UVM Blogs

Written by Rachel Garwin A week ago, I joined my friend Teage (a Field Naturalist alum) and a group of his UVM students on an “owl prowl,” Teage’s own euphonic term for a night hike.  We gathered at the edge of Centennial Woods, where gauzy tufts of white pines and bare hardwood twigs strained the [...]

by Carly Brown A few weeks ago I tied my laces, donned my hat, and set off for a long run down Spear Street, from Burlington to Charlotte and back again. Partway through my run I saw it crossing the road without any signs of hurry, proudly displaying its black and rusty fur: the woolly bear [...]

by Nancy Olmstead A month ago I was walking in the woods and it seemed like I couldn’t go more than a few feet without disturbing another chipmunk.  The little brown stripe-y streaks were running all over the place, stopping to chirp and chatter at me as I passed.  Don’t worry, buddy, I don’t want your [...]

by Cathy Bell (originally posted on vtdigger.org) Every autumn, thousands of snow geese take a break from their 5,000 mile southbound migration to rest and feed at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison, Vermont.  Journeying from their breeding grounds on the Arctic tundra to their winter range in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern states,…[Read more]

by Liz Brownlee “Wait until you see the accuracy of our plot,” calls the lab team. The four undergraduates burst with pride, oblivious to the prickling raspberries and thick brush that edge the Intervale forest. They stop me midstride.  As their lab teacher, I’m fully equipped with aerial maps, GPS, first aid kit, phone, and extra rain gear. …[Read more]

by Cathy Bell (originally posted on vtdigger.org) Back in the middle of September, a headline caught my eye. “Northeast Faces Devastating Pumpkin Shortage,” I read, with a mixture of amusement and trepidation. Devastating?  Really?  Pumpkins are cheery and plump and orange.  It’s tough for me to take them seriously enough to believe that anyone…[Read more]

by Becky Cushing I’m not a geologist, but recently I learned a thing or two about Vermont bedrock that bumps it above maple syrup or cheese on Vermont’s “Best of” List. By nature, I ask a lot of questions: What trees are those? How deep is this soil? What bird lives in that nest? Turns out, [...]

by Ryan Morra “Slow down, you’re moving too fast, you’ve got to make the moment last.” Simon and Garfunkel phrased it well. If you look at aerial photographs of the Winooski or Lamoille Rivers in northern Vermont, you’ll notice how dramatically the rivers snake through Champlain Valley with one horseshoe-shaped bend after the next. Launch your [...]

By Danielle Owczarski Crickets sound their high-pitched hum, blaring sirens swell and shrink, sweat percolates in overlapping areas, distant music floats through the moonlit breeze, insomnia returns, a kingfisher chatters along the lake shore, a main sail flaps in the breeze – all signifying the shift to summer in Burlington. Spring has its…[Read more]