies that shield individuals from infections like RSV, but unleashing their full potential for potent RSV antibodies has proven to be a challenging task. Diehl and his colleagues embarked on a groundbreaking journey to comprehend the intricate workings of B cells, which ultimately allowed them to replicate the activation process in the lab. This work led to a transformative discovery of four potent RSV antibodies. These antibodies held the promise of revolutionizing prevention and treatment strategies for this respiratory virus.

Discovery of potent RSV antibodies marked a pivotal advancement in the fight against RSV. This summer, Beyfortus received its final FDA and CDC approval.

The impact of this research can extend beyond RSV, to development of antibodies against other infectious diseases, including monoclonal antibody therapies for dengue, Zika, and norovirus. Monoclonal therapies for COVID-19 also gained momentum during the pandemic. Importantly, Beyfortus is approved for all infants and has been included in the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program for the winter 2023 RSV season.

DAVID SEAVER

BOOKS + MEDIA | The Progress Illusion: Reclaiming Our Future from the Fairytale of Economics Island Press, 2022

By Jon Erickson

Roma Culture on its Own Terms This summer, people of Romani origin were at the center of some long-overdue recognition and new forms of representation in Barvalo, an exhibition that offered an expansive, panoramic, and enlightening perspective on Roma history, culture, language, and society. Conceived of and co-curated by UVM’s Jonah Steinberg, associate professor of anthropology and director of global studies, the exhibition premiered at the Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Mediterranée (Mucem) in Marseille, France, on May 9 and ran through September 4.

“While there have been some museum projects focused on Roma people,” Steinberg says, “they have been few and far between and almost never at this scale with a museum of this visibility.” With a permanent collection that charts historical and cultural cross-fertilization in the Mediterranean basin, Mucem ranks among the 50 most visited museums in the world. Its collections include a total of around a million works of art, documents, and objects.

Quoted in a New York Times review of the exhibition, Steinberg said: “Too often, the Roma have been presented as not having something to display despite a very rich culture.

Today, there’s a kind of global recognition that their voices have been silenced and must be heard.”

In his latest book, UVM economist Jon Erickson explores the harsh economic realities that have led to sky-high inflation, growing inequality, polarized politics, and climate crisis. A leading voice in ecological economics, Erickson chronicles his personal journey away from traditional trickle-down economics—and even progressive concepts like “green growth” used in sustainable business circles.

“The progress illusion is a fairy tale of humanity’s place and purpose in the world," Erickson says. “It’s a story built on hyper-individualism and unlimited growth that is at odds with ecological reality and our innate sense of justice."

A Diabolical Voice: Heresy and the Reception of the Latin "Mirror of Simple Souls" in Late Medieval Europe Cornell University Press, 2023

By Justine Trombley ’09

This first book by Justine Trombley, who graduated from UVM as a history major in 2009, traces the uses of the Mirror of Simple Souls, a 14th-century work of Christian mysticism whose author, Marguerite Porete, was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake. Trombley, according to her publisher, “identifies alongside the work's increasing positive reception a parallel trend of opposition and condemnation centered specifically around its Latin translation.” A native of Swanton, Vt.,

Trombley earned her doctorate from St. Andrews University and currently teaches at Durham University in the U.K.

How to Care About Animals Princeton University Press, 2023

By M.D. Usher

Presented as new translations of ancient writers from Aesop to Ovid, with the original texts on facing pages, M.D. Usher, a Vermont farmer and the LymanRoberts Professor of Classical Languages and Literature in the Department of Geography and Geosciences, presents what his publisher calls “a Noah’s Ark of a book… a healthy litter of selections that reveal some of the ways Greeks and Romans thought about everything from lions, bears, and wolves to birds, octopuses, and snails—and that might inspire us to rethink our own relationships with our fellow creatures.”

The Unwritten Book Picador, 2023

By Samantha Hunt ‘93

UVM alum Samantha Hunt’s fifth book, originally published in 2022 and brought out in paperback this spring, combines memoir, history, family history, and literary criticism. At the center of her exploration: an incomplete manuscript of a novel, a work of fantasy, found in her father’s desk after his death. “Each chapter gathers subjects that haunt,” her publisher writes, “dead people, the forest, the towering library of all those books we’ll never have time to read or write. Hunt, like a mad crossword puzzler, looks for patterns and clues.”

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| RESEARCH AMPLIFIED

TEACHING TREES Use a mobile camera or visit go.uvm.edu/oldgrowthvid to watch Bill Keeton describe tip-ups, bear dens, and other U V M M A Gof A Zold I N E trees at a research site in Vermont.

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Lessons from Europe’s Old-Growth Forests TA L K I N G W I T H B I L L K E E TO N A B O U T T H E VA LU E O F OLD GROWTH Walking along a steep ridge, under large hemlock trees, 10 miles outside of Burlington, Vt.—Bill Keeton is worrying about Europe’s remaining old forests. He’s so concerned, in fact, that he and some colleagues wrote a letter to the journal Science— published this May—calling for rapid action to protect them.

A professor of forest ecology and forestry in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources—and a fellow in UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment—Keeton has spent decades studying old forests in New England and around the world. In recent years, he’s worked with partners in several European countries to better understand and map the remaining tracts of old forest there.

On a walk to his long-term study plots at a UVM research forest, in Jericho, Vt., Keeton spoke to UVM Magazine about both the unique wonder of Europe’s ancient trees— and his much-closer-to-campus research on how to restore the benefits of old growth in younger forests.

What’s important about Europe’s old-growth forests?

KEETON: Most people don’t realize that Europe still contains more than three million acres of old growth— ancient tracts that have stood for centuries. These remaining forests are critical reservoirs for wildlife, rare plants, and other biodiversity; they soak up and store remarkable amounts of carbon; they provide powerful protection against flooding and heat. And they’re unique, wonderful parts of natural heritage in 34 European countries from Sweden to Romania.

A few years ago, the European Union passed the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy. It calls for radically expanding their protected areas network there, building on the already impressive Natura 2000 Network. It's something Europe has that’s unlike anything in the U.S. Europe has really taken the lead globally in thinking about a continentwide system of protected areas that is representative of all ecological diversity on continent—including protecting all remaining old-growth forests. It's a visionary idea.

JOSHUA BROWN

But now it's 2023. We're supposed to achieve these goals by 2030, which is looming on the horizon. And they’ve barely made any progress. The EU has become bogged down in a bureaucratic quagmire of definitions. It's not that hard. The science is well established; we know what old-growth forests are. Now it’s time for action.

At the same time there are several EU countries doing very little to protect the critical old growth they have. It just continues to be lost and logged and cleared—while definitions are debated in Brussels. We finally have this ambitious goal of protecting all old growth by 2030. But we're going to lose a lot of it before then if we don't act now.

What should be done to protect Europe’s remaining old forests?

KEETON: Here are three recommendations.

First, we need a comprehensive and accurate inventory of the remaining old-growth forest in Europe. A few years ago, our group published some papers where we inventoried and mapped Europe’s remaining primary forests—the forests that have never been cleared. But those studies were partially a modeling exercise where we predicted where the old growth would be—as opposed to explicitly mapping it. So now we need to go to the next step: mapping every remaining stand.

The second is, simply: once we know where it is, protect it—include it within Natura 2000 sites or new protected areas. We previously estimated that this advance could be done with a relatively modest 1percent expansion of the existing protected area network. This represents only 0.3 percent of Europe’s land area.

Although the majority of old growth that remains is within some kind of protected area, less than half is strictly protected. That means they are still open for logging, and our data shows that old growth is still being cleared at alarming rates. Europe has really different protected area categories than we do in the U.S. They have places called national parks or national protected landscapes. But there’s still quite a bit of logging that happens inside of the boundaries. In countries like Romania and Sweden, the old growth is still being logged at rates that could lead to these amazing forests being gone within decades.

So, third, to prevent this from happening: a temporary moratorium on logging in those areas we predicted will hold old-growth forests until we ground truth the predictions and map it. So we don’t lose it before we know what we’ve lost.

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| THE GREEN

Greenland Was Green – More Recently Than We Thought

Research by UVM's Paul Bierman and colleagues suggests that approximately 400,000 years ago, much of Greenland may have looked like this present-day small stretch of ice-free northern landscape on the island.

CLIMATE | A large portion of Greenland was an ice-free tundra landscape—perhaps covered by trees and roaming woolly mammoths— in the recent geologic past, new UVM-led research, published in July in the journal Science, shows. These findings indicate that the ice sheet on Greenland may be more sensitive to human-caused climate change than previously understood—and will be vulnerable to irreversible, rapid melting in coming centuries.

led by UVM's Paul Bierman, a geoscientist in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and a fellow in the Gund Institute for Environment, showed that it likely melted less than one million years ago. Other scientists, working in central Greenland, gathered data showing the ice there melted at least once in the last 1.1 million years—but until this study, no one knew exactly when the ice was gone.

During the Cold War, a secret U.S. Army mission, at Camp Century in northwestern Greenland, drilled down through 4,560 feet of ice on the frozen island—and then kept drilling to pull out a 12-foot-long tube of soil and rock from below the ice. Then this icy sediment was lost in a freezer for decades. It was accidentally rediscovered in 2017 and shown to hold not just sediment but also leaves and moss, remnants of an ice-free landscape, perhaps a boreal forest.

Now, using advanced luminescence technology and rare isotope analysis, the team has created a starker picture: large portions of Greenland’s ice sheet melted much more recently than a million years ago. The new study presents direct evidence that sediment just beneath the ice sheet was deposited by flowing water in an ice-free environment during a moderate warming period from 424,000 to 374,000 years ago. This melting caused at least five feet of sea level rise around the globe.

Until recently, geologists believed that Greenland was a fortress of ice, mostly unmelted for millions of years. But two years ago, using the Camp Century ice core, a team of scientists

“It's really the first bulletproof evidence that much of the Greenland ice sheet vanished when it got warm,” says Bierman. He co-led the new study with lead author Drew Christ, a post-

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JOSHUA BROWN

doctoral geoscientist who worked in Bierman’s lab; Professor Tammy Rittenour from Utah State University; UVM professor Nicolas Perdrial in the Department of Geography and Geosciences; UVM research scientist Lee Corbett; and 16 other scientists from around the world.

Greenland’s past, preserved in 12 feet of frozen soil, suggests a warm, wet, and largely ice-free future for planet Earth.

Understanding Greenland’s past is critical for predicting how its giant ice sheet will respond to climate warming in the future and how quickly it will melt. Since about 23 feet of sea-level rise is tied up in Greenland’s ice, every coastal region in the world is at risk. The new study provides strong and precise evidence that Greenland is more sensitive to climate change than previously understood—and at grave risk of irreversibly melting off.

“Greenland’s past, preserved in 12 feet of frozen soil, suggests a warm, wet, and largely ice-free future for planet Earth,” says Bierman, “unless we can dramatically lower the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

G LO B A L R E AC H News that Paul Bierman and his colleagues had decoded a long-lost Greenland sediment core, and the disturbing message they’d found there, made headlines on media across the nation and globe, with pickup by, among others: • New York Times

• Canada News Media

• Washington Post

• The Independent (UK)

• USA Today

• France 24

• CNN

• Politico Pro

• MSN

• Nature World News

• Wired

GREENING GREENLAND Use a mobile camera or visit go.uvm.edu/greenlandvid for a video about this discovery.

• ABC Science • Scripps News • Sky News

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| C ATA M O U N T S P O RT S

A Record Win V E R M O N T ST U D E N T-AT H L E T E S E A R N NINTH AMERICA EAST ACADEMIC CUP

The Vermont Women’s Basketball went on a 17-game win streak last season, its longest since 1992. They won the America East Regular Season and Tournament Championship, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Vermont faced UConn in its first March Madness appearance since 2010 in a game nationally broadcast on ABC.

The America East Conference announced July 20th that the University of Vermont’s studentathletes secured the athletic department’s record ninth Walter Harrison Academic Cup. The Walter Harrison Academic Cup is presented each season by the conference to the institution with the best cumulative GPA among its student-athletes competing in league sports. Vermont earned the 2022-23 honor with a cumulative GPA of 3.46.

“UVM championships rally our fans far and wide, and winning the America East Academic Cup is a special point of pride for the university,” UVM President Suresh Garimella said. “Our teams consistently match academic success with athletic achievement at the highest levels. Catamounts are championship studentathletes in every sense of the phrase.”

In addition, four Vermont sports programs were recognized for having the highest cumulative GPA in their respective sports. Vermont Men’s Cross Country (3.53 GPA), Women’s Swimming & Diving (3.71), Men’s Track & Field (3.48 GPA) and Women’s Track & Field (3.62 GPA) were the top performing America East programs in their sport.

“Capturing the America East Academic Cup for the ninth time in school history is a

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tremendous honor and testament to the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff,” UVM Director of Athletics Jeff Schulman said. “I want to specifically recognize my three colleagues who serve as academic advisors: Cathy Rahill, Namik Sevlic, and Jess Cassotis. Academic success has been a hallmark of UVM Athletics throughout our history, and this announcement, along with the tremendous competitive success enjoyed by so many Catamount teams, recognizes our efforts at achieving excellence in all that we do.”

The Academic Cup was established by the America East Board of Directors in 1995. The award was named for longtime University of Hartford President Walter Harrison in 2017. America East student-athletes averaged a 3.37 GPA overall in 2022-23, the secondhighest in conference history. All nine America East institutions averaged better than a 3.19 GPA in 2022-23. It’s the 18th consecutive year America East studentathletes have averaged better than a 3.0 GPA. “It’s fantastic that our student-athletes have been recognized for their tremendous work in the classroom,” said Rahill, associate athletic director for student-athlete development and academic affairs. “I’m constantly inspired by their ability to excel academically while juggling demanding athletic schedules. I’d also like to congratulate our coaches who do everything they can to support the academic goals of their players.”

BRIAN FOLEY

| THE GREEN

From Housekeeping to Research STA F F M E M B E R R E F L EC T S O N 4 0 Y E A R S AT U V M STAFF | It was 1983 when then-20-year-old Lynn Willette began working as a housekeeper for Residential Life at UVM. Ronald Reagan was president; Sally Ride became the first American woman to go into space that year; and a gallon of gas cost $1.24.

A lot has changed since then, for Willette and for UVM. “It seems like I started here yesterday— but then again, on some days it feels more like 100 years,” said Willette of her four decades working at UVM. Those early days as a housekeeper turned into seven years, until a new job opened in UVM’s glassware facility (now long closed). “I went from cleaning up after students to cleaning test tubes and glassware used in the laboratories,” a job she kept for 10 years before her career took yet another turn.

I was able to advance throughout the years, and it's one of the things I like about UVM.

“I feel that I lucked out,” says Willette of her next opportunity, working as a research assistant in microbiology and molecular genetics. Her reputation for hard work and thoroughness played a role in getting the job. And her reputation for excellence earned her the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Excellence in Staff Support Award at the height of the pandemic in 2020. The award recognizes exceptional work in the eyes of the recipient’s colleagues, supervisors, and people they serve.

Her positive attitude is evident in the enthusiasm she demonstrates for her work. “I love my job,” Willette says—a good thing given the fact that she has done it for over half of her 40 years at UVM. “Every day is different and that’s what I really like about it.”

ADAM WHITE

That’s not to say there haven’t difficult times, too. Two years ago, she suffered a medical event that kept her out of work for three months. She recovered and is doing well now, but the time away from her work remains fresh in her mind.

“Between my sick time and benefits, I was able to heal, but I missed it,” she said. According to Willette, the university’s support, in terms of sick leave and time off policies, made a real difference in her recovery and return to work. “I was ready to come back,” she says.

On any given day, Willette can be found in Stafford Hall ordering materials, prepping cultures, and decontaminating tools for the 350 students taking labs. It’s mostly behind-the-scenes work, but she enjoys the variety of tasks she performs. “You have to be respectful of what you’re working with and use common sense, but it’s a fun job,” she said, adding that she especially likes it when students take the time to say hello and thank her for preparing materials for them to use in the lab.

Forty years in the same workplace is astonishing, even for Willette—who sees younger generations changing jobs “it seems like every six, nine or 12 months these days.” For her, longevity is important and there is a reason she has stayed at UVM for four decades.

“I was able to advance throughout the years, and it’s one of the things I like about UVM,” she said. “There’s opportunity.”

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Celebrating the Fleming as a Gateway to the Arts THE ARTS | This fall, the Fleming Museum marks joining UVM’s new School of the Arts with the first-ever group exhibition featuring the work of faculty members from the school’s studio art program. Bridging the artist’s studio and the museum space, PRAXIS: Recent Work by Studio Art Faculty at UVM provides a unique opportunity for members of the university and local and regional communities to discover and explore the creative work of UVM’s current teaching artists.

The exhibition brings together an array of artworks, in different media, created by 15 established and emerging artists. Each artist’s work has a distinct presence in the exhibition while, at the

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same time, generating meaningful relationships with other works shown in the galleries.

The works in this exhibition invite exploration of praxis as an approach to art making and more. “Praxis” is a term for a reflective process of thinking and making through which artists can nurture transformative change in their work, in the world and the self, and in their students’ lives. The exhibition opens thinking about how the acts of making art and teaching can shape each other and what it means, right now, to be a teaching artist at UVM. Across the Marble Court from PRAXIS, a new exhibition explores how art objects can illuminate the many ways in which place matters to the human experience. Art can give visual form and material expression to human connection to place.

So too, art can reveal different ways that humans have and continue to imbue places with meaning.

CODY SILFIES

Grounded in these ideas, Art and the Matter of Place presents a small, compelling group of works from the Fleming’s collections. Through contemplation of form and materials, these objects encourage critical thinking about place and why it matters.

A photograph of a marble quarry, for example, can evoke reflection on human interactions with material environments and natural resource extraction. A jar can offer insights about traditional cultural, geographical, and ecological knowledge of place. And additional objects can expand thinking about human attachment to place and more.

Fleming staff are increasingly thinking about issues of place. As part of their ongoing Fleming Reimagined effort, they are considering how to make the museum a more welcoming and inclusive place for everyone. They are also reflecting on the museum’s colonialist history of collecting and displaying objects: practices that involved removing objects from places where

they were originally made and used and where they formed an integral part of cultural life.

This work of reimagining the ways in which objects are displayed in the museum has its most ambitious installation to date in the museum’s new Collections Gallery. Over the course of this past summer, the small but productive Fleming team—composed of staff and interns—has made significant changes to this gallery which, at one time, housed the museum’s geo-centric European and American Gallery. These changes include improvements to the physical space of the galleries and a complete reinstallation of art objects drawn from across the Fleming’s collections—both of which aim to make the Collections Gallery a more welcoming and inclusive space for everyone to enjoy.

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LISTENING TO

LEVIATHANS Laura May-Collado plunges into the depths of a 50-year-old myster y: why do humpback whales sing?

Stor y & Photography by Joshua Brown

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C

all me wishful. Some two miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, in a fiberglass fishing boat, researcher Laura May-Collado scans the horizon. She’s hunting for humpback whales in this warm and watery part of the world. And I’m looking around too, tipsy on antisea-sickness medicine, hoping to see a white whale, perhaps breaching above the waves like the second coming of Moby Dick.

I do have reason for faint hope. While it’s true that only three white humpback whales have ever been reported in the real world, May-Collado told me a fourth was spotted last October—a baby one, perhaps an albino, the first ever seen in Costa Rica. And a few days ago, there were reports that the young whale had returned to these same coastal waters. “There’s a chance

This adult humpback likely migrated 5,000 miles from Antarctica. On its dorsal fin, three whale barnacles have hitched a ride. Some whales carry hundreds of pounds of barnacles, seemingly without trouble. If male, this whale came here to sing and mate; if female, she came here to mate, give birth, and nurse her young—until the calf grows fat enough on milk to make its first swim south.

we might see it,” May-Collado told me. But so far this morning—no white humpback. In fact, we’ve seen no whales of any color or kind. Still, we’re only in the first half-hour of this scientific expedition and we have more than 200 ocean miles to travel over the next three days.

May-Collado is an evolutionary biologist at UVM, an expert on the acoustics of aquatic animals, a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and chair of a committee of scientific advisors to the Society of Marine Mammalogy. She doesn’t use a harpoon—her best hunting tools are her ears.

As the boat buzzes and roars over the surging sea, May-Collado opens a Pelican case, takes out a digital recorder, a hydrophone on a long cable, a blue speaker, and some other electronics— then she connects them all together and signals

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to Junior Monge, the captain, to stop. He cuts the engine and now the sounds are wind and splashing. Hand over hand, May-Collado lowers the hydrophone into the azure water and holds the speaker to the side of her head for several long minutes, like a giant Lego version of a cell phone. She’s listening for the famed songs of humpback whales—but she doesn’t hear any.

“There are no males singing right now—maybe they're more towards Caño Island,” she says.

“That’s surprising. It’s late August and we usually hear singing almost every hour of the day.”

To hear and record the whales (and dolphins too) is a primary reason May-Collado stands in the center of this boat, transformed from petite 52-year-old assistant professor into some kind of ocean-going superhero, her bookish spectacles hidden behind bug-like sunglasses, a purple

facemask over her nose and ears to fend off the fierce sun, an all-black lycra Aqua Lung suit— and a baseball hat with UVM in pink letters.

“I have many questions,” she says. “One interest is to find out how important different areas in the ocean are for humpback whales.” She relies on sound for this work because it lets her probe into the darkness with the very same sense that these animals rely on for communication— plus it’s cheaper than chasing them with boats or airplanes (though drones are becoming a powerful new tool). “I can leave sensors underwater for months at time—listening for them singing—which gives me a better picture of when the males arrive, when they leave, and how many there are in a particular place.”

Then she goes back to her UVM lab where she and her students run models to estimate the density of whales in the larger region. “That's

very important because it tells us about changes in time and space and how whales use tropical habitat,” she says. “As the climate changes and the oceans get noisier, the whales change too.”

But underneath this applied conservation question runs a perhaps deeper one. “I just like to figure out how things work,” May-Collado says. “I'm fascinated about how these animals evolve such a complex repertoire of signals and songs.” Then she pauses, and says, more slowly, “And what are they there for?”

The short answer: “After 50 years of collecting data,” May-Collado says, “nobody knows why humpback whales sing.”

While the boat surges and drops over each wave, May-Collado’s longtime research partner, Jose Palacios-Alfaro—an independent Costa Rican Savegre de Aguirre

Platanillo

Costa Rica Ballena Marine National Park Uvita

Pacific Ocean

Ojochal

Coronado

scientist everyone calls Pala—stands tall on the prow, a living masthead, effortlessly balancing with his bare feet while holding a large camera. He points out Widow Rock, which means we’re at the border of Ballena Marine National Park, about 13,000 saltwater acres, a triangular wedge of strict protection in one the richest marine ecosystems in the world that stretches for hundreds of nearshore miles.

These waters provide haven for two populations of humpback whales that migrate here to mate, give birth, and nurse their young. One small and endangered group travels south from California beginning in December. But the whales seen at this time of year are a larger and more robust population that traveled north from Antarctica and Chile. They’re known by the romantic name Breeding Stock-G (BSG), one of 14 distinct global populations of humpbacks, a species found in every ocean basin in the world. These BSG whales MAPS COURTESY OF GOOGLE

Camibar

Caño Island Biological Reserve

Research Path Strictly Protected Area 0

5 mi

Osa Pennisula

10 mi

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spend the austral summer in the rich waters of the Antarctic Peninsula, filter-feeding thousands of pounds of tiny krill shrimp and fish each day, laying on tons of fat to make the 5,000-mile journey to Costa Rica, one of the longest mammal migrations in the world.

And, at 11:44 a.m., we spot a whale. Well, actually, I hear it before I see it, a faint hiss in the distance and then a thin black dorsal fin slicing between us and the shore. As the boat veers to follow it, the whale disappears under the surface, and we slow down and then stop near a large glassy patch of ocean it left behind. There’s a pregnant period of quiet scanning, rocking, waiting. Suddenly, a huge snorting spray and mass surfaces right next to our boat. “Look, look, look,” says MayCollado. It’s not one whale; it’s a mother and baby, rising like two arching serpents from the deep. Sibilant water rockets from the mom’s double blowholes, a beautiful compressive blast that reminds me of the most basic and miraculous fact about whales: they breathe air.

we don't know yet, despite all these years of research...we don't know yet the purpose of the song itself.

E

arly the next morning, we collect oxygen tanks at a nearby scuba shop and then push the boat off the beach in a silver mist. We’re running southwest in a slice of sunshine between marshmallow clouds that pour over the forested mountains on shore and a row of rain clouds on the horizon.

Yesterday, we spotted dolphins and several groups of humpbacks, including an aggressive male trying to get between a mother and her baby, perhaps a subdominant youngster with lusty dreams. He was soon sent packing. But May-Collado didn’t hear any males singing, so today the hunt continues, farther out to sea: we’re heading to Caño Island, a hotspot for

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humpbacks some nine miles offshore, but about 30 pitching miles from where we launched.

At 10:20 a.m., some dolphins cruise into view and we stop to look and listen. It’s a group of about 15 pantropical spotted dolphins, MayCollado says, one of three dolphin species we’ve seen. Pala and the other member of this team, Ana Lucía Rodriguez Tinoco, a professional underwater photographer, quickly don snorkel masks and fins to swim out to the dolphins, while May-Collado drops a hydrophone in the water to listen to their whistles and clicks— “and I can hear a humpback singing as well,” she says and hands me the speaker to listen.

As the crow flies—or, rather, as the frigatebird flies—Laura May-Collado was born about 30 miles from here in the tiny village of Palma Sur, where her father worked for banana companies.

“I grew up in the middle of nowhere,” she says. “I was always on the boundary between forests and plantations, and every night it was a cacophony of sounds. I wanted to know: what animal is making that sound? My passion is sound.” Then, in college, she took a field biology course where a huge group of dolphins came close. “I could hear these amazing sounds from the boat—and I was hooked,” she says. “I had to figure out what was the role of sound in the life of these animals—dolphins, whales, manatees, fish; they all make so many sounds that we’re just beginning to understand.”

As I put the blue speaker to my ear, I begin to understand her passion: the dull roar of wind and engine gives ways to a phantasmagoric undersea-scape of rising squeals, cow-like grunts, longing squeaks, yowls, growls, and guttural groaning. It’s musical and discordant, familiar and utterly strange. It sounds like Chewbacca with a kazoo was given a part in 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is a song that only the male humpback whale can sing.

And song seems to be the right way of describing this noise—not language. Perhaps there will be the uncovering of precise, descriptive communications in humpback songs, but probably not. Like a choir, the male humpback whales in any breeding area learn to sing together. Whatever it’s for, it’s intensely social. “The males will first arrive and they begin to sing slightly different songs, but then by mid-season they merge into the same song—and then everybody's singing the same song,” May-Collado says.

Herman Melville believed that whales could neither smell nor speak. “The whale has no voice,” he wrote in 1851. But, in 1967, marine biologist Roger Payne discovered that humpbacks actually have a great deal to say. The release of his haunting recordings, as an LP record in 1970, electrified people around the world by showing that the whale’s underwater world was alive with many voices, "exuberant, uninterrupted rivers of sound," Payne wrote. Songs of the Humpback Whale remains the best-selling nature sound record of all time and helped usher in radical changes in how many people viewed whales—from ferocious, mindless undersea monsters to gentle and wise undersea giants.

A complex scientific perspective on humpback whales lies somewhere other than either of these views—but the change came just in time.

The 19th-century’s wooden whale boats and, later, steamers armed with rocket-powered harpoons and bombs killed tens of thousands of whales—far beyond what could be sustained.

This history of slaughter was compounded by the diesel-powered, whale-hunting factory ships that set out after the Second World War and peaked their harvests in the 1960s. In 1973, humpback whales were listed under the Endangered Species Act. By this time, many whale species were profoundly depleted and several critically imperiled. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission finally imposed a moratorium on whaling around the world, which has allowed many populations to survive and some to recover—including the humpbacks that now pass by our boat.

Last night, I was a bit deflated when MayCollado told me that we would see no white whale—she had gotten a text that it had been spotted off Peru, much too far for us to have any hope of it showing here at Caño Island.

But my daydream of the mystical wonder of the white whale—an inversion, perhaps, of Ahab’s nightmares—has been given a useful drubbing by seeing normal whales in the flesh.

At 10:43 a.m., a whale surfaces so close that its 30-ton mass makes the boat feel puny.

A curving ridge of gouged blue-black skin, sheeting with water—a momentary sculptural waterfall, frothing at the bottom. I hold my breath as it rises, its dorsal fin adorned with several large barnacles. The back edge of the fin shows raw and red, and, along its flank, round white scars from barnacles now scraped

off. I later learn that the parallel grooves and many long furrows across a whale’s skin may come from the sharp barnacles as males push against each other in a competitive scrum, seeking top position with ovulating females; or when mothers try to defend their calves from killer whales looking for lunch; or, if

they’re lucky, from ships that strike but don’t kill them. It’s no musical picnic out here.

Maybe the whales sing to calm their nerves.

“But we don't know yet, despite all these years of research,” May-Collado says, “we don't know yet the purpose of the song itself. Is it primarily to attract females or is it primarily to discourage physical competition? We don't know that.” There have been a few studies where scientists play recordings of humpback whale songs and females don’t necessarily come closer—but males do. Other studies show that males tend to sing more when there are more females around. “It’s possible that the song has at least two functions,” May-Collado says. Perhaps males use singing to size up their competition: a larger humpback’s song emits at a lower frequency. “Oh, you’re bigger, better stay away,” says May-Collado. And females might be able to listen to singing to evaluate a male or several males at the same time—without having to set eyes on the guys.

SONGS OF THE SEA Use your mobile camera or visit go.uvm.edu/ whalesongs to hear a recording of male humpback whales—the same songs that UVM Prof. Laura May-Collado is listening to, and recording, in this photo.

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The two tail flukes of a humpback are an iconic symbol of whalehood. The animal uses them to plunge deep in search of food or to smack the surface of the water—another form of communication. Each humpback has a unique pattern on its flukes that lets marine biologists identify individuals— and where they have traveled—through photographs shared on a global database.

A humpback whale can see and smell and has an exquisite sense of touch; a humpback can even detect the pee of other whales in the water.

But its most developed sense is hearing. You can see it in a whale’s brain and body: their auditory centers are extensive and their ears and sound-producing organs are highly specialized for underwater communication. Toothed whales, like sperm whales, use high-pitched pulses of sound as sonar to navigate and hunt, while baleen whales, especially humpbacks, are fantastically perceptive of low-frequency noises. “Sound is more convenient because they can do it at depth, they can do it where it's dark and still maintain contact with one another and coordinate activities. They can separate relatively long distances and still hear each other,” May-Collado says. In fact, the lowest pitches of humpback song travel thousands of miles, allowing them to communicate with each other across an entire ocean basin.

Which helps explain why their songs remain a mystery. Mostly humpback singing is heard in breeding areas, but sometimes they sing

in feeding areas too, or while migrating. “We need to see how whales are arranged in a space when they're singing to be able to say how the song connects to behaviors,” MayCollado says, “to see females move and respond to the male songs.” But a whale is a huge animal with a huge underwater movement pattern—and sonic connections that may be miles apart but intimately close. “It's not like with birds where you can tag them, and you know where their territories are, and you can see where the males are singing, and how the others respond, and when the female arrives,” says May-Collado. “With these guys, you can't—not even with a drone.”

T

he next day, our last out on the ocean, Caño Island again blinks into view, a low gray cigar against a darker gray storm cloud.

The rain seems to be sweeping away from us to the northeast, and, as we draw closer, the sun begins to catch the tropical trees, rocky outcrops, empty beaches—and one low hut under the palms (the ranger station, it turns out). Having moved on from Moby Dick, I’m trying not to think about Robinson Crusoe or, a worse cultural blunder, Gilligan’s Island.

Next year, in this marine protected area and other places off Costa Rica and Panama, MayCollado hopes that she and her students will be able to attach acoustic recording tags to a number of whales—with suction cups—to see what she can learn from hearing and tracking whales at the same time.

Plus, this new tag technology will allow her to deepen her investigations into female humpback sounds, some of the first ever conducted. “For a very long time, we thought that females just didn't produce sound,” MayCollado says. “Usually when you are with a female and a calf and you use a hydrophone, you don't hear anything.” But the mothers have reason to speak quietly with their calves, trying not to draw attention from males who might harm the youngsters, or from killer whales who would happily eat a humpback calf. The attached tags will allow her to hear their subtle sounds.

“We've ignored how females communicate,” May-Collado tells me. “Males take all the central stage because they have these beautiful songs, while females are very quiet. They don't

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sing, but they do produce other sounds to communicate. Do they use them with just their babies? Or maybe they use them when there are other females around? We don’t know.”

After Junior’s delicious lunch of fresh tuna salad and even fresher coconut—he hacks them open with a machete while still driving the boat (he’s a lifelong fisherman, turned tourist-boat operator, turned scientific navigator with exceptional whale-spout scouting skills)—the team turns to scuba diving. Pala deployed one sound trap near this island nine months ago—where it samples and records frequently, giving a long-term record of a soundscape changing through the seasons.

Now it’s time to bring it up from the bottom.

Pala and Ana Lucía Tinoco hoist heavy tanks onto their backs, secure masks and oxygen regulators to their faces, take a backward flop from the boat’s edge—and disappear under the opaque silver surface. A few minutes later, May-Collado and I follow them with masks and snorkels. The transformation from above the water to below is stunning; it’s like the air world was painted by a sober decorator taken with flat gray—and the underwater world was built by Playmobil. A riot of purple and yellow fish swirls between towering columns of pink coral; a six-foot shark tools slowly along a glittering canyon; and a stream of luminous bubbles comes up from where the divers are collecting the trap. Maybe the whales sing for the wonder of being a mammal under the sea.

ONE OF THE KEY THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN LEARNING IS THAT WHALES ARE LEARNING. LEARNING NEW SONGS FROM EACH OTHER AND THEN PASSING THEM ALONG.

O

n a sultry Friday afternoon in September, on the second floor of Marsh Life Science, Franny Oppenheimer and Megan O’Connor—both UVM class of 2024 and in an accelerated master’s program—as well as fourth-year Ph.D. student Maia Austin, sit at silent computers watching sounds scroll across the screen. Oppenheimer explains that what I’m looking at is a spectrogram.

“It’s basically a picture of sound,” she tells me, pointing at a double panel of orange and yellow lines spiking upward. “This is how we visualize the whale songs.”

From left, graduate student Maia Austin, Franny Oppenheimer ‘24, Prof. Laura May-Collado, and Megan O’Connor ’24 examine the sonic signature of a male whale.

These spectrograms help the team uncover the intricate musical structure of humpback noises—looking for clues about what these songs might be saying.

Last year, Oppenheimer took a research course with Professor May-Collado where students learned to analyze selections from the more than three million minutes of marine animal sounds May-Collado has collected from around the world—contributing directly to her burgeoning research program. This fall, the next cohort of undergraduates in this course will begin to analyze the sounds and songs collected in the long-term sound traps and short-term sound recorders May-Collado brought home to Vermont from Costa Rica a few weeks ago.

Though, really, what home means to MayCollado is complicated. “I’ve lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, and raised my kids here, but I’m FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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After months on the floor of a coral reef at Caño Island, Costa Rica, a sound trap brought to the surface is examined by Prof. Laura May-Collado.

What’s recorded inside will yield sonograms like the one shown here, and—the UVM scientist hopes— more secrets about the communication of dolphins, fish, and whales.

still an outsider,” she says. Being a Costa Rican woman scientist who speaks English as a second language, came to UVM as a post-doctoral researcher, had two children, eventually landed a lecturer position—and then made the rare leap from lecturer to a tenure-track appointment in the Department of Biology in middle age has been profoundly challenging.

She says she’s had many great advocates and mentors along this path—including UVM Associate Professor of Biology Sara Helms Cahan—which may explain why Oppenheimer and the other students in the lab are quick to say she’s got their back. “We were first-year

themes. And the songs themselves, like a Grateful Dead concert, can be sung, over and over again, for many hours in a “song set.”

students and she made us uncross our arms and power pose,” recalls O’Connor. “She’s very big on female empowerment,” says Oppenheimer.

the last half-century: these songs evolve. “One of the key things that we've been learning is that whales are learning. Learning new songs from each other and then passing them along, horizontally,” May-Collado says. Males may drop or add a unit, chop out a phrase or even add an entirely new theme. Then other males in their group will do the same, converging on one song, but changed from the year before. Their song—their communication—is being changed by culture. Usually this is a gradual morphing of the melody over years, allowing geographically separated populations of humpbacks to develop dramatically different songs.

In 1971, Roger Payne made a case that the male humpback’s sounds should be called songs because of their repetitive, music-like structure: the whales make short sounds, which he called “units,” that, like the letters in the alphabet, can be combined into longer repeated phrases.

And the phrases nest into themes—and each song, some as long as a half-hour, is composed of a set of repeated themes. The humpbacks from Antarctica that we watched have a song with a modest four themes—not as sparse as the two-themed song of the California whales, but not as ornate as other populations in the world that can have eight or more

38 | U V M M A G A Z I N E

May-Collado and her students spend a lot of time identifying, cataloging, and analyzing these pieces of humpback song. And, more recently, applying machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to this task.

Oppenheimer is aiming to build a “kind of dictionary,” she says, of humpback whale noise, looking at the smallest units—that mysterious alphabet. “There are about 35,” she says, pointing at a small set of nearly horizontal lines on the screen. The “whale lab,” as the students call this place, has contributed to an important discovery that’s been made over

But, like wandering minstrels, sometimes males will move into another group and bring a new unit or theme—or even an entirely new song.

May-Collado has been recording humpbacks in Costa Rica since 2016 and shared some of her recordings with her colleague Renata SousaLima in Brazil. “And they noticed that one of the themes that was very popular in 2018 in Brazil was now in Costa Rican whales. How did it make it here—from the Atlantic to the Pacific?” May-Collado asks. “We don't know yet!

Is it possible that a whale from Brazil went to Antarctica to feed and then decided, ‘Oh, I'm going to go around and check out this other region,’ and brought this new element, and our whales added that theme to the song?” And sometimes evolution becomes revolution. In 1996, a marine biologist in Australia noticed that a male on the east coast was singing the west coast song. Two years later, all the

is why her team has set song recorders along that path. While we were in Costa Rica, Franny Oppenheimer was doing the same thing, as a summer field job, dropping hydrophones into waters off Panama. “We’re looking to see if we actually find that acoustic overlap and if that also translates into gene flow,” May-Collado says. “This would be, perhaps, the only place in the world where two hemisphere humpback populations exchange genes and songs.”

east coast males had ditched their song and had taken up the new melody. And research published last year shows that humpbacks transmit their songs from Australia to French Polynesia and on to the Pacific coast of Ecuador.

New whale music may go right around the globe this way, creating, the scientists write, “vocal culture rivalled in its extent only by our own.”

are evolving new songs that are going to be successful and attractive to females.”

May-Collado wonders if the same kind of cultural transmission could happen at Caño Island—except between north and south.

“We love Costa Rica because it's a place where northern and southern hemisphere whales use the same habitat but at slightly different times of the year,” she says. “But over time, we have noticed that there's more and more potential for overlap between the two populations.” Which

It's a general principle of biology that innovation is important. And that’s true in animal communication. “The more novel or complex your song is—the more attractive it becomes. That’s been shown in birds,” May-Collado says. “It could be that whales

A hydrophone comes out of the sea. Like a microphone in the air, these ceramic devices produce a small electrical current when underwater pressure changes—letting scientists record whales singing far off, even miles out of sight.

As children, we’re all fascinated by nature, May-Collado believes, “dinosaurs or flowers or bats or snakes. And that goes away later when you grow up and have to pay your bills,” she says. “At some point, we all had a very deep connection.

What will waken us?” she wonders. Perhaps a song will, even if we don’t yet know what it means. “It can remind you that you're connected to the natural world,” May-Collado says. “You're not living in isolation.”

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BEYOND

OPIOI

It seems like an old story now. Painkillers prescribed by a well-meaning doctor that lead to addiction and a deadly downward spiral.

In the early days of the nation’s opioid epidemic, it seemed everyone knew someone who lost someone to a bottle of little white pills. Two decades later, the storyline has changed, and yet stubbornly remained the same—people are dying, and they don’t have to.

By Kristen Munson

DS

I

t starts with a flood. In the mid-’90s, the introduction of oxycontin, a narcotic painkiller heavily—and falsely—marketed to physicians to treat patients without the risk of addiction, set off a cascade of death.

Regions of the United States blanketed with prescriptions quickly became plagued with addiction. And when prescriptions ran out, people turned to illicit sources like heroin.

In Vermont, Governor Peter Shumlin devoted his 2014 State of the State to address the rising rates of opiate addiction. That year, there were 63 overdose deaths in Vermont. Shumlin called for treating addiction as a chronic illness and expanding drug treatment. He cited Vermont’s innovative huband-spoke model—developed in 2011 by John Brooklyn ’79—as a path forward. The model integrates medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) into primary care settings using a system of hubs—sites that could distribute methadone, an effective but highly regulated medication— and spokes—providers in general medical settings who could prescribe buprenorphine, a medication with fewer restrictions. The move helped eliminate waitlists for treatment in Vermont.

“Within four years of Shumlin’s speech Vermont had the highest per capita number of people on medications in the country,” says Rick Rawson ’70, Ph.D. ’74, a research professor at the University of Vermont’s Center on Behavior and Health. “Vermont really is viewed nationally as a leader in how aggressively opioid use disorder was addressed.”

It still is. Vermont ranks first in the nation for the percentage of adults with OUD on either methadone or buprenorphine.

“No other state comes close,” Brooklyn says.

The Start Treatment and Recovery program at the UVM Medical Center was started to connect people with opioid use disorder when they may be open to treatment: at the emergency department.

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But it may not have been enough. In recent years overdose rates have risen as subsequent waves of addiction became more complex. And the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help. People lost their housing and jobs. Some individuals in treatment had to scramble and shift clinics.

Overdose rates soared. Last year, 244 Vermonters died of opioid overdoses—the most ever—and 2023 appears to be another record-breaking year.

So, after a decade of taking the problem seriously, why are we here?

“I like to think we built a system that could survive a hurricane,” Brooklyn says. “We have access points all over.

We weren’t prepared for a tsunami.”

The pandemic overlapped with another killer wending its way to Vermont—the introduction of fentanyl, a narcotic pain reliever 50 times more potent than heroin, into the illicit drug supply.

“With fentanyl, the margin of error is just so small that two milligrams will get you high, three milligrams will kill you,” Rawson explains. “It looked like the hub-and-spoke turned the numbers down … then fentanyl changed the rules. ... We’ve had to recalibrate.”

Last year, 93 percent of Vermont’s opioidrelated overdoses involved fentanyl compared to just 11 percent in 2011. And increasingly, street supplies are cut with harmful fillers like xylazine, a powerful sedative for veterinary uses, and gabapentin, an anticonvulsant, that

reduce the effectiveness of drugs like naloxone (also called Narcan) that can reverse a person’s overdose. The side effects range from depressed breathing to skin sores that rot flesh.

The pervasiveness of fentanyl in the drug supply has also made gold-star medication treatments less effective. People who use fentanyl while on buprenorphine, for example, can go into painful withdrawal.

“Buprenorphine—which was highly effective against heroin—is much less effective in the fentanyl era,” Brooklyn says. “So, for many people, methadone becomes their only option. And then it’s a lot more difficult because you have to go to a hub. You can’t go to your primary care provider or do a televisit and go to a pharmacy to pick it up.”

The timing is unfortunate. We are in the fatigue phase of the current drug epidemic, Rawson explains. The early overdose fatalities were often tied to prescription opioid misuse, and the problem affected the old and young. People with successful careers. Kids with bright futures.

“The people dying [now] are the more chronic, long-term, unhoused, mentally ill people who have been wrestling with their addiction now for a long time,” Rawson says. “The folks who aren’t the children of leaders in the community. And it’s [easier] to ignore the fact these folks are dying.”

But they deserve to live, too.

ACCIDENTAL AND UNDETERMINED OPIOID-RELATED FATAL OVERDOSES IN VERMONT

223 203

RX Opioid (No fentanyl) 139

Heroin 100

42 | U V M M A G A Z I N E

34

35

30

50

47

22

22

20 22

35

30

43

20 21

28

37

20 19

12

17

42

20 18

6

26

69

20 17

5

20

43

98

20 16

9

49

33

34

20 15

9

45

20 14

20 10

1

37

20 13

4

42

20 12

33

20 11

76

40

20 20

Fentanyl

SOURCE: VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

CAPITALIZING ON EMERGENCIES This is what drives Roz King ’14, M.S.N.’19, a clinical nurse and director of research in the UVM Department of Emergency Medicine.

She has witnessed dozens of patients take their first steps towards recovery in the emergency department through the Start Treatment and Recovery (STAR) program.

The idea is to capitalize on moments when a person is receptive to treatment.

In 2018, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded King and Dan Wolfson, M.D. ’00, an associate professor of medicine at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, a grant to develop STAR, to initiate patients onto buprenorphine in the emergency department and funnel them into treatment in their community upon discharge.

“Initially we did envision that the people we would enroll would be patients who overdosed and were brought into the emergency department,” King says. “And we did have some of those patients. But this is where the teaching hospital aspect comes in.”

Most STAR patients came from referrals by hospital staff or surfaced by research coordinators like Jackson Lyttleton ’22 who screen patient medical records for eligibility in studies. In the past, people who wanted medication-assisted treatment made appointments with providers or walked into clinics. But for some people, the moment they decide to seek help may not occur during regular business hours.

“Addiction is messy and difficult,” King explains.

The STAR program addresses the gap outside the hours of 9 to 5. “What is more low-barrier than an emergency department? We are always there.”

In 2022, SAMHSA awarded King’s team a five-year, $3.7 million grant to expand STAR treatment to include prescribing methadone. The goal is to enroll 312 people by the end of year five. At year one, they are already far ahead of their goals.

“It’s a much bigger need than we anticipated,” she says. “[Overdose deaths are] continuing to rise, and so that is why programs like this are so important to get people the help right when they need it.”

The STAR team brings peer recovery coaches,

addiction specialists, psychiatrists, physicians, and nurses together to find ways to streamline intake processes and improve outcomes in a population where successes can be a long time coming. Lyttleton spends his days scanning medical records, visiting patients, and connecting with study participants. His job is to make starting treatment as easy as possible. And he stays in touch with participants for months after they are discharged from the hospital.

Lyttleton’s role is critical because of the personal interactions and trust he builds with patients.

Roz King ’14, MSN’19, director of research in the UVM Department of Emergency Medicine, listens to members of the STAR team discuss the plan for contacting a patient about treatment.

"I like to think we built a system that could survive a hurricane.

We have access points all over. We weren’t prepared for a tsunami."

“What I try to convey to the patient is that no matter what has gone on before … all I care about is helping them get into treatment, if that is what they want,” he says.

Participants receive harm reduction kits— drawstring bags with Narcan, sharps containers, tourniquets, alcohol wipes, antibiotic ointment, FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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toothpaste, and information about where to go for further help. STAR 2.0 puts peer recovery coaches in more of a starring role.

The STAR program has also helped change the perceptions about substance use by clinic staff, too. People like herself, King admits.

“It’s all well and good for me to go in there as someone with a ton of privilege … saying ‘you can do this! Just take this medicine and come back!’” King says. “What do I know? I’ve read about it in textbooks, and I’ve written about it myself, but I can’t speak to that. Whereas our peer recovery coaches have that lived experience.

There is nothing more authentic than someone who can genuinely say they’ve been there.”

“I remember when we first started giving out Narcan in the emergency department,” she recalls. “This is way before STAR, and I am embarrassed to say I was one of those nurses who said, ‘Why should we be giving that?’

And the reason is because these are human beings, and we should be saving their lives.”

"These are regular people.

They’re not doing it because they are mutants or some kind of aberrant human beings.

Something happened to them, and they can’t get out of it."

The STAR team tries to reduce barriers to treatment however they can. They have sweatpants available. Snacks. Comfort items so people stick out long wait times.

Success stories have begun to surface.

RIGHT: Roz King holds a packet of buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist that works to suppress cravings and can protect against overdose.

“People have gotten custody of their children back. People have gotten jobs again. People have been able to see their family again,” King says.

“A lot of it has been eye-opening how grateful patients are for being heard and feeling seen.”

Long-term outcomes are trickier to measure.

Recovery from OUD is measured in years and often includes setbacks. But programs like STAR are one link in a long chain.

King knows some patients will never show for their first treatment upon discharge.

She knows that some will relapse.

“Dream success is they enter recovery, and they never relapse again,” King says. “But that is not the most realistic. Harm reduction is what we are going for. This might be their first, third, one of seven attempts at recovery—that’s okay. ...

The first measure of success is that they show up and they engage in treatment in our hospital.”

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AN OLD PROBLEM RESURFACES When Rick Rawson graduated from UVM with his Ph.D. in experimental psychology in 1974, he began studying drug addiction at UCLA. It was not considered glamorous work. Drug users were viewed as sociopaths. Criminals. Meeting people with addiction issues changed his mind.

“These are regular people,” Rawson says, adding that they often have families and kids and jobs. “They’re not doing it because they are mutants or some kind of aberrant human beings. Something happened to them, and they can’t get out of it.” He has spent the last 50 years trying to find that way out.

At UCLA his research focused on stimulants like cocaine, which unlike opiates, does not have a pharmacological treatment available.

Progress appeared stalled. Then a promising behavioral treatment emerged from UVM in the early ’90s—research Rawson initially dismissed. But that treatment, contingency management, remains underused across much of the country even though it could make a difference in the newest wave of the opioid crisis. Last year, nearly half of Vermont’s fatal opioid overdoses involved cocaine.

“I think it’s a big enough contributor, that if you … get contingency management distributed out throughout the state and accessible to people, it could actually have a measurable impact,” Rawson says.

Steve Higgins, professor of psychology and psychiatry at UVM, agrees. He directs the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health and developed the contingency management program for cocaine use disorder that Rawson couldn’t believe worked. He’s been waiting for the policy world to catch up.

Contingency management uses small sums of

money or gift cards as incentives for a person not to use drugs. And it works. The small rewards have been shown to get women to quit smoking during pregnancy. It works to promote exercise in individuals with heart conditions. And it works to curb stimulant drug use. It works, Higgins says, because of our biology. “We are all sensitive to the allure of the immediate reward, and some more than others.”

Contingency management is derived from the behavioral learning theory of “operant conditioning”—the idea that one’s behavior is shaped by rewards and punishment.

“Your brain didn’t evolve to find drugs,” Higgins says. “But it’s sensitive [to drugs] just because it’s neurochemistry based. So, contingency management uses that same reward system to try and provide rewards for making healthy choices.

And it works. It’s immediate. It’s reliable. You come, you give me a negative urine, you get a voucher today.” The goal is to get individuals to adopt healthier behaviors while they build more natural substitutes. It’s a bridge, Higgins says.

But even as clinical trials demonstrate its efficacy, there remains broad hesitancy to adopt it. However, the landscape is changing in Vermont, where the state legislature recently earmarked $840,000 for contingency management to combat stimulant use.

“Paying people to stop using drugs might to some look like, my god, you guys have gone crazy,” says Mark Levine, Vermont’s health commissioner and a UVM professor of medicine. “Contingency management is an evidence-based treatment that we should be embracing and that actually will end up costing way less than some of the downstream effects of having a severe addiction.”

Over the next decade, Vermont is slated to receive upwards of $47 million from a set of class action lawsuits against pharmaceutical distributors and drug makers for their role in the opioid crisis. Levine heads the state’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, composed of addiction researchers, healthcare providers, prevention experts, and survivors, to advise lawmakers how to spend settlement money—legal atonement for the dead. From the outset, the mandate has been to balance prevention programming with efforts to help people swept up in opioid addiction stay alive and recover. The 2023 legislative session was the first time funds were awarded, and the message was clear: throw out more lifelines.

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FLOOD THE STREETS Before Mark Levine became health commissioner in 2017, he practiced internal medicine in Burlington. He gave up his practice to help more people through health policy, an action underscored during the pandemic when his weekly address reassured Vermonters that the path forward involved following the science. He's using that same approach to the state’s overdose problem. When Levine took office, overdose trajectories were declining. The pandemic created a storm where, just as the drug supply got deadlier, our collective mental health crashed, and there were fewer people around to notice.

must travel—sometimes hours—to qualified sites for their medication. For many folks, that is simply a barrier too high to hurdle.

Satellite medication units lower the bar.

The committee also budgeted $2.2 million to hire more than two dozen outreach workers to find individuals struggling with substance use and connect them to health services. The move came after reporting found that 75 percent of Vermonters who died from opioid overdoses had no prior connection to the state’s treatment system.

“We want to at least identify people who haven’t been able to access the system, for whatever reason,” Levine says. “Because having the greatest treatment system in the country isn’t good enough if you still can’t get everybody into it.”

The committee also proposed investing heavily in harm reduction strategies like flooding the streets with naloxone as well as with xylazine and fentanyl test strips. The aim: make contact with people. “That is a way to get people into the system,” Levine explains. “Hopefully it opens the door to other kinds of treatment as well.”

Some of the committee’s proposals require significant capital investment and will take months to enact. But Levine is hopeful because there are pieces in place that do work—like the hub-and-spoke model—that they are building on and out. “These problems are not unsolvable,” Levine says. “And it’s not just a matter of just trying to wipe out every cartel in Mexico and disrupt the supply chain because we know that has never worked and it probably never will work. It’s much more these fundamental public health approaches.”

TWEAKING THE FORMUL A FOR SUCCESS Stacey Sigmon, professor of psychiatry, understands the power of following the science.

While Levine intends to spend more on prevention in the future, the 2024 spending cycle will focus on the immediacy of keeping people alive. The settlement committee recommended increasing the number of medication units— satellite hubs that expand capacity for and access to medication for OUD, including at the Department of Corrections, where about 60 percent of inmates receive medications for OUD. Individuals on methadone often

46 | U V M M A G A Z I N E

She directs UVM’s Center on Rural Addiction (CORA) and serves on the settlement task force with Levine where she advocates for evidence-based practices. Her specialty involves finding barriers to drug treatment and removing them—whether by collapsing intake times to trim waitlists or devising workarounds so medical providers feel more comfortable prescribing medications.

For instance, in 2015 Sigmon developed a technology-assisted treatment protocol that involved a Med-O-Wheel, a small computerized device that dispenses medication in set intervals, after learning that many providers worried about buprenorphine prescriptions being diverted.

The Med-O-Wheel allows patients to securely store and take their medication at home. Sigmon conducted a pilot study that showed nearly 80 percent of subjects using the protocol screened negative for illicit opioids, compared to none in the control group. That study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2016.

She and her colleagues recently replicated the study in two randomized clinical trials and published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September.

“And the exciting thing is we are then poised to take this out to the masses,” Sigmon says.

That is the purpose of CORA. In 2019, it was one of three centers founded by the Health Resources & Services Administration to bring tools and treatments to traditionally underserved swaths of the country. As of August, CORA has disseminated more than 153,000 fentanyl test strips, nearly 13,000 doses of naloxone, 200 wall-mounted naloxone dispensers, and 500 xylazine test strips, and approved four sites across New England for vending machines where people can access naloxone any time of day, no questions asked.

CORA experts also hold virtual online office hours to counsel rural providers across the country with complex medical cases. The center hosts an annual scholarship program that brings rural providers to UVM for intensive training to care for patients with OUD using best practices. And while the center’s initial mandate was to focus on New England, funding was renewed with the intention for it to go national, Sigmon says. “I think there is still a lot of untapped potential.”

compete with the Amazon-like delivery system that the dealers have to deliver drugs right to people’s homes,” Brooklyn says.

That’s why he and others continue to innovate.

The pandemic opened the door to changes that have made the remote monitoring of medications possible. In May, both the Chittenden and St. Albans hubs launched the Wheels and Wave project, an intervention that allows patients to take methadone from home. The one-year project stems from the success of a recent study Brooklyn ran that paired a medication device with a smartphone app that patients use to record themselves taking methadone. The entire process takes five minutes. And it works.

The retention rate for the study was nearly 100 percent—a rarity in OUD treatment programs.

"Having the greatest treatment system in the country isn’t good enough if you still can’t get everybody into it."

“We had a number of people that had to wake up and go to work at 4 o’clock in the morning. Well, the first opioid treatment program doesn’t open until 5:30,” Brooklyn says. “[They were] never going to be able to work and be in treatment at the same time.” Remote dosing made it possible.

“It’s a game changer,” he says.

BRINGING PEOPLE TOWARDS SAFETY Caroline and Geoff Butler know a little something about transformation.

Even small tweaks can make a big difference.

At the Chittenden Clinic, the largest hub in the state, which both Sigmon and Brooklyn help to lead, federal changes during the pandemic expanded telemedicine options and loosened restrictions around prescribing methadone. This allowed clinic providers to give people ‘take homes’ to reduce the burden of travel—now a standard part of its practice.

The couple runs the Johnson Health Center, a two-year-old clinic specializing in primary care and addiction medicine that is an offshoot of the Vermont nonprofit called Jenna’s Promise. Since November, the center has grown from 36 patients to 280, and nearly 100 are in the clinic’s substance use program. The startup has a lean staff with a big mission—low-barrier care and an open-door policy where people feel safe coming. Every patient has Caroline’s cell phone number. Every patient knows she cares what happens to them.

“With all those things in place, we cannot

“The most important voice in anybody’s

LEFT: Dr. Mark Levine, the state's health commissioner and a UVM professor of medicine, helped unveil Vermont's first free naloxone vending machine in August. “Every time you prevent a death you leave the door open for treatment,” he said.

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Maine—something Caroline says can’t happen fast enough. “Those will save somebody.”

The Butlers specialize in caring for patients with substance use issues. In part, because it’s a population they know well—both are in long-term recovery.

For years Caroline hesitated about disclosing her status because of the stigma around substance use disorders. But she understands the importance of being able to advocate using that life experience. Caroline serves on the state’s settlement task force and is determined to channel funding into innovative projects that address the state’s drug problems as they shift.

“It is easy to just think of it as money,” she says, “when it's really—it’s people. It’s people.”

AFTER THE FLOOD Caroline and Geoff Butler run the Johnson Health Center, a primary care clinic with a specialty in addiction medicine, in Johnson, Vt. They lost everything in the July flooding but are committed to rebuilding— and coming back stronger.

treatment is their own,” says Geoff, executive director of the center, about his wife’s philosophy. “You really have to listen to the person. Find out how they are feeling, what they are thinking, and really come up with a plan from there.”

Their patients run the spectrum from active use to well into recovery. For individuals struggling with addiction, Caroline listens “for those places where we can start working,” she says. Maybe they are open to addressing their hepatitis C. Maybe they will get a vaccine or have an infected leg wound treated.

“The whole philosophy around it is just bringing people towards safety,” Caroline explains.

“From there we can kind of open more doors.”

Last spring, the Butlers enrolled in CORA’s scholarship program. They frequently use CORA’s office hours for complicated medical cases, and the clinic now houses Vermont’s first naloxone vending machine, available to the public on its front porch.

“It was really something that came out of tragedy,” Caroline explains. “We lost a 17-yearold to an overdose in this community last year and so that was where that idea came from.”

The vending machines allow people to access the opioid agonist any time of day and without a prescription. CORA is working to place three additional machines in New Hampshire and

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On July 10, the Johnson Health Center survived a setback of its own.

The historic flooding that devastated communities across Vermont hit Johnson especially hard. It wiped out the town’s water treatment plant. Low-lying houses were swamped with agricultural runoff and sewage.

The Johnson Health Center wasn’t spared.

In mid-July, office furniture was piled by the side door. A film of silt coated edges of the parking lot. On the pavement, a small gray sign, the kind that typically rests on a shelf, takes a minute to notice—four small capital letters that spell HOPE. The Butlers are both wearing T-shirts with the clinic’s logo. Their arms are etched with intricate tattoos of the natural world—moths, peonies, honeycombs, and bees.

“I love moths because they fly towards the light,” Caroline says. “And sometimes they burn themselves up in flames because they get a little too close to it.”

Before the flood, Geoff removed the vaccine fridge and laptops, and Jenna’s Promise staff set computer towers on countertops. It didn’t matter much in the end. They lost everything.

Then the community showed up to help muck out. That is the philosophy of Jenna’s Promise in practice—the village model. The organization was started by Jenna Tatro’s family to address the gaps she fell through in her journey to recover from opioid abuse. Jenna,

a native of the town of Johnson, died February 15, 2019, from an addiction she developed in college after getting beaten up by a boyfriend and prescribed painkillers for relief. The Tatros used the money from her life insurance to fund treatment that would be less likely to fail people like their daughter—including things people in recovery often need to thrive: housing, employment, easily accessible healthcare, therapy, and a safe community.

And now the health center was underwater.

As they did during the pandemic, the Butlers pivoted to telehealth. The health center operates out of a temporary space at Jenna’s Promise.

And even as construction crews work to rebuild the clinic, the Butlers are considering if, and how, to add a mobile health unit.

“It’s not dissimilar as how the drug world is changing,” Caroline says. “It gives us a chance that we didn’t want and wouldn’t have taken before, but it gives us a chance to sort of look at how do we evolve? How do we as providers work to really meet these new needs?”

While FEMA teams interview residents near Jenna’s Promise coffee shop, Daniel Franklin, COO of Jenna's Promise, sits in the window seat. He looks tired. Franklin has been focused on relocating some of the nonprofit’s residents who lost their homes in the flood and getting the café where they work back up and running.

He knows displacement is often a precarious moment. And he knows a new tidal wave is coming that he fears the state isn’t ready for.

“We are at the dawn of the age of methamphetamines and cocaine in our region, and xylazine and other polysubstance use, that will bring and has brought with it in many parts of the country, a mental health emergency, a homeless emergency that will necessitate change in our system of care,” Franklin says. “I hope we will get ahead of this.

Because our system is not built for this.”

the current system for treating people with substance use disorder is inadequate.

“It didn’t work for my sister,” he says. “It failed her consistently. She would at times try to get into recovery. And she would at times stumble all on her own, but also sometimes the system would throw obstacles in front of her.”

"It is easy to just think of it as money, when it's really— it’s people. It’s people."

Tatro wants to mow obstacles down. He points to the town of Johnson. It was struggling, Tatro says. Since Jenna’s Promise opened, once-empty buildings now have businesses staffed with people reimagining a different path. People invested in that vision. And then the flood came. Tatro sees how the water management system built for the past failed to meet the current moment. He worries this is the case for the opioid crisis.

“We can’t do the work without the pumps pulling the water out,” Tatro says. “But we need more to actually make this place a place to live. And metaphorically that applies to people in recovery.

Recovery centers are incredible. Treatment centers are important. The other supports we have—access to suboxone for example. We have been trying to limit the supply of addictive pills by law enforcement—all that is critical. And we need more to actually change the trajectory.”

UVM’s Center on Rural Addiction helped bring the state’s first naloxone vending machine to the Johnson Health Center. ”When you carry naloxone you are saying to everybody around you, ‘Your life matters,’“ said Caroline Butler.

He lauds the state’s move to support contingency management and disseminate harm reduction supplies. But he urges for additional investments in more holistic centers of care. Jenna’s Promise can accommodate just 17 residents.

“We can’t stay five years behind,” he says.

This is something Gregory Tatro worries about, too. He is Jenna’s brother and a chief evangelizer for Jenna’s Promise. Tatro believes FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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Legacy PRESERVING A

E

arlier this year, several semitrucks rolled up to UVM’s Library Research Annex in Williston and disgorged more than 3,000 white cartons containing nearly 50 years of American history—the Leahy Archive.

Retired U.S. Senator and current UVM President’s Distinguished Fellow Patrick Leahy donated his personal Senate papers to the University of Vermont’s Jack and Shirley Silver Special Collections Library, joining a rich tradition of Vermont public servants who have entrusted their personal records to UVM. Leahy’s papers—a physical record of the culmination of 48 years in public office— will ultimately be archived in the ground floor of the Howe Library where, over the course of the next several years, they will be cataloged and organized by a team of congressional papers archivists and student interns, led by Chris Burns, interim director of Silver Special Collections and university archivist. Their work is aided by the senator’s prescient hiring of an on-staff archivist for many of his years in office.

UVM Dean of Libraries Bryn Geffert said the research value of Leahy’s collection is extraordinary, given not only the length of the senator’s service but also the breadth

and importance of committees, initiatives, and projects in which he was involved.

“Senator Leahy has unique insights and experiences invaluable to historians and scholars studying the history of both our state and our nation,” Geffert said. “By donating his papers, Leahy ensures that future generations have access to a wealth of primary source materials from one of the most prominent legislators of the last half-century.”

“I am humbled that Vermonters chose me to represent them in the United States Senate for nearly 50 years.” Leahy said. “These papers document the many issues for which I advocated on behalf of Vermonters as well as relationships, events, and moments that I look back on with fondness. I am thrilled that they will be archived by UVM and shared with the public.”

In the following pages, just a small sampling of the documents and objects in the archive shows the range of material that gives insight on the third longest Senate career in U.S. history.

Special thanks to Chris Burns, interim director of the Silver Special Collections, and archivists Shir Bach, Sally Blanchard-O'Brien, and Erica Donnis for their assistance with this story.

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Photos by Bailey Beltramo

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Where it all began: In1974, Patrick Leahy, then the 34-year-old state’s attorney of Chittenden County, began what many people considered a doomed U.S. Senate campaign (no non-Republican candidate had been elected to the Senate by Vermonters since 1856). The campaign used these items and an innovative television strategy to win the election that November by a little over 4,600 votes, and Leahy succeeded retiring Senator George Aiken.

In January 1975, when Senator Leahy took office, he was the youngest person Vermont had ever sent to the Senate.

As he tells it, during his orientation a few days before his actual swearing-in, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms was at first reluctant to allow him on the floor as a senator-elect. This schedule shows his itinerary during that time.

During his first year in office, Senator Leahy took part in a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) visit to what was then the Soviet Union. This ephemera from that trip includes a luncheon card, embassy packet, and Russian newspapers that feature official state coverage of the delegation.

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Senator Leahy was a longtime member of the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and was co-sponsor of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which helped modernized the U.S. patent system. These typewritten cards from 1986 contain talking points from a speech he gave on the subject of intellectual property reform.

A senator’s day is a busy one. Weekly schedules such as this one from May of 1994 will help future scholars recreate meetings and sequences of events in the working life of the senator. It includes handwritten notes by Senator Leahy and his staff members.

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6. The Caped Crusader Senator Leahy was both a noted fan of the comic book character Batman and one of the leading legislative figures in the campaign against the production, export, and use of anti-personnel landmines. The two interests came together in this 1996 Batman: Death of Innocents: The Horror of Landmines comic book, which included a forward by Senator Leahy. The senator's love for Batman didn't end on the page—over his career he's had cameo appearances in five Batmanrelated films, and he even lent his voice for an episode of an animated series.

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7. Repeal of ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ In 1994, a policy called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was instituted by the U.S. military which barred openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people from military service.

This 2010 letter from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi thanks Senator Leahy for his work on the repeal of this policy and includes a pen used to sign the House of Representatives formal enrollment of the bill of repeal.

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In 1998, a congressional bill authorizing the National Sea Grant Program contained a sentence controversially designating Lake Champlain as a “Great Lake.” A few weeks later, that designation was reversed, and Senator Leahy issued this press release on the matter. Sea Grant funding was ultimately made available to Vermont, and today it helps fund important research on the environment and economy of the Lake Champlain Basin.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Senator Leahy was expecting to take part in a ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead, by shortly after 9 a.m., it became clear the U.S. was under terrorist attack.

This statement was issued by the senator in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The senate floor speech was delivered the day after.

Senator Leahy was a key member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary during his tenure, including chairing the committee from 2001 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2015. These tickets allowed entry to the hearing for the successful nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009.

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Twice during his years in office, Senator Leahy also held the official title of President Pro Tempore of the Senate (often called President Pro Tem), and as such presided over the body in the vice president’s absence and was third in line of succession to the presidency. According to Senate custom, these medallions were struck in 2012 in honor of the new President Pro Tem. Leahy held the title from 2012 to 2015 and again from 2021 until his retirement in January of 2023.

From his first day on the Senate floor in 1975, Senator Leahy worked with Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, who was then, like Leahy, in his 30s. The two stayed close colleagues throughout the next five decades. This formal invitation to President Biden’s inauguration was sent in January 2021.

Senator Leahy’s five-decade tenure spanned the Information Age, and the many modes of information storage.

In addition to documents and objects, the Leahy Archive contains records in a range of formats that themselves represent a history of information storage, including reel-to-reel tape, microfilm cartridges, and floppy discs.

As part of their project, archivists will be examining and cataloging terabytes of electronic records.

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BUILDING AN

STORY BY ED NEUERT

P A G E 556 6 |

UVM MAGA ZINE

FRAMEWORK FOR ALL

UVM Libraries are building new avenues for the free flow of information for everyone.

A

drienne Miao is trying to build something, but many of the important tools she needs for successful construction are locked up out of reach. That’s speaking figuratively, but it describes a real problem— for Miao, and for countless other scholars, professionals, and other seekers of knowledge across modern society.

Miao works for UVM’s Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, where she is a community services core function coordinator and project director of the Pediatrics Professionals Collaborative of Vermont, a program that works to support the development of pediatric professionals across the state and improve health outcomes for Vermont children and families. She works with a wide network of interdisciplinary professionals, all of whom have a keen need to keep abreast of the latest research in their fields.

“We are really focused on community outreach. We’re ultimately trying to help support capacity building and systems change for educators, for occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists throughout the state,” says Miao. It’s an important and necessary task; Vermont is a small state with a dearth of providers, and those here are often spread throughout the region’s most rural areas.

“We're working often in the Northeast Kingdom or other fairly remote areas. We have a lot of professionals who

really want to know best practices, but it is very cost prohibitive for a lot of the community members to access cutting-edge journal publications and research,” she says.

There’s the key to the problem: ironically, in the midst of the Information Age, as the Internet enters its fourth decade as a part of daily life, vital information—the published research that appears in responsible peer-reviewed academic journals—is effectively walled-off from access by many of the people who need it most and could put it to use in countless ways to improve people’s daily lives

A N U N S U S T A I N A B L E S YSTEM The New Yorker writer and longtime newspaperman A.J. Liebling famously said, “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Today’s academic press—its publishing system, which has developed over many years—is structured so that a few publishers own the copyright to much of published scholarly research and charge extremely high fees for readers to access those texts—be they scholars, lay community members or, yes, even the original creators of the research.

At the University of Vermont, nearly 700 research projects were funded in the past year by government entities such as the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation, plus private philanthropic support, totaling well over $260 million. “Taxpayer dollars are funding that research,” says Bryn Geffert, UVM’s dean of libraries and professor of history. “We are the recipient of 260 million dollars in largesse. And we are supposed to use that money to do good research, which we do, and get it into the hands of everybody who needs it.”

The system we've devised to do that is one where scholars obtain funding to do their work. They produce the research and then try to find a publisher. “If I'm a biologist, I try to find the most prestigious journal publisher in my field who wants my article,” explains Geffert. “If the journal accepts that article, the biologist has to sign a contract that says, ‘I am signing away all rights to this article to this commercial publisher. I no longer have rights to that research. My university, which paid me to do this research, no longer has rights to that research.’

We want access to that article. But we've signed away the rights.

So what do we have to do? We have to buy the rights back. We give it away for free, we get no money in compensation. They pay us nothing, and then we buy it back. That’s a real problem.”

The system didn’t always work this way. Journals used to be smaller, independent operations, typically run by scholarly societies. Over time, Elsevier and other publishing companies began approaching these organizations to say, in effect, “Why should you have to worry yourselves with all of this work? Let us give you a big payment in exchange. We'll take over and do all of the work for you and we'll continue giving yearly payments.”

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“And how do you say no to that? You're getting money and you are not having to do the work anymore,” says Geffert. But as the publishing company slowly creates a monopoly in fields, they raise the prices, and raise them again. “And there's no competition”, says Geffert. “Either you purchase that journal from Elsevier, for instance, or you don't have that journal. Nobody else publishes it. So publishers have been able to raise prices with impunity.”

"

It is very cost prohibitive for a lot of the community members to access cutting-edge journal publications and research. — Adrienne Miao

Big academic publishers generated well over $3 billion in revenue in the past year, and they report extremely high profit margins, in the range of 30 to 40 percent. (For comparison, ExxonMobil’s profit margin is usually a bit above 13 percent.)

Scholarly authors have always given their research articles to journals for publishing. “But there was a reason that we used to give that material away,” says Geffert. “Because we had no good way of disseminating it. In the old print world, we couldn't publish it ourselves. We gave it to a print journal, and we were glad that they would publish it and they would sell it to us for reasonable fees.” But those reasonable fees have steadily crept up over the years, to the point where many libraries have had to cut back on book purchases to fund continued access to academic journals.

TH E PA T H T O O P E N N E S S

An alternate path exists and has been building momentum for the past 20 years—open-access publishing. It’s a system already in extensive use in the biomedical field, where the Public Library of Science (PLOS) publishes a dozen freely open journals. Two UVM faculty members, Gary Ward, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, M M| A U GV AM ZIN M EA G A Z I N E 58 | U V58

and Meredith Niles, associate professor of nutrition and food sciences and a Gund Institute fellow, have deep connections to this area of the open-access movement.

The open-access goal is simple: remove the financial barriers between peer-reviewed research and its audiences.

In A.J. Liebling terms, let more people own their own press. That’s what led to the inauguration this June of the university’s own open-access academic press.

“I think of the UVM press as a ‘proof of concept,’” says Geffert.

“And what we're trying to prove is that it's possible to publish literature every bit as good as what traditional presses are producing, that we can subject it to the same level of peer review, same level of developmental editing. And then once it's done, instead of locking it behind a paywall and charging people to access it, we simply post it free of charge.”

The first venture of UVM Press is the Journal of Ecological Engineering, newly created for the American Ecological Engineering Society, one of whose members, Eric Roy, assistant professor of environmental sciences in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and a fellow of the Gund Institute, suggested the partnership to Geffert.

Going forward, UVM Press hopes to expand to publish three other journals, each presented in the “diamond” openaccess model under which there is no cost whatsoever to the author to publish or to access the published research.

The press also plans on publishing approximately 10 books a year and is currently recruiting its first book editor, whose duties will include the development of new book series that align with the two priorities of the university’s strategic plan: amplifying our impact on healthy societies and healthy environments. Also under development is a series called Janus Texts that will showcase differing views on important topics in conversation with each other.

LINKING LIBRARIES It’s a paradox that in a world ruled by the Internet, the existence of physical books and the U.S. Postal Service work together to keep libraries connected and ensure that academic libraries will probably never give up their “brick and mortar” facilities. In a way, the genesis of this situation can be traced back to 1967, when a group of university and library administrators in Ohio created a computerized network to link academic libraries and their catalogs throughout their state.

The Ohio College Library Center grew far beyond its original goal. Later renamed Online Computer Library Center, and better known as OCLC, it evolved into a kind of master catalog for virtually all academic libraries in the U.S., and increasingly in Europe too. As OCLC took shape, its staff realized that the master catalog they were building could become a very convenient way of sharing material among libraries.

“They built software around this catalog that allows you

to place and track requests,” says Geffert. Nowadays, he explains, “The folks in our interlibrary loan department will come in in the morning and they will open up a screen and there will be all the requests from libraries from just down the street or across the globe. And they pull the books off the shelf and ship them off to wherever they are needed.” Similar processes exist for journal articles. And each day, packages arrive at the Howe Library with books requested by Vermonters from libraries across the nation.

Since no library can own all the books users might at some time desire, the interlibrary loan system is key to the mission of a university library. This issue was the focus of a statewide conversation in Vermont in the summer of 2022, when the soon-to-be Vermont State University announced a plan to switch to all-digital libraries across its three campuses.

The plan ignited an uproar and has since been rescinded.

“I am not going to pass judgment on Vermont State because I know that they are under incredible financial pressures,” says Geffert. “But still, if one is committed to having a library, trying to go completely online is not going to save you money. In fact, it's probably going to cost you money.”

This is because, contrary to popular belief, electronic books tend to be more expensive than print books.

“Publishers know that physical books wear out over time, so you will be buying replacement copies. They know that electronic books don't wear out over time, so they want to charge you more. They also argue that there can be two or three people using an electronic book at any one time, whereas only one can use a print book, and therefore they charge you more. You're probably going to end up spending more if you try to go to the all-electronic route. And because we are so committed to sharing our works with everybody else, we will not sign contracts for electronic books that we're prohibited from sharing.

“As a result, we're still buying an awful lot of print books— because you can always share a print book. Nobody can stop you from putting the book in the U.S. mail and sending it off. This is something libraries are thinking really hard about. We realize that there's a danger in replacing print books with electronic books that cannot be shared, because if we do that, our interlibrary loans are going to collapse. And every academic library in the U.S. relies on interlibrary loan. Some of the biggest, most prestigious libraries are some of the biggest borrowers.”

TH E OP EN D O O R “Open access” has an even wider meaning for UVM Libraries. It starts with a broad look at the mission of academic libraries and those who work in them.

“Libraries have thought of themselves as delivering information, and then students go off and do who knows

what's with it,” says Geffert. “But we're increasingly hiring people who operate as teachers. We have faculty who will call librarians into a classroom a couple of times during the semester to talk about doing a research assignment and the tools and strategies students can use. Increasingly, we're seeing librarians meet with faculty to think through the whole semester—what are the learning objectives for this course? What kinds of research skills are part of those objectives? And then what kinds of assignments can librarians help faculty develop where students will be doing that kind of research and learning those skills?”

Geffert is also working to connect UVM Libraries to CLOVER, the Collaborative Libraries of Vermont interlibrary loan system.

"

We welcome everyone into our physical libraries, no questions asked. If you come in, you have access.

– UVM Dean of Libraries Bryn Geffert

“We also welcome everyone into our physical libraries, no questions asked. Anybody who comes through the doors, we don't ask who you are or where you're from.

If you come in, you have access to our physical book collections, our physical journal collections, and you also have access to all our electronic databases.” And all Vermont residents can have a UVM library card.

Novelist and essayist David Carkeet, who lives and writes in Worcester, Vt., is one of those Vermonters taking advantage of that access. “Many of my novels rely heavily on research,” he says. “I've wandered the stacks [at UVM] since we moved here in 2003. I wrote a piece on Mark Twain, the Mississippi, and slavery for Smithsonian and relied on the library collection for books on Twain's life, river geology, steamboating, and slavery.” Carkeet says he’s done so much research in this vein at UVM that “I could probably walk blindfolded to the Twain call number row….

The UVM library has been fabulous for me.” UVM F A L L 2 0F2A3L L| 259 023 |

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CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2023 UVM Alumni Association and UVM Foundation Awards

James Bentil ’13

Shannon Burgess Blake ’90

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

David Daigle ’89

Crea S. Lintilhac Philip M. Lintilhac ’63 M.S.T.’78, HON’14

Penrose Jackson ’70

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Use the camera on your phone or tablet to see the 2023 UVM award recipients’ videos.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN PHILANTHROPY AWARD

Please visit alumni.uvm.edu/awards to learn more about these extraordinary UVM graduates.

L I F E B E YO N D G R A D U AT I O N

Class Notes 36

Elizabeth (Betty) Davis was born on May 28, 1916, in Marshfield, Vt., and died on March 27, 2023. She earned her R.N. degree from what was then the Mary Fletcher School of Nursing in Burlington before completing post-graduate work at the Lying-in Hospital in Providence, R. I. In 1942 she worked with Dr. Faye Crabb to establish an intensive cadet nurse program that compressed three years of theory and practice into two years of training. In 1949 she received a certificate of appreciation from President Truman for this endeavor. While at Mary Fletcher, she met and later married Richard Barre Davis ’36, M.D.’39. They moved to Bennington and spent 56 years together building a medical practice in internal medicine and raising three children, including R. Barre Davis ’70, Lynne Hansen ’72, and Bradley G. Davis.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

47

Anita Ross Pinney reports she’s “living a lively life in California.”

Send your news to— Mrs. Louise Jordan Harper louisejordanharper@gmail.com

48

Eschol Pixley Goodell checked in to say that she and Perry Goodell ’52 “still live in our home in Littleton, N. H. We are able to live here by ourselves with help for cleaning (which I don’t want to do!) shopping etc. We both drive; I attend church most Sundays. We have four adult kids, nine grandkids, eleven great-grands, and wonderful neighbors. We were married in 1950 and lived in the trailer park which was UVM married housing! No running water and down the boardwalk to the bathrooms! Lots of great memories.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

51

Suzanne P. Fleisher remembers, “While at UVM I studied English and went on to study speech, theater,

and literature at Columbia for my M.A. In 1960, I married my beloved Siegel Fleisher, traveled widely in Europe, and settled in New Jersey, where we taught at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). He also taught college English and writing and was a published author.

We had a son and a daughter, and we retired in the early 1980s, after which we took advantage of vacation time at my family’s summer home on the Connecticut coast.” Sarah Dopp ’68, G’82, wrote to share that her good friend Sylvia Ruth Hoisington died on February 14, 2023. She remembers that Sylvia’s professional life was largely spent in New York City, where she was a VP of a major financial firm but “remained a very genuine and kind Vermont farm girl! One of her chief avocations was singing for 50 years in the acclaimed New York Choral Society. She had friends all over the world.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

52

Robert Edward Fallon’s family shared news of his death in February 2023 at age 94. He was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley (Hakewessell) Fallon. Robert was the father of five sons: Jeffrey, Stephen (and his wife, Karen), David (deceased), Peter ’84 (and his wife, Prudence), and Daniel (and his wife, Jill).

He has nine grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. Born and raised in Vermont, he was a skier and even proposed to Shirley on a ski lift. He loved the mountains and often said his time was spent “talking to God” on the slopes. His friendship, mentoring, and love will be missed by many.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

54

Geraldine Dankowski ’55 let us know that John F. Dowling, member of Sigma Nu fraternity, passed away in January 2023 at home in Los Cruces, N. M., surrounded by his loving children: Jeff, Jim, Jennifer, and Janet. Charles Norman Perkins wrote to say, “It is funny how our path of life leads us from one place to another. My life started right here in Burlington in 1932,

and I graduated from UVM in 1954. General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y., hired me as a cost accountant, and I worked there until Uncle Sam needed me. My two years in the Army were mostly spent at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, during which time I married a gal by the name of Janet Barbara Couture. We are still together and happy 67 years later, and along the way we had two children, who have now presented us with four grandchildren.

We have no great-grandchildren yet, but we are waiting. Jann and I came back to Vermont, opened the Alpine Shop on Williston Road and ran it for 30 years before our daughter Peggy Rieley ’85 and her husband, Scott Rieley ’82, took it over and ran it for the next 18. Life has been good for us, and we hope it has for you too.” Vera I. Thompson says she and husband Jim celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary on July 3, 2023, and that they have been enjoying life in an Albuquerque senior retirement community. She shares, “Every day, weather permitting, we take a one-mile walk in a nearby park. We have three children, four grandchildren—and last year we became great grandparents. Through the years we have kept in touch with members of my Alpha Chi Omega sorority at UVM, but sadly too many have passed on.”

Send your news to— Thomas P. Gage thomasgage@verizon.net

55

Class Secretary Jane Morrison Battles says, “Hi everyone!

Haven’t heard from any of you this time around so little to include for you, but trust all enjoyed summer into fall. I wish you happy times wherever you be. Perhaps some of your grandkids are at UVM or have recently graduated from there, as mine did in 2022. It was a treat to be back in Burlington then, right down memory lane as I explored the campus. Unbelievable!

Do send me some news. Sixty-eight years have passed since the start of our column, and I need your input to help me along!“ Send your news to— Hal Lee Greenfader halisco7@gmail.com or Jane Morrison Battles janebattles@yahoo.com FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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| CL ASS NOTES

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Send your news to— Jane K. Stickney stickneyjane@gmail.com

Judith Rosenblum Cohen says she and husband Dr. Richard Cohen celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, and that she is delighted to have crossed off #1 on her bucket list: to have visited all seven continents. Ronald E. Downer says he and wife Barbara recently moved to a small retirement campus in Culpeper, Va. They are very proud of grandson Alvin, who has earned his pilot’s wings in the U.S. Air Force. Roger H. Madon says he remembered experiencing a sharp pang of nostalgia when he glanced “at the Spring 2010 cover of Vermont Quarterly, captioned ‘Student Voices’ and that beautiful cobalt microphone protruding from a red-lit background. Notwithstanding having chosen pre-med as my major, there was always ‘talk radio’ rushing through my bloodstream in those youthful days at UVM. I remember walking into the studio at 6:00 a.m. on those frigid, snowy mornings, warming up both me and the transmitter (it required tubes since it was before transistors). I had a talk show program on WRUV with an itinerant visitor, The 2000-YearOld Man. His name was Fred Jungman… I wonder where he is today. Today as I wind up a long and successful law practice representing labor organizations and management, I have returned to ‘radio.’ But today, it’s more than radio: podcasting, blogging, and short, concise essays with a contribution every day but on weekends. (I turned it into a book entitled American Haiku.) There are many things for which I am thankful. I want to thank UVM for allowing me to try my wings at that early time in my life so that this time in my life, I can return to radio as if I never left.” Steve S. Rozen says he has “finally retired from oral surgery teaching at a residency program. The edge has blunted and it’s time. Loving retirement and still married to my bride of 63 years. Move between Naples, Fla., (paradise) and Wallingford, Conn. Lunched with Charlie Pitman. Both of us are still quite active, thankfully! Where did the time go!?”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

59

Martha Page Beach writes to say, “While it has been a few years since I last sent news to UVM, I still think about our great state and my university.

Over the years, my husband, Allen, and I have visited the state and UVM campus a number of times, usually in the summer. For many years I worked for American University with the students abroad program from Spain. Our three girls (Anne, Lacey, and Carolyn) are now grown up and moving on with their lives. We have four grandchildren who we see from time to time. Like most seniors, health continues to be a problem, mostly mine. I suffered a stroke

62 | U V M M A G A Z I N E

some five years ago and have been bedridden since. As the hospital which I am in is part of our retirement community, Allen can visit me almost every day.” Susan J. Alenick was recently elected to a 10th term as presiding officer of elections in her Burlington ward and to a second term as justice of the peace. In addition, her second cookbook, Soup's On, was at the printer at press time.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

60

We received the news that Elizabeth (Buff) Chamard Harrington died of pancreatic cancer in April 2023. She was preceded in death by her husband, John Harrington.

Gerald H. Sanders ’59 shared the sad news of the April 2023 death of Stanley Messinger.

John M. Widmann and wife Nina are living in the “beautiful Menno Haven retirement community in Chambersburg, Pa., 25 miles northwest of Gettysburg.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

61

Linda Mintzer Cohen says, “My family and I attended the UVM graduation on May 21 to celebrate the graduation of our granddaughter Alexa Hulse ’23 from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, where she majored in speech pathology. Alexa’s mother Amy Cohen Hulse graduated from the School of Nursing in 1991, and I graduated from the School of Dental Hygiene in 1961. It was a proud day for all of us! It was wonderful to see the beautiful UVM campus once again and to observe the many positive changes that have taken place over the years.” Mimi Portnoy Davis-Neches says, “I have moved to an independent living retirement community in Simi Valley, Calif. close to my daughter, Hilary, her husband, and my grandson, Colby. I am in close touch with my son Garrett who lives in Tacoma, Wash., via Zoom twice a week and his daughter, my granddaughter Isabella, who lives and works in Santa Barbara. I'm still working very part-time as a licensed marriage and family therapist... and getting closer to full retirement. I’d love to hear from any UVM classmates.” David O. Hill published Summer Birds of Percé in 2021. Its text is in both English and French.

Jamie J. Jacobs ’61, M.D.’65 emailed from Europe: “We have finished Finland, Sweden, and Denmark and we are now on our way from Oslo to Bergen, Norway. After a spectacular train ride through the mountains, we are currently on a boat. On the way home we will spend three days in Paris.” Class Secretary Steve Berry sadly shares news of the April 12 passing of Roy Kelley. “Classmates who attended our 50th reunion may remember

MAIL YOUR CLASS NOTES:

UVM Alumni Association 61 Summit Street, Burlington, VT 05401

SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES: alumni.uvm.edu/notes

the musical entertainment that included a tribute to Roy’s college years’ performances with Chuck Eldred and Carol Demas in the Champlain Shakespeare Festival. Roy married Jeanine Cloutier ’62 who survives him. And your class scribe will add a family full-disclosure comment: I don’t have any first cousins, and Roy was one of a small number of second cousins with whom I grew up in Montpelier.

We kept in touch periodically—usually after one of my emails requesting ’61 news items for publication.” Steve also shares news from Jan H. Mashman, ’61, M.D.’65: “Through genetic testing, my wife, Susan, has discovered a new first cousin. In August, we are gathering our new extended family at a garden party for 70 people.” Robert (Bob) Michael Murphy “recently attended the UVM graduation ceremonies, and welcomed my grandson, Jack Murphy Landry ’23, as a UVM alumnus. He graduated with a B.S. in neuroscience. His mother (my daughter), Maureen Murphy ’88, graduated as a computer science major.

We have now become a three-generation UVM family.” Martha Lawton Nielsen shares, “In family news, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. My first great-grandchild, Rowan, was born in April 2022. My husband, Louis, died in 2020 at age 92 (not of COVID, but heart failure). I have been living in Providence since 1998, amongst family and friends, and loving the theater, music, and the ocean. I sang in the Providence Singers for 43 years, and am now singing in a hospice choir. Our four daughters all live in New England and our eight grandchildren are all on the East Coast.” KayFrances Mingolla Wardrope reports: “I am well but extremely forgetful, especially if I do not want to do something! I’m going to visit my sister Mary Ann Whitney ’63 and her husband, Jim Whitney ’64, this summer, and have an ambitious trip planned in October to visit my son and his family in Santiago, Chile, and may visit my brother in Ontario for Christmas.

My cat is the sole provider for intimacy, but that’s sufficient for an old gal. I’d love to have company, so if anyone is in the Hollywood, Fla., area, please let me know.” Roger Shepard Zimmerman wrote in July, “Last summer I qualified at the Maine Senior Games in track (400-meter and 800-meter) and in cycling (20k and 40k). That means I’m headed to Pittsburgh for the National Senior Games, where athletes from all the states compete. I’m not going to do the cycling (too busy at home to wait around for it), but I’ll do the track events. My daughter Heather graduated from Yale Law School and is studying for the bar. Her area is human rights.

Lynne is busy gardening, and when I’m not training, I’m wrestling with the chipmunks who are after the cherries in my small orchard.”

Send your news to— Mr. Stephen L. Berry steveberrydhs@gmail.com

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Stephen R. Burzon checks in: “Healthy and happy living most of the year in Sint Maarten in the Dutch West Indies. Blessed! Wife, family all good. Still own and use our home in Manchester, Vt., which makes for a great Airbnb when we are not there. Still in touch with classmates John Lazarus and Jules Older.

Excited to be planning a visit with Jules and Effin Older ’64 in New Zealand in spring 2025.

Favorite hobby is creating the successful 6-year old SXM Regatta. (Check out the Caribbean Multihull Challenge online.)" Elaine (Lanie) Heller Goldstein says she is “still living in Colorado and loving it. Still working as a travel agent and still laughing a lot and enjoying walking and talking. Joel is still practicing medicine. We have eight grandchildren who also share our love of Colorado, ranging in age from 25 to 8, and now have college graduates from Harvard and from Williams with more to come. Have very fond memories of UVM.” Forrest Woody Manning will again return to work as a substitute and staff member at the Middlebury Union High School in Middlebury, Vt. He says, “I love being with the students and working with the staff.” Patricia Joseph (Merlone) McGowan ’61 let us know that her

“

husband, John (Jay) McGowan, died in June 2023. He had been a member of Sigma Nu, and he and Pat had recently celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Jules Older and Effin ’64 keep on travel-writing and -shooting. Two recent pieces are “Your New Zealand Trip: Three Don’ts, Three Do’s (and a bunch of Must-do’s)” and “Fish & Friendship in Old/New Tokyo.”

Jeffrey B. Steckler says, “I am now retired and living in Naples, Fla., with my wife, Barbara.

I volunteer at the neighborhood clinic in the capacity of orthopedic surgeon, which is very rewarding. Golf, bridge, and bocce are activities that we both enjoy. We also visit our children and grandchildren in Florida and Rye, N.Y. Life is good.”

Send your news to— Mrs. Patricia Hoskiewicz Allen traileka@aol.com

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Class Secretary Toni Citarella Mullins writes: “This year is 60 years since our UVM graduation.

Thanks to the efforts of Kae Gleason Dakin, Mary Bunting, and Nora Barclay, many of you attended the reunion in September. As some of you know, I’ve been quite active over the last ten or so years. Having to change my lifestyle after my husband passed, I added competitive International Latin Ballroom Pro/ Am dance and Pilates teaching to my sports routines. And to this day, I continue to dance, teach, alpine ski, bike, hike, and in general enjoy all that Highlands, N. J., has to offer, which includes walking, biking trails, and of course the

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to support the University of Vermont through charitable gift annuities.

This unique giving method not only allows me to make a meaningful contribution to the areas of UVM that I am passionate about, but it also provides me with financial security through regular annuity payments.

David Spector ’56

”

Sample Lifetime Annuity Rates Age

Rate

60

4.9%

65

5.4%

70

5.9%

75

6.6%

80

7.6%

85

8.7%

beach! This is not to say that I have been free from the aging process! I believe that we can be as strong or stronger as we age, it’s a matter of working on our strength and health. ‘If you didn’t know how old you are, how old would you be?’ That’s a quote from Dr. Doug McGuff on strength training for health and longevity.

So, onward we go!!” Toni also shares: “A while back I heard from Jim Card who sent thanks for putting Bob Cousins in touch with him and says, ‘We managed to meet this summer at a Starbucks near the University of Florida in Gainesville. Bob was about ten students ahead of me when I joined the line waiting. When I mentioned to the student ahead of me that the person I waved to was an old roommate from the class of '63 you should have seen the look I received. Something like me in the Waterman cafeteria talking to someone who mentioned he was from the class of 1903. TIME WARP.’” Jim also wrote that he visited Loren Disque and his wife Patti in Carlisle, Pa., many times over the years, and learned that Loren had passed earlier this year. Kae Gleason Dakin wrote us back in the summer just as plans for UVM Weekend 2023 were coming together, and was looking forward to seeing classmates there. Mary Bunting Decher (Seattle, Wash.) and Joan Powell Kerzner (North Andover, Mass.) were hosted by Nora Barclay Terwilliger (Coos Bay, Ore.) for a mini reunion at Nora’s Portland apartment. This was their second reunion since a previous trip to Alaska together some years ago. Joan reports, “Nora was our tour guide as we walked her favorite neighborhoods, visited places of interest, and tried her favorite

t Charitable GifW k r o t a s e i t i u Ann

A charitable gift annuity (CGA) with the University of Vermont may help you meet your financial goals while also generously supporting future UVM students and programs that are most meaningful to you.

David is using his charitable gift annuities to create an endowed professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences and to support the Fleming Museum.

What would your legacy be?

To learn more visit go.uvm.edu/annuity or contact Cheryl Brodowski at 802-656-8417 or Cheryl.Brodowski@uvm.edu.

David Spector ’56 FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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BACK ON CAMPUS

Fostering clean energy innovation The atmosphere was electric in the Jack and Shirley Silver Pavilion on April 17, when young alumni working in the energy sector convened at the first-ever Vermont Clean and Resilient Energy Conference and Networking Event. They joined campus and industry leaders to discuss UVM’s role in advancing Vermont’s clean energy goals through use-inspired research and by engaging the next generation of clean energy innovators.

“It was an opportunity to explore the huge potential for energy research and innovation at UVM and the way the university can be a hub for that work and a connector to the companies and people doing that work across Vermont and our region,” said Elizabeth Palchak G’19, director of UVM’s Office of Sustainability. “UVM has a role to play and the ability to do more.

This is a real area of strength for us.”

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The conference, held during UVM Research Week, was hosted by the UVM Foundation and the UVM Alumni Association’s NextGen Council, a volunteer group of recent graduates that plans events and programs to engage young alumni across the country. Dan Kopin ’17, chair of the Vermont NextGen chapter, first brought the idea of the conference to the university and helped plan it. Kopin is manager of innovation at VELCO (Vermont Electric Power Company).

"The conference demonstrated that Vermont's energy industry, research community, and nonprofit partners are ready and eager to take on challenges facing Vermonters, like how to enhance energy resilience in a world increasingly impacted by the climate crisis,” he said.

Putting clean energy research into action is a critical step toward building a more sustainable and prosperous future. Adoption of clean and resilient energy sources presents a multitude

of benefits, including lowering carbon emissions, reducing dependency on natural resources, and decreasing the grid’s vulnerability in the face of natural disasters and other threats.

Palchak says UVM is uniquely positioned to address these challenges thanks to state policy that prioritizes renewable energy, a local business environment that puts an emphasis on innovation and sustainability, and students and alumni who are equal to the task.

“Our students are educated, focused, and passionate, and they want jobs that give them purpose. Recent alumni are reaping the benefits of a UVM education that is allowing them to contribute incredibly important work in the moment of climate change,” says Palchak.

“I left feeling inspired,” says Kopin. “We heard from both established professionals and the next generation of alumni that use-inspired research at UVM will help our communities, that students will make a difference. Now is the time to make something big happen.”

DAVID SEAVER

| CL ASS NOTES READ

CL A SS NOTES ONLINE

alumni.uvm.edu/notes

restaurants. We shared memories of UVM, family news, and post-retirement passions, and were joined by other alums Laura Decher Wayte ’90 and Arnold Kerzner, M.D. ’63.

It’s hard to believe 60 years have passed since graduation! Harold K. Zimmermann wrote to let us know that Patricia Hess Zimmermann passed away in February 2023. She was a native of West Arlington, Vt., and a long-time resident of Fairhope, Ala. She spent her career teaching, including teaching high school on the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, and ended her teaching career while at Citronelle High School in Citronelle, Ala. She is survived by her husband, a daughter, two sons, and five grandchildren.

Send your news to— Dr. Toni Citarella Mullins tonicmullins@verizon.net

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Class Secretary Susan Griesenbeck Barber was back on the shores of Lake Champlain for the summer, “hoping to see Linda Sparks for a nice visit as we did last summer. The smoke haze blocks the Adirondacks. All we see right now is a vague outline. It is improving however. Now we are all waiting for the weather to improve! Hopefully you all had great adventures over the summer.” Robert Collier is “pleased to report that the following members of the AEPi Fraternity brotherhood of ’64 and some members of ’65 reassembled via Zoom at the beginning of the COVID troubles on April 24, 2020, and have continued to meet monthly: Jed Abrams ’65, Richard Berliner, Robert Collier, Steven Frankel, Jeff Galuten ’65, Howard Jacobson, Frank Lewis, Richard Lippman ’65, Alan Mintz, Peter Oppenheim, Steven Pell ’65, Norm Shapiro, Robert Sommerfield, Steven Weisberg ’65, Michael Zieky ’64. We still have not run out of anecdotes, new jokes, and misremembered antics to talk about.

Meeting attendance is actually better now than it was then! As Brother Michael Zieky is fond of saying, 'on an age-adjusted basis we are all doing quite well.' Stretched across the country from California to Maine, we continue to need name badges on the Zoom call to connect the remembered name to the new body. Occasionally when one of the wives, who remembered us when she was one of the girlfriends 59 years ago, pops into the meeting she is quick to ask, ‘Is that really you?’ What we have all lost in hair I am pleased to report we, like fine wine, have gained in body. Any AEPi brothers from the classes of ’64 or ’65 who wish

to join in are welcome to get in touch. Well wishes to all our classmates.” Jeffrie B. Felter ’64, M.D.’68 checks in with greetings to fellow College of Arts and Sciences alums from 1964, and Larner College of Medicine alums from the class of 1968. Marilyn Elaine Rivero wrote to say she was “having a nice family vacation on Satellite Beach, Fla., with my children and grandchildren. Pool, hot tub, clean ocean, and beautiful beach. The turtles lay eggs here! Then I will spend time in Saugus, Mass., with my daughter.”

Send your news to— Mrs. Susan Griesenbeck Barber suebarbersue@gmail.com

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Sheri Baraw Smith ’87 wrote to let us know that her father, Charles (Chuck) E. Baraw, Sr. ’65, G’74, passed away in March 2023 after a brief illness.

Besides his studies in the undergraduate and graduate Business Administration programs, Chuck was also a brother in Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. (See our remembrance in the UVM Community stories in this issue.)

Howard Cyr and Lynn Ashley of Rehoboth Beach, Del., traveled to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado to revisit Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Lake Powell, and ventured to new sites: Meteor Crater, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, and the Durango-Silverton railroad. Highlights of the trip were a helicopter flight through the canyons of Sedona and an airplane flight over Monument Valley. Howard says, “The high

altitude and my 80 years of age made for some huffing and puffing on this trip.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

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Jennifer Bean Bartlau shared the sad news of the death of Tyler I. Bean in December 2022. Tyler taught biology and physical science for over 30 years, first at Burlington High School and then in the Lake Region Union High School in Barton, Vt. Janet Miller Hamilton let us know that her husband, Bill Hamilton, passed away in October 2021. Carol Jenne Jones sent a sweet picture of herself, “with Baby Eleanor.

Hooray! She’s a step-great-granddaughter as I never had children of my own.” R. Alan (Chip) Platow says he is now a Stuart, Fla., resident but still has his 1750 farmhouse in Weston, Conn. He wrote after he had just returned from an eightday fly-fishing trip on the Missouri River in Craig, Mont., and says he will tackle the Salmon River Gorge in September. He adds, “My daughter teaches high school in New York City at Essex House Academy, but comes to Connecticut with my two granddaughters most weekends and all summer. Had a great time fishing with David Pietsch in Montana last year. Life as a widower continues to be good as can be without my best friend of 42 years. Best to all Sigma Nu brothers and all 1966 classmates.”

Send your news to— Mrs. Kathleen Nunan McGuckin kathynmcguckin@gmail.com

Just like Catamounts, our UVM banners love to travel!

If you have an upcoming party, trip, event, or wedding, we’d love to send you a UVM banner to become part of your memories! To receive your banner, email Sarah.Lenes@uvm.edu with your gathering details.

And don’t forget to send us photos of your great adventures—we love to share!

FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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Class Secretary Jane Kleinberg Carroll let us know that Paul M. Dorsey passed away in July 2022 after a short illness. Friend and associate Alan Abair shared a tribute to Clayton C. (Clay) Fuller, who passed away in 2023. Clay was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2022. His Fuller Promotions was founded in 1969 in Portland to organize and promote festivals and sporting events in the state. Over the years he was involved with The Bite, Rose Festival, Bite of Beaverton, and many other outdoor events.

He became producer of the Waterfront Blues Festival in 1987 and produced it for 35 years, working with the Oregon Food Bank as principal charity recipient. Fuller got the Cascade Blues Association and the city more heavily involved and wasn’t afraid to take chances and be creative.

Fuller added more music to the event. He added the popular and more intimate Willamette River cruises in 2003, and after-hours club gigs around town. He also backed the somewhat controversial booking of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant in 2013 that many felt was too far afield for a blues festival, but ultimately capped the biggest Waterfront Blues Festival weekend ever.

This year’s Blues Festival held July 4th weekend was dedicated to Clay’s memory.

Send your news to— Jane Kleinberg Carroll jane.carroll@cox.net

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Arthur R. Abelson and wife Lynne continue to reside in Kennebunk, Maine.

Daughter, Samantha, recently graduated from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine with a master’s degree in public health and environment and is now working for an environmental consulting firm in Boca Raton, Fla. Arthur says he would like hearing from classmates in the area. Class Secretary Diane Glew offers, “Jack J. Rosenberg is on a roll. His image was the only work sold in the MFA Winter Member show at the Circle Gallery in Annapolis, Md. Juror Benjamin Simmons selected 53 artists’ photographs; two were Jack's. His work has been recognized by the Maryland Federation of Art, the Viewbug online platform, and many fans for its … impact, creativity, and artistry, as well as his passion and the relentless pursuit of perfection that he brings to his work. Congratulations, Jack, on your talent and hard work!”

Send your news to— Diane Duley Glew ddglew@gmail.com

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Judge Marshall K. Berger joined Connecticut law firm Pullman & Comley as a member of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practice.

His focus will be on the mediation of land use, zoning, environmental, and construction matters. He will be based in the firm’s Hartford

66 | U V M M A G A Z I N E

office. Judge Berger’s distinguished career of more than 30 years on the bench began when he was appointed as a Connecticut Superior Court judge in September 1988 and continued active service through a variety of roles until 2020. James M. Betts ’69, M.D.’73 writes, “As I pen this, I am looking ahead to this October’s 50th UVM College of Medicine Reunion. Yikes! Where have those decades gone? So many years have passed since I left Vermont to complete residencies and settle in Oakland, Calif., to practice pediatric surgery. I’m still at the hospital, taking calls and enjoying caring for the surgical needs of children. Ours is a safety-net, mission-based facility, now merged into the University of California San Francisco system. We are a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center; we keep our doors open for any child and their families in this extremely diverse Oakland community. I still serve as a volunteer firefighter in Big Sur (a magnificent area three hours south of Oakland), where I have a small residence, and deploy as a tactical physician with the San Francisco FBI SWAT team. It is an honor and privilege to serve in the medical field, fire, and with the Bureau. As for UVM, there are so many changes and ongoing projects from the time when I was there completing my eight-year tenure for undergraduate and medical studies. UVM remains one of the state universities with the lowest state support in the country. I urge you to return to campus, and also to donate to your college or program in recognition of the education you received.

I hope to have seen you at the reunion by the time you read this.” Richard A. Farnham writes, “my wife, Diane, and I have moved into one-floor living in a Williston, Vt., townhouse from our 30-year home in South Burlington! No stairs makes it easy on new hip and it’s a short trip to the fridge in the middle of the night for a cold drink! All classmates and teammates are welcome anytime!” Priscilla Short Kerr writes that her husband, Phillips H. Kerr, passed away in March 2023 from a traumatic brain injury suffered in a February fall while in a Massachusetts hospital. Leslie Wernick Leslie shares that she and environmental writer husband Jacques Leslie are now officially settled in Woodstock, Vt., after leaving California and building a house next door to Ned Macksoud. She says, “We’ve been friends since the first day of school and now we are neighbors after Ned sold us five acres and was the contractor for our ‘green’ Vermont home.

We love Woodstock. Leaving California was difficult, friends and family were surprised. But our son followed us with his family and recently settled in Rhode Island. We’ve all moved east.

Our youngest daughter, also a writer, lives on a farm in Liguria, Italy, and had her first child in October, which meant we missed the colors this year. But baby Elia was more than worth the journey! I am still an artist and activist and jumped right into the wonderful community here. Come enjoy this beautiful and environmentally historic village and please

don’t hesitate to get in touch.” Jon Meyer has been working on a number of books of poetry embedded in photos. His latest book, Clouds, was published by Joshua Tree Press and won the 2022 International Book of the Year for poetry/ nature. It has many photographs of Vermont and is available through the UVM Bookstore.

Valerie Van Houten Smith shared the news that Gary Scott Smith passed away in December 2022, at home in Essex, Vt., embraced by his wife and daughter and a double rainbow. Gary was a kind, gentle soul who brought a quiet determination, fortitude, and “can do” attitude to all aspects of his life, including his journey with Parkinson’s disease.

Paul M. Woodard wrote as he “just returned from a two-week vacation in the high desert of Oregon. I fought my second wildfire here in the summer of 1968 as a summer student with the U.S. Forest Service. I made this ’68 trip with another UVM forestry student, the late Gary Smith, my forever best friend. The trip revived many wonderful memories. The area around Bend, Ore., is as beautiful as I remember.”

Send your news to— Mary Joan Moninger-Elia maryeliawh@gmail.com

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Paul Trono was inducted into the Vermont Principals Association Hall of Fame in May, in recognition of over 50 years of officiating high school football and lacrosse in Vermont.

Send your news to— Douglas McDonald Arnold darnold@arnold-co.com

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Michael A. Rosenberg retired in June after 36 years as a non-academic administrator at Maimonides School.

Thanks to the school’s efforts, Mike was honored with throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park on May 30. He notes that he has not been offered a contract, despite the Red Sox’s struggles.

Send your news to— Sarah Wilbur Sprayregen sarahsprayvt@gmail.com

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Class Secretary Debra Koslow Stern wrote as summer was getting underway, “Greetings Class of ’72! June was the 50th Reunion for the Class of ’73 as ours was last year. Since I had such a good time last year meeting old friends from ’70, ’71, and ’72, I could not resist the ’73 reunion. It was held in the lovely and cozy Alumni House, a great spot to mingle and enjoy each other’s company.

Sally Streeter Zoppo and Susanne ThayerKramers, two of my floormates freshman year, were there and it was especially nice to see them. As I worked at UVM for 22 years, it was also nice to see the staff who helped make the occasion memorable. When your 50th Reunion

READ

CL A SS NOTES ONLINE

alumni.uvm.edu/notes

comes along, I highly recommend returning to campus and having a fun-filled weekend with both old and new friends. In other personal news, my husband, Mitch Stern G’79, and I went on an island-hopping cruise in January, going to Puerto Rico, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia.” At the time of writing, Debra and Mitch were looking forward to a once-in-a lifetime trip to Italy.

Send your news to— Debra Koslow Stern debbie2907@gmail.com

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Cynthia Lynn Coy is “still smiling from the memorable 50th Reunion weekend put on for us by UVM. Dancing at the Alumni House and seeing many Theta sisters were the highlights for me. Many thanks to the Alumni Association!” Wayne Robert Davis and wife Becky Pardee Davis ’75 also attended the 50th Reunion in June, and Wayne says it was great fun seeing Mike Brown, Bob Baird, and other classmates. He says, “Kudos to UVM for a great celebration!

Becky and I live in Colchester, Vt., on the lake, where we enjoy beautiful sunsets.” When they wrote, they were looking forward to summer visits with their eight grandchildren.

Margo Oliver de Camp is “enjoying life in Ohio. Competing with my youngest dog in obedience and rally obedience competitons.

My other dog is a therapy dog and we enjoy visiting those who love to pat and talk to her.

Also enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, other outdoor activities, and helping others and the environment as much as we can.” Alan Janson just moved to a beautiful waterfront home in Palm Coast, Fla., and is looking forward to sharing the views. Emily Schnaper Manders sent a picture with Marilyn Berkman Sturman, Laura Davies Tilley, and Margo David DiIeso ’74 in the Tri Delta House, standing in front of a painting of the house, painted by Candace Lovely ’75. Dr. Lynda R. McIntyre let us know that Katherine C. McIntyre, passionate naturalist and science teacher, passed away surrounded by family in June 2023. Class Secretary Deborah Layne Mesce writes, “We had a great 50th Reunion, reconnecting with old friends, remembering good times, enjoying a gorgeous spring weekend in Burlington. It was fun walking through a sea of 200 or so people, recognizing faces and/or name tags, feeling memory brain cells click into place (though I still can’t find my keys). The campus is still beautiful and yet so

different from what we knew in the early ’70s.”

Cindy Ann Nelson happily notes, “Our 50th Reunion brought me in touch with classmates I haven’t seen in 52+ years. Their warmth and inclusion will always be remembered.”

Send your news to— Deborah Layne Mesce dmesce@icloud.com

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50th Reunion Celebration June 7-9, 2024

After 34 years of government service, Michael W. Broder retired from the E.P.A. and is pursuing new opportunities and adventures. Now that the lockdown is easing he would enjoy meeting other UVM alums from the 1970s.

Thomas R. Fennell G’74 has moved into independent living in Tuscon, Ariz. This year will mark both the 36th anniversary of his retirement from IBM and condo living. Paul F. Kenny writes, “Golfers! If you haven’t read Tom Coyne’s A Course Called Ireland yet, do it! And hopefully your home course weathered the winter as well as mine. The Valley Club in Sun Valley, Idaho, is primo! FORE!” Send your news to— Emily Schnaper Manders esmanders@gmail.com

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Richard T. Cassidy has been appointed to the mediator's panel of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a professional

organization for mediators and arbitrators.

Class Secretary Christine Dwyer Child notes, “This is a milestone birthday for the majority of our class. Why don’t you send in a Class Note to share how you celebrated? For myself, we took our three sons, daughters-inlaw, and seven grandchildren to Disney World to have fun and celebrate with Mickey and Minnie.” Robin Hendler Eastern, Robin Adair, and Stacey Lazarus enjoyed a low-key combined 70th birthday party together on New York’s Keuka Lake with their spouses. All three are enjoying their retirement from nursing, teaching, and medicine and had great fun reminiscing about their UVM days.

Send your news to— Christine Dwyer Child dinachild@aol.com

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Andrea Kalisch Casey happily reports that “Finn, our first grandchild, has arrived! He’s got the shaka down already.” Averill Hamilton Cook says that life is great on their Williamstown, Mass., farm, and that fellow alums should stop by anytime they are in the area—they “always have a bed for you and yours.” We sincerely apologize for mis-gendering Mr. Jan D'Angelo in the Spring 2023 print edition of the magazine. His note correctly reads, “Jan A. D’Angelo has joined ACT Aerospace in Gunnison, Utah, as VP Business Development, specializing in composite structures. The firm has history with prosthetic foot/knee manufacturing (now Proteor). He is pleased that Burlington-based

Class of 1974, we’re getting ready for you!

June 7-9, 2024

To learn more visit

go.uvm.edu/50reunion or email Kimberly.Surwilo@uvm.edu.

FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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| CL ASS NOTES Beta eVTOL is a customer.” Robert P. Melcher has been the owner and operator of a Visiting Angels senior care franchise since 2010. He lives in South Hero, Vt., and volunteers with the local ambulance service as an EMT, so he visits campus frequently.

Send your news to— Peter Andrew Beekman pbeekman19@gmail.com

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Patricia Ann Boera is a longtime volunteer with Burlington’s Lyric Theatre Company and encourages fellow alums to join her in volunteering with or attending their 50th-anniversary season productions of The Prom (November), The Wizard of Oz (April 2024), and The Sound of Music (June 2024). Abby Mandel continues to teach in the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Northern Virginia Community College, fall semester only. Semiretirement makes way for spending more time with her six grandchildren. William Chandler Rowland recently went to his 50th high school reunion where he saw fellow Catamounts Sheila House, Sue Bernhart Scott, and Phil Van Wyck. “Everyone is doing well!”

Rob Martin Waxman says, “I’m doing well on my prosthetic and playing music with my Allman Brothers tribute band, Idlewild West. Our daughter has been working as a nurse for two years. My wife and I went to Macon, Ga., in April for an Allman Brothers pilgrimage.”

He was looking forward to his 50th high school reunion in October in Valley Stream, N. Y. Cynthia L. Wilkening published a book of haiku, Water is Faithful: Haiku for Mind, Body, and Soul, which she describes as “complex ideas of human nature, modern life, and God in 17 syllables each.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

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Jason Perry shared the sad news that his wife, Linda Jane Perry, founder and “chief inspiration officer” of Gardenfire Farm, a flower farm based in West Milton, Ohio, died in February 2023. She was 67. Linda was an authority on numerous horticultural disciplines, a creative horticultural entrepreneur, a drafter and designer for civil engineering firms, and a devoted mother and school volunteer who touched the lives of many.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

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Candis Perrault-Kjelleren of South Burlington died with her heart full of joy and peace in January 2023. She lived a remarkable life through her positive attitude, enthusiasm, faith, fearlessness, and courage. Gratitude, love, and support guided her journey through an endof-life illness. Teressa Marie Valla is honored to be included in the recently published Earth Keepers Handbook, published by Ecoartspace Publications.

Send your news to— Beth Nutter Gamache bethgamache@burlingtontelecom.net

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The Connector Penrose Jackson has spent her career helping people and organizations find each other.

Penrose Jackson ’70 graduated from UVM at a politically and socially tumultuous time in our nation’s history. She says the massacre at Kent State in May of her senior year, in which four unarmed college students were killed and nine injured, colored her final days on campus and her outlook as a new graduate.

“Exams were canceled. We went to graduation.

Some people wore armbands. I don't remember if I did. We just left. There was no feeling of celebration, and it was very, very hard,” says Jackson.

She saw that her community needed connection and healing and made a promise to herself that she would make a difference. From a young age, she made it her life’s work to improve both UVM and the greater Burlington community, which she sees as mutually dependent and indelibly intertwined.

Her first accomplishment was no pedestrian task— she was hired as the planner and first director of the Church Street Marketplace.

“I don't know where I got the inkling that I could possibly do that. My husband and I had lined a cedar closet—that was my construction experience—but I built a $6 million facility, which would be $35-40 million today, on time and on budget.”

Over the course of the project, she developed a knowledge of the people and systems that could help her accomplish more. She set her sights on improving the health of the Burlington community, particularly the most vulnerable populations.

She served for 15 years as the Community Health Improvement director at the UVM Medical Center and is now CEO of the Vermont Public Health Institute. She has served on the boards of many nonprofits, including the YMCA, the United Way,

DRIVEN STUDIOS

the UVM Medical Center, and many others, tackling issues from food insecurity and homelessness to mental health and the opiate crisis.

"We can only be fully healthy individually if we're all fully healthy as a community, and we can't ever do that alone. I have spent most of my life helping people and organizations find each other,” she says.

As president of the UVM Alumni Association, Jackson shepherded two hallmark initiatives that opened the door to more alumni connecting with the university in meaningful ways. She put an emphasis on programs and outreach that engaged all alumni and created the first Alumni Association Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She also led the charge to plan and open the UVM Alumni House.

“I came to appreciate the whole concept of coming home to a place where you could always feel welcome, that you didn't have to go to a classroom or a gymnasium, that there was a home-like place where you could feel a part of the university and connected with it.”

Those who know Jackson personally and professionally have called her a visionary leader, a quintessential public servant, someone who can break down barriers. It’s been claimed that she must know everyone in Vermont and always knows who to call to accomplish a goal.

“I show up, ask to do something, and I do it as well as I can. I think that's what I can bring, and hopefully some perspective and some intelligence.

When I graduated in 1970, again, it was a tough, tough time and a very low time in our country. I was thinking about what I would do when I grew up and I said, well, ‘I can stay outside and I can have my placards and I can protest, or maybe I could get inside and try to influence from the inside.’ Not a bad idea.”

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Send your news to— Kristen Yonker Hazen Hazenkristin@gmail.com

A journalist of 40 years and a senior editor at the science journal Nature since 2008, Karen H. Kaplan is a terminal cancer patient who, at least for now, continues to work from her home area of Washington, D.C. (She’s a Connecticut native.)

Karen and her medical team hope she has at least a couple more years of life.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

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Nancy Ellen Battey wrote as she was looking forward to seeing the gang (Joyce Bates, Peggy (Bolton) Crisman, Alicia Good, Julie Jones, and Bonnie (Ouelette) Niles) in October. The group got together in Colorado last August and hope to make it an annual event.

Lauren-Glenn Davitian is stepping down as founder and head of CCTV Center for Media & Democracy in Burlington, and will continue to work on communications policy and special projects. Jamie Campbell Fagan says that life is good with four grandchildren and lots of skiing at Cannon, Alta, and Jackson Hole. He is still working as a wealth partner at J.P. Morgan.

Kim Edmunds Husson recently retired from a 35-year career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She lives in New Hampshire and has enjoyed reconnecting with fellow Pi Phi

Sandy Young Caterine and former Tupper resident Sandie Sabaka. She is keeping busy boating at Lake Winnipesaukee, skiing at Cannon Mountain, and playing pickleball. She and her husband are looking forward to their daughter’s fall 2024 wedding to the son of Jim Farrell ’81.

Send your news to— John Peter Scambos pteron@verizon.net

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Seth Matthew Blitzer says, “Our youngest is about to begin college and we are about to be empty nesters. I keep in touch with David McKechnie and Steven Weissman, and occasionally Jim Wyrick, and would love to hear from more old friends.” Class Secretary Lisa Greenwood Crozier says that “2022 and 2023 have been travel years, catching up on what we couldn’t do the last three years!

August 2022 found Jim and I finally getting to take our river cruise on the Seine for a week.

We enjoyed the relaxation and spending time at the American Cemetery in Normandy. I can’t describe the feelings felt when seeing the crosses of the men we lost there. September 2022, almost a month after getting home from France, found me on an unplanned trip with my mom to Scotland for two weeks with a group of knitters. We spent four days in ‘mainland’ Scotland touring around the Inverness area before taking the overnight ferry to Shetland for Wool Week, where we took some classes and did some hiking with some of the other

Do you know a high school junior or UVM? Or a current college student interested in transferring to UVM? Help them learn more about UVM by referring them to us! Any student you refer can use the Alumni Referral Fee Waiver that is part of the Common Application or Apply Coalition on Scoir.

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MAIL YOUR CLASS NOTES:

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women in our group. We had a fabulous time, lots of fresh seafood and LOADS of yarn, and the Scottish people are so very friendly, welcoming, and helpful, especially in Shetland.

March 2023 found my daughter, her best friend, and me in Norway. It was a joy to be back and see our Norwegian family; we like going in March so we can help with lambing. Husband Jim turned 70 this year so we sent him on a trip to Texas to visit his family and play golf with his brother. We both returned, less than a month later, unfortunately for a funeral.” Daniel Allen Kelin’s short film “After the Endling” premiered at the 2022 Hawaii International Film Festival and has since appeared at several more festivals in the U.S. and Australia. The film will appear on PBS in the program Pacific Heartbeat. Ramona Potwin May shares that Ruby May, her daughter with Jeff May ’81, will be attending UVM’s nursing program this fall.

Send your news to— Lisa Greenwood Crozier lcrozier@triad.rr.com

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Renate Callahan shared the sad news that her husband, Glenn Callahan, died earlier this year.

Gregory Joseph Santoro writes, “After spending much of my career in telecom, I’m so proud to have the privilege of helping several local Communications Union Districts bring high-speed fiber service to the central and northeast areas of Vermont where it is so badly needed.”

Send your news to— Abby Goldberg Kelley kelleyabbyvt@gmail.com or Kelly Marie McDonald jasna-vt@hotmail.com or Shelley Carpenter Spillane scspillane@aol.com

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Send your news to— Barbara A. Roth roth_barb@yahoo.com

Helen M. Condry is pleased to announce that she has completed her dissertation and is now Dr. Helen M. Condry. She plans to continue teaching at Charleston Southern University. A fierce advocate for individuals with disabilities, Janet Miller received the KPIX Jefferson Award as a “quiet hero” of the Bay Area for her collaborative work in support of children with special needs. Learn more through the Project Awareness and Special Sports (PAASS) website.

Send your news to— Lawrence Gorkun vtlfg@msn.com

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Catherine M. Acampora published her second book on dogs. Please Don't Hug Me is a book designed for families to teach dog safety and is part of her dog safety program with Plymouth County (Massachusetts) Extension.

Kelley Fielder Charland let us know that her daughter, Anna Charland ’22, opened Charlotte Case Boutique in Essex Junction, Vt., with her sister Mallory in memory of their grandmother Charlotte Caise Charland in October 2022. They have a philanthropic mission to contribute to breast cancer research, are committed to sustainability, and enjoy meeting UVM alumni when they come in to browse and shop. Philip Victor Kaszuba was elected to the board of directors for ASM International's Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society, the world's premier organization dedicated to the advancement of science and technology in semiconductor device analysis. After a few years dealing with health issues, Regina M. Kohlhepp is back at work as a consultant on aging. She says, “My business partner and I own ActiveAgingRNConsultants, based in Rutland, Vt. We are providing services for older people who wish to age in place at home.” She offers congratulations to all UVM graduates.

Sheri Baraw Smith shares a bittersweet note. “In December 2021 we sold our family business, the Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa. The resort had been family-owned and operated since 1963. I stayed on as general manager until February 2023. I am now excited to announce on August 1, I will be joining the Green Mountain Inn team as general manager, continuing my career in Stowe innkeeping.”

Send your news to— Sarah Vaden Reynolds sarahreynolds10708@gmail.com

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Tammy Kenney Bevins writes that she “had the incredible opportunity of going on my first medical mission with Partners for World Health (based in Portland, Maine) to use my 40 years’ experience as an R.N. in Kenya in June! To my surprise, two of the hospitals where we had medical camps have very strong ties with a Vermont doctor!” Wendy Webster Farrell was named one of “50 Women to Watch” in 2023 by Empowered Magazine. She was honored at their March 2023 conference where she also spoke about embracing your personal potential. Maureen Murphy shared a picture of “three generations of UVM alumni! My father Robert Murphy ’61 joined me in watching his grandson, my son, Jack Landry ’23, graduate with a B.S. in neuroscience in May.” Maureen also shared her story of generosity, courage, and adventure. “I recently summited the African continent’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, with a team of living organ donors … an amazing and difficult adventure to promote living organ donation. I myself donated a kidney in 2022. Please learn more about this work at livingdonoradventures. com. We are working to really get the word out to the world.” Lynn Dodge Ortale, Ph.D. was named the sixth president of Maria College in Albany, N.Y. She sent along a picture of herself and her grandson, Kiernan Matthew Montgomery, in matching regalia at her inauguration.

Send your news to— Cathy Selinka Levison crlevison@comcast.net

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Dino Filippo Cappello writes, “Life rolls on here in northern N.J.!

After being off the road for so long it has been great to start traveling for business again to San Antonio, Montreal, and San Diego so far this year. Our daughter is off to college next month at The College of New Jersey to study secondary education and biology, and our youngest is starting high school.”

Send your news to— Maureen Kelly Gonsalves moe.dave@verizon.net

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Brad Lichtenstein is “very proud to share that a documentary I directed, When Claude Got Shot, won the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. The film was produced by my company, 371 Productions, which I founded in 2003.” Paul J. Walker started a YouTube channel called “Paul Walker’s Fitness Journey.” He says, “All videos are shot on the streets of NYC and are meant to inspire people to get fit and learn how to properly work out.”

Send your news to— Tessa Donohoe Fontaine tessafontaine@gmail.com

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Andy Boyce and Jen BoeriBoyce celebrated the marriage of daughter Kaitlyn Boyce ’19 and Aaron Haase, and they appreciated the presence of many UVMers, including Dan Busse, Doug Goldsmith, Phil Gonzalez, Jeff Kapsalis, Eric Krawitt, Marc O'Meara, and Kevin and Stacey Spillane, as well as Pete Ronchetti and Judy Wilson Ronchetti ’90, Laura Lankford Busse ’92, Becky Stockman Kapsalis ’92, Mike ’95 and Kami Pepe ’95.

Andrew Boeri ’97, Kathleen Boyce Hepp ’97, April Ambrose ’19, Chace Carpenter ’19, Max Costes ’19, Molly Elwell ’19, Hannah Gleason ’19, Michelle Maseroni ’19, Carolyn Snell ’19, and Victoria Gonzalez ’24. They say, “It was amazing to have so many Catamounts present for this important day and we were proud to post the UVM banner.” Emily Fleschner Norton wrote to say she was “excited my son Will starts at UVM as a first-year student this fall, majoring in environmental engineering!” Stacey Payne Spillane and Kevin Spillane are “thrilled to announce the arrival of our granddaughter, Millie James Conroy. Our daughter Taylor and her husband, William, along with big brother Beckett, welcomed Millie in May 2023. We are relishing every moment as grandparents!”

Send your news to— Karen Heller Lightman khlightman@gmail.com

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In December 2022, Christopher Smith Crowley and his family drove from Alexandria, Va., to Kirkland, Wash., to begin their new lives on the West Coast. Chris works for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. His wife, Jilinda, accepted a job with an aerospace company whose mission is to decarbonize aviation by manufacturing battery-powered motors. Chris is looking forward to connecting with other UVM alums based in Seattle, as well as spending a lot more time in the mountains skiing and hiking with his two children, Margot and Ian. Jill H. Davidson says, “It’s been an incredible year already! I graduated from nurse practitioner FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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| CL ASS NOTES school and have accepted a nurse practitioner residency position in California. I just returned from my threeweek trip to Kenya doing a medical mission trip as well as a safari. It was magical and truly humbling. I hope everyone’s doing well.” Courtlandt Pennell and wife of 28 years Anne Lamb have moved back to Vermont after “an amazing nine-year adventure in Breckenridge, Colo.. It is so great to be HOME (although I could do without the bugs). Have been fortunate to see many 92-ers and other UVM alums since our return. Hoping our next reunion is well-attended.” Christopher Marshall Robbins writes, “After 25 years in Boston, my wife (Mel) and I moved to Dorset, Vt., where our youngest son (Oakley, 18) is attending Burr & Burton Academy, while our other two daughters (Sawyer, 24; Kendall, 22) reside in New York City and Los Angeles. In 2016, I launched a men's retreat business called Soul Degree—helping guys find more meaning in their lives. Needless to say I think often about the glorious sunsets over Lake Champlain and mid-week turns at Stowe.”

Send your news to— Lisa Aserkoff Kanter jslbk@mac.com

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MJ Berman lives in Washington, D.C., with his “four pretty good kids.” He looks forward to seeing everyone at the class of 1993's 30th reunion this fall.

Send your news to— Gretchen Haffermehl Brainard gretchenbrainard@gmail.com

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Craig Andrew Rothenberg’s son Benjamin graduated from the Dublin School and will be attending Colby College in Maine this August as a freshman. His daughter Hannah will be starting her senior year and says UVM is high on her college list. Lisa A. (Troost) Sottrel says, “My oldest child, Willem, is headed to Colorado School of Mines for his freshman year this fall and I’m excited to have someone to visit in a geographically desirable location! We’ve visited Costa Rica and Alaska so far this year and really loved both destinations. My husband and I are still working at our respective family businesses and staying alive despite the tight labor market and supply chain problems. I hope all is well with my UVM brethren!”

Send your news to— Cynthia Bohlin Abbott cyndiabbott@hotmail.com

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Rachel Foy is proud to announce the 10-year anniversary of real estate brokerage Hillman Homes and says she “would be thrilled to help any alumni looking to buy, sell, or rent in Massachusetts or New Hampshire.” Carl (Fuzzy) Martin thanks all the UVMers who sponsored his walk at the 10th annual CLCSN Walk for Cancer this past June at Club Motorsports in Tamworth, N. H.: Carol Martin ’64, Lois Chadbourne ’64, Denise Owens ’87, Melissa Springer ’88, Wayne Chadbourne ’92, Arnie Juanillo ’92, and Greg Rua. Send your news to— Valeri Susan Pappas vpappas@davisandceriani.com

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CATAMOUNT NATION

How A Sense of Belonging Translated to Success in School Perin Patel Explains How the Mosaic Center Aided his UVM Journey

And because he had a support system in place, including Alex Yin, executive director of Institutional Research and Assessment, and Bev Belisle, director of the Mosaic Center, he boosted his GPA by nearly a point and learned how to write a compelling admissions essay for graduate school.

When he was 13, Perin Patel immigrated from Chalamali, a small village in western India where his family managed a cotton farm. As his parents learned English, Patel interpreted bills and filled out paperwork. In high school in Bennington, he recalls being “one of two brown families” in town and the British English he knew didn’t always translate. “My friends in high school were my teachers.”

“In my culture … we are not taught to brag,” Patel explains. “It was hard to see all I’ve done here.”

After being accepted to the University of Vermont, Patel enrolled in the Summer Enrichment Scholars Program (SESP), a free five-week experience run by UVM’s Mosaic Center for Students of Color, designed to help BIPOC, firstgeneration, and students of lower socioeconomic status connect with each other and persist to graduation. He is the first in his family to attend college and grew up thinking higher education was a stepping stone to a better life.

Patel earned his master’s in pharmacology at UVM while serving as the Mosaic Center’s coordinator of leadership development and programs where he mentored students of color and educated UVM officials about the challenges that BIPOC students may face. For instance, sometimes a student’s religious and cultural background conflicts with the academic calendar and activities listed in a class syllabus. Educating faculty members about things to look for and ways to be more accommodating to students with different backgrounds is an important piece of the university’s goal to be more inclusive, he says. “This is what is going to help our student retention.”

“Seeing how much we have struggled financially, socially, I just felt education would be a way of finding a sense of direction,” he said.

Patel’s freshman year was the first time he was plugged in socially. But he began struggling academically.

At the Mosaic Center, Patel felt comfortable sharing his problems because he could relate to other students of color who sometimes felt

BAILEY BELTRAMO

uncomfortable asking questions in predominantly white spaces. Feeling supported allowed him the freedom to transform. Patel became a peer advisor for SESP, treasurer of the Asian Student Union, a teaching assistant in the biochemistry department, and an undergraduate coordinator for the Indian Student Association.

What he has done is tried to make students of color feel like they, too, belong at UVM. His senior year he was awarded the prestigious F.T. Kidder Medal, which is presented to the student who best exemplifies character, leadership, and scholarship traits.

These days Patel is no longer afraid to raise his hand, no longer shy about using his voice. He began dental school this fall and says he will practice what he learned about leadership and inclusion at UVM to “create a community where people of all backgrounds feel comfortable coming into my practice.”

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Josh Wilson accepted a new role with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, leading external communications for the organization that represents 34 independent Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, serving people in every zip code in the nation.

Send your news to— Jill Cohen Gent jcgent@roadrunner.com or Michelle Richards Peters mpeters@eagleeyes.biz

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Class Secretary Lee (Elizabeth Carstensen) Genung shares that Andy Harris lives in Portland, Ore., with his wife, Molly (Boeder) Harris ’99, and daughter Peya. In addition to catching some recent Dead & Co. and Phish shows, Andy serves clients as a residential realtor in the Portland metro region. He’s still in close touch with several UVM friends from Buckham Hall and would enjoy networking with other Catamounts in the Pacific Northwest. Gregory Carl Sturcke continues to enjoy living near Denver with his wife and son. Following 15 years in residential real estate and SaaS (software as a service) sales, he’s working to transition into climate work and would love to chat with UVM alumni working in clean energy or built environment. While recently visiting Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom for a family event, Greg loved catching up with Lee (Carstensen) Genung in Stowe! Recent calls with Dave Elin, Scott Esselman, Andy Harris, Brian Knies, and Jesse Raker have friends looking forward to our 30th reunion in 2027. Rumor has it Mark Smaldon is working to arrange New England Wings sponsorship.

Send your news to— Elizabeth (Lee) Carstensen Genung leegenung@me.com

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Send your news to— Benjamin Eldridge Stockman bestockman@gmail.com

After finishing his Ph.D., Chad Argotsinger joined the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University as assistant dean for student affairs. He, his husband, and their three children live in Plymouth, Mass.

Send your news to— Sarah Pitlak Tiber spitlak@hotmail.com

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Michael Cleary and Peter Floeckher have each been promoted from director to partner of Woodhull, an award-winning architecture, construction, and millwork firm in Maine delivering residential and commercial projects throughout New England.

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Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

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Send your news to— Jennifer Khouri Godin jenniferkhouri@yahoo.com

Francesca Gurney Arnoldy published her third book, The Death Doula’s Guide to Living Fully and Dying Prepared (New Harbinger) in July 2023. UVM professor Jackie Weinstock wrote the foreword for this new publication that encourages readers to reflect back, turn inward, and plan ahead. Most importantly, it encourages readers to discover their own best pathway to living fully and dying prepared. In June, Michael J. Banyas was promoted to the rank of commander in the U.S. Public Health Service and graduated with his second master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.. For the last two years, he has been stationed at the National Institutes of Health where he manages the small business innovation research program, where he invests in companies focusing on health disparities and equity. While in Boston in June, where he was presenting at the BIO International Conference, he met up with his former Harris freshman suitemates Mike Petrykowski and Barron Wernick, whom he regards as two of his best UVM friends.

Send your news to— Korinne Moore Berenson korinne.d.moore@gmail.com

04

Jane Lanza and Ben Lanza ’05 became some of Vermont’s first licensed cannabis cultivators and manufacturers. Learn more about their story, farm, and rapidly growing product business at familytreecannabisco.com. In March of 2023, Amy Christensen Manchester was appointed as a judge on the New Hampshire Circuit Court.

Send your news to— Kelly Marie Kisiday kelly.kisiday@gmail.com

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Since she rode competitively on the UVM equestrian team, and minored in equine science, it might be no surprise that Sarah Victoria Watson now has a successful hunter-jumper training business in Franktown, Colo., where she gets to share her knowledge and talents with others.

Growing up, Jonathan West and husband Thomas West didn’t see families that looked like theirs. As the gay dads to four adopted kids, they set out to show the world that ALL kinds of families are beautiful and possible! In their recently released book, A Kids Book About Gay Parents, these dads share their journey in becoming parents and the empowering

READ

CL A SS NOTES ONLINE

alumni.uvm.edu/notes

message that no matter who you are, you can build a family—all you need is love (and maybe ice cream and silliness) to make it happen. Their book is available worldwide including via their website: daddyandpapa.com.

Send your news to— Kristen Dobbs Schulman kristin.schulman@gmail.com

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Paul Darrell Damon and his consultancy Keramas won PR Campaign of the Year at the Mutual Fund and ETF Awards. Keramas provides strategic communications counsel for asset managers. Their work was also shortlisted in 2021, the first year the award was offered.

Paul is also honored to announce that he won Camper of the Winter at San Francisco's Space Seagull Surf Camp for a particularly excellent performance across three big wave sessions on December 26. After seven years of teaching English at Union-32 High School in East Montpelier, Vt., and prior experience at Georgia Middle School, Mary Bove is excited to be off to Mount Abraham High School in Bristol, Vt., to serve as a literacy coach.

Send your news to— Katherine Kasarjian Murphy kateandbri@gmail.com

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Class Secretary Elizabeth DiPietrantonio shared the happy news that Billy and Erica (Nuzzo) Morelli, currently of Salem, Mass., welcomed their first baby girl, Sofia, in October of 2022. Aaron D. Robinson earned his M.A. in English at UVM in May 2023. He currently works as graduate admissions coordinator for UVM’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Send your news to— Elizabeth DiPietrantonio ekolodner@gmail.com

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Molly Pearl Shaker has been named executive producer of special events at ABC News.

Send your news to— Elizabeth S. Bearese ebearese@gmail.com or Emma Maria Grady gradyemma@gmail.com

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Justin E. Deignan-Kosmide wrote to share the story of the beginning of the global business he’s a part of that started at UVM. “It starts in the summer of 2005. Luke LaBranche and I met during summer orientation. After the usual awkward meet-and-greet Luke told me that I should write his name down as roommate freshman year. Slightly reluctantly, but since I didn't know anyone else entering freshman year, we decided to go for it. Four years and countless economics and business classes in Kalkin later… we graduated into the economic downturn. We then embarked on a decade in the financial industry in NYC, meeting up to share bike rides to escape the stress of the city’s pace. Fast forward to a friend’s wedding in 2018 where we met the third cofounder (who had already started some of the brand in Brazil in 2012-2014) and laid the foundation for what became Vela Bikes.” They describe it as a global e-bike brand born in Brazil (2012), raised in Brooklyn (2020), and made in Detroit (2022). Michael W. Schultz, Ed.D.’09 has been appointed to the University of WisconsinMadison Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work Board of Visitors, an entity that helps the school expand the magnitude and reach of its efforts to engage with alumni.

Send your news to— David Arthur Volain david.volain@gmail.com

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Isabel S. Burnham and her husband, Sebastian, welcomed daughter Isla Maxine in June 2023 in Newport, R. I. They say that big brother Zephyr couldn’t be happier! Troy C. Fuller G’04,’10 published his second book in March 2023.

Painting Over Rust is a memoir of 20 years as an FBI special agent, including 10 years spent in the Burlington, Vt., office. After graduating from UVM, Tiffany Hall McKenna went directly to UConn to complete her master’s in educational psychology, concentrating in gifted education and talent development, working with experts Joe Renzulli and Sally Reis. Upon graduation, she returned to Vermont and continues her work in the educational field, currently serving as the principal of the School of Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales in Bennington. Married to Ryan in 2018 and with three children, she still maintains many relationships with friends who were made at UVM and frequents Burlington as much as possible.

Send your news to— Daron Lynn Raleigh raleighdaron@gmail.com

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Melissa Cameron Petschauer and Thomas Petschauer ’09 welcomed their first child and daughter, Amelia Joan Petschauer, into the world in November 2022. The family is happy, healthy, and doing well. Brian Michael Mulcahey’s first

children’s book, The Feather Necklace, was about to be published when Brian wrote in summer 2023. He says, “On the surface, the story illustrates the wonder and mystery of the rainforest. More importantly, it displays how important indigenous knowledge is to maintaining and conserving biodiversity.”

Jeffrey Wallace Whitmore and his wife, Norah welcomed their first-born, Colin Rush Whitmore, into the world in January 2023.

He was born at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh where they currently reside.

Send your news to— Troy Elizabeth McNamara troy.mcnamara4@gmail.com

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Sydney Lucia and Brendan Sage ’13 were “thrilled to welcome our miracle baby, Adelaide, in November 2022. Born 12 weeks early, she is a healthy, thriving seven-month-old who is keeping us on our toes and finally letting us sleep a little more at night!”

Send your news to— Patrick Wayne Dowd patrickdowd2012@gmail.com

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Lindsay Gabel and Tyler Rodgers ’12 were married in Jay, Vt., in August 2022. Celebrating with the couple were fellow alumni and dear friends Gretchenrae Callanta M.Ed.’10, Molly Campera ’12, Morgan Post ’12, Sahib Sachdeva ’12, and Hannah Stirewalt ’12.

Nicole Emily Gruet-Matthews and husband Christian Matthews ’14 welcomed Adeline

Fleur in April. The couple resides in Underhill, Vt. Ben Huelskamp was admitted to study for the Master of Divinity at the Methodist Theological School of Ohio. He will continue to serve as the executive director of LOVEboldly while studying part-time.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

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Jennifer Arpin married Jimmy Davis in Leavenworth, Wash., on October 8, 2022. Jen was lucky enough to have Olivia Hart ’15 as one of her bridesmaids as well as UVMers Jessica (Radin) Brennan, Jack Brennan, and Kristina (Lafferty) Abramowicz ’13 in attendance.

Send your news to— Grace Louise Buckles Eaton glbuckles@gmail.com

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Abigail Rose Cook Gonzalez met her husband during a UVM spring break course in Costa Rica in 2014. She says, “We welcomed our first baby in January! After several wonderful years as the director of Brooklyn Schoolhouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., we are moving back to Long Island, where I will serve as the director of early childhood at Friends Academy.” Taylor Hannan-Pillsbury and Kyle Pillsbury ’13 wed on August 20, 2022 at the Grafton Inn in Grafton, Vt. After meeting in Burlington through mutual friends several years after having graduated, they were thrilled to be able

MEMBERSHIP IS RICH WITH BENEFITS, SOME WHICH INCLUDE: • Two complimentary all-you-can-eat-and-drink parties each year!

• Socialize & network at our monthly programs and events • 39 well-appointed guest rooms at discounted rates for members • Business center with complimentary wi-fi • 150+ reciprocal clubs in the United States and around the world!

• Full access to fitness center

“The UVM Alumni Association is pleased to offer a home to our alumni in New York. The Penn Club is centrally located, has a great team working there, and has great space and food for you and your guests to gather and enjoy.

I highly recommend anyone to join the Penn Club of New York.”

-Sarah Lenes G’10 Penn Club Member Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations, UVM Foundation

For more information contact the Membership Department at membership@pennclubny.org or 212.403.6627 F A L L 2 0 2 3 | 75

| CL ASS NOTES to celebrate their wedding day surrounded by friends and family, including many UVM alumni! The couple resides in Burlington and are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter, Lena, in June 2023. Claire (Stetson) and Kyle Isherwood welcomed to their first child, Luke, in April. The Isherwoods reside in Peru, Vt. with their dog, Kona. Frankie Mahoney let us know that Annie Procaccini and Ryan Spangenberger ’14 tied the knot on June 17 in Falmouth, Mass., and says, “They danced the night away alongside family and friends, and the real life of the party were the 15+ Catamounts in attendance!” Ryan and Annie spent their honeymoon frolicking on the shores of Menemsha, Martha’s Vineyard, with their pup, Hadley. Patrick Maury ’11 and Charlotte Wonnell have welcomed their son Edward (Eddie) Deane Maury to their Catamount family, and say, “He is a bundle of joy and is starting to coo. Soon he’ll start meowing!”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

16

Tamar Wheeler Abel wrote with the great news that she successfully defended her thesis and was graduating with her Ph.D. in molecular and systems biology from Dartmouth College in June 2023. She has started work as a postdoctoral associate at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, studying Alzheimer's disease. Proud dad Paul Apfelbaum ’87 shared the good news that Hannah Apfelbaum graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School in May

2023. Hannah’s residency begins at the UPMC Washington, Pa., campus in family medicine.

Katherine Nash Brainard has been working for the Appalachian Mountain Club for the last year and a half and was recently promoted to manage diversity, equity, and inclusion at AMC. Katherine attended the inaugural studentled social justice forums during their time as an Outing Club Leader, and that formative experience shaped a great amount of advocacy work to come in professional and personal settings. Katherine also does handpoke tattoos in their spare time—no one saw that coming! John D. Heinz shared the news of the publication of his new book, Mayan Spirit Animals Unleashed: Tapping into Wisdom, Symbolism, and Magic of the Yucatan, noting that it represents the culmination of inquiries that originated during his time studying in UVM’s library. Lucy Lincoln and Alex Godin ’14 tied the knot at Bliss Ridge Farm in Moretown, Vt., on June 3, 2023. They celebrated their marriage with close friends and family, including many UVM alumni! After using her degree to teach everything from pre-k through third grade, and working with a north Florida nonprofit that seeks to reunify families going through foster care, Hailey Douglas Okello now works remotely for Southern New Hampshire University while living in Florida. She and her husband, Job, have two sweet, trouble-making girls, Zari (5) and Yemi (20 months). They have plans to return to the Northeast within the next five years, because there really is no place like home! Brendan Terry and Stephanie Terry are happy to announce they were married in May 2023 in New Milford, Conn. The wedding party included Jarred Landry ’13, Tori

IN MEMORIAM 1951 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948

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June Hoffman Dorion Shirley Geraldine Price Alida White Buckland Michael Greenfield Nancy Flemming Hatch Mary Heininger Norman John O’Grady Niel Isbrandtsen Rising Helen Korpi Vail Lawrence B. Ahrens Shirley Anna Bragg Carolyn Verber Falk Margaret Waterman Hoyt Robert A. Hall Joan Gearhart Hamilton Jane Elizabeth King Beverly Denning Susslin Allen N. Hansen John G. Kubin Gloria L. Parker

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Natalie Aikens Patrick Burton A. Sisco G’55 Doreen Burke Beauchamp Phyllis Sullivan Butters Donald G. Harris Sylvia R. Hoisington Stanley Augustus Knapp G’56 William T. Murray Armand P. Premo Joan Coffman Sabens Saul Lee Agel A. Christine Oliveto Davis Robert Edward Fallon Joann Wood Schleman Dorothy Stillman Swanson Sally Bray Caswell Robert M. Green Peter P. Lawlor Robert J. Mattucci Leslie J. Rollins William A. Straitiff, Jr. Harry E. West Nancy Buchheim Beauchamp Sally Hickok Bockus

Bishop, Colin Hekimian, and the groom’s parents, Matt and Martha Terry ’86. Lyndi (Wieand) Mies got married on May 28, 2023, in New Tripoli, Pa., to her boyfriend of almost 10 years, Jake. The two had dated long distance while Lyndi was studying dietetics, nutrition and food science at UVM. Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

17

Brooke Balfrey and Alex Doerr (who met in class at the Grossman School of Business in 2013) got married in Tulum, Mexico, in April 2023. With them were Kyle Arnold, Erin Hayden, Claire Wyatt, Chris Connell, Jake Guarino, Andrew Dazzo, Herron Hutchins, Nick Salamone, Catherine Douglass, Matthew Casagrande, Ian Vall, Ian Campbell, Nate Coombs, Sarah Holmes, Lauren Fecura, Elizabeth DeMuro ’18, Camille Humphrey ’18, Hannah Handloff ’19, Catherine Dipalma ’19, and Sophia Duplin ’20. Go Cats! Sarah Holmes, Chris Connell, and Ian Conde sent in a picture of the three of them enjoying the fresh powder at Alta.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

18

Oliver Friedman proposed to Jane Sidley in April of 2023. The two say they can’t wait to get the Cats together for a wedding celebration! Pierre

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Frank Edward Bullis, Sr. Nancy Cureau Contos Angela Jones Delorme John F. Dowling Lyman Mark Gulick Marilyn Giles Hartt Eugene M. Hunter, Jr. Adrian Ira Karp George L. Tuttle Michael M. Wagreich David A. Wells Vernon E. Currier Lawrence Z. Epstein Kathryn Carangelo Fetten Linda Ross Hadley Patricia Rule Meyer Jane Anderson Moginot G’88 Dorothy M. Myer Herzl R. Spiro, M.D.’60 David A. Stephens Ernest Joseph Tesconi Chris Thomas Armen Jean Mills Ballinger Nancy McGoughran Blanchet

Marjollet proposed to Kelsey Sparrow in October of 2022. They are excited to get married in Vermont in 2024 and are so thankful to the sixth floor of Simpson for introducing them!

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

19

Katharine Arend ’18 shared the good news that on June 17, Julia Degregorio said “I do” to Ben Sinclair. In addition to Katie, Julia was joined

by UVM swimming and diving teammates: Colleen Driscoll, Haley Gula, Maddie Limanek, Kelly Lennon ’18, Sara Meyer, Kendra Miller, Chandler Brandes, and Kristina Posnick. Head Coach Gerry Cournoyer G’06 and former Associate Head Coach Jen Cournoyer G’19 also attended.

Class Notes Editor Cheryl Carmi G’19 got to visit with friend and CALS alumna Jenn Colby ’94, G’11 at Jenn’s gorgeous Randolph farm during lambing season this spring, Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

20

Camille A. Evans recently started working for Rice University’s Global Paris Center in a historic 16th-century building located in the heart of Le Marais. She is part of a two-person team developing the center, organizing events, and promoting international academic and research collaboration. Louisa Wakefield

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Robert O. Canney Marilyn Mills Cleary Joseph August Cosentino Cynthia Cobb Grace Sally Smith Hackett Francis C. McCrane, Jr. Carol Young Mowry Bruce E. Norcross G’58 Hugh Raymond Bemis Norman F. Bruce G’59 Carol Harris Clark David J. Emery N. Lovice Hinsdale Miriam R. Samuelson Arthur A. Bickford Barbara Witt Caruba Marilyn Jensen Dawson G’91 Paul S. Dimick G’60 E. Humphrey Groepler John Leemon Kaiser Peggy Lawliss Mullen Thalia Walsh Nash Barbara Harlow Alexander Judith Siegel Bloomfield

has earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in writing and literature from Bennington College.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

21

Jenny C. Fulton, grad of UVM's small but mighty Historic Preservation Program, has joined the Cultural Resources Group at VHB/South Burlington as a preservation planner.

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

22

Miki J. Beach started a position as a counselor in the Counseling and Psychiatry Services (CAPS) at UVM on April 3, 2023. In September 2017, she started working towards her Master of Social Work degree at UVM on a part-time basis while employed full-time with UVM’s Larner College of Medicine. She had left employment at UVM in September 2021 to complete her final year of the M.S.W. program as a fulltime student, serving as the M.S.W. student board member for the National Association of Social Workers Vermont chapter and as vice president of UVM's Graduate Student Senate.

She graduated with her in May 2022, giving a speech at graduation, and is thrilled about returning to the UVM community as a CAPS counselor. Aaron Kedzierski and Ashleigh Simpson ’17 got married on June 2, 2023, in Williston, Vt. Miranda Mishaan started a role as marketing and events specialist at KMA

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David H. Brock Michael V. Case Linda Ann Hartwell G’72 Nancy Clow Maher David H. Reilly Henry Shaw, Jr. Elaine Roberts Thornton Richard Norman Webler Jeanne Shanahan Cullinan Richard C. Dillihunt, M.D.’60 Elizabeth Chamard Harrington John M. Harrington Robert G. Liotta Stanley Messinger Charles H. Peck, Jr. Howard Robert Wexler Suerae Fisk Ballard Laura Lane Dunn Katherine F. Farrow Roy S. Kelley Allen W. Mathies, Jr., M.D.’61 Samuel W. Overstreet, Jr. Edwin Laurie Tolman Frank D. Walter, Jr.

Human Resources Consulting. She says, “Based out of Falmouth, Maine, we work with clients to provide consultative support regarding human resources, recruiting, and compensation. I love getting to learn from HR professionals and build community here in Maine. I am thankful for UVM, and more specifically the Grossman School of Business, for equipping me with the necessary skills to be successful in this role.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

23

Alexa Morgan Lewis will be attending Johns Hopkins University to get her master’s in creative writing. She offers “so many thanks to give to my three formative years at UVM for preparing me for this next step.” Lily Merchant just completed a summer internship at PepsiCo in Boston and is now an intern at Fletcher in Winooski, Vt.! She’s finding her path each day, and invites fellow alums to connect with her on LinkedIn. Shahmeer Patel writes, “Thanks to UVM, I have been given a tremendous platform to complete my dream of working for a revolutionary aviation company in Beta Technologies.” Darby Gabrielle Grace Gillett ’22 says that Natalie Nelson is headed to graduate school. She’ll be at Regis looking to become a physical therapist, and is “excited for her future opportunities and career.”

Send your news to— alumni@uvm.edu or submit online at go.uvm.edu/note

1962

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Rachel Rice Cook Ernest A. Cordes Louise Rose Daly James J. Guyette Edward Urquhart Sandra Burnap White Terrance M. Evarts G’70 Leigh Wakefield Kendall Melissa Hetzel Mackay Sandra Perler Meridy Susan Schwartz Poriss Larry G. Pudvah William Anton Sandrin Patricia Hess Zimmermann James L. Barre Carolyn Decell Ellis Linda McColl Gouws Winifred Tubbs Grant Charles Eaton Baraw, Sr. G’74 Joseph A. Debonis William A. Kennedy, Jr. John K. Norton Susan Halsted Roger Karleen Nie Teply G’80 FA L L 2 0 2 3 |

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Charles F. Whitten Alan Lawrence Wilcox Jeremy Ethan Alperin, M.D.’66 Craig D. Buchanan Thomas H. Denne David A. Prentice Marcia Layden Tomasi Howard A. Wilcox June Stevenson Cook Edward G. Hixson, Jr., M.D.’67 John Patterson Brian M. Flaherty Eugene J. O’Donnell Frederick J. Fayette, Jr. Phillips Hill Kerr Benjamin E. Lamb Ralph Leon Roberts, III Robert Gary Slayton Sherlyn Manley Allard Terrance E. Dengler G’70 Cecile Dufresne Dyke

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Sally Howe G’70 John E. Hunt, Jr., M.D.’70 Heidi Lee Libercent Deborah Janone Martin G’77 Brian D. Rivers Aline Bruneau Gingras W. Owen Jenkins Margaret Case Landfield Roger Alan Olsen G’71 Garrit Michael Mace Stephen Sewell Ross Michael Craig Appe Eric Robert Brenner Mary Hill Canavan Kathleen Marie Clark G’93 Sharon M. Cummins Brenda P. Dupuis LC Bruce Gill Dutcher James H. Mann G’73 Mark Michael Maslack, Katherine Curtis McIntyre

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1975 1976 1977

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Charles Roy Snow G’73 Darlene Brown Vandemark G’73 Russell Charles Edson Kenneth Willard Hood James Joseph McNichol G’74 William Brooks Ware, M.D.’74 Donna McVetty Wark G’81 William N. Dillon Andrew D. Gardiner G’75 John Joseph Mech G’75 Michael Roy Hunter David Thorne Lamb Alexander Russell Campbell Richard Gary Levenberg Susan Lestage Luck Donald F. Shea, Jr. Mark Byron Clements Stephanie Slack Herrick Michael Anthony Hoffmann Jean Millane Keene G’78 Gerald Michael Libuda

| UVM COMMUNITY Richard Herman Ader ’63, loyal and generous UVM volunteer and philanthropist, passed away in September 2023. Richard was a pioneer in the corporate real estate net lease industry and founded U.S. Realty Advisors, LLC in 1989. He discovered a love for tennis in his thirties and spent decades working to advance women's athletics and volunteering for the U.S. Tennis Association. A gifted student-athlete and All-Conference member of the UVM men’s basketball team, Richard was inducted into the UVM Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. His 2021 memoir, How to Rally: A Life Spent Beating the Odds, details his remarkable rehabilitation following two cardiac events and imparts his own wisdom for overcoming obstacles and persevering in the face of adversity. He is survived by his wife, Pamela; daughter Jennifer Ader, her husband, Aaron, and son, Colt; daughterin-law Julie and her children Sophia, Jack, Asher, and Ava; son Jason; sister Sylvia Ader Kirschner; and extended family.

Charles Baraw Sr. ’65, G’74, remembered by friends and family as “an original ski bum,” forward-thinking business leader, Stowe legend, and generous and loving friend, passed away in March 2023. It is said that he had left his home state of Connecticut to attend UVM in order to be closer to the snow and to the skiing that he truly relished. He grew the Stoweflake Mountain Resort as a family business that came to host UVM Winter Carnivals and UVM Ski & Rides for many lucky students over the years. Chuck was part of a large and loving family with many UVM alums, including Charles Jr. ’86 and Sheri Baraw Smith ’87.

Janet Carscadden is valued for the impact she had as a member of UVM’s Osher Center for Integrative Health’s Integrative Pain Management Conference planning committee. She was an early adopter of integrative health approaches, a trusted colleague and advisor, a physical therapist, yoga teacher, and meditation teacher who touched many lives before she passed away in April 2023.

7878| U| VUMV MM AMGAAGZAI ZNIEN E

Valerie Meyer Chamberlain ’51 passed away in Texas on August 17, 2023. She was the author of 10 books and publications; one was banned in Alabama because she was called a “human secularist” for having written that “every person has the capacity to be a successful individual in some way.” Among many awards within and outside UVM throughout her career, she received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1995, was granted faculty emerita status in 2001, and in 2011 was the first woman to receive the Sinclair Cup Award for service with distinction to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Fred Fayette ’69, a steady force and champion with UVM skiing over the last 40 years, passed away in April 2023. As a studentathlete, Fred competed on both the alpine and Nordic ski teams, and he went on to become an invaluable, dedicated volunteer member of the coaching staff. He was named EISA Coach of the Year by his peers in 1990 and earned the EISA Service Award in 2008. In his time with the Catamounts he coached 21 individual national champions and was a part of five national championship teams.

Samuel Feitelberg passed away in March 2023. Professor Emeritus Feitelberg worked with the UVM Board of Trustees to establish UVM’s physical therapy department in 1973 and was the department’s first chair. He served on the faculty for 26 years, including as associate dean and director of health sciences in the former UVM School of Allied Health Sciences. He was also instrumental in developing the Journal of Physical Therapy Education (JOPTE), the profession’s primary academic journal.

Sally Smith Hackett ’56, who died June 19, 2023, served as president of the UVM Alumni Association Board of Directors and alumni class president, and she provided a wealth of leadership over her many years of involvement at UVM. She and her husband, Luther “Fred” Hackett ’55, were strong and steady donors to

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984

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Ellen McMahon Mazuzan Jane Lyne Oakes Eugene Edmond Kurant Jayne Methot-Walker Candis Perrault Jeffrey John Belisle Alfred Jette G’80 Susan Keelty Little G’81 Victoria Lewis Nolan George Edward Thyng G’82 Julie Downing Wilcox Glenn F. Callahan Patricia Holcomb Rogers G’83 Pammella S. Starbuck Andrew John Bolognani Wayne Alan Martel G’95 Elizabeth Ann Preston G’84 Mark David Williamson Linda Cole Almquist Brian Michael Henehan G’86

1987 1988 1989 1990 1991

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1994 1996 1997

Frank Philip Spencer G’86 Dale Lockwood Caldwell Sinclair A. Adam, Jr. G’88 Rudolph Paul Lia Christopher S. Kuell G’90 Diane Elizabeth Russo G’90 Craig Sheldon Surrick Robert B. Gould Eric Patel Catherine O. Simpson G’91 William Laurens Van Alen, III Helvi Louise Abatiell Elaine R. Jewell G’92 Evan McCulloch Lovell Jill Wagner McGrath Todd William Fisk Jamie Roy Messier Matthew Inden Susan Carey Biggam G’97 John P. Goldblatt, M.D.’97 Michael R. Karp G’97

UVM over the span of nearly 50 years. They were particularly passionate about undergraduate scholarships for Vermont students, relishing the support they offered through the Fred & Sally Hackett Scholarship Fund that they established in 1998.

Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Hood, assistant professor emeritus and former associate dean of the College of Education and Social Services (CESS), passed away in July 2023. Within CESS, he was wellknown for his collaborative nature, expertise in PK-12 leadership, and commitment to developing partnerships with schools and community organizations in Vermont and across the globe.

Owen Jenkins ’71 passed away in April 2023. As a student, he wore the #17 jersey on the hockey team and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. In the ensuing years, Owen was a lawyer, a loyal UVM donor, and a member of UVM Athletics’ Victory Club, and he became co-secretary of the Class of ’71. He is survived by his wife, Wendy Reilly Jenkins ’73.

Irving Krakoff, M.D., passed away in August 2023, three weeks after his 100th birthday. In 1976, he was recruited by what was then the UVM College of Medicine to be the founding director of its cancer center. He held that post for seven years, during which the center was awarded major funding from the National Cancer Institute and began its long tradition of bringing state-of the-art cancer care to the largely rural population of Vermont and Upstate New York.

Rosemarie Leland, former grounds manager for UVM Physical Plant, passed away in April 2023. Rose spent 20 years dedicated to UVM grounds, planting trees and flower beds and keeping campus roads and sidewalks clear. She dutifully served many nights on-call, ready to respond during snow season as needed.

Her son Caleb worked for Physical Plant as a project coordinator,

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John Ward Welna Andrew S. Hallock Timothy Baker Swanson Amanda Katherine Breese Andrea B. Gleason Stephen Vincent May G’04 Josiah Klingler Elizabeth Hall Murphy Emma Lara Nilan Dustin A. Strom Marcus William Lowe Peter James Kaminski Carlos Taylor Christensen Brian Bertrand Lamb Ryan John Lynch Nicole M. Killian Ryan C. Benton Michael Owen Reinhardt

and her son Connor ’14 played on the UVM men’s soccer team.

Bruce Norcross ’56, G’58 passed away in March 2023. Bruce had been married to Marjorie Rowell Norcross ’55, daughter of former UVM president and beloved zoology professor Lyman Rowell ’25 (for whom the Rowell Building on the UVM campus is named). They remained loyal donors and active alumni who stayed in touch with campus issues throughout their lives.

Henry Shaw ’59 passed away in June 2023. He was a Sigma Nu brother, member of the Lawrence Debate Union, and part of ROTC during his time on campus, and active in nearly countless ways since. He served as class secretary for his graduating class, was steadfast as both a donor and a fundraiser, and served as a regular volunteer for both alumni and admissions events over the years.

Neil Stout passed away in February 2023. A history professor, he ranged widely in his academic work, helping to found UVM’s historic preservation program, directing the university’s program in cultural history and museology, and teaching interdisciplinary courses throughout his career. His final published article appeared in November 2022 in the journal Commonplace; it was titled “The Curious Affair of the Horsewhipped Senator: A Diplomatic Crisis That Didn't Happen.”

Joseph Wells passed away in July 2023. He began a 29-year career at UVM in 1968 as associate professor in the anatomy and neurobiology department. His research focused on understanding how sensory processing occurs in the brain, but his family reflects that his deepest legacy is his mentorship of the graduate medical students and fellows who had the good fortune of spending time in his lab. A much-valued professor emeritus, Dr. Wells will be missed for his patience, humility, willingness to help others, and the sense of humor his family remembers as “extra dry.” | 79 F AFLALL 2 L 022032 3| 79

| EXTRA CREDIT

A Characteristically Quiet Centennial This summer marked a centennial for both a U.S. President and a First Lady and UVM alumna. One hundred years ago in August, Grace Goodhue Coolidge and her husband, Calvin, then the vice president of the United States, were far from Washington, in the middle of their summer vacation at the Plymouth Notch, Vt., home where Calvin was raised. Grace was born and grew up in Burlington, where her father was a steamboat inspector. After her graduation in 1902 with a teaching degree, Grace went to work at what is now the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Northampton, Mass., where she met the young lawyer she would wed in 1905 in Burlington, in the parlor of her family’s house on Maple Street.

Calvin’s political career soon blossomed, and he would serve two terms as governor of Massachusetts before becoming vice president in 1921. On the night of August 2, 1923, the Coolidges were roused from their sleep in the middle of the night by a messenger (the farmhouse had neither electricity nor telephone).

President Warren Harding had died of a heart attack.

After it was determined that John Coolidge, Calvin’s father, as a notary and justice of the peace, could administer the Oath of Office, the simplest presidential inauguration in the nation’s history took place in the farmhouse by kerosene lamplight at about 2:47 a.m.

As First Lady, Grace shared the aversion to publicity that had helped earn her husband the nickname “Silent Cal,” but she overcame it to become a popular Washington hostess and the first First Lady to be heard nationwide on the newfangled talking newsreels.

After the Coolidge administration ended in 1929, the family retired to Northampton, and Grace continued her work on behalf of the deaf community and the Red Cross. Calvin died suddenly in 1933, and Grace survived until 1957. She and her husband are both buried in the Plymouth Notch Cemetery.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

UVM will help shape the future.

THIS IS A BOLD CLAIM. But boldness is what our shared future requires.

The world’s challenges are not simply complex. They’re existential. As individuals and as a species, we all hope to discover pathways to better health, greater sustainability, and deeper fulfillment.

That’s why UVM launched SOLVE, an unprecedented fundraising campaign to support a wave of research projects aimed at creating a future of healthy societies and a healthy environment.

Join us today — as UVM shapes tomorrow.

Read more about Yoshi’s story at go.uvm.edu/yoshibird.

Yoshi describes herself as a multiracial, middle-aged woman. She’s a mother who has spent her past decades working in the field of homelessness. She knows that she may be atypical for a Ph.D. student in the data sciences field, but thanks to the UVM Complex Systems Center and the MassMutual scholarship that supports it, she has found an academic home in which to learn to use big data to make change.

Yoshi Bird

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Caroline and Geoff Butler run the Johnson Health Center, an offshoot of the nonprofit Jenna’s Promise. Their work with patients, including those dealing with substance abuse disorder, was hampered by the destruction wrought by July's flooding, but bolstered by an outpouring of community support to help them rebuild. Read “Beyond Opioids,” page 40.