Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The ruffed grouse is an iconic game bird of Vermont that is widely recognized and enjoyed by hunters and non-hunters alike, but wildlife biologists are concerned that grouse populations across the Northeast have declined over the past 30 years. This trend has prompted ruffed grouse research on potential causes, including emerging disease threats and habitat loss. Recently, the mosquito-borne West Nile virus was implicated as a significant contributor to population declines in Pennsylvania, and research is underway to help biologists better understand the potential impact of this virus on grouse populations across their range, including here in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The deadline for the Vermont COVID-19 Agricultural Assistance Program (VCAAP) Dairy Assistance Application and Agriculture & Working Lands Application has been extended to November 15, 2020 at 8:00 AM. This extension and some important changes to the grant programs were included in new legislation. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture will continue to process applications received prior to the initial deadline of October 1, 2020, at 8 am.

Vermont Business Magazine Renewable Energy Vermont’s annual conference and expo goes virtual this year, welcoming an impressive lineup of keynote and plenary speakers during fall, Wednesday morning sessions, starting October 21, focused on connectivity, resilience, the future of transportation, and equity and economic recovery. All four sessions of REV2020: Power to Renew feature a keynote address, spark discussion panels, speed networking, and climate solutions working sessions.

University of Vermont Land-use change. Environmental change. Extreme natural events. Wildfires and hurricanes. All are impacting the planet’s so-called critical zone, where water, air, soil, rock and life interact. To explore these overlapping disturbances to the critical zone, the realm that spans from the treetops to the Earth’s bedrock, University of Vermont researchers have been awarded a $3.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The UVM team will focus on snow-dominated ecosystems across the US Comprised of disciplines from engineering to soil chemistry, the team will use big data, earth science and complex systems tools to investigate how short- and long-term disruptions to the critical zone affect its ability to resist and recover.

Vermont Business Magazine Lake Champlain Sea Grant scored in the upper third of the 34 Sea Grant programs nationally, earning it a permanent increase to its base funding. Beginning February 1, 2022, Lake Champlain Sea Grant will have an operating budget of $1,279,000 per year. The Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) Institute attracted additional federal funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for research, outreach, and education to benefit the Lake Champlain basin.

by Olivia Campbell-Andersen, Executive Director, Renewable Energy Vermont We have an opportunity now to determine how we rebuild from COVID-19’s devastating economic effects. We can and should choose to build clean-energy jobs across Vermont. The climate crisis threatens life as we know it and we need to take action while we still can. Continuing net-metering is one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways Vermont can get people back to work, mitigate the effects of fossil-fuel pollution and strengthen our grid infrastructure.

Vermont Research News A recent study of the Bennington Vermont Police department’s traffic stop data has uncovered statistically significant discrepancies in the treatment of minorities. Hispanic drivers are three times more likely than white drivers to be arrested as the result of a traffic stop. Black drivers are three times as likely to be searched. These searches led to the discovery of contraband significantly less than searches of other races.

Vermont Business Magazine On October 1 from 6:30–8:30 pm, the Local Support and Community Action Team established by Governor Phil Scott will host a virtual COVID-19 recovery discussion to connect with others in Grand Isle County. On October 8, the discussion will move to Windsor County.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) today announced that it has received $9.7 million from the US Department of Transportation under the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief Program for necessary repairs to roads and bridges due to damage from severe rainstorms, snow melt, and flooding in 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine Nearly three in four Vermonters with COVID-19 experience symptoms. However, those who are asymptomatic trend younger and have become a higher percentage of positive cases. This is in part explained that Vermont is doing a lot of testing and there are many fewer cases than at the height of the pandemic. For symptomatic cases, the average recovery time is much shorter for those under 20 (less than a week versus around two weeks for everyone else). Meanwhile, the Vermont Department of Health reported today three new cases of COVID-19 in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the reappointment of Jessica Holmes, PhD, to serve as a member of the Green Mountain Care Board. Holmes has served on the Board since 2014.Holmes is a professor of economics at Middlebury College, teaching courses covering microeconomics, health economics and the economics of social issues.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont has received a $19.4 million, five-year award from the National Institutes of Health to foster biomedical research expertise among faculty at Vermont’s four-year colleges and attract students at those schools and at UVM to careers in the biomedical sciences. The new grant is the fourth consecutive multi-year award UVM has received from NIH to fund the initiative, formerly called the Vermont Genetics Network.