Former Interns and Fellows
Past Policy Fellows
Luis Vivanco, Ph.D. (Associate
Professor, UVM Department of Anthropology)
Professor Vivanco is an environmental anthropologist
whose research focuses on the culture and politics of nature conservation,
ecotourism, sustainable development, and indigenous rights in
(1) Issues related to environmental
conservation, conflicts, and policy.
(2) Research methods appropriate to advance
policy work in the state.
(3) Public/citizen participation in both
policy research and policy decision making.
Professor Vivanco's work on community research and empowerment provided a
beneficial framework against which the Center evaluated and modified its work on
various public research and engagement processes.
Julie finished her Master’s degree in the Natural Resources Planning (Rubenstein School at UVM) in 2006. Her thesis aimed at dissecting how public comments are used in agency decision making, looking specifically at how the Forest Service planning team used citizen input to make management area designation decisions on the Green Mountain National Forest during their recent Land Use and Resource Management Plan revision. She worked with The Snelling Center to support the Agency of Natural Resources “Re-think” process on organizational, functional and structural issues. Julie now works for the Critical Areas Commission (Maryland Department of Natural Resources) as a Natural Resources Planner.
Richard Watts
A Graduate Fellow at the Snelling Center Richard's area of study is citizen participation in natural resource planning. Richard's dissertation is a case study of the Northwest Reliability Project -- a 63-mile high voltage transmission line between Rutland and Burlington, Vermont. Richard is participating in a project on better understanding citizen participation at the Snelling Center. He has written a white paper to illustrate some of the concepts in work on the future of engaging citizens in energy planning in Vermont. Presently, Vermont is at a cross-roads with two-thirds of our electric energy sources due to expire in the next ten years. The work will discuss methods to broadly engage Vermont citizens in the important decisions about our future. Richard was recently appointed to a position at the UVM Transportation Center.
2005 - 2006 Snelling Center Interns
Melinda Davis
During the Fall of 2006 Melinda worked at the Snelling Center for Government and as the AARP Burlington Livable Community Project (BLCP) Research Intern while enrolled as an Experimental Psychology graduate student at the University of Vermont (UVM). Her research interests in community health and well-being across the lifespan were both informed and developed by the serious of community study groups that met to discuss Burlington “livability” in relation to housing, community engagement, and transportation.
Currently Melinda is working on her Ph.D. from UVM at a distance and developing her skills in community based research as the Eastern Oregon Practice Enhancement and Research Coordinator for the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) at Oregon Health and Science University. Melinda's work on the BLCP with the Snelling Center helped her develop essential skills for her current work with ORPRN whose mission is to “improve the health of rural populations in Oregon through conducting and promoting health research in partnership with the communities and practitioners we serve.” Additional information about ORPRN can be found at http://www.ohsu.edu/orprn/.
Melissa Bailey
Melissa is a graduate student enrolled in the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of Vermont. She is also pursuing a Certificate of Graduate Study in Ecological Economics through the Gund Institute. She was part of the Snelling Center's Energy Policy Team. She is working with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) to draft a section of VPIRG's Comprehensive Energy Plan, focusing on potential weatherization savings available in Vermont.
Rachael Beddoe
Rachael Beddoe has worked on a joint project between The Snelling Center and the Orange County Headwaters Project (OCHP). She developed an administrative case study to document this particular approach to collaborative land use planning and conservation. The case study is a prelude to further evaluation and development work. She is a graduate of UVM's Environmental Studies Program (1996) and most recently has been the Project manager for the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program. She plans to pursue graduate work in the field of Environmental or Public Health.
Emily Bibby
Prior to entering UVM's MPA program in 2004, Emily held several positions with the Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) of Project Harmony in Moscow, Russia, and was a Program Officer at the U.S.-Russia National Security Project, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge , MA. She finished her undergraduate work at Middlebury College in 1998. Her work in the MPA program has focused on nonprofit and public administration. Her internship was with Vital Communities, a nonprofit in White River Junction that engages citizens in community life and fosters the long-term balance of cultural, economic, environmental and social well-being in the Upper Valley region. Emily worked as an “Outreach and Development Intern” with Vital Communities for the Upper Valley Housing Coalition (UVHC) and the Upper Valley Transportation Management Association (UVTMA). The Coalition promotes responsible housing opportunities, or “smart growth” development principles, by encouraging clustered rather than sprawled development to promote strong neighborhoods and preserve the working landscape.
Michelle Cranwell Schmidt
Michele is a recent graduate of UVM's Master of Public Administration program. She is employed as a Program Evaluator at the Center for Rural Studies at UVM. She conducted two internships with the SCG: the first with BISHCA and OVHA to prepare the 2005 Vermont Family Health Insurance Survey, which will be used to inform health care policy in 2006; and the second working with Women Helping Battered Women (Burlington) on leadership and development issues.
Amy Diller
Amy is a recent graduate of UVM's program in Community Development and Applied Economics., where she pursued her interest in fostering healthy economies and environments in small communities. Amy's thesis research focused on brownfields (contaminated properties) redevelopment in rural communities. As a Snelling Intern in the Summer and Fall of 2005, she worked with the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs to inventory and report on Brownfield Redevelopment Programs at the state's 11 regional planning commissions. This led to another internship in 2006 helping the Randolph Area CDC do some ground work for redeveloping 3 acres of a former Ethan Allen Plant for residential development very close to Randolph's downtown. Upon graduation Amy was employed by The Addison County Regional Planning Commission as a Watershed Planner where one of her projects is starting up a Brownfield program.
Josh Henkin
Dr. Henkin graduated from UVM in 2004 with a doctorate in cell and molecular biology and a strong interest in applying scientific knowledge to public policy. He worked at The Snelling Center in a different capacity to gain policy research experience and headed up the research for the Center in its report to the State Legislature on Compensation. In 2004, he was awarded a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship and began work with the Department of Defense as a Scientific Advisor for Director, Defense Research & Engineering. In 2006 he is finishing his two-year fellowship program and where his major responsibilities include: metrics, strategic planning, nanoscience and program management of the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative.
Ben Machin
Ben Machin is a partner in Redstart Forestry in Corinth Vermont, a consulting firm specializing in forest management, geographic information systems, non-native invasive species management, and land conservation. Ben received an English degree from Bowdoin College in 1996 and a Master’s in Forestry from University of Vermont in 2003 where his research focused on using spatially explicit data to model the expected impacts of the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Prior to joining Redstart Forestry, Ben was employed as a firefighter – smokejumper with the USDA Forest Service in Redmond Oregon. Ben was a 1996 Watson Fellowship recipient, a 2003 Snelling Center for Government Graduate Fellow, and is a Leopold Schepp Scholar. As well as serving as a forester, Ben is a maple syrup producer with interests in tree climbing, horse logging, exotic pest and disease management, and the integration of new technology into current strategies and techniques. Ben’s work as the first Public Policy Fellow at the Center included supporting the work of a think tank group on the Creative Economy, and authoring a draft briefing on non-native invasive species (NNIS) and forest health in Vermont. His brief on NNIS is still guiding work on this topic at the center and has been the subject to two subsequent internships, and will be the topic of new work in 2006.
Russell Mills
Russ is the Public Policy Assistant at the Snelling Center while enrolled as a student in the Master of Public Administration Program and the University of Vermont. His work at the Snelling Center has been to support a number of policy initiatives at the Center including the Vermont legislature’s public engagement process on health care reform and the Constitutional Amendment project on term lengths for state wide office.. His thesis research involves examining the question of the privatization of public infrastructure with a focus on airport facilities. His additional research interest is how the creative economy can be used to revitalize Vermont’s downtown areas and also how the creative economy could be used to rebuild areas devastated by terrorism, particularly Northern Ireland.
Christine Negra
As a Public Policy Fellow with the Snelling Center for Government, Dr. Christine Negra investigated the role of environmental science in the Vermont policy process as well as innovation in the planning and practice of landscape-scale conservation. She is now working on the 2nd edition of The State of the Nation's Ecosystems as a Research Associate at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. Prior to her work with the Snelling Center, she conducted research on the environmental behavior of trace metals in soil systems at the University of Vermont and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. From 1994 to 1998, she designed and implemented research and outreach programs in sustainable agriculture and community development at UVM Extension. Dr. Negra received a Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Science (2004) and a M.S. in Natural Resources Planning (1994) from the University of Vermont and a B.A. in Government Studies (1990) from Wesleyan University.
Matthew Probasco
UVM Master in Public Administration, May 2006.
Matthew is currently employed at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in the Stormwater Section as an environmental analyst.
Matthew's internship at the Snelling Center contributed to furthing the understanding of Non-native Invasive Species and forest health in Vermont. He worked to investigating the issue and built an understanding of current and anticipated actions at the local, state and federal agencies as well as non-profit organizations to foster awareness of forest related non-native, invasive species (NNIS) and their potential affects on Vermont's economy.
Jon Reidel
Jon is enrolled part-time in UVM's MPA program with a focus on government, politics and the media as it relates to the public sector. Prior to arriving at UVM, he worked for a daily newspaper in Southwest Georgia covering local and state government and has also worked for the Times-Argus newspaper in Montpelier . Through his internship he conducted an analysis to examine how the media’s coverage of health care reform in Vermont affects public perception and public policy. It also attempted to find innovative ways of increasing public participation in such issues to supplant more traditional methods such as public hearings that aren’t always well attended for various reasons.
Stephen Searle
Stephen graduated in 2006 from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, with a concentration in Natural Resource Planning. His academic work focused primarily on rural community development, natural resource conservation, and resolving potential tensions and conflicts between the two through informal, community-based action as well as public policy. As an intern with the Snelling Center for Government, and in collaboration with the Conservation Study Institute, Stephen developed an understanding of governance by networks, particularly as it relates to public-private partnerships. He authored a summary of the literature on network governance and examined how it applied to four specific networks in Vermont and northern New England. He is currently employed by the Peconic Landtrust in Southampton , New York as a project manager.
Emily Stebbins
As an Energy Policy Intern Emily Stebbins, a part-time graduate student in Community Development and Applied Economics, worked with the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization to research alternative transportation planning strategies. A communications professional who currently manages the website for UVM’s Department of Human Resources, Emily is also the Senior Editor of a strategic assessment of the University’s IT needs. She is the former Marketing Director of Riser Management Systems, and founded Stebbins Ink Communications in 2003, providing public relations, advertising, marketing, and web copy for business and non-profit clients. She coordinated public relations for the Regional Public Transportation Initiative, a joint task force of the CCMPO and the Chittenden County Transportation Authority to change the way public transportation in Vermont is funded and governed. A native Vermonter who grew up on a dairy farm in West Enosburg, Emily’s interests include land use policies and impacts, change and conflict in rural communities, and the negotiation of myth and reality in Vermont’s brand and identity.
Julia Wayne
Julia is a graduate of UVM's College of Education and Social Services with a degree in Early Childhood Education and a major concentration in Environmental Studies. She interned with the Snelling Center to create an overview of graduate internship programs nationwide. She also also continued her work with the Vermont Research Partnership to create a publishable article titled, "Vermont Children's Relationships with their Local Communities and the Natural World," based on work conducted in 2005. She is currently employed at the Campus Children's Center at UVM.
Rachel Weston
Rachel Weston finished her graduate work in Public Administration in May 2006 and then promptly ran successfully for the state legislature where she will be serving as a representative starting in 2007.. Her academic interests include transparency and decision making within United Nations, women and leadership, governance, and public policy. As a Public Policy Intern with the Vermont Commission on Women, Rachel worked on early childhood education, international/national women’s rights conventions, and increasing the number of female candidates for office.
Former Snelling Center Interns
Jess Ballantyne
Jess is pursuing a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology at St. Michael’s College. Her previous studies focused on food and nutrition. As an intern at The Snelling Center she conducted research on a variety of health care topics. I participated in the efforts of Coalition 21, and supported workgroups that were looking at various issues in medical malpractice, wellness programs, integrated health care systems, and comparative health systems from different states and countries.
John D'Agostino
John graduated with an M.S. in Natural Resources Planning from the
Stephanie Delano
Stephanie completed her M.S. in Natural Resource Planning from the Rubenstein School of Natural resources and the Environment at UVM in December of 2005. She worked on a number of projects at the Snelling Center including small wind generation; public engagement on health care reform; and "re-thinking" the Agency of Natural Resources and serviced as a. project manager while looking for a career in the fields of natural resource policy and regional planning. She is currently employed at a regional planning agency in New York State.
Emilian Geczi
Emilian grew up in Transylvania, and came to Vermont asa graduate student in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. His studies focus on rhetoric, knowledge, and power in natural resource and recreation planning. Through the Snelling Center he assisted the Nature Conservancy with developing a policy position on wind energy development.
Carmen Jaquez
Carmen is a second year graduate student in the Community Development and Applied Economics program at the UVM. Carmen’s internship builds upon the 2003-2004 lecture series, Conservation at the Landscape Scale: Emerging Models and Strategies. She is interviewed Vermont’s leading conservationists to assess current conservation efforts in Vermont, collaboration efforts, barriers to success and landscape scale planning.
Helen Labun-Jordan
Helen is a graduate of UVM’s Community Development program. Her thesis research was on agriculture policy in Vermont. She interned through the Snelling Center at the Lake Champlain Committee working on current legislative issues affecting the quality of the Lake. Helen is currently the Director of the Creative Communities Program at the Vermont Council on Rural Development.
Brittany Maschal
Brittany graduated from UVM’s School of Education and worked at the Center doing research for the Education Governance project. She enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania in Education after graduation.
Molly Michaud
Molly completed her Masters degree in Natural Resource Planning at UVM’s Rubenstein School. At the Snelling Center she worked to advance policy recommendations on addressing forest based non-native invasive species looking as federal state and local interventions. She also worked to do research for the Center on contract with the Department of Public Service on “clean transportation.” She is currently the Technical Coordinator at the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
Beth Rice
Beth Rice was an intern at the Snelling Center for Government from 2004-2005, while working towards her MS in Nutrition and Food Sciences at The University of Vermont. For her internship Beth worked with the Office of Vermont Health Access on patient education and outcome data of Medicaid recipients who had undergone bariatric surgery. Currently, Beth is working toward her PhD in Animal Nutrition and Food Sciences at UVM, researching trans fatty acids and heart disease. Beth is an intern at Ben and Jerry’s Homemade Holdings, Inc. in South Burlington, VT, working in the Quality Assurance Laboratory. In March, she will begin a two year term as a Trustee on the University of Vermont Board of Trustees.
Other Internships Created By the Snelling Center
Patricia Abt
Vermont Law School
Internship:Vermont Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations
Doris Anderson
UVM MPA Program
Internship: Vermont Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations
Lois Coulter
UVM Historic Preservation V
Internship: Vermont State Archives
Eli Crittenden
Vermont Law School
Internship: Vermont Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations
Karen Fligger
UVM Rubenstein School
Internship: Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Michelle Johnson
UVM Rubenstein School
Internship: Vermont State Archives
David Kelly
UVM Ph. D., Phychology
Internship: Psychology Vermont Research Partnership
Daria Kim
UVM MBA Program
Internship: The Snelling Center for Government
Mike Loner
UVM MPA Program
Internship: Creative Economy Initiative
John Maccallum
UVM MPA program
Internship: Vermont Economic Progress Council
Matthew Van Order
UVM MBA Program
Internship: Vermont Research Partnership