Vermont Research News; Families, girls’ camps, forest cover and more…

Vermont Research News: Girls’ camps, old photos, forest cover and more…

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Resiliency and summer camp

Girls participating in adventure camp experiences demonstrated the greatest increase in resiliency and confidence in a new study that aimed to understand the best youth program setting for women’s empowerment based on the self-reporting of young girls participating in adventure education, experiential education, a traditional camp setting, and a mixed camp setting. Participants from both the adventure education groups and the experiential education groups reported the greatest improvement in peer relationships.
Green Mountain College Ranks #1

Vermont is home to many colleges and universities that are committed to environmental sustainability. Sterling and Middlebury for example recently placed in the top 20 in the Sierra Club’s annual ranking. Number one on that list was Green Mountain College, which recently placed first in three categories in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2018 rankings. Green Mountain hit the top spot overall for institutions granting master’s degrees and placed #1 for curriculum and for investment and finance. Sterling College placed number #1 in food and dining.
Families and the Workplace – Vermont gets a “B”
Vermont received a ‘B’ rating in a recent report that evaluated the fifty states on their workplace policies that go beyond federal law to help workers meet their familial or personal responsibilities. A quarter century after the Family and Medical Leave Act was enacted, most states have failed to expand on the federal statute’s basic provisions—half of them received a ‘D’ or ‘F’ rating. Although Vermont offers more protection relatively, the study—conducted by the National Partnership for Women and Families—maintains that the state could do more. See the Vermont Biz article for further analysis.
100th year anniversary of Vermont’s most famous non-citizen
The first English translation of Russian Nobel prize–winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s memoir, Between Two Millstones, Book 1 has been published in celebration of the centenary of his birth (1918–2018). The memoir includes passages about Solzhenitsyn’s property in Cavendish, Vermont, where he wrote his ten-volume history on the Russian Revolution. The winters and landscape of Cavendish, according to his memoir, reminded Solzhenitsyn of his home in Russia. UVM Professor of Russian Literature Kevin McKenna has written extensively about Solzhenitsyn see podcast interview here on the EconTalk Book show.
More than three quarters of Vermont is forested
The U.S. Forest Service has just released the 2017 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) of Vermont’s forests. According to the report, forests cover 76.2% of Vermont land, a decrease since 2012. Vermont’s forests are comprised of 55 species of trees, with the most common forest-type group being maple/beech/birch, which make up over 70% of forests.
NEK fault movements examined
A recent article examines the geological movement of the Taconic rock sequence in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The study examines three regions in the sequence: the northern, southern, and central domains.Researchers found dip-slip faults (faulting accommodating either a thickening or a thinning of the crust) in the northern and southern domains, contrasted by a north-northwest trending structural grain in the central domain. The study concluded that that external and internal fault movements between the three domains of the Taconic rock sequence may be characterized by shear stress, and not by dip-slip faulting.
Oligotrophic lakes decline
Have you ever swam in a lake with crystal clear water? It’s likely that this was an oligotrophic lake. An oligotrophic lake is a body of water with low nutrient content, typically filled with fish like trout, which prefer well-oxygenated, cold waters. A new study examines the decline of oligotrophic lakes in Vermont, which have had increasing levels of phosphorus since the 1980s. The research concludes that despite laws in place protecting Vermont lakes from phosphorus pollution, unregulated lakeshore development still affects these aquatic ecosystems.
Paul Bierman of the Landscape Change Program at UVM discusses what his project is working on and how it shows the change in our landscape.
Vermont Images
What did Vermont look like fifty years ago? Researcher Gary Shattuck reports that the Penosbscot Museum in Maine is in the process of digitizing 200,000 New England images, many on glass plates,that have not received attention in the past. Entering “Vermont” into the search engine on their website above resulted in more than 4,000 hits. Another large collection of more than 70,000 historic photos can be found at UVM’s Landscape Change program managed by Geology Professor Paul Bierman.
Town meeting stereotypes challenged

A recently published dissertation by Center member Averill Leslie explores town meetings in the fictional town of “Northmont” as an example of participatory-deliberative democracy. According to the research, stereotyped notions of participation can act as a constraint. Alternatively, by “taking inspiration from participant observation and participatory democracy as methodologies for transcending stereotypes, we instead are pointed toward a reflexive, interactional, never-settled approach to understanding participation,” Leslie writes.
Transmission Connections

A recent study assesses the impacts of increased transmission capacity on New England’s electric power sector. The study examines investing in the expansion of transmission capacity within New England and between New England and Canada, finding advantages to both approaches in connecting Canada’s baseload hydropower to wind power and other power sources within New England—both investments necessary for achieving the decarbonizing goals of each state.
New Books & Art
The fourth annual Vermont Book Award went to King Arthur Flour head baker Martin Philip for Breaking Bread: A Baker’s Journey Home in 75 Recipes. The book is largely a collection of stories about Philip’s life, following his path as he left home and came back—and highlighting his passion for baking along the way with dozens of recipes. See the Seven Days articlefor more information.
After almost 20 years of research, author and Center member Micki Smith has published Fanny’s Destiny, a historical novel chronicling the life of Ethan Allen’s second wife. The book focuses on Frances Montresor Brush Buchanan Allen Penniman’s journey through the turbulent times of early colonial life with Loyalist leanings, the Revolutionary War, the founding of Vermont and the Black Snake Affair. The author will be in Vermont to promote the novel from October 8th-15th.
Former Vermont governor Madeleine Kunin has published a new memoir highlighting the steely nature that female politicians are expected to embody, void of emotion or sexuality. The legendary feminist comments in the foreword on her newfound ability to write without fear of political consequences, allowing her to be more personal and forthcoming. She touches on the subjects of aging, the guilt involved in being a politician and a mother simultaneously, and the double standards for men and women in office. See the VT Digger article for more excerpts and analysis.