About VCE
The Vermont Center for Ecostudies is a biodiversity and conservation science organization based in White River Junction. We advance wildlife conservation across the Americas through research, monitoring, and community engagement. We envision a society that sustains healthy ecosystems through science-based decision making.
What Sets Us Apart
Experience
VCE scientists have decades of experience producing tangible results with meaningful conservation impact. Our founders have mentored three generations of conservation scientists, some of them now working as vital members of our team.
Scientific Integrity
Objective and rigorous conservation science is VCE’s top priority and the foundation for all our other work. Check out our biologists’ many peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Outreach
Our scientists are gifted speakers, writers, and photographers. From workshops and educational articles for the public, to reports for policy makers, and consultations with landowners, we share our knowledge to help everyone conserve wildlife.
Community
With VCE, you can take part in conservation science and experience the work you help to support. Join us at a field site or participate as a community scientist on a range of projects for which curiosity is the main qualification.
Action
We provide unbiased data to help policy makers protect habitats and wildlife. Here are some examples of successful science-to-policy action:
- When our biologists were the first to discover toxic mercury moving through the food web, VCE gave policymakers the science they needed to reduce mercury pollution.
- When federal and international wildlife leaders needed new ideas to protect grassland birds, they turned to us to develop strategies that work from Canada to South America.
- When VCE staff and community scientists discovered that bumble bees were vanishing from Vermont, we used science to support their protection under state law.
- And when conservationists from Virginia to Nova Scotia wanted to locate and protect vernal pools, they turned to us for leadership on a coordinated mapping initiative.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies know that biological communities and organizations are strongest and most resilient when they are most diverse. As an organization that aims to “unite people and science for conservation,” we recognize that to truly advance that goal we must create a culture that celebrates diversity, fosters inclusivity, and values dissenting opinions and rigorous examination within our own community. We are committed to action that creates and sustains meaningful change, both within our organization and our broader sphere of influence.
