Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Social Identity, Samuel M. Nelson

Middle Grades Review

Early adolescence is a time for students to move beyond interests-based definitions of themselves - things like, "I am a soccer player." Middle school students must begin to recognize and understand how a mosaic of social identifiers constitutes an individual’s social identity. Identifiers are characteristics like race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, gender performance, physical & sensory ability, religion, and many more. This essay explains why making social identity a central curricular pillar is crucial, how to do so in an engaging, meaningful way, and what it can look like once students have the understanding of social identity to use as …

Measuring Ecosystem Services From Soil Health. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #1, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby, Benjamin Timothy Dube, Bryony Sands, Joshua W. Faulkner, Meredith Albers, Maggie Payne

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

There are a multitude of approaches to evaluating soil health and the soil processes influenced by soil health. As the state of Vermont explores innovative programs that compensate farmers for soil health and associated ecosystem services, the selection of soil health indicators and quantification methods is a foundational first step that influences other aspects of program design. What is measured determines the ecosystem services that can be inferred, the accuracy of data that informs decisions, and programmatic transaction costs. Simply put, what is measured matters. The PES Working Group identified organic matter, bulk density, aggregate stability, greenhouse gas flux from …

Food Security And Assistance Programs In Vermont Before And During Covid-19, Madeleine Burke, Ashley C. Mccarthy, Emily H. Belarmino, Farryl Bertmann, Meredith T. Niles

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Here we surveyed a cohort of Vermonters at three time points over the first year of the pandemic. The surveys were conducted in March/ April 2020, June 2020, and March/April 2021. The demographics of the 441 Vermonters who responded to all three surveys are comparable to average Vermont demographics on income, but the respondents were more likely to have a college degree and to identify as female. This brief explores how the use of food assistance programs varied within this population and changed over the course of the pandemic. Key findings include: 1. The number of Vermonters using food assistance …

Food Security Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Following A Group Of Vermonters During The First Year, Ashley C. Mccarthy, Farryl Bertmann, Emily H. Belarmino, Meredith T. Niles

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

We surveyed a cohort of Vermonters three times during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand the impacts of the pandemic on food security and food access. The surveys were conducted in March/April 2020, June 2020, and March/April 2021. A total of 441 Vermonters responded to all three surveys. This brief shares changes in their experiences between March 2020 and March 2021. Key findings include: 1. Food insecurity rates increased during the pandemic and remained above pre-pandemic levels a year after the start of the pandemic. 2. 31.6% of respondents experienced food insecurity at some point in the …

Anchoring Communities Throughout Covid-19: Results From The 2020 Healthy Food In Health Care Survey In New England., Naomi M. Cunningham, David Conner, Lauren Kaskey, Hannah Leighton, Peter Allison

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Health Care Without Harm has been surveying their network of facilities since 2009. In 2020 the effort was expanded to include the full population health care facilities throughout New England. This new iteration of the Healthy Food in Health Care Survey focused on hospitals' foodservice operations response to COVID-19 and contributions as anchor institutions in their communities. To supplement the survey results, three in-depth case studies demonstrate various experiences throughout the pandemic and highlight the motivations and ways these facilities successfully navigated the incredible strain put on the health care system while still being an essential community resource. The finding …

Catering Food Waste At Uvm: Benchmark Data & Recommendations, Susanna Baxley

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The 2012 Universal Recycling Law in Vermont ban food scraps from landfills and offered a food recovery hierarchy for food waste that prioritizes first reducing waste at the source, and then donating extra food to food insecure individuals. Based on survey data that 15-20% of UVM students are food insecure, UVM Dining engaged a graduate student to 1) gather data on the magnitude of food waste produced at catered events in one location and 2) provide recommendations on how to best address catering food waste. Through an audit of 15 catering events on campus, the study reports that 17% of …

Dining On Campus: Plant-Based Food Offerings At Uvm, Susanna Baxley

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

University of Vermont’s students today are earth and health-conscious, with 42% of students choosing UVM because of the institution’s commitment to these values. In response to student interest in plant-based food options, this study gathered baseline data on the percentage of vegetarian and vegan meal options available at unlimited dining halls on campus. Using three methods, the study found that the majority of foods offered at these dining halls are vegetarian and/or vegan. This data will provide students, UVM administrators and Sodexo leadership and chefs a clearer picture of the current plant-based food offerings on campus. These findings can be …

The Working Landscape: Vermont Land Trust And Farmland Access In Vermont, Susanna Baxley

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The number one challenge facing young farmers is access to land. Other challenges include rising student debt, high real estate values, health insurance costs, and discriminatory lending practices. As well, there are rising concerns that farm viability and the agricultural landscape of the US is in peril as the sector sees an "aging" farmer population, loss of farmland to development, and a decrease in the number of mid-sized "family" farms alongside a proliferation of very large industrial farms that dominate markets. Farms do more than just provide food to their communities; they are a cornerstone of rural economies and play …

Economics Of Cataloging: How Serials Holdings Management Can Affect Interlibrary Loan, Daniel Saulean

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Two cataloging decisions regarding the representation in OCLC WorldCat of the local holdings for print and online serials had a major impact on inter-lending activity at a large academic library, while opening the door to further organizational change.

Together We Learn: Collaborating With Medical Students To Build An Online Anti-Racism Guide, Gary S. Atwood, Kate E. Bright

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

In the summer of 2020, students from the medical school’s Social Justice Coalition asked if the library could support their project to build a digital collection of anti-racism resources. Specifically, they asked if the library could host the collection and purchase relevant materials when possible. The project presented interesting policy and technical issues related to LibGuides, the platform we eventually selected. It also provided educational opportunities for the medical students, staff, and the library. After six months of hard work, we launched the collection, titled “Together We Learn: Resources for Our Journeys in Justice & Inclusion” in December 2020.

While, …

More Than A Meal : A Resource For Communities Striving For Food Sovereignty Through The Charitable Food System, Kaitlin J. Robertson

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The 2020 pandemic and economic crisis showcased the fragility of the American food system. In the months of quarantine and lockdowns, a growing number of Americans searched for ways to feed themselves and their families. Community-based and volunteer-supported feeding programs worked to bridge the divide between the hungry and their next meal. In many cases, these programs rely on an unpaid workforce and donations – of time, food, and facilities. With limited resources, volunteer-led programs often lack centralized training options; this guidebook seeks to fill that void. This project is a streamlined, introductory-level guide for volunteers and community members working …

Food Insecurity Prevalence Across Diverse Sites During Covid-19: A Year Of Comprehensive Data, Meredith T. Niles, Francesco Acciai, Deanne Allegro, Alyssa Beavers, Emily H. Belarmino, Farryl Bertmann, Erin Biehl, Jessica Bishop-Royse, Brianna Bradley, Barrett P. Brenton, James Buszkiewicz, Brittney N. Cavaliere, Young Cho, Eric Clark, Lauren Clay, Kathryn Coakley, Jeanne Coffin-Schmitt, Sarah M. Collier, Casey Coombs, Marcelle Dougan, Anne Dressel, Adam Drewnowski, Tom Evans, Beth Feingold, Kathryn J. Fiorella, Katie Funderburk, Preety Gadhoke, Diana Gonzales-Pacheco, Amelia Greiner Safi, Sen Gu, Karla Hanson, Amy Harley, Kaitlyn Harper, Alan Ismach, Anna L. Josephson, Linnea Laestadius, Heidi Leblanc, Laura R. Lewis, Michelle Litton, Katie S. Martin, John Mazzeo, Scott Merrill, Roni Neff, Esther Nguyen, Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, Abigail Orbe, Jennifer J. Otten, Sondra Parmer, Salome Pemberton, Giselle Pignotti, Zain Al Abdeen Qusair, Victoria Rivkina, Joelle Robinson, Stephanie Rogus, Chelsea M. Rose, Saloumeh Sadeghzadeh, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos, Rachel Schattman, Brinda Sivaramakrishnan, Mckenna Voorhees, Kate Yerxa, Rachel Zack

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Key Findings

1. NFACT includes 18 study sites in 15 states as well as a national poll, collectively representing a sample size of more than 26,000 people. Some sites have implemented multiple survey rounds, here we report results from 22 separate surveys conducted during the year since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
2. 18 out of 19 surveys in 14 sites with data for before and since the pandemic began found an increase in food insecurity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to before the pandemic.
3. In nearly all surveys (18/19) that measured food insecurity both before …

Covid-19 Impacts On Vermont Farms And Food Businesses: Pivots, Needs And Opportunities For The Future, Meredith T. Niles, Farryl Bertmann, Emily H. Belarmino, Mark Cannella, David S. Conner

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This report highlights results from a survey of Vermont farm and food businesses conducted during August and September 2020, with a total of 223 respondents. The survey was distributed via a number of non-profit, business, and state agencies in Vermont. Respondents included farms, food and farm product retail, agritourism operators, on-farm food processors, food and beverage manufacturers, nurseries/greenhouses/garden centers, and food hubs/aggregators. Overall, we find the majority of respondents experienced a COVID-19 business impact, especially in market and financial ways. We also find that the majority of respondents had business changes they wanted to make, but couldn't because of a …

Emulating Agricultural Disease Management: Comparing Risk Preferences Between Industry Professionals And Online Participants Using Experimental Gaming Simulations And Paired Lottery Choice Surveys, Eric M. Clark, Scott C. Merrill, Luke Trinity, Gabriela Bucini, Nicholas Cheney, Ollin Langle-Chimal, Trisha Shrum, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia, Julia M. Smith

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Mitigating the spread of disease is crucial for the well-being of agricultural production systems. Implementing biosecurity disease prevention measures can be expensive, so producers must balance the costs of biosecurity investments with the expected benefits of reducing the risk of infections. To investigate the risk associated with this decision making process, we developed an online experimental game that simulates biosecurity investment allocation of a pork production facility during an outbreak. Participants are presented with several scenarios that vary the visibility of the disease status and biosecurity protection implemented at neighboring facilities. Certain rounds allowed participants to spend resources to reduce …

Farm Benchmarking: The Application Of Business, Conservation And Labor Indicators, Mark Cannella, Sara Ziegler,, Qingbin Wang, Mary Peabody, Thomas Leahey, Heather M. Darby

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center

Farm benchmarking programs will move Vermont’s food system towards important sustainability outcomes by establishing enhanced monitoring of priority indicators and facilitating the adoption of best practices. Farmers, researchers, policy agencies and development professionals agree there is a lack of regular and consistent data available to guide private and public initiatives. This paper identifies and contextualizes over forty priority indicators capable of measuring business performance, conservation, farm labor and community development.

Benchmarking methods need to be adapted to better represent the diversity of enterprises present in Vermont’s agricultural portfolio. The integration of University Extension objectives with food systems research priorities can …

Operationalizing Embeddedness For Sustainability In Local And Regional Food Systems, Joe Ament, Daniel Tobin, Scott Merrill, Caitlin Morgan, Cheryl Morse, Tung Liu, Amy Trubek

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center

Agricultural systems are deeply embedded in social processes and the institutions that govern them. Measuring these processes and understanding the extent of that embeddedness is critical to crafting policy for sustainable agricultural systems. The bulk of measurement in sustainability research, however, focuses on economic and environmental indicators such as farm profitability and water quality. Since policy is most often aimed at what is measured, it tends to focus on issues like price, production, and market access. And while those are important, policies aimed at social issues such as community reciprocity are often outside the scope of policy design.

The gap …

Master’S Project: Exploring And Supporting Social And Ecological Dimensions Of Pollinator Habitat Enhancement In Burlington, Vt, Victoria Hellwig

Rubenstein School Masters Project Publications

Urbanization and other manmade impacts threaten critical pollinator species like the bumblebee, whose populations are significantly affected by habitat loss. In response, activists in the City of Burlington are enhancing habitat to increase biodiversity through collaborative partnerships in urban green spaces. In an effort to explore and support pollinator habitat enhancement in Burlington, I examined social interactions involved in a group highly motivated to enhance habitat at Lakeview Cemetery and Champlain Elementary School, with an emphasis on power dynamics and place meanings of these sites. In conjunction with this exploration, I created landscape designs, planted a native habitat garden, and …

Testing Resilience As A Moderator Of The Torture-Mental Health Relationship In Refugee Survivors Of Torture, Phyu Pannu Khin

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

There may be as many as 1.3 million refugee survivors of torture currently living in the United States (Center for Victims of Torture, 2015). Torture is a unique predictor of various debilitating mental health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety (Quiroga & Jaranson, 2005). The current study focuses on a clinical sample of refugee survivors of torture to examine resilience-promoting factors including external protective factors, community engagement, employment, and English fluency, and an internal protective factor, psychological flexibility. This study conducted moderation analyses utilizing the PROCESS program in SPSS (Hayes, 2013) to better understand the moderating impacts …

Food Insecurity In Vermont Households: An Analysis Of The Association With Tobacco Use, Alcohol Consumption And Physical Inactivity, Hannah R. Kaufman, Kyleigh Savoie, Emily Belanger, Kijonna Bowman, Darren Childs, Hendrika Maltby

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives: To assess the relationship between chronic disease risk behaviors: tobacco usage, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, and food insecurity (FI) among Vermonters. Methods: This cross-sectional study uses a sample (n= 1,378) from Vermont’s 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The examined outcome is FI. The predictor measures were defined as at-risk tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyles.The following were established as covariates on the association between the dependent and independent variables: income, sex, age, race/ethnicity, and activity limitations. Results: In the unadjusted binomial logistic regression (Table 2), tobacco users were 3.32 times more likely to be food …

Resilient Soils For Resilient Farms: An Integrative Approach To Assess, Promote And Value Soil Health For Small- And Medium-Size Farms, Deborah Neher, Katie Horner, Eric Bishop Von Wettberg, Matt Scarborough, Jeanne Harris, Heather M. Darby, Appala Raju Badireddy, Eric D. Roy, Joshua C. Farley, Joshua Faulkner, Alissa White

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center

Our team was a collaborative group of academic, extension and doctoral student researchers who met internally and conducted an IRB-approved survey that engaged with myriad stakeholders. The result was a clear trifecta on relative timing of soil health initiatives: 1) Stakeholders (91%) embrace soil health and believe soil health should be the top priority for UVM research and outreach. 2) Existing policy demands farmers assess elements of soil health every two years for nutrient management plans. 3) Only a subset of desired metrics is available at commercial laboratories, most soil analyses are sent out of state to Maine or New …

Amplifying Agroecology In Vermont: Principles And Processes To Foster Food Systems Sustainability, Martha Caswell, Rebecca Maden, Nils Mccune, V. Ernesto Mendez, Gabriela Bucini, Janica Anderzen, Victor Izzo, Stephanie E. Hurley, Rachelle K. Gould, Joshua W. Faulkner, Maria A. Juncos-Gautier

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center

Agroecology is grounded in principles that support transitions toward economic, social and ecological sustainability and proposes that real and lasting change will require a significant transformation of our agri-food systems. Evidence for agroecology’s potential continues to grow, both through word of mouth by farmers and social movements, and through recent scientific assessments of its performance. With endorsements from the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), national governments in both the global north and south, and social movements, it is developing the web of ‘thick legitimacy’ required for even broader adoption (Montenegro de Wit & Iles, 2016). “...Agroecology …

Preliminary Analysis Of Vermont's Ems Naloxone Leave-Behind Program, Samantha J. Bissonette

Larner College of Medicine Fourth Year Advanced Integration Teaching/Scholarly Projects

Background: Naloxone is well known to effectively reverse the effects of unintentional opiate overdose and reduce mortality from opiate overdose (12, 18). Despite activation of emergency medical services (EMS) after an overdose, many patients choose against transport to a hospital for further treatment and initiation of support services. These patients were previously left on scene without any additional support or services, despite encountering emergency medical personnel. To supplement the state's naloxone distribution efforts, Vermont initiated an EMS protocol allowing all levels of providers to provide naloxone leave-behind kits to patients and/or their family or friends when a patient is identified …

Home Food Production And Food Security Since The Covid-19 Pandemic, Meredith T. Niles, Mattie Alpaugh, Farryl Bertmann, Emily H. Belarmino, Sam Bliss, Jennifer Laurent, Jonathan Malacarne, Ashley Mccarthy, Scott Merrill, Rachel E. Schattman, Kathryn Yerxa

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

We conducted a Northern New England survey to understand the initial and continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security, food access, and home food production (HFP) (i.e. gardening, fishing, harvesting shellfish, foraging, hunting, trapping, raising animals for meat, dairy, or eggs, and food preservation such as canning, drying or freezing). The surveys were conducted in the Spring and Summer of 2021 (March – June). The survey was conducted in Maine (n = 562) and Vermont (n = 426). The cohort of respondents was representative of racial and ethnic identities of Vermont and Maine state populations. The data presented …

Policy And Economic Variables Influencing Adoption Of Sustainable Electrification In Rural Sub-Saharan Africa, Payne William Morgan

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Limited access to electricity remains a primary constraint to economic growth and the improvement of livelihoods throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In rural areas, electricity access is especially sparse. The reasons for the scarcity of electricity supply in the region are well documented, with low population density, limited household incomes, and poor regulatory institutions compounding to often make the investment of expanding electricity access result in poor or risky economic returns. However, the declining cost of solar PV and mandates for clean energy development throughout the region have created new channels for bringing electricity supply in potentially more cost-effective ways.Despite these macro …

The Feasibility Of Over-Summer Snow Storage At The Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Craftsbury Vt, Hannah Sarah Weiss

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Climate change increases the unpredictability of winter weather and threatens the future of nordic skiing. Ski centers at high elevation and high latitude have employed over-summer snow storage, a climate change adaptation strategy, to ensure a consistent start-date to their winter ski season. Over-summer snow storage involves making a large pile of snow during winter and storing the snow beneath protective layers, such as wood chips or foam panels, to impede melt throughout the summer and fall. When ready to open the ski season, the ski center uncovers the pile and spreads the snow to create trails. Though many nordic …

Birth Registration And Educational Access In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case For An Explanatory Spatial Research Design, Thomas Edward Griffin

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In 2019, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated the global number of children under the age of 5 without birth registrations at 166 million, with the largest share being present in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the author witnessed firsthand while working in Cameroon, the lack of birth registration documentation (i.e. birth certificates) precluded students from progressing from primary to secondary education. Struck by this example of social exclusion, the purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which birth registration acted as a barrier to educational access in primary and secondary education systems elsewhere across Sub-Saharan Africa. An …

Quantifying Proverb Dynamics In Books, News Articles, And Tweets, Ethan Davis

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Proverbs are an essential component of language and culture, and though much attention has been paid to their history and currency, there has been comparatively little quantitative work on the frequency with which they are used, and the dynamics of their use over time. With wider availability of large corpora reflecting many diverse genres of documents, it is now possible to take a wider view of the importance of the proverb. Can a corpus linguistic approach to phraseology support existing histories, and what further insight can be gained from a quantitative approach? This study measures temporal changes in the relevance …

"Well, You Could Be A Murderer..." And Other Reasons Why I Should Stop Using Dating Apps: A Personal Narrative About Dating In The Age Of Technology, Gabriella Granillo

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Dating isn’t easy. I’m sure we’ve all had that thought before. How are we even supposed to meet people nowadays? In the grocery store? At the mall? In a library? No! Why not utilize the one thing that we, as humans in the 21st century, can’t seem to live without, our cellphones! We have just about everything else at our fingertips, why not have the next best thing, a relationship, a hookup, or just a friend with just a swipe and a touch of the phalanges?I have been using dating apps off and on for about six years, and I …

Quantifying Language Changes Surrounding Mental Health On Twitter, Anne Marie Stupinski

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mental health challenges are thought to afflict around 10% of the global population each year, with many going untreated due to stigma and limited access to services. Here, we explore trends in words and phrases related to mental health through a collection of 1- , 2-, and 3-grams parsed from a data stream of roughly 10% of all English tweets since 2012. We examine temporal dynamics of mental health language, finding that the popularity of the phrase ‘mental health’ increased by nearly two orders of magnitude between 2012 and 2018. We observe that mentions of ‘mental health’ spike annually and …

How And Why Do People Value Nature? An Examination Of Nonmaterial Aspects Of Human-Nature Interactions., Tatiana Marquina

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Nonmaterial benefits from nature, often labeled as cultural ecosystem services, represent a core dimension of human well-being. Yet despite their importance, these benefits and associated values remain overlooked in environmental assessments and decisions.

This dissertation applies insights from multiple disciplines to document nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature interactions across geographic contexts and user groups. As nonmaterial benefits can be hard to elicit and measure, this work uses multiple existing data collection methods and tests a novel data collection tool. First, I use a qualitative study design to explore values and stewardship practices associated with urban foraging in New York City, NY. …