VRN: Pandemic and diet, protecting spiny softshell turtles, lowest jobless rate, vax and BIPOC

Protecting Spiny Softshell Turtles
While the spiny softshell is not an endangered species worldwide, populations near Lake Champlain have dwindled over the past few decades. A recent project has sought to bring the population back to stable numbers, by improving the conditions of turtles’ nesting sites by protecting nests from predators with wire mesh fencing and raising the elevation of nesting spots to prevent flooding. These measures were successful, increasing the number of emerged spiny softshell hatchlings from 150 to 1,000 per year.

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Have you come to enjoy working from home and expect to continue to do more of it? Has your employer made it easier to work from home?

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The Center for Research on Vermont is collecting work from home information. Responses are confidential. Previous research can be seen here.

Lowest Unemployment Rate in the U.S.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Vermont is tied with Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah for the lowest unemployment rates in the country at just 2.9% of the labor force. This is just .6% larger than in December of 2019, before the pandemic hit. New York and Hawaii hold the lowest spots, at 8.5% and 9.0% respectively.

Improving diversity at a small private school
A recent study of the Compass School in Westminster Vermont analyzed the challenges of teaching diversity and worldliness in a small rural private school. One important difficulty (among many) is getting students to participate in discussion of sensitive issues, such as race relations, the LGBTQ+ community, and immigration.

Virtual Reality for Therapeutic Stress Relief
A recent study conducted by the University of Vermont Medical Center investigated the use of olfactory virtual reality (VR with a scent component) as a therapeutic form of stress relief for patients with varied psychiatric diagnoses, such as PTSD, Bipolar Affective Disorders, Generalized Anxiety Disorders, and others. The virtual environment chosen was a tranquil campsite overlooking a sunset, with various objects for the subject to interact with. Surveys suggested that this method did help with stress relief, when combined with traditional therapy methods.

Police file fewer motor vehicle incident reports
Student researchers at the Center for Research on Vermont recently collected police incident filing data from 11 Vermont police departments. The report finds that motor vehicle incidents are down while noise disturbances and citizen disputes increased. There are a number of incidents including lost/found property, vehicle lockouts and animal complaints that may not require the services of an armed officer. See the story in VT Digger here.

New Vermont Ghost Book
A new book by Vermont’s paranormal researcher extraordinaire, Joseph Citro, presents Vermont’s ghost stories town by town from Albany to Woodstock. The Vermont Ghost Guide also includes 24 haunted sites at UVM. See the review in Seven Days here.

Vermont Visiting Artist Talk: William Lamson -May 17

Barely Touching: A collaborative exhibition by Susan Calza and Kelly Holt - through May 31

Sofía Rei featuring JC Maillard, Jorge Glem, & Leo Genovese - May 22

Stowe Jewish Film Festival - through May 25