Vermont hillsides © Kent McFarland

Here in Vermont, we dream of June during the darkest days of January. Verdant, wooded hillsides glowing brightly under a robin egg sky. Warm afternoon breezes rolling through the valleys as we lounge by the clear waters of a cold river. The chorus of birds waking us each morning. The smell of freshly cut grass wafting through the window. We forget about the clouds of black flies, the hum of the mosquitos and the rainy days. June is a dream here. Its days last forever.

Upcoming VCE Events

VCE and North Branch Nature Center staff at the Biodiversity Jamboree © Emily Anderson

It's the busy season here at VCE, which means that we have a lot of upcoming workshops and field trips for everyone! Click the button below to visit our events page for a full list.

Join Us at Our Upcoming Bee Workshop

Silky Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon sericeus) © Kent McFarland

Join us this summer in the field to learn more about VCE’s work! Our staff scientists will be leading free, small-group field trips in locations all around Vermont. Visit the VCE website to learn more about these field trips and to reserve your spot(s).

@susanelliot

Congratulations to Susan Elliot (@susanelliott) for winning the May 2024 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! Her photograph of a baby Barred Owl nestled inside a log received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

Read the full article on our website.

Volunteer Opportunities

VCE Loon Biologist Eric Hanson works on a loon nesting raft. © Dan Lambert

Interested in becoming a community scientist or finding a new community science project? We're looking for volunteers! Check out some of the cool opportunities below.

Tick Survey Properties (if you currently spray your yard for ticks)

Pollinator Interactions on Plants

Mountain Birdwatch surveys

2nd Vermont Butterfly Atlas

LoonWatch

Thank You!

We’re thrilled to announce that thanks to your help and generosity, VCE’s ALL IN for Biodiversity campaign reached a wildly successful conclusion last month. You secured the $50,000 match and you’re putting just over $5,050,000 to work for conservation. What a tremendous success!

Here are two examples of how ALL IN gifts are mobilizing VCE’s science for conservation.

• Building knowledge to generate conservation solutions here and across the hemisphere. Protecting insects against decline and collapse requires a more robust accounting of their populations and population trends. Beginning with moths, VCE and our international partners developed autonomous, computer-controlled monitoring stations that attract insects and use artificial intelligence to identify them, accelerating data collection and improving accuracy.
• Developing practical tools to protect biodiversity. The Vermont Atlas of Life’s 10th Anniversary Report couples primary biodiversity data with climate and other environmental data to generate species distribution models. These models are essential for assessing conservation status and extinction risk, tracking population change, and guiding conservation efforts. 

If you would like to learn more about the campaign and its goals, head to our website. We are truly humbled by your support and look forward to sharing more of your impact for conservation in the coming months. Thank you! 

Join Us For Pollinator Celebration Day!

Are you curious about Vermont's bees? Do you want to know how you can help support pollinators? The public is invited to the Vermont Pollinator Working Group's (VPWG) Pollinator Celebration on June 22nd at the UVM Horticulture Farm in South Burlington! During this National Pollinator Week Event, join us to learn about the VPWG and how you can help support pollinators. There will be guest speakers, workshops, raffle prizes, a Native Plant Bazaar, Pollinator Expo and more!

Registration is encouraged for all participants and mandatory for workshops. Learn more and sign up here.

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies promotes wildlife conservation across the Americas using the combined strength of scientific research and community engagement. Find us online at vtecostudies.org.