Curriculum Literature Review Team


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Rachel Schattman | Project Co-PI, Curriculum Literature Review Team, Vegetable and Small Fruit Team

Dr. Rachel E. Schattman is a Research Fellow with the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, and an Affiliate of the UVM Extension Vegetable and Berry Program. Her research focuses on climate change perceptions and how they influence on-farm management decisions, as well as water use efficiency in northeast vegetable systems. She completed her doctoral work in social science and agroecology at the University of Vermont in 2016, where she investigated farmer perspectives on climate change adaptation and risk management. She has been the leader on several USDA Climate Hub research and outreach projects, including a National survey with USDA field employees on their understanding of the risks associated with climate change. She has published on best practices for designing educational climate change curricula for adult learning audiences, drawing upon her history as an Extension specialist and researcher.

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V. Ernesto Méndez | Project Co-PI, Curriculum Literature Review Team

Dr. Méndez is the co-Director of the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative, and Professor of Agroecology & Environmental Studies in the Department of Plant and Soil Science and the Environmental Program, University of Vermont. His research and teaching efforts seek to develop and apply transdisciplinary approaches that analyze interactions among agriculture, people’s livelihoods, and environmental conservation in a diversity of settings. This work draws from the fields of agroecology, agrifood systems, political ecology and ecosystem services. He uses a Participatory Action Research approach (PAR) whenever possible, in an effort to transform research into actions that will benefit the smallholder farmers and organizations that we work with. He wasborn and raised in El Salvador, and has over 25 years of experience working with smallholder farmers and Indigenous communities in Mesoamerica, and collaborating in agroecology efforts in a wide diversity of regions.

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Marjorie Kaplan | Project Co-PI, Advisory Committee, Curriculum Literature Review Team

Dr. Marjorie Kaplan’s work has been at the nexus of environmental science, natural resources, and human and ecological health at the federal and state level, for a major utility, and two international consulting firms. At RutgersUniversity, she works across the University in developing and managing research, outreach and education on understanding the climate system and the impacts of a changing climate across the natural, social and policy sciences. She is Rutgers liaison to, and participates in the research of, the USDA Northeast Climate Hub. She co-facilitates and conducts analyses on behalf of the New Jersey Climate Change Alliance, a nonpartisan network of organizations that share the goal of advancing science-informed strategies to address climate change in New Jersey.She holds a Masters and Doctorate (with distinction) in Public Health from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resources from Cornell University.

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Hannah Aitken | Project Coordinator, Curriculum Literature Review Team

Hannah Aitken grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. She attended the University of Vermont in the Environmental Studies Department, where she completed a thesis on school gardens and local food systems in 2010. Hannah has worked for a variety of agricultural enterprises and non-profit organizations, including the Vermont Community Garden Network, the UVM Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative, Burnt Rock Farm, and Bella Farm (where she initiated and managed a work-place CSA program dedicated to serving employees of a local elder care facility.) Most recently, she completed a season of working in Antarctica as an employee of Polar Services S.A.

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Jennifer Helminski | Curriculum Literature Review Team

Jennifer Helminski is serving as a 2018-19 AmeriCorps NJDEP Watershed Ambassador after graduating magna cum laude with highest honors in Geography from Rutgers University in 2018. She wrote her honors thesis on Inuit women’s ongoing response to climate change pressures, which she is currently editing for journal publication. Bridging human and environmental needs continues to be an area of focus for her as she serves communities in a diverse and challenged urban watershed, and as she looks forward to graduate school and future work. Jennifer hopes to continue enriching our views of climate change impacts and responses, emphasizing the roles of community engagement, sovereignty, and cultural empowerment as necessary in resisting climate change stressors.

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Shaurya Mall | Curriculum Literature Review Team

Shaurya Mall is an Urban Designer and Transportation Planning professional who is passionate about creating climate resilient, walkable and transit friendly communities. As a Research Intern at the Rutgers Climate Institute she contributed to the inventory and review of curricula for teaching climate change science and adaptation approaches to extension professionals. Ms. Mall holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University, and a Bachelor of Planning from CEPT University. Her undergraduate thesis on ‘Assessing the impacts of climate change on agriculture through farmers adaptation and perception’ won the Best Thesis Award from CEPT University.

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Alissa White | Curriculum Literature Review Team

Alissa White is a researcher and PhD student in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont. Alissa works closely with extension and applied research projects to engage farmers in research on climate resilience and ecosystem services in Vermont and the northeastern US.  Her research integrates social, economic and ecological data, and highlights the role of peer learning in supporting innovation and adaptation in agricultural communities. Alissa brings fifteen years of experience working on program development, grassroots fundraising, education and horticulture to her research work for UVM.