Program Coordinator Elissa Schuett Moves on to Watershed Consulting Associates

Elissa Schuett served for nearly seven years as the program manager for Lake Champlain Sea Grant and the Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center in the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. She will transition from the School at the end of March 2019 to start her new role as communications and operations manager at Watershed Consulting Associates in Burlington. 

Before joining the staff of the Rubenstein School, Elissa’s background in biology and stream ecology took her to sites throughout the country where she conducted field and laboratory research. After receiving her master’s degree in applied ecology and conservation biology from Frostburg State University in 2007, she began working as a research assistant at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She led stream projects at the Toolik Field Station in Alaska as part of the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project with principal investigators Dr. Bruce Peterson and Dr. William “Breck” Bowden. 

In 2011, Elissa joined the Rubenstein School where she continued to work for Breck on the Arctic LTER Project as a technician at the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory on the Lake Champlain waterfront. In subsequent years, Elissa’s role evolved into research administration for programs directed by Breck. Although her primary responsibility was for Sea Grant and the Water Center, she also managed research awards for the Northeastern States Research Cooperative Theme 1. 

Elissa’s interests soon turned to science communications for Lake Champlain Sea Grant. She helped to create and led content production for ecoNews VT, an outlet for science translation to the public about ecological research and monitoring being conducted across the state. 

“Sea Grant is a fantastic organization, and I have enjoyed being part of it and helping to bring science to the community,” said Elissa, who recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Public Health from the UVM Larner College of Medicine. “I am excited to expand on that role in the world of water in my new position.” 

She is also happy to continue bike commuting to work on the Burlington bike path from her home in the city’s New North End where she enjoys baking and outdoor activities with her husband Chris and their two young children Laurel and Gram.