Blackpoll Warbler, photo by @earnoodles on iNaturalist
Dear Friends of VCE,
Since our founding, Vermont Center for Ecostudies has intentionally stayed out of the political fray. The scientific community governs itself through peer review to ensure rigorous methods and reproducible results. While this process isn’t perfect, at VCE, we value research that stays the course for the benefit of society—no matter which party is helming the government.
However, these are not normal times for science or conservation. And many of you have asked how recent federal actions have affected VCE’s work.
VCE’s focus on “Uniting People and Science for Conservation” has proven a powerful, efficient, and inspirational approach for nearly two decades. While we never anticipated these circumstances, VCE was made for this moment. Like the Blackpoll Warblers who store energy and build strength in anticipation of their perilous trans-Atlantic southbound migration, we’ve built an organization ready, willing, and able to meet this challenge. We will continue to lead a strong, science-based defense of biodiversity.
In the short term, our projects have proceeded with little disruption. Fueled by diverse sources of funding, strong programs and an effective staff, VCE continues to innovate, stoke the curiosity of our community, and generate new and useful knowledge.
Executive Director Susan Hindinger
We are fortunate to receive the majority of our funding from generous private donors. If federal grants and contracts, which constitute less than 30% of our funding, disappear in 2026, our work will continue. We will, however, need to look to private funding sources such as individual donations and planned gifts, and foundation support, if we are to rise to the level of the challenges to biodiversity and to environmental science.
The administration’s proposed 2026 budget would eliminate funding for conservation and research work across many agencies, with impacts not only to VCE but to our partners as well. Our work on grassland birds, bird banding, pollinators, butterflies, vernal pools, and our international work all benefit from federal funding and our decades-long partnerships with several federal agencies.
You will read more in the coming weeks about our specific plans, as we develop them with the same care and thoughtfulness with which we approach all our work. We are not changing what we do, only digging deeper to advance our mission.
With our amazing network of volunteers, collaborators, and financial supporters, we will find opportunity amidst the setbacks. With your help, we will rely on—and in turn strengthen—our community. Together, we will find empowerment through common purpose, and gain strength and resolve from the nature that sustains us all.
Yours in conservation,
Susan Hindinger
Executive Director
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
