Heather Furman, State Director of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont, speaks on nature's role in the effort to clean up Lake Champlain.

"Natural infrastructure" will be key to addressing Lake Champlain's water quality issues, says Furman. The UVM alum outlines a TNC-Gund research project exploring how much restoration is required, where that restoration should occur and how much it will cost.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/av2f3

Cuba is at the crossroads, said conservation biologist Joe Roman (UVM/Gund), at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston on Feb. 18, 2017.

Opening the panel, ‘Protecting the Crown Jewel of the Caribbean: Cuba’s Marine Ecosystems,’ Roman outlined Gitmo's future, the U.S. embargo's chilling effect on Cuban scientists, and development pressure from rising tourism and investment.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/akj0s Read Roman's 'Green Gitmo' proposal: http://go.uvm.edu/nscd9

Economist Stephanie Seguino (University of Vermont) presents the findings of first statewide study of Vermont traffic policing and race at a news conference on January 9, 2017.

The research reveals notable racial disparities in how police treat drivers by race -- and these disparities vary by police agency. Read the full study: http://go.uvm.edu/z4rd6

Anthropologist Teresa Mares (University of Vermont) explores household food access among Latino dairy workers in Vermont, the majority of which have recently migrated from Mexico.

As a border state with active Immigration and Customs Enforcement, many of the same fears, anxieties, and dangers connected to the southern U.S. border are reproduced in Vermont, with consequences for food security, diet-related health, and the overall wellbeing of migrant workers. Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/5h4b2

Pablo Bose (University of Vermont) studies U.S. refugee policy, which increasingly sends refugees to smaller U.S. cities instead of traditional "gateway" cities such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Bose explores the impacts of this policy change -- socially, economically and politically -- on refugees and new settlement communities in Vermont and beyond. Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/yb7k6

MacArthur “genius” Ruth DeFries (Columbia University)uses satellite images and remote sensing to investigate how global cities' environmental impacts are transforming the planet.

DeFries' talk, “Food, Forests and The Urbanizing World,” occurred at the University of Vermont on April 14, 2016, as a Burack Lecture. Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/cj1k2

Economist Jon Erickson (UVM)discusses Vermont's carbon tax proposal with the hosts of the Royalton Radio WFVR-LP 96.5 FM show Greenzine.

Learn more at: http://go.uvm.edu/hijug

UVM's Gund Institute has worked to establish research collaborations and scholar exchanges with Cuban colleagues since 2012. In January, eight researchers traveled there to further ties with Cuban partners and explore potential future collaborations.

Taylor Ricketts, Joe Roman (UVM)and alumna Margarita Fernandez (Vermont Caribbean Institute) share some key trip outcomes and thoughts on next steps. Roman returned to Cuba over Spring Break with students. Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/xsbqz

Business law expert Lynn Stout (Cornell)argues that legal justification exists for corporations to include environmental and social sustainability in business decisions.

Her legal analysis challenges the myth that creating profits for shareholders is the most important responsibility of a corporation. Stout details how focussing on shareholder profits can lead to environmental damage, social injustice and inequitable governance.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/etusf

Forest ecologists Bill Keeton and Garret Meigs (University of Vermont) are leading the first ever global analysis of temperate old-growth forests with a team of over 20 scientists.

They explore key forest differences and similarities, and argue that conservation of the world's old-growth forests is critical for biological diversity, climate mitigation, rivers and streams, and other key ecosystem services. Keeton and Meigs are Gund Fellows.

More info: http://go.uvm.edu/uzb7m