News and Events

The UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is often featured in regional, national, and international news. There are many stories of faculty, student, and alumni successes to celebrate. Catch up on CALS' breaking news here.

Newsworthy Successes

FSRC Director Polly Ericksen at a podium

The Answer Exists Between Us: The Food Systems Research Summit 2024

CALS Lecturer Dr. Ben Dangl Publishes New Interview Series

Congratulations to Lisa McCrae, recipient of a 2024 Our Common Ground Staff Award

Natalia Aristizabal Uribe smiling from within a coffee plant

Coffee, Conservation, and Collaboration: FSRC PhD Fellow Natalia Aristizábal Uribe

New naturalistic garden takes root at Votey Building

More news

08/13/2024

Agriculture, Landscape, and Environment: UVM changes the name of its ag program

University of Vermont boasts a unique land-grant legacy. Justin Morrill, a Vermonter, was the legislator who wrote and sponsored the Morrill Act of 1862, which gave federal lands to states to establish colleges for science and agricultural education. That bill, which Abraham Lincoln signed into...

A research pavilion in the construction phase

08/12/2024

Jason Konefal to join UVM as Chair of the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics

Jason Konefal, the new chair of the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, is originally from upstate New York. He grew up in the Catskill Mountains in a small town of about 250, and his parents owned a small inn and restaurant. "So I grew up in and around that area working...

Man standing inside a fire tower on a mountain

08/07/2024

Attitudes Such As a Distrust of Government Can Cause Swine Farmers to Resist Animal Biosecurity: UVM Study Finds

A new University of Vermont study published this week in Nature: Scientific Reports examines the social and psychological aspects of farmers’ decisions about whether or not to implement biosecurity measures on pig farms. This is the first study to look at human behavior in biosecurity adoption...

08/07/2024

Meet Judith Anglin - New Chair of CALS Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences

Judith Anglin’s career in Nutrition is an impressive list of accomplishments that include life-changing nutrition research, preventative medicine, food product development as well as advocating to members of Congress to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes. ...

07/17/2024

FSRC PhD Fellow studies the connection between human health and dairy fat

Victoria Taormina is a Food Systems Research Center PhD Fellow and a PhD student in the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department. Victoria graduated from UVM in 2019 with a bachelor's in Dietetics, Nutrition, and Food Science and now works with Dr. Jana Kraft conducting research focused on...

07/15/2024

Taylor Swift’s Impact on Fans’ Body Image Attitudes Mostly Positive

First study on the health effects of Taylor Swift’s celebrity finds an overall positive influence on fans’ attitudes on body image and disordered eating. Taylor Swift’s past struggles with body image, disordered eating, and body objectification have had an overall...

07/10/2024

It’s Agricultural Fair and Exhibition Season: Do You Know How to Protect Your Show Animals?

Agricultural fairs and exhibitions are in full swing across the U.S., and with the recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy cows, it is important to know how to protect animals from diseases before,...

A young woman is standing with a Holstein dairy cow at an agricultural fair.

06/28/2024

A "Fitbit" For Cows: UVM Researcher Studies How Data Can Improve Efficiency on Dairy Farms

Dr. Joao Costa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences and a Food Systems Research Center Faculty Fellow. In this video, he discusses his research into how data can improve efficiency on dairy farms. Traditionally, farms have used simple data for decision-...

06/26/2024

Meet Chris Donovan, Data Scientist

The Food Systems Research Center is pleased to announce that Chris Donovan has joined the team as its new Data Scientist. His background is in conservation biology, and he has conducted botanical fieldwork and research throughout the West. Before coming to Vermont, he was working with The Nature...

06/06/2024

Meet Susie Walsh Daloz, Programs and Operations Manager

Susie Walsh Daloz is excited to join the UVM Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) as the new Programs and Operations Manager, where she will...

05/30/2024

Laura Hill, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Biology, wins the 2024 Outstanding Community-Engaged Learning Faculty Award

Though Hill has been a successful Senior Lecturer beloved by students in UVM’s Plant Biology department since 2009, her passion for community learning began when she recognized a hard truth about her teaching: "Talking about global change, climate change, and biodiversity loss in the classroom...

Department Chair and College Dean flank CELO Award recipient Laura Hill at Awards Ceremony