At the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, we believe in the power of community science to inspire and guide biodiversity conservation. There’s something about sharing in the joy of discovery and working together to protect what we love that lightens the weight of environmental challenges. Time and again, our conservation scientists have harnessed your curiosity and support to produce practical conservation tools. And the tools keep getting better!
Since the 1970s, they’ve evolved:
- from management recommendations for declining species to statewide recovery plans;
- from wildlife distribution models to permanently protected conservation areas;
- from narrowly targeted technical reports to science coaching for teachers and legislators;
- from local and short-term collaborations to decades-long international partnerships; and
- from hardbound bird atlases to a free online portal to maps, photographs, checklists, and real-time biodiversity data spanning all living taxa.
These are just a few examples of the tools sought out by public and private land stewards and backed by peer-reviewed science.
Buoyed by the success of our cooperative, evidence-based approach, we set out in 2018 to dramatically increase VCE’s capacity and conservation impact. Our guide on this path has been a strategic plan that motivates us to:
- invest in pioneering science;
- collaborate for conservation outcomes; and
- broaden our vision for community science.
This is ambitious and never-ending work, and we’re grateful to be carrying it out with you.
Thank you for contributing your ideas, observations, and hard-earned dollars. Thank you for your questions, advice, and stories from the field. And thank you for joining us in the hopeful inquiry and eye-opening discovery that make it possible to sustain that which sustains us.
When it comes to conserving biodiversity, it’s great to know that we’re all in.
Learn more about our collective achievements and continuing work by following the links above.
Check out more than 30 peer-reviewed articles published by VCE authors in scientific journals since 2018.
Register for a Zoom conversation with a VCE scientist and Executive Director Susan Hindinger about ongoing projects.
Go all in with us by joining a community science project or making a tax-deductible donation.
NEXT: Discover how VCE is investing in pioneering science.
