Snelling Center for Government

Current Interns

Kelly Houston is a first year MPA student at UVM. She is a 2006 graduation of the University of New Hampshire where she majored in political science and interned and later worked at the NH House of Representatives Majority Office. Her work at the Snelling Center is to support the Burlington Livable Community Project through research and community outreach on housing and accessibility issues and an exploration of "naturally occurring retirement communities."

 Jen Kenyan is a first year MPA student at UVM and has been awarded a research fellowship at The Snelling Center to work on innovative financing research for transportation. Jen is a 2005 graduate of George Washington University where she majored in History and compiled extensive research experience. She is working on a project funded by the University Transportation Center to better understand how states are preparing themselves for being able to maintain and continue to develop transportation infrastructure in a post-gas tax world. These findings will inform other research at the UTC and are part of a Snelling Center initiative to explore innovative funding solutions appropriate for Vermont. Jen was recently selected by the Board of Regents of the Eno Transportation Foundation to participate in the 2008 Eno Leadership Development Conference in Washington, DC. The Leadership Development Conference provides a first-hand look at how federal transportation policy is developed and implemented. Participants meet with top government officials, leaders of associations, and members of Congress and their staff. The fully funded experience will allows participants to see how the nation's transportation policies are debated, shaped, formed, and ultimately adopted and applied.  

Beth Nolan is a first year MPA student at UVM and received a graduate assistantship to work at the Snelling Center to support a number of policy initiatives. Beth is a 2007 graduate of James Madison University in Virginia where she majored in Political Science. Beth works on a wide range of initiatives conducting research, doing outreach and administering programs. She has worked extensively on the public education project related to the proposed constitutional amendment on length of terms for state wide office holders in Vermont. In this project she has helped design and carry out research on new public engagement tools. Beth also works on the Burlington Livable Community Project with a focus on engaging the potential of mature workers in the local and state economy.

MPA Interns

 The Director of Public Policy Development also supervises a number of graduate interns in public administration and policy internships in other agencies and organizations. These internships are in association with the UVM Masters in Public Administration Program.  

Current and recent interns include:

Connie Beal (MPA) - Vermont Department of Health, Alcohol & Drug Abuse
                                   Programs
Annie Bourdon (MPA) - Green Mountain CarShare Project
Tim Benge (MPA) - Congressman Peter Welch's Office
Sara Jelen (MPA) - Cathedral Square
Beth Krueger (MPA) - Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS)
Brian Melman (MPA) - AARP Vermont
Christie Phelan (MPA) - Vermont Department of Health, Alcohol & Drug Abuse
                                        Programs

2007 Interns

Peter Kovacs conducted his internship during his senior year at the University of Vermont majoring in Environmental Studies and English. His internship work involved three studies. He worked to review climate change initiatives in all 50 states and develop tools to easily access information on state-based initiatives, and to make information readily available to state policy makers to be able to review, track and access information on the most effective measures available for state action. He conducted background research on algae-blooms and the possible relations of this phenomenon to climate change at the request of the Lake Champlain Basin Program. Finally he reviewed and summarized the emerging initiatives for "carbon neutrality."

Ryan Palumbo conducted his internship during his senior at the University of Vermont majoring in Political Science and Environmental Studies. Ryan's work focused on public policy and energy sources, specifically on the relative value of local site-specific generation of electric energy. Can small scale renewable technologies generate a significant amount of energy in small scale (residential and small commercial) applications in the state of Vermont? Can such a contribution offset larger instate generation and outside purchases? Ryan investigated the logistics of such an initiative as well as the public policy changes that would be needed to advance an aggressive growth of energy production at this scale. Ryan also investigated the legitimacy of carbon-neutral campaigns in regard to the sustainability of carbon offsets.

Alek Antczak
Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources (MS)
Alek is a graduate intern on energy policy working with the Vermont Senate Energy Committee. He is compiling a summary powerpoint presentation that the Committee can use to engage Vermonters in conversations about climate change. The presentation will be distilled from the research and presentations gathered by the Senate Energy Committee to date. In addition, Alek will contribute information about transportation related climate change activities for the Clean Cities e-newsletter.

Amos Baehr
Community Development and Applied Economics, UVM (MS)
Amos worked with UVM faculty and citizen groups to create a series of events in January, as part of the legislative focus on climate change, to inform and analyze opportunities for incorporating the idea of "common assets" into various solutions. The event centered around hosting Peter Barnes (author of "Who Owns the Sky") with talks before the legislature, citizen groups and the university community. One key idea being analyzed is the option for capping carbon emissions. This is a mechanism to guarantee a steady decline in emissions before the so-called "greenhouse effect" takes full effect. If carbon emissions are capped, then the state of Vermont cap can auction off a finite number of permits annually and let companies who need them buy or trade them with one another. The number of permits would be reduced each year, making them more and more valuable. The state, in turn, would use the proceeds from the permit sales to give rebates to consumers or make direct investments in conservation and fuel-efficiency programs. Amos is developing a policy briefing around these and other issues that emerged from the event and its discussions.

Peter A. Beaulieu
Graduate Certificate Student, UVM
Peter is completing a graduate certificate program at UVM and will be entering the Masters of Public Health Program at Dartmouth College in the fall. He has been working at the Center to review the history of reform efforts for the past thirty years in Vermont and to develop a policy tool documenting that history and the lessons learned for future efforts. From May 8 to July 1 Peter and a colleague will be biking cross-country to raise funds for an international veterinary program in association with Partners in Health. http://www.wheelsforchange.org/

Brian Miles
Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources (MS)
Brian is a graduate intern on energy policy, with a particular emphasis on nuclear energy plant re-licensing. He is developing a methodology and analysis of “frames” as they apply to the nuclear energy re-licensing discussion in Vermont. To do this he is examining the public conversations through various media sources. Brian is also working on his thesis. He is seeking to understand why wind power, an energy source that is represented as being a more environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional sources of electricity, has failed to be widely developed in Vermont, a state represented as having a strong environmental identity.

Russell Mills
UVM, Master of Public Administration Program
Graduate Assistant 2005-2007
Russ served as a public policy graduate assistant at the Snelling Center from 2005-2007 where he worked on projects such as Health Care Reform, the Consitutional Amendment for term lengths, and analyzing Vermont's Demographic Shift. During that time he was a graduate student at the University of Vermont in the Master of Public Administration program where he completed his thesis on public accountability structures within America's airports and was awarded the Marshall E. Dimock Award for vision within the field of public administration. Russ recieved his Bachelor's degree in political science from Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. In fall 2007, Russ will begin a PhD program at Kent State University in political science.

Elaine Wang
Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources (MS)
Elaine is continuing her internship with The Snelling Center from fall 2006 to support the Clean Cities initiative. The internship is designed to support the support the development of a sustainable base for a Clean Cities project in Vermont and transition the project to permanent home at the University Transportation Center. She produces a bi-monthly electronic newsletter on clean transportation and has assisted with the development of a report on Alternative Fuel Vehicles in Vermont. Elaine also works with Alliance for Climate Action 10% Challenge where she develops outreach and education programs and events that market behavior change and encourage households, students, and businesses take action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.