Past Events

Bring your snagged jackets! Bring your holey hats! Bring your tents with broken zippers! 

MMC, Outdoor Programs, Climate Action Program, and Innovation Hub are delighted to bring Maine GearShare to campus. They’ll be offering free gear repair from 12-5 on Oct 24! Drop off gear in need of repair, then connect with student orgs about how to get outside. 

Find us on the lawn in between Gifford and the Middlebury Chapel.

Have a rip that needs fixing? A zipper that doesn’t work anymore? Want to learn how to fix it yourself? Join Maine Gear Share, Sustainability and Environmental Affairs, Outdoor Programs, and Innovation Hub for a hands-on workshop to learn how to repair your gear. 

Pizza and a discussion of the Maine Gear Share model will follow at 6pm.

Details and RSVP to come!

Interested in sustainability and climate action on campus but not sure where to begin? All are welcome to drop by the EcoReps Community Circles, a space to meet new people, discover new opportunities, and connect with one another!

A different craft or activity that you can take home will be offered each circle as an easy way to connect and keep our hands busy. Bring your friends or come and meet new ones, we hope to see you there!

This two part series will provide a space to discuss and reflect on money, class, and privilege with facilitators Susanna Penfield and Matsuno and author of The Financial Activist Playbook Jasmine Rashid. Through guided exercises and conversations participants will have the chance to unpack their personal money stories and participate in group discussions on the power of social action and the possibilities of money to act as a driver for collective liberation. 

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

This two part series will provide a space to discuss and reflect on money, class, and privilege with facilitators Susanna Penfield and Matsuno and author of The Financial Activist Playbook Jasmine Rashid. Through guided exercises and conversations participants will have the chance to unpack their personal money stories and participate in group discussions on the power of social action and the possibilities of money to act as a driver for collective liberation. 

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

Environmental Studies Core Conversations: Time
Daniel Brayton, Julian W. Abernethy Professor of Literature and member of the Environmental Studies Program
Joseph Holler, Associate Professor of Geography
Christopher Klyza, Stafford Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies
Monica Przyperhart, Visiting Laboratory Instructor in Environmental Studies

Join Tim Profeta, JD, executive in residence at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability while he explores his career trajectory from counsel for the environment to Sen. Joseph Lieberman as a principal architect of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act of 2003 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

Interested in sustainability and climate action on campus but not sure where to begin? All are welcome to drop by the EcoReps Community Circles, a space to meet new people, discover new opportunities, and connect with one another!

A different craft or activity that you can take home will be offered each circle as an easy way to connect and keep our hands busy. Bring your friends or come and meet new ones, we hope to see you there!

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

Meet at the front porch of Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest to join the popular Fall Family Weekend Campus Tree Tour led by passionate Middlebury horticulturalist and tree expert Tim Parsons. Learn fun facts and hear stories about various trees around campus. Tim will also explain how he manages our rural Vermont campus as an urban forest.

Check out Tim Parson’s blog, The Middlebury Landscape, and/or follow Tim on Instagram.

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden this Fall Family Weekend!

No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information.

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden this Fall Family Weekend!

No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information.

This practice-based activity is open to anyone on campus, but especially those interested in thinking about ecology beyond traditional Western disciplinary lenses. We will use drawings and sound to consider the boundaries between more-than-human nature and embodied experience that Gloria Anzaldúa set out in her mediations, which proposed a feminist approach to the spaces and places at the U.S-Mexico border.

“Forest Recovery from Human Land-Use: Implications for Streams and Carbon Storage” a Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk by Stephen Peters-Collaer, PhD student in forest ecology in the Carbon Dynamics Lab at the University of Vermont.

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

Interested in sustainability and climate action on campus but not sure where to begin? All are welcome to drop by the EcoReps Community Circles, a space to meet new people, discover new opportunities, and connect with one another!

A different craft or activity that you can take home will be offered each circle as an easy way to connect and keep our hands busy. Bring your friends or come and meet new ones, we hope to see you there!

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

The Addison County Clean Energy Community is hosting Sun Day to celebrate the power of clean energy to save money, live healthier lives, and to confront the climate crisis by eliminating fossil fuels. Join us for a kid friendly afternoon of live music, food trucks, an electric vehicle petting zoo, art projects, face painting, advice on how to make the switch to clean energy, an opportunity to learn how to get involved in our local efforts, and more.

The 2025 Northeastern Old Growth Conference: Wildlands and Old-Growth Forests, co-hosted by Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, will be held September 17–20, 2025, at Middlebury’s scenic Bread Loaf Campus in Ripton, Vermont. Scientists, conservationists, policymakers, health professionals, writers, and artists will gather to share knowledge and inspire a future with more wildlands and old-growth forests in the Northeast. This year’s themes include The Future of Old Growth, Healthy Forests, Healthy People, and Old Growth Ecology.

The 2025 Northeastern Old Growth Conference: Wildlands and Old-Growth Forests, co-hosted by Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, will be held September 17–20, 2025, at Middlebury’s scenic Bread Loaf Campus in Ripton, Vermont. Scientists, conservationists, policymakers, health professionals, writers, and artists will gather to share knowledge and inspire a future with more wildlands and old-growth forests in the Northeast. This year’s themes include The Future of Old Growth, Healthy Forests, Healthy People, and Old Growth Ecology.

“AI and Climate: Superpowers for Good or Drivers of Destruction?” a Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk by Tim Profeta, Professor of the Practice, Middlebury College, and Senior Fellow, Duke Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability and Vee Syengo ‘25.5, Computer Science and English double major at Middlebury College.

The 2025 Northeastern Old Growth Conference: Wildlands and Old-Growth Forests, co-hosted by Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, will be held September 17–20, 2025, at Middlebury’s scenic Bread Loaf Campus in Ripton, Vermont. Scientists, conservationists, policymakers, health professionals, writers, and artists will gather to share knowledge and inspire a future with more wildlands and old-growth forests in the Northeast. This year’s themes include The Future of Old Growth, Healthy Forests, Healthy People, and Old Growth Ecology.

The 2025 Northeastern Old Growth Conference: Wildlands and Old-Growth Forests, co-hosted by Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, will be held September 17–20, 2025, at Middlebury’s scenic Bread Loaf Campus in Ripton, Vermont. Scientists, conservationists, policymakers, health professionals, writers, and artists will gather to share knowledge and inspire a future with more wildlands and old-growth forests in the Northeast. This year’s themes include The Future of Old Growth, Healthy Forests, Healthy People, and Old Growth Ecology.

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

Join Sustainability & Environmental Affairs (SEA) for our second annual Welcome Back Fall Social & Poster Session! SEA Summer Interns from Sustainability Solutions Lab (SSL), The Knoll, Climate Action Fellowship (CAF), and New Perennials will display their array of work in a poster session, and we invite you to come chat with them, explore their projects, meet the SEA staff, hear about our programs, and learn more about sustainability & climate action at Middlebury! All are welcome, refreshments will be provided.

For 23 years the Knoll has been powered by students and the Middlebury community. Come join us in the garden! No experience required; please check out go/knollhours for more information

Think you can tell the difference between real organic and fauxganic blueberries? Join us for a free blind taste test of soil-grown, organic blueberries vs. hydroponic counterfeits. Cast your vote, learn the truth, and tase some delicious berries!

In this Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk students currently enrolled in ENVS 0401 B Community-Engaged Environmental Studies Practicum with present work from their semester long community-engaged projects.

In this Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk students currently enrolled in ENVS 0401 A Community-Engaged Environmental Studies Practicum with present work from their semester long community-engaged projects.

Join us for a conversation with Brian Donahue, scholar, farmer, forester, and author of the new book Slow Wood: Green Building from Local Forests, published by Yale University Press. 

How are governmental negotiations at UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties (COPs) shaped by generational gaps and questions about intersectionality? Former climate negotiator for the government of Mexico, Ivonne Maricarmen Serna ‘23, will speak about her experiences at UNFCCC COP-29 to the Middlebury community and broader public.

“How to Love a Forest” a Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk by Ethan Tapper, Forester, Author of “How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World.”

Environmental Studies Program Spring Social

Come meet fellow ES majors, minors, and faculty. Learn more about the major and opportunities in the program and get any questions answered prior to fall registration. Prospective majors and minors are also encouraged to attend.

A variety of snacks and treats will be provided.

“Tell Me What You Think – Three Thousand Acres in the Champlain Valley: Middlebury College Lands Planning” a Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk by Marc Lapin, College Lands Conservationist and Associate Laboratory Professor in Environmental Studies.

Join us for an interactive workshop sponsored by Conflict Transformation and the Climate Action Program on Nonviolent Direct Action with Dr Emily Welty and Dr Matthew Bolton on April 8th from 2:30pm - 4:30pm. The workshop will include specific case studies and explore how to name a strategic demand, how to identify the opponent/decision maker and their needs, how to think carefully about tactics and what the ethical challenges are in building grassroots campaigns. If interested, please RSVP by April 4.

Emily Welty and Matthew Breay Bolton are members of a Nobel Prize-winner campaign to abolish nuclear weapons and 2024 Middlebury honorary degree recipients. At the beginning of their week-long residency, join a talk and discussion to learn about their work in Peace and Conflict Studies, disarmament, playwrighting, and activism.

You can watch the livesteam here.

Ancilleno Davis is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at the University of the Bahamas and Faculty Programs Coordinator of UB North Field Station. He grew up on New Providence Island in The Bahamas and has visited more than 13 countries and territories to deliver scientific talks or presentations on ecology and conservation.

Ancilleno Davis, Michelle LeFebvre, and Alexis Mychajliw in conversation

Ancilleno Davis is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at the University of the Bahamas and Faculty Programs Coordinator of UB North Field Station. He grew up on New Providence Island in The Bahamas and has visited more than 13 countries and territories to deliver scientific talks or presentations on ecology and conservation.

White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare lives near Lake Champlain in unceded Abenaki territory (also known as Vermont) where he writes and proudly claims a penchant for rabble-rousing. He has written two books of essays, the award-winning Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure and Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation, and a collection of poetry, The Marrow’s Telling: Words in Motion.

Join us for a workshop with renowned writer, activist, storyteller, and poet Eli Clare to explore the ways in which we can share, model, and foster inclusive spaces, gatherings, and communities.

RSVP here

Co-sponsored by Climate Action Program, Sustainability and Environmental Affairs, Disability Resource Center, Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Join us for an information session about the Climate Action Fellowship! You can find out more about the fellowship here.

Terry Kellogg ’94, P ‘24, ‘27 will return to campus for a conversation, moderated by Maeve Nolan ’25 (Economics major) and Santiago G. Canella ’25 (History major), about the pitfalls and opportunities of sustainable innovation. Terry is the Founder and Managing Director of https://helioscv.com/.

Environmental Studies Core Conversations: Success and Failure

Dan Brayton, Professor of Environmental Studies and Julian W. Abernathy Professor of Literature
Molly Costanza-Robinson, Professor of Environmental Studies and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Jeff Howarth, Associate Professor of Geography
Dan Suarez, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and C.V. Starr Fellow in International Studies

Middlebury alums Lauren Markham and Chris Knapp will read from their recent work and take questions. 

Join us for a crucial discussion on the evolving political landscape and its impacts on climate research, scientific data, citizens, education, environmental justice and beyond. As government priorities shift, what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for scholars, practitioners, and advocates? Let’s strategize, share insights, and explore ways to safeguard critical research and inclusive policies in these uncertain times.

All are welcome—bring your questions, concerns, and ideas!

Food will be provided.