Lake Champlain Sea Grant Welcomes Four Incoming Sea Grant Scholars
Just before classes began at the University of Vermont, the Lake Champlain Sea Grant hosted an orientation for the 2024-2025 cohort of Sea Grant Scholars. This orientation introduced the scholars to the Lake Champlain Sea Grant staff and the work Lake Champlain Sea Grant does.
Noelle Hasan, Maeve Schanou, and Mikayla Schroeder from the Rubenstein School, and Jasmine Perez from the College of Arts and Sciences have all joined the Lake Champlain Sea Grant as 2024-25 Sea Grant Scholars. During the academic year, they will participate in professional development workshops, engage in informational interviews with professionals in fields of work in which they are interested, and work with Lake Champlain Sea Grant staff to identify their interests for a summer internship. LCSG works with partners in the Lake Champlain basin and beyond to match students with an internship experience that best fits them.
"I love how the Sea Grant Scholars Program is fighting to destigmatize the notion that to have a career in science means dawning the white coat and goggles and being in the lab,” explained Jasmine. “So often, careers in science are perceived as clear-cut, when in fact, science has expanded to become a beautiful intersection of disciplines. I am grateful for this opportunity to be a Sea Grant Scholar, and for Sea Grant's commitment to inclusivity."
The weekend kicked off on Thursday with a beach study to learn about microplastic pollution with LCSG Water Resources Education Specialist Aude Lochet followed by a paddle on the Ausable River in New York. Carolyn Koestner and Meghan Bargabos from the Ausable Freshwater Center (formerly the Ausable River Association) led a tour of the river with LCSG staff and the scholars. On Friday, the scholars went aboard the R/V Marcelle Melosira and learned about the LCSG Watershed Alliance program with the LCSG education team and Watershed Educators. That group then joined with other LCSG staff and faculty for lunch at the Burlington Community Sailing Center where last year’s scholars presented on their summer internship experiences. In the afternoon, Jill Sarazen, Sea Grant’s and VT DEC’s Green Infrastructure Collaborative Coordinator took them on a tour of Burlington Green Infrastructure projects.
On Saturday, the scholars did a science communications workshop in the morning with LCSG Communications Specialist Anna Marchessault and spent the afternoon e-biking to the causeway with Anna and Extension Leader Kris Stepenuck where they learned and taught LCSG’s Little Lake Lessons. The weekend culminated with informational interview preparations and a tour of Finn and Root, a local aquaponics farm on Sunday.
“Getting to explore the Lake Champlain basin and to see first-hand the type of work in which our Lake Champlain Sea Grant staff and partners are doing is often packed with new experiences for the Sea Grant Scholars,” said Kris Stepenuck. “It’s fun to introduce the Scholars to the work we do in an interactive way.”
Now that classes have commenced, the Sea Grant Scholars look forward to engaging with Sea Grant across campus and getting a jump on choosing their internship opportunities for the summer of 2025.
“I'm so glad to have the opportunity to be a Sea Grant Scholar,” shared Mikayla. “Meeting people here and experiencing first-hand the folks who work in watershed science has been a wonderful and rewarding experience."