University of Vermont junior Mariah Choiniere of Franklin is among a select group of student leaders nationwide to become 2022 Truman Scholars.
Choiniere is one of 58 Truman Scholars selected from 705 candidates nominated by 275 colleges and universities. Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector and academic excellence. Each Truman Scholar receives funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.
Choiniere, a forestry major in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, took an unconventional path to college. By the time she arrived at the University of Vermont in fall 2020 as a transfer from Vermont Technical College, Choiniere already had seven years of work experience — including three years of hands-on knowledge in forest management and firefighting — and more than 1,500 hours of work through AmeriCorps/Conservation Corps.
In graduate school, Choiniere intends to pursue agroforestry, which is the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic and social benefits. Some of the practices include planting crops between rows of trees to provide income while the trees mature; growing food, herbal, botanical or decorative crops under a forest canopy; and combining trees with livestock and their forages on one piece of land.
“I believe that agroforestry will be an important pathway in tackling the climate crisis, while also balancing food security in the face of a growing population,” said Choiniere.