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After Studying Science, Business and Health, Alumna Megan Resnick Lands Her Ideal Job

This fall will be the first time in eight years that Megan Resnick hasn’t been a student at UVM. With three college degrees under her belt from UVM—a B.S. in molecular genetics, an MBA, and a master of public health—the Burlington resident is now a quality improvement project liaison at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, where she is focusing on healthcare literacy, costs, and access.
We talked to Megan about working in public health, the importance of wellness initiatives, and why she’s intrigued by the combination of business and healthcare.

How did you go from an MBA degree to enrolling in a public health program?

The combination of business and healthcare has always interested me. Healthcare is a unique industry as standard consumerism does not apply. However, it is still critically important to control costs to ensure everyone can get efficient, effective, and affordable care.
My interest in healthcare and specifically public health increased throughout my MBA studies, during which I was able to take healthcare electives such as Policy, Organization, and Financing in Healthcare and Strategic Planning. At this time, UVM was working diligently to get the public health program up and running, so I eventually enrolled.

How has the UVM public health program enhanced your career?

The UVM Master of Public Health program provided a foundation of knowledge in areas such as epidemiology and public health policy, as well as an in depth understanding of healthcare reform specific to Vermont. I regularly draw from public health concepts I learned through this program in my professional life, and my biostatistics textbook even sits on my desk at work.

What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont?

As a quality improvement project liaison, I work internally and externally with providers and employer groups to ensure our members are receiving appropriate care when and where they need it. Our goal is to identify and knock down a variety of barriers to quality care such as cost, access, and health literacy.
I’m also a certified wellness culture coach and, in my opinion, this is one of the biggest areas of opportunity in healthcare reform. Through wellness initiatives, we can try to help create sustainable behavior changes. It is important for individuals with conditions, such as high cholesterol, to get their cholesterol checked; but it is behavior changes, such as exercising and healthy eating habits, that are going to alter the results. I could not ask for a better place to work.

Why would you recommend the UVM public health program?

The UVM public health program is fantastic. The courses are interesting and relevant and the professors are very engaged. I really appreciated that this is an online program because it made it possible for me to balance working full time and being a student. At the same time, being at UVM meant that I could talk to my professors face-to-face when I needed.

What made you return to UVM for your two master degrees?

I never left, in fact this will be my first fall semester not registering for courses at UVM since 2008. I had a wonderful undergraduate experience and it didn’t really cross my mind to continue my graduate education anywhere else.

How to Grow Your Own Beer Hops

Photo: Flickr
By Lynn McIlwee
BrewingWork.com
Ever thought about growing hops in your backyard or at the brewery? Hops are pretty easy to grow and are a hearty plant that will return year after year if you tend to them properly.

Tips on How to Grow Your Own Beer Hops

When and Where to Buy Rhizomes

Order your rhizomes early (Feb/Mar) to ensure that you get your desired plants when they are ready for shipping (Mar/April). Consider buying hop twine to support your bines as the twine will support 100lbs and mature plants are very heavy. One good wind storm and your precious hops could come tumbling down. Sources for ordering rhizomes in North America include:
Canada: Hops Connect (BC), Left Fields/Crannóg Ales (BC), Prairie GEM Hops (MB), Clear Valley Hops (ON) and Four Horses (NS)
United States: Hops Direct (WA), Willamette Valley Hops (WA), Freshops (OR), US Hop Source (CO), American Brewmaster (NC)

Where and How to Plant

Keep your rhizome moist until ready to plant and only plant when there is no chance of frost. Select a spot where there is a lot of sun—southern exposure is preferred by your hoppy little friends. The planting area should have a trellis or hop twine secured for the climbing wonder to reach up to 25 feet.
Prepare the soil by digging a hole about 1foot deep and 1 foot in diameter. Fill the hole with fresh top soil, compost and peat moss. Plant the rhizomes approximately five (5) to eight (8) feet apart to give the roots ample space to grow. Plant your rhizome 1-2” deep horizontally with the root side down and bud(s) pointing up. Water the area daily to keep the rhizome moist but not soaked. Now wait patiently for about two weeks for your new baby to poke through!

Growing

Year One: In the first year, do not cut away any of the bines as you will build a stronger root structure by leaving them intact. Let them grow, clock-wise, up the trellis/twine.
Years Two Onward: Select two or three strong bines and let those climb—cut away the rest of the growth as it comes up. By selecting a couple of bines, the plant puts its energy into making hop cones and they will produce larger cones. When your bines reach the top of the trellis, carefully pull off the bottom 3 feet of leaves. This allows more oxygen flow around the base and there is less likelihood of getting diseases.
Year Three: You have mature plants and should receive a good yield

Watering

Keep your hops well hydrated but not water-logged. Your soil composition (sand, clay, dirt) will play into how well the water is absorbed. The best time to water is in the morning as your plants will have time to dry out should the leaves get wet and watering at night can attract pests to your wet leaves.

Fertilizing

Use 20-20-20 in the spring when new growth starts. When the burrs appear, use 15-30-15 or similar. Adding compost to the soil is also encouraged.

Pests

Aphids and spider mites are mortal enemies to hops. Inspect your plant regularly to ensure these little creeps aren’t using your hops as a Holiday Inn. If you’re lucky, lady bugs will stake a claim on your plants and eat the aphids.

Harvest

Your hops are ready for picking when they are a) springy—doesn’t stay compressed when squeezed; b) dry and sticky to the touch; c) have a strong hop odour—rub one on your fingers and take a nice, hoppy whiff; d) lupulin—look into the hop and if you see a thick yellow substance, lupulin is present; d) there’s no visible yellow powder. Wear pants, a long-sleeved shirt and gloves for picking unless you like red scratches.

Drying

Find a room that is free of wind, light and where bugs won’t get in. You’ll need to lay the hops on a window screen or some other apparatus that allows air flow to the top and bottom. Having a fan in the room, positioned so that it won’t blow your hops across the room, helps as well. Turn them daily. You will know they are dry when they’re springy to touch, lupulin falls off easily and the central stem will break (not bend). This takes 2-3 days. Now weigh, label and vacuum-seal them for the freezer until you’re ready to brew.

Winter Sleep

Your hops need to rest up so they can come back strong next year. If it’s the first year for your rhizome(s), let the entire plant die back before you cut it a few inches from the ground. The bines will put nutrients back into the soil and make the plant stronger. After year one, after harvesting, cut it at the 3’ mark (where you’ve removed the leaves) and let that die back before reducing it to about 3”.
That’s it. Like I said, growing hops are pretty easy to grow and don’t need too much TLC if you follow the basics. Happy growing!

UVM Alumna Creates the Right Solution with Chemistry and Public Health

Lyndelle LeBruin, a project manager at the Laboratory for Clinical Biochemistry Research (LCBR) at the UVM College of Medicine, has spent most of her academic career studying chemistry. But when her interest in clinical trials research led to her job at LCBR, she decided to enroll in the UVM Master of Public Health Program to enhance her skillset.
Lyndelle, who grew up in the West Indies on the island of Dominica, describes herself as a dedicated, conscientious, and goal-oriented professional. Her goals are to continue to make positive contributions to the fields of public health and translational research in the future.
We talked to Lyndelle about her work and how the fields of chemistry and public health play a role in helping people live better lives.

What made you decide to pursue the master of public health?

I graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a degree in chemistry and went on to earn a master’s in chemistry at UVM. While working on my master’s thesis on the self-assembly of collagen mimetic peptides, I always felt the need to connect my science background to population health and to further translational research that could improve public health.
I decided to pursue the Master of Public Health upon joining the LCBR to both enhance my knowledge base and skillset as I continued to work in clinical trials research, and to make a greater contribution to both public health and translational research.

Could you describe your job at LCBR?

The LCBR focuses on understanding risk factors for heart disease, stroke, venous thrombosis, obesity, diabetes, aging, and frailty using a wide variety of assays in population and family-based research settings. Faculty and staff at the lab are trained in medicine, the basic sciences, epidemiology, and biostatistics, and they apply their training to large-scale, multi-center clinical trials and epidemiological-based studies.
I work in a project management role on the D2d Study at the LCBR. We are the Central Laboratory for this double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial, coordinated out of Tufts University. In my current role, I use quality control measures on a daily basis to monitor sample processing, storage, and data quality. In addition, my role allows active participation in designing study research protocols, training and certifying clinical staff, and managing requests from the Coordinating Center and active field centers in this clinical trial.

What is the most important skill you learned in the UVM Public Health program?

I appreciated the emphasis placed on the proper dissemination of data and public health information. This included, but was not limited to, the effective use of short reports, blogs, discussion boards, and journal reports to communicate information. The correct dissemination of health information and findings is a skill that is integral to public health and research, and this was constantly reinforced throughout the program.

Why would you recommend the program to others?

The program has many positive attributes. It is a flexible yet robust program that allows students to work full time while pursuing graduate school online. The program also has many well-trained, resourceful, and very personable instructors who offer great guidance to students. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who has the desire to become formally trained in public health.

What are some of the common threads between chemistry and public health?

The fields of chemistry and public health both play a role in helping people to live better lives. Chemistry, allows for the molecular design of tools and systems to facilitate this process. Public health encompasses conducting of research, the dissemination of findings, and ultimately policy implementation, in an effort to improve population health.

Why are you passionate about your work?

My work combines health, science, and clinical research, and I trust that it will provide a wealth of information and resources for future research and policies to improve population health. I know that every skill that I learn, and every task that I do, plays an integral role in improving the health of the United States, and by extension global public health. This is something that I remain passionate about, and do not take for granted

Will Medical Cannabis Break the Painkiller Epidemic?

The U.S. is in the midst of an unprecedented opioid epidemic, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Prescription opioid overdoses killed more than 165,000 Americans between 1999 and 2014, and the health and social costs of abusing such drugs are estimated to be as much as $55 billion a year.
An article in Scientific American points out that the opioid problem has led experts to search for a less dangerous alternative for pain relief—and some research is pointing to medical marijuana.
Over the past 15 years, physicians started hearing that patients were using cannabis instead of prescription opioids to manage pain.
Researchers examined whether some states’ legalization of medical cannabis had affected the number of opioid overdose deaths. A study published in 2014 noted that between 1999 and 2010, states that permitted medical marijuana had an average of almost 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths each year than states where cannabis remained illegal.
Medical cannabis is unlikely to prove a replacement for opioids in all medical situations. For example, prescribing opioids is relatively uncontroversial in end-of-life care and in treatment of acute pain from cancer, major surgery or broken bones. But for pain not caused by cancer, medical cannabis may prove a better candidate in the long run.
On June 8, Ohio joined 24 other states (including Vermont) and the District of Columbia in legalizing medical cannabis. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considered two state governors’ petitions to reconsider marijuana’s Schedule I status, but ultimately denied the petitions in August. However, the agency announced a policy change that could encourage U.S. research by boosting the number of authorized marijuana manufacturers

Making the Leap from Working Professional to Pre-Med Student

If this is what “brave” is, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Being “brave” means feeling scared. However, it’s what many people have called me over the past several months as I’ve shared my ambitious (crazy?) plan to transform from a communications professional into a medical doctor.

Why I’m Planning on Going to Med School

No longer satisfied with living vicariously through the lives of my clinical friends and coworkers, who I have had the privilege to work alongside at the UVM Medical Center for the past eight years, I finally gathered up my courage and applied to UVM’s Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program (nope, they don’t let English majors just walk into medical school). For the next two-ish years, I’ll take all those science courses I dodged the first time around in college—trying to maintain a stellar GPA while juggling my husband and kids and multiple jobs.
I also need to gain valuable patient care experience, and feel very fortunate to have landed a position in non-invasive cardiology as a cardiology technician. I’ve learned to perform 12-lead ECGs (though I sometimes get tangled in the leads) and have been trained to assist with stress tests (think treadmill tests).

Feeling Right at Home

It has been so gratifying to care for patients for the first time in my life. Frankly, I’m humbled every time I walk into an inpatient room and enter the lives of people at their most vulnerable. I’ve been stunned by the kindness and patience of many patients, who are often in pain, as they tolerate me learning the ropes.
I’ve also come to appreciate the warmth and candor of all the employees I’m meeting for the first time—RNs, technicians, LNAs, respiratory therapists, unit secretaries, schedulers, and so many more. This hospital is supported by a cadre of wonderful, talented people that I am pleased to call my colleagues.
If the next step—physics, chemistry, biology is as gratifying as this one has been, I can’t wait to get started.
-Kim O’Leary lives in Essex and is a student in the UVM Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program.

How to Network and Sell in a Social Setting

Photo: Flickr
By Dawn McGinnis
What is it about person-to-person networking that can be so infuriating?  Everything I read says that mingling at business-related events will lead to more business opportunities.
Unfortunately, many of these events are filled with salespeople just like me.  The ritual seldom varies: when I tell them about my company they say “give me your business card and I’ll pass it along to the right person.”  Raise your hand if you have heard this, too, and have dutifully given your card.  Is your experience like mine? When I follow up with the right person they have no idea who I am or why I am contacting them, which can be an embarrassing way to begin with a prospective client.
When I am looking to grow my business I go where the decision-makers are.

Changing the Approach on How to Network

I had almost totally given up on networking when I decided to try a different tack.  Instead of going to events that I knew would be filled with other salespeople (I’m looking at you Chamber of Commerce, Anytown, USA), I now focus on opportunities to get in front of the ultimate decision makers: C-level managers and business owners.  Instead of rolling in when the room is nearly full, I am now often one of the first people there.  This gives me a chance to look at name tags (if they are laid out) so I can see who will be attending, and, as those people arrive I will be ready to engage.
I don’t eat or drink when I am working because I think it is sloppy to ask for an executive’s consideration holding a plate of food or offering a hand that’s greasy from eating chicken wings.

Making an Impression with Decision-Makers

When I have their attention, I introduce myself and ask them something specific to their industry, why they are at the event, or make other conversation in a business vein.  From my telephone calls with people with “C” in their title, I know that they don’t want to talk about how they are today and what they think about this hot/rainy/cold (fill-in-the blank) weather.
Once I feel that they are focused on me, I give a very short description of what our company does.  I don’t use sales phrases like “we have a proven track record of success in your industry” or “our clients rave about how much money we save them.”  I simply describe what we do and then ask if I can call them to talk further.  Usually they are surprised by this direct approach and often say yes or, at the very least, give me the name of another person to call.  I don’t ask probing questions or try to qualify them.  Because I have done my homework ahead of time I have already decided that their business is a potential fit.
If I call someone they referred to me I introduce myself by saying “I saw George at the business event earlier this week and he said that you are the person I need to call.”  If you doubt the potential of this approach I’d like to boast for a moment:  my company has a great contract with a company that started with me walking up to the owner at a business holiday party.
In the beginning I was terrified to approach business executives and pose this direct question.  What I have found is that they appreciate how I am mindful of their time and don’t talk their ear off.  If they agree to take my call I send a followup email the next day suggesting times in the next two weeks.  Sometimes they use this as an opportunity to disengage from the process, and that’s OK because the next time I see them I will ask if the timing is better for a conversation.  Surprisingly, I am able to schedule a call with them more often than not.
Now that you know my secrets you must be curious about where to engage with decision-makers.  Business journals around the country sponsor events throughout the year that are perfect for this approach. Best Places to Work, 40 under 40 and Business Growth Awards are some examples.  Also, look for local awards events based around a person or concept.  For example, in Vermont, our Businesses for Social Responsibility (a great organization that focuses on people, planet, and profit) gives an annual award to the person who exemplifies a strong commitment to the environment and workplace.  Look around your community for events that typically attract business owners and managers, and prepare for short, meaningful conversations.
I will always enjoy attending a variety of networking events because I love a party.  But when I am looking to grow my business, I go where the decision-makers are

How the Vermont Craft Beer Industry is Finding Success in a Crowded Market

By Emma Marc-Aurele
The craft beer industry has contributed over $271 million to the Vermont economy while the industry has added a total $55 billion to the United States’ economy. The craft beer business is growing exponentially each year. According to the Brewers Association, 1.5 breweries open every day throughout the United States. In 2011, there were 2,033 breweries open in the US and that number more than doubled by 2015 when the Brewers Association recorded 4,269 as the running total.
That same trend has occurred in Vermont: in 2011 the state had 22 established breweries and by 2015 that number doubled to 44. With 9.4 breweries per capita, Vermont is ranked first for number of breweries based on population and is recognized as a leader in this booming industry.
In 2015, Vermont produced 261,654 barrels of craft beer, ranking 20thin the US, according to the Brewers Association.
“There are no signs of a let up in demand for high flavored craft products driven by millennials who favor craft products,” said Greg Dunkling, program director of the University of Vermont’s Business of Craft Beer Program.

A Pioneer of Craft Beer

Dunkling seems to think that Vermont’s top spot in the craft beer industry can be attributed to Greg Noonan, the founder of Vermont Pub and Brewery in Burlington and author of the famous “Brewing Lager Beer” guide. Noonan’s guide to brewing was written in 1984 and became the go-to-guide for small-scale home brewers and even some larger scale professionals.
A number of today’s brewmasters in some of the most famous breweries in Vermont (Lawson’s Finest Liquids, The Alchemist Brewery and Hill Farmstead Brewery) worked under the mentorship of this great beer pioneer. These successful breweries are consistently ranked at the top of the charts by beer consumers as well as in regional and national beer awards.
In 2015, RateBeer.com announced Hill Farmstead Brewery as the number one brewery in the world. The Alchemist was also recognized by RateBeer.com in 2015, when they earned third and fourth place spots on the list of top beers in the world. Focal Banger took the third place spot while Heady Topper landed right behind its fellow brew in fourth.
Long lines in local retailers stocked with patient consumers in search of their products are a testament to not just cold suds but exceptional beer. With the help from Greg Noonan, these three breweries have helped Vermont become a leading contributor to the growing and global craft beer industry.
The state of Vermont’s regulatory support has also contributed to the rise of Vermont’s craft beer industry. Before Noonan, Vermont’s law stated that establishments could not sell alcohol in the same place it was produced. With the realization for potential in their fellow brewing community members, the Legislature changed the law to help create a craft-beer community at its finest.
High quality beer and a simple business strategy seem to be the main goal when talking to brewers. In terms of what it takes to become a successful brewery in Vermont, the CEO of 14th Star Brewery, Andrea Gagner, further emphasizes Miller’s point to make high quality products, while also having the flexibility to adapt to the changing palates of these hop-driven consumers.
Gagner says that 14th Star Brewery aims to “grow slowly and organically” and become “good corporate citizens” which seems to be the trend of most breweries in the area. This business of high quality brewing encourages breweries to grow slowly and focus on the integrity of their product, which in turn allows community involvement and the use of local ingredients.
Bill Mares, a knowledgeable craftsman of craft beer and co-author of the book “Making Beer,” is another leader in the industry.
He and business partner Todd Hair, who has worked in well-known breweries like Magic Hat and Switchback, recently opened up The House of Fermentology on Pine Street in Burlington Vermont.
They are unique in that they are a “blendery” and are producing a line of sour beers. Although their product may be distinct from the others, it seems even they have this same idea of focusing on the quality of the drink.
The obvious problem with this “staying-small” craft business strategy is ensuring that these companies can brew good beer consistently in order to keep customers happy and coming back for more.
Mares said, “We have to brew really good beers all the time. We can’t afford one bad batch.”
For a company that does not rely on volume, the small amount of beer that these partners invest their time in need to be at the same level or better than their local brewing competitors. These breweries seem to be under this same pressure to be consistent in the high quality of their batches.
Thankfully for them, over the years there have been some advancements in brewing technology that make the process a bit easier. Mobile canners have been helpful to smaller brewers in getting the product to markets outside the local community.
They allow these small businesses to package their products so they can be placed in retail establishments statewide, and across the country. Without these canners, they have to depend on only draft distribution and are at the whim of restaurant and bar owners.
Founder of Otter Creek Brewing (and current Shumlin Administration official), Lawrence Miller, is quoted in the book “Making Beer.” He puts it, “The state adapted to what we needed without blowing open the door to create an unstable market. There was a good camaraderie among all brewers, professionals, and amateurs. The home brewers were the educated consumers who could then educate the public to be more appreciative of good beer. The brewers benefited from these open-mouthed people willing to come back and say what they thought. If you were a brewer and open-minded you could adjust. Some who could not adjust, are not around anymore.”
Now with this new technology, consumers can see and become familiar with the product in stores and are able to purchase it more conveniently.

Beer Business and Strategy

So with all these new brewing inventions and flavors, where is this trending industry headed?
UVM’s Dunkling said: “As beer styles become more experimental and breweries push the envelope expanding the traditional definition of a beer style, consumers transition from other alcoholic beverages into this sector. There’s simply too much flavor to ignore.”
Dunkling and his fellow staff members provide industry specific knowledge that people require to either gain employment in the industry or to undertake their dream of someday launching their own brewery. In 2014, overall beer sales were only up 0.5 percent, while craft beer sales increased by 17.6 percent.
Along with this increase in specific craft sales and Vermont’s leading standings in number of breweries per capita, Dunkling’s UVM program seems like the perfect way to take advantage of Vermont’s brewing success and help continue the growth of the industry.
UVM’s program includes both business strategies as well as some of the fundamentals of brewing craft beer. Overall, though, this growth in the craft beer industry seems to be larger than just beer. Many industry analysts relate the craft brewing sector to the broader locavore food movement and the desire of consumers for “local, high-end artisanal products,” Dunkling said. This want for beer brewed in a consumer’s backyard is more than beer and emphasizes local, local, local.
Paul Sayler, co-owner of Zero Gravity Brewing, is quoted in “Making Beer” saying, “At its most basic, beer is a cottage industry. And Vermont is a state where cottage industries spring up. It’s Yankee craft and ingenuity at work. Add to that Vermont’s strong culture of local foods and small scale.”
Some may wonder if this explosion of craft beer in Vermont is simply just a fad and eventually some may see the state as an oversaturation of craft breweries, but most think that the demand for a quality beverage will never go away.
Darby Kitchel, manager of Switchback Brewery feels that the massive amount of breweries stands out as a tool for inspiration to brew better beer.
Kitchel said, “It creates a sense of competitive spirit, which makes for good drive to make better beer and, in the end, run a better business.”
Emma Marc-Aurele is a freelance writer from Burlington. This story first appeared in the July issue of Vermont Business Magazine

Back to School, But Not the Same Old Grind

By Lee Maxey
Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.
-Aldous Huxley
Growing up, most of us operated according to the standard paradigm of the school year calendar. When I was in school, that meant September through June. In the next few weeks, millions of school children and college students will have returned to school, perpetuating the paradigm that learning occurs according to a structured series of activities along a defined timeline.

Give Us a Break (from what?)

Most kids (and teachers) need a break from the rigor of the classroom routine, but that doesn’t mean they need a break from or actually stop learning. An overnight trip to the mountains as part of a summer camp session or family outing will expose you to a complete ecosystem of animal and plant life, an experience that cannot be replicated in any textbook assignment. From a slightly different perspective, a summer internship at a local theater company is going to teach you more about how theater operations are run than even the best case study.
In other words, learning as part of a real-life event enhances the experience and the outcome. It really should be the way we learn all the time. Then we might not need that much of a break.

Addressing the Gap

At MindMax, we spend a lot of time working to make learning more accessible to a broader range of learners. We also spend a good amount of time talking to our partners in higher education and to members of the corporate learning community about the gaps between business and higher education. Through these conversations, we have come to realize that there is a very strong desire on the parts of both entities to better understand what the need is and how it can better be met.
Relevance is a key issue in both secondary and post-secondary education. In its 2011 report “Pathways to Prosperity,” the Harvard Graduate School of Education noted the nearly one million students who leave high school each year, citing the large number of students who drop out because “they didn’t believe that high school was relevant, or providing a pathway to achieving their dreams.”
The report also pointed to the large college dropout rate and called the return on investment for the $400 billion spent annually on post-secondary education “inconsistent.” The report indicated that, “It is time to widen our lens and to build a more finely articulated pathways system—one that is richly diversified to align with the needs and interests of today’s young people and better designed to meet the needs of a 21st century economy.”
The pathways considered include robust employer involvement in career preparation at the middle and high school levels, and the allocation of a portion of the more than $400 billion annual spend on employee training to preparing young people for their future.
Getting employers involved earlier, and not merely for the purposes of direct recruiting, but instead as a part of an ongoing educational process, has interesting implications.

What is the Path Forward?

As is the case with most complex issues, there isn’t a single answer to more effectively preparing our young people for the future world of adulthood and employment or for dealing with the skills gap that continues to ail our economy.
But relevance is a good place to start, especially as we start a new school year.
-Lee Maxey is the CEO of MindMax, a managed services marketing and enrollment solutions company working with UVM. Click here to read more of Lee’s blog posts

Learning the Business of Local Food in the UVM Food Hub Program

Benjamin Bartley’s career has touched many facets of the food industry, from baker, cook, and butcher to educator, advocate, and program director. The University of Florida alumnus, who graduated with degrees in religion and political science, completed UVM’s Food Hub Management Certificate Program last year.
Now a value chain specialist at La Montañita Co-op in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Benjamin is taking what he learned in the Food Hub program and applying those tools to his work.
The UVM Food Hub Management program—the first and only program of its kind in the country—offers a blend of hands-on, community-based, online and on-campus learning. Students in the program are prepared for effective management of food hubs and provide essential tools to advance their career in food systems.

The Business of Local Food

We talked to Benjamin about strengthening New Mexico’s agricultural sector, why he enjoys working in the local food movement, and what he valued most about the UVM Food Hub program.

You were the food access director of The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture in Alexandria, Virginia, while you were a student in the UVM Food Hub Program. You then changed jobs and relocated to New Mexico last January. What led to making such a big change?

I had been following La Montañita Co-op for several years, as they had once sponsored a similar mobile market program to what I was managing at Arcadia. When an opportunity to work at La Montañita became available, I was thrilled to be chosen to continue—and grow—my career in local food systems at the co-op. The position was made possible by La Montañita’s participation in a new USDA program called FoodLINC, which stands for Leveraging Investment for Network Coordination.

How is working for a co-op in the southwest different from working at a food system nonprofit in the Washington, DC, area?

There are many differences between the two areas, but the main difference is the scale of the work. La Montañita’s retail stores and warehouse collectively do about $40 million in annual sales. The co-op has also been a part of its community for 40 years, working with its value chain partners throughout La Montañita’s multi-state foodshed for decades. But there are also some similarities. While the co-op is for-profit, it is also democratically run through an elected board of directors that is responsible for realizing La Montañita’s Ends, or mission. Most businesses don’t have mission statements like non-profits do. The co-op also incorporates food access into its daily work, which was core to Arcadia’s mission.

Can you tell us a little more about your work at La Montañita Co-op?

My general mandate is to help strengthen the New Mexico agricultural sector. That means creating market opportunities for New Mexico growers, which often involves leveraging the co-op’s resources and infrastructure; sometimes this results in a sale between a grower and La Montañita. But that can also mean that I’m writing grants for growers, matching them with buyers with greater purchasing power than La Montañita has, or conducting food and agriculture-related policy advocacy that doesn’t directly benefit or involve the co-op.

What is the most important skill you gained in the UVM Food Hub Program?

I like describing the program as a crash-course MBA that uses local food distribution as the case study. The most important skill I gained from the program was how to apply universal business tools to local food systems.

Would you recommend the UVM program to others?

I would recommend the UVM program to others—and have, including my successor at Arcadia—because it’s cohort driven, which allows for the sharing of experiences and best practices among peers. The subject matter experts who lead the modules and the network of professionals you gain access to through participating in the program are also invaluable, and are a resource that I continue to tap into.

You studied religion in college. Why did you decide to make the switch to food system work?

I majored in religion in college, but I also studied political science and environmental studies. Before that, I went to a culinary school. I’ve been involved with a number of fields and career paths, but I’ve always been working with food in one way or another. The switch from religion to food wasn’t that hard in the sense that both impact society through many facets, yet are ultimately a very personal thing.

What do you enjoy most about working with local food?

Food systems work is an interdisciplinary field—I like this because it requires that you draw from a similarly diverse set of tools and skills. I’m passionate about local food in particular because it’s inherently transactional—you’re constantly making relationships to get the product to market. And because it’s so perishable, you get to see the impact and fruits of your labor on a daily basis

Alumni Advice: Danielle Fleury Finds Farm to School Success in the Northeast

Burlington’s progressive values are what first attracted Danielle Fleury to UVM. It wasn’t long after she arrived on campus that she became personally interested in local food systems. While taking an environmental studies course at UVM, she first learned about food as an environmental issue. Later on, while studying abroad in France her junior year, she lived in a culture that accepted eating locally and regionally as the norm. Those two experiences resonated and continue to influence the work she does today.
AlumniAdvice_newThe UVM alumna, who graduated from UVM in 2005 with a degree in political science, is now the northeast regional farm to school lead at USDA in Boston. We talked to Danielle about her work in nutrition and food policy, the impact of farm to school programs, and how UVM prepared her for success.

What led to your interest in nutrition and food policy?

I worked on education policy after graduate school at the Massachusetts State Legislature, and I kept trying to find the root of the problems that many of our social programs are designed to address. On that path, I had worked my way to early literacy issues, but found that even then, without sound nutrition and access to healthy food, an intervention in the lives of young learners could not serve its full intended purpose. Our education and health outcomes as a nation are inextricably linked to our nutrition and food policy, and so I felt that working on those issues would make a significant impact.

How did you land your first federal job at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service?

I first joined the USDA in 2012 as a program specialist for community nutrition programs and became the regional farm to school lead in 2014. Prior to working at the USDA, I had never held a federal position. In order to open up my job search to federal government positions, I created a profile online at USA Jobs. I selected the locations in which I would be willing to work, and the agencies whose missions closely aligned with my interests. USA Jobs sends job seekers available positions when they’re open, and when I found one that required some of the experience I had in one of my desired topic areas, I applied. My master’s degree and experience working directly on related programs in state legislature proved extremely valuable in qualifying for the position.

What kind of impact have you seen nationwide with farm to school programs?

Farm to school initiatives have advanced at an incredible pace over the past decade plus. The movement has grown from a few model programs in early adopting states 15 years ago, to programs in all 50 states today. Our national census results indicate that more than 5,000 school districts nationwide participate in farm to school activities at some level. Over the past few years, the focus has grown beyond K-12 school meal programs to include preschool/early education and care, and summer. Children ages 0-5 are in daycare homes and centers that, like K-12 schools, can receive federal reimbursement to provide meals and snacks, and it makes sense to implement these strategies at the earliest stages of a child’s development when eating habits are being formed.

What are some of the challenges you face with farm to school?

There are certainly challenges, because implementing a farm to school program requires a systems change—a change in the sourcing practices of a school district, a change in the way food is prepared and presented in cafeterias and classrooms, a change in the way producers are marketing and distributing their products, and more. There are often supply chain challenges, as school districts may need food at a certain or uniform standard, packed a certain way, distributed to a central or several locations. The growing season in a particular area may not align well with the schoolyear. Each region has its own set of unique challenges but these are some common issues that programs across the country face.

What career advice would you give to someone looking to work in nutrition policy or food systems?

I would say be open to a lot of different experiences; they can all build your skill set in different ways and there’s not necessarily a recipe for securing the perfect public sector position in your desired issue area. Those working on food policy in government come from all different sectors, and that brings unique perspectives. Many had actually worked on different specialty topics in the past but have transitioned to food and nutrition; there are many interrelated areas in social programs and so experience in environmental, public health, educational programs are all valuable.
While I was a political science and public policy student, the most critical moments that sparked my interest in the work I do today occurred through environmental studies and French coursework. Cast a wide net and capture all of those valuable lessons learned as they may make unforeseen connections for you later down the road.

What did you enjoy most about your time at UVM?

A huge part of my decision to attend UVM was its location in a progressive community that I felt so aligned with, and one that was making significant strides in addressing many of the social issues I cared about. It also felt like there were endless opportunities to find and plug into your own communities on campus. I played a sport, and enjoyed staying active every day, traveling for competitive matches, being part of a close knit team, and found that experience to have a really positive impact on my academic life as well

Dr. Paul Farmer to Speak at UVM Aiken Lecture Series Nov. 3

Dr. Paul Farmer, chief strategist and co-founder of Partners in Health, will be the keynote speaker at the 2016 George D. Aiken Lecture Series on Nov. 3 at the UVM Ira Allen Chapel.
Nearly 30 years ago, Dr. Farmer helped found Partners in Health to provide free medical care in central Haiti. Today, Partners in Health teams up with local groups to treat people with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other conditions in Haiti and countries around the world.
Dr. Farmer is a physician and anthropologist, and has written extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality. He has spent his career working to improve healthcare around the globe, because he believes “health is a right, not a commodity.” He says the biggest barrier to health care equity is a failure of imagination.
“It is an honor and privilege to welcome Dr. Farmer to UVM,” said UVM College of Arts and Sciences Dean William A. Falls, PhD, professor of psychological science. “His work has advanced the cause of social justice and health care across the globe, and his presence on campus will amplify our efforts to inspire our students to be responsible global citizens.”
Dr. Farmer is the Kolokotrones University professor and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African Nobel Peace laureate, calls Dr. Farmer “One of the great advocates for the poorest and sickest of our planet.”
The UVM Aiken Lecture Series
Each year, the Aiken Lecture rotates between Governor Aiken’s primary areas of interest in public service and is hosted annually by the corresponding college at the University: the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences; the Rubinstein School of Environment and Natural Resources; and the College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences is hosting this year’s event in collaboration with The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at UVM.
The event is supported by an endowment created by George and Lola Aiken. A permanent tribute to the Dean of the United State Senate and Governor of Vermont for his many years of service to the people of the state and the nation, the lectures, which began in 1975, provide a platform for distinctive views on critical issues and is the University’s major annual public-policy forum.
The Aiken Lecture Series will be at the UVM Ira Allen Chapel at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available at the University Medical Center at 1 South Prospect Street after 5 p.m. Learn more at

Legal Issues: Tackling Sexual Assault on Campus

A panel discussion at last year’s UVM Legal Issues in Higher Education Conference.
Stanford University student Brock Turner’s short jail sentence has triggered outrage against the judge and controversy over how the justice system treats sexual assault survivors.
Turner, 21, was released from jail in early September after just three months behind bars for sexually assaulting an unconscious 23-year-old woman at Stanford University.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, an estimated 20 percent to 25 percent of women will experience completed or attempted rape over the course of their college careers.
While the overall number of crimes reported by post-secondary institutions in the US decreased by 34 percent between 2001 and 2013, the number of reported forcible sex crimes on campus increased by 126 percent during this period—from 2,200 to 5,000—according to figures from the US National Center for Education Statistics that were published in May.
In an article published in Times Higher Education, Jeffrey Nolan, an attorney at law firm Dinse Knapp McAndrew, which specializes in legal issues affecting colleges and universities and campus safety, said that the increase is likely to be a result of universities better educating students about what constitutes sexual violence and better publicizing of how students can report such incidents.
Another reason, he said, is that institutions are changing the way that they deal with these reports, with a gradual shift away from a more public, face-to-face process.
“Once people who seek help at the reporting stage understand that they’re not going to have to do something that looks more like what they imagine a criminal trial would look like, they’re more willing to go ahead and participate in the process,” he said told the publication.
Christine Garcia, clinical director of the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) Young Adult and Family Center and an expert at the National Center for Campus Public Safety, said that universities are becoming much more “trauma-informed” in how they deal with reports of sexual assault but there is still much work to be done to improve further.
She told Times Higher Education that this can involve focusing on sensory details rather than a timeline of events, investigators acting in a non-threatening way, and being upfront about the steps involved in the process.
“An investigator might say: ‘Tell me what happened in a linear fashion. You went out at such and such a time, and then what happened?’” she said. “Someone who has been through a traumatic event such as sexual assault doesn’t have that linear memory…The part of the brain that does the linear recall is kind of offline when a traumatic event is happening.

An Olympic Skier Sets Her Sights on Public Health

Like most students, Ida Sargent finds going back to school a bit of a juggling act. But Ida is not your typical student. The U.S. Ski Team member is training for the 2018 Winter Olympics while pursuing a career in public health.
A student in UVM’s online Public Health Graduate Certificate Program, Ida plans to go on to earn a Master of Public Health in UVM’s online program. The Vermont native attended Burke Mountain Academy and graduated from Dartmouth in 2011 with a degree in biology and physiology.
We talked to Ida about her Nordic racing career and why she wants to work in public health.

How did you become interested in this particular career path?

As an elite athlete, I am very grateful for my health. Sports has given me the opportunity to be fit and strong, and I believe that good health is one of the most basic rights in life. It scares me to see the rising levels of childhood obesity, and the physical and mental burdens that it places on young children. I’m involved with several non-profit organizations that use sports and physical activity to build confidence, self-esteem, community values, and healthy habits. This is mostly volunteer work, but it has given me the opportunity to share the values and building blocks of a healthy lifestyle, which I believe is key to our future.

As an athlete, how to manage to find time to go back to school?

Online courses are my only option. I spend at least half the year on the road with training camps during the summer and fall. From November through March, I am traveling around the globe with the U.S. Ski Team and racing World Cups almost every weekend. I often will be in four or more countries in a single month, so being in an actual classroom would be impossible for me. While I have a busy schedule, it’s great to have some balance on the road and to take my brain off of skiing.

What are some of your favorite classes in the Public Health Program?

I’m loving my epidemiology class right now and can see myself getting more involved in that field. My favorite class as an undergrad was immunology, and there are strong connections between the two.

What are your career plans?

I’m not sure exactly where my post-athletic career will take me, but right now I’m leaning toward a career in epidemiology or something related to community and youth programming. Right now I’m just taking it one adventure at a time!

Why did you choose UVM?

I grew up in Barton and now live in Craftsbury. I’m a Vermonter through and through, and it’s a place that I care about deeply. I’m very excited that UVM offers such a strong Master of Public Health program. It’s great to connect with many professors, public health professionals, and students who also have strong ties to Vermont and our communities. These connections can help us all make a difference improving the health of our population

Alumni Advice: How Scott Switzer Found His Niche in the Tech Start-Up Scene

Scott Switzer ’92, co-founder and chief technology officer of Authenticated Digital, has made a name for himself in the competitive world of start-ups. We talked to the UVM College of Engineering and Mathematical Science alumnus about working in business and technology, starting companies from scratch, and finding success.

You have been involved as an advisor, investor, or co-founder of multiple start-ups. How has the landscape changed for start-ups over the past 16 years? Is it easier now, or less risky, or more competitive?

AlumniAdvice_newToday it is easier to build an initial product without the need for venture capital. It’s less expensive, there are better software libraries to start from as well as co-location spaces. In the past, scaling a server farm would cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, whereas cloud services today cost only hundreds of dollars.
That said, today the bar is much higher for a Series A level of investment, which is the first round of financing given to a new business once seed capital has already been provided. Not only do you need to show that your product is complete and there is some level of traction from your customers, but many investors are looking for revenue growth as well.

Authenticated Digital, which was featured in Adweek, authenticates 90 percent of digital ad impressions. When did a lightbulb go off in your head that there was a need for this kind of technology?

tech-start-upBrands often buy ads for one site, but due to misrepresentation of inventory, they end up paying for an appearance on another. Also, many ad impressions are generated by bots. My previous company, OpenX, is one of the largest ad exchanges today. During my experience building OpenX, I learned that the architecture of ad exchanges relies on information supplied by third parties rather than collecting information directly. This means that there is a significant opportunity for fraud to be introduced by these third parties.
My co-founder and I started researching this, and once we found a way to measure the advertising supply chain directly, we found plenty of inconsistencies with the information that advertisers use to buy advertising.

A start-up sounds great in concept, but there are many logistical and financial challenges to make a go of it. What are some of the realities of launching a start-up?

Starting a company is risky from a financial perspective. For months, founders of a company will build without salary, and when they do have the ability to pay themselves via financing or revenues, their salary is much lower than the market rate.
However, starting a company while you have little commitments—such as a wife, kids, or mortgage—is easier. Also, I have found that even with the companies that I started that did not turn out well, I learned far more than if I had played a narrower role at a larger company.

What do you think it takes to succeed running a start-up?

The most successful founders that I have worked with are able to pivot their thinking quickly and recognize when customers find a product valuable. They are also able to suspend disbelief for a while and visualize a future with their company no matter how bleak the current market looks for them.

What advice would you give someone thinking about working in technology?

Build side projects. I have found that side projects naturally gravitates you to the things that you are interested in, and will give you a level of experience in where more nuanced product ideas can be considered.

How did your experience at UVM help prepare you for your career?

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, but have been interested in computer science since graduating. The most important part of my education was learning to be organized, solve hard problems, and make hard choices to get a good outcome. I found the co-founders of my first company through a UVM friend. Everybody’s experiences are different, but I have found that the network UVM provides compliments the education in a great way.

What are the greatest rewards of your career?

Starting something from nothing, see it live on and grow beyond my involvement.

Did anyone ever give you advice along the way that has paid off?

My wife’s grandfather told me that some of the most important decisions that you make are the seemingly smallest day-to-day decisions. I have found that in both business life and personal life, contributing some extra effort in some of the smallest cases will come back to enrich your life in a great wa

Elliot Kennedy on Breaking Down the Barriers in LGBT Healthcare

Photo: Elliot Kennedy, left, with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell
AlumniAdvice_newElliot Kennedy JD, realized as an undergraduate that advocating for the LGBT community provided a sense of purpose and fulfillment. The 2009 alum—who helped guide and implement the availability of preferred names in the student information system at UVM—is now the Senior Advisor for LGBT health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
We talked to Elliot about LGBT health policy, building a network, and making a difference in the LGBT community.

After graduating from UVM, you went on to law school and earned your JD. Why were you drawn to LGBT law and healthcare policy?

One of the things I find most interesting about LGBT law and policy work is that people in this field often become experts across a broad range of issues as there are similar barriers to access and equity.
I focused on health policy and access to healthcare in part because of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, but also because of a personal interest in healthcare (which was fueled in part by my experiences as a transgender person trying to access care).

Research has shown a long history of anti-LGBT bias in healthcare despite increasing social acceptance. What kind of progress has been made in recent years regarding LGBT healthcare? Is the tide turning?

Yes, the tide is definitely turning. In the six and a half years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed (and thanks to many, many other actions that we have taken), we have made dramatic progress towards ensuring that LGBT people have access to non-discriminatory and culturally competent health care.
I won’t list everything here, but I think these past few years have really been a sea change towards better access and better care for LGBT people. Before the ACA, transgender people and people living with HIV/AIDS could be denied healthcare because of a pre-existing condition. Until the Department of Health and Human Services took action in 2010, LGBT people in hospitals were often not permitted to have their family members visit them, and their advance directives were not always honored.
The Department of Health and Human Services released final regulations this year making it clear that under the ACA, discrimination based on sex—including gender identity and sex stereotyping—is not permitted by entities covered under the law. We have also made it clear that transgender people have the same access to the sex-specific preventive services available under the ACA that all people do, regardless of their sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender recorded by their insurance plan or doctor.
As someone who still often encounters issues in the doctor’s office or with insurance companies, I know policy change, education, and outreach isn’t always immediately felt, and that can be frustrating and infuriating. But I think the groundwork has been laid now such that LGBT people should expect equality in healthcare and coverage.

What advice would you give someone thinking about working in LGBT policy or advocacy?

The community of people that I know doing this work is vibrant, energetic, extremely passionate, often personable, not always great at self-care, and utterly wonky. They are lawyers, social workers, psychologists, community organizers, researchers, and statisticians, among many others.
Some things to consider about this field:
  • Now is a great time to get involved. We make amazing progress every day, and it is incredibly rewarding work.
  • That also means that more and more people want training and education and want to learn about LGBT people. There amazing resources out there to help you become a better teacher and trainer. Even if you don’t want to do full-time LGBT work, getting better educated about how LGBT communities relate to your other area of interest is something that everyone can/should do.
  • Non-LGBT organizations do a ton a great LGBT work. Professional associations, law firms, community health centers, local/state/federal governments, think tanks, and countless others are places where you can be a full- or part-time LGBT advocate.
  • To work in LGBT policy or advocacy, you definitely do not have to work at a national LGBT advocacy organization (although you certainly can).
  • For LGBTQ individuals, it’s important to think about self-care and burnout. For non-LGBTQ individuals the same applies, but I think it’s also important to be thoughtful about how you will lift up LGBTQ people in your work.

How did your experience at UVM help prepare you for your career?

Helping advocate for and then implement the availability of preferred names and pronouns in the BANNER system at UVM taught me a lot about myself and the way that I like to work. I am extremely and unabashedly interested in navigating bureaucracy and figuring out how to get things done. Through that project, I also learned the importance of a good, in-the-weeds, diverse team, recognizing that you are going to get things wrong, and why getting things wrong shouldn’t stop you from making progress.

Did anyone ever give you advice along the way that has paid off?

Networking, which is awful, is just talking to interesting people about interesting things—which is less awful. Like job hunting, almost no one has the energy or resilience to do it 100 percent of the time, but it is essential. Every job or internship that I have had since leaving UVM was in part thanks to building a network.

What is one piece of advice you wish you had received along the way?

At least for me, grappling with finding jobs and building a career has always also involved sometimes questioning my decisions, not having the energy to meet new people, and generally wishing I could retreat to the woods and live in solitude. When I give myself time and space to refocus and reground, my outlook improves and so does my energy. I think that’s probably true for most people as we have natural cycles and nothing in nature blooms all year.
One piece of advice that I wish I had received sooner than I did is to be more forgiving of myself and others, and to take good care of my mental health in addition to my physical health. This is hard, and it’s OK to admit that it’s hard and take care of yourself as part of the proces