PAEP Reflection: Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences

Anthony Jannetti

The Vermont Institute for Natural Sciences (VINS)

For our group’s PAEP project, we chose to visit the Vermont Institute for Natural Sciences, which is a non-profit organization that proactively affects positive eco-conscious lifestyles educates people on the natural environment and their place in it. VINS is also a raptor sanctuary and rehabilitation center, and does presentations with their resident birds of prey, to raise awareness and to raise money to ensure the sustainability of the institute.

            VINS focuses on wildlife research and education to teach communities how to value, and to be of value to, their natural world. Since 1972, the 47-acre wildlife reserve has been home to countless raptors, and through informing and training communities, they seek to address how the, “beauty, function and critical importance of regional ecosystems and how our personal decisions can have a positive impact on their health and sustainability” (VINS).

            Many raptors are admitted to the institutes rehabilitation program, and VINS is responsible for determining the severity of animals’ injuries, and whether or not they can be reintroduced into the wild. VINS also acts as a professional information outlet for those private and public entities that seek out environmental education. Inclusive of which are educational services such as: Environmental Learning for the Future Program, Naturalist-in-Residence Program, and specialized VINS field trips. Since educational outlets are usually geared towards youth, VINS seeks to educate youths early on, so they might be informants and advocates to others in the future for environmental causes. VINS trainers and handlers deal with this directly through programs such as: Raptors Up Close, and Bird ER. These programs educated youths on wildlife ecosystems, food chains, and the equality of all living things.

            VINS is mainly a sanctuary and institute focused on proactively affecting positive environmental and wildlife developments through education. Therefore, many of the policies that directly affect the wildlife VINS works with is through the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. Policies such as: the Community Wildlife Program (CWP), which “provides assistance and resources for professional and lay planners in Vermont” (VFWD), and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). “WHIP is a voluntary federal program that helps landowners interested in creating and enhancing high quality wildlife habitat on their property” (VFWD). VINS is a benefactor of the CWP, but also an advocate to their audience for the WHIP program, which promotes agricultural and environmental therapy for privately owned land, with federal government financial aid and technical assistance for those who would otherwise not know what to do.

            VINS exemplifies efficacious environmental policies, to promote the cultivation of a societal world which values the environmental, not because of what there is to be gained from it, but rather how we can conduct ourselves in a way with which we will be beneficial to the environment; bridging and bonding the lives of societal individuals to the natural world, and demonstrating to these individuals the interconnectivity of all living things. VINS approaches ethics in a way that instills values and environmental outlook that enables individuals to conduct them efficaciously, transcending societal ethics, a.k.a. laws and regulations.

            This project was a success, but there were moments of confusion. It was great, because it allowed me to work with a group of students, from various majors, that I normally wouldn’t have a chance to work with. This interdisciplinary approach was very effective, when evaluating VINS, but as is the nature of projects such as these, the ambiguous and case specific nature of the assignment challenged us to gather information and make inferences about policies and ethical frameworks that were not explicitly depicted in both our site visit, and through the institutions publications. I’m not normally a group project person, but even with its challenges, my group was able to do our work independently and come together to create something with substance and effect. I would say that overall I think we did a fine job, on a really interesting project. I would recommend this course to any and all Champlain College students.

WORKS CITED

 "Vermont Fish & Wildlife." Vermont Fish & Wildlife. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

"Vermont Institute of Natural Science." Vermont Institute of Natural Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.