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A walk in the woods on a crisp fall day is rewarding under any circumstances but when you are walking with Amy Seidl and 25 of her �պ����� students, you’ll notice things you would have overlooked in other company.

Seidl, co-director of �պ�����’s Environmental Studies Program, stops at the elbow of a trail switchback on �պ�����’s Carse Wetland in Hinesburg and points to the ground where the soil seems to have been lightly disturbed—a few small mounds of fresh soil indicate something has been active here. “What do you think is happening?” she asks.

The students lean in like wilderness detectives and step back to consider their surroundings. Seidl smiles and nods when she hears the correct answer: earthworms. She explains how earthworms (a non-native species she points out) break down organic material and change soil conditions.

It’s just one of the many observations students, all juniors, will make throughout the day as they sharpen their senses to a world they'll be spending a lot of time in—perhaps their entire working careers.

The students comprise the first �պ����� cohort of the “�պ����� Fellowship in Restoration Ecologies and Cultures: Training Leaders for the Green Work Force” program funded by $40,000 grants from the Henry David Thoreau Foundation and the Cotyledon Fund. Each student applied to be part of the program last year, and the fellowship opportunity is open to students in all colleges.

Seidl’s fall semester Landscape Restoration and Leadership course takes students to �պ�����’s natural areas including the Carse Wetlands. Next semester, students will take Geography Professor Cheryl Morse’s Restoration Cultures course, which introduces students to community and place-based approaches to restoration and conservation. Next summer, participants will complete an internship with one of several partners, including Vermont Audubon and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. Students finalize their engagement with a Fellowship capstone commitment in their senior year.

“It completes the cycle of classroom knowledge and field experience, an internship, and then a fellowship,” says Seidl. “It’s great preparation for a career in some aspect of habitat restoration.”

The program relies on a wealth of natural areas managed by the university. �պ����� owns or manages ten properties around the state including bogs, wetlands, forests and alpine environments that offer a rich palette of outdoor laboratories for students to explore.

The 225-acre Case Wetland is especially important because of its proximity to campus and the variety of landscapes there—a mix of open agricultural fields, forests, and wetlands.

On this day, students break into four groups, each one focusing on a particular habitat. Libby Rhodes, teaching assistant for the class is in the wetlands group.

“The class directly feeds into restoration of these natural areas,” she said. “The cool thing is we develop skills and practice techniques we’ll be using in our careers. But we’re also producing real research products that can benefit the communities we live in.”

The “wetlands” group is exploring the idea of introducing more boardwalks for birdwatchers to enjoy the wetland without disrupting the delicate habitat.

Jack Locker, who attended high school a few miles away at Champlain Valley High School (CVU), is another member of the group. He wasn’t sure where his career path would lead when he entered �պ����� three years ago as an environmental studies major in the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources. But he knew he was in the right place to find the sweet spot where his interests—like landscape stewardship and being outdoors—overlap with his desire to do meaningful work.

“The biggest thing that attracted me to the course is that we’re in the field every week, getting to know the landscape and taking these little steps to build a more resilient world,” he said. 

In addition to his major, Locker is enrolled in a place-based education certificate program, a collaboration between Rubenstein and the College of Education and Social Sciences.

“I’m interested in talking with people and working with communities to reconnect with the landscape,” he said. “Without taking care of the land, the land can’t take care of us.”