Our trainings are in-depth, collaborative online courses. The two courses teach the science behind conservation planning along with leadership theory designed to help you grow in your capacity and effectiveness as an environmental leader in your community. These courses are primarily designed for Vermonters engaged at the municipal level as members of conservation commissions or planning commissions, and for those working as conservation volunteers. However, they are open to anyone with an active interest in growing their knowledge and taking a more active role in local environmental leadership in the future. Participants must attend all three sessions as well as complete additional brief online coursework.
Environmental Leadership Training
Unit 1: From Science to Planning
This training will introduce participants to important scientific concepts involved in planning for natural resources and focus on skills leaders need to operate effectively. Participants will explore the full suite of issues at play in natural resources planning, from forests and wildlife to floodplains and climate change. Presentations on context, ecological scale, and planning for whole Communities are interspersed with interactive hands-on activities that make this an intensive and exciting training.
Instructors:
- Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department
- Joanne Garton, Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Urban & Community Forestry Program of the VT | Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
Note: This is a 3-session training course. You must sign up for all three sessions if you wish to take this class and receive the certificate.
- Session 1: Tuesday, October 8th, 2024, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- Session 2: Tuesday, October 15th, 2024, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- Session 3: Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
To register, contact Jens.Hilke@vermont.gov
Environmental Leadership Training
Unit 2: From Planning to Action
This training will help you choose locally appropriate land use planning strategies for conserving natural resources and explore how leaders can best work with groups to move ideas forward in a municipal context. It uses case studies and exercises to show how taking action can work in real life. The overall goal is to build an understanding of what you can do, how to work with different people in your community, how to choose strategies to protect natural resources, and how to make it all happen. Completion of Unit 1 is a pre-requisite for this training (or permission from instructors).
Instructors:
- Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department
- Joanne Garton, Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Urban & Community Forestry Program of the VT | Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
Note: This is a 3-session training course. You must sign up for all three sessions if you wish to take this class and receive the certificate.
- Session 1: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- Session 2: Tuesday, December 10th, 2024, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
- Session 3: Tuesday, December 17th, 2024, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
To register, contact Jens.Hilke@vermont.gov
About Our Staff
Jens Hilke is a Conservation Planning Biologist at Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. He leads the Community Wildlife Program, which provides technical assistance to Vermont municipalities on land use planning. He helps towns, regional planning commissions and non-governmental organizations with their conservation planning efforts. This includes help with GIS natural resource mapping, advice on prioritizing significant natural features and help with implementing town conservation goals. Jens completed his undergraduate work at Connecticut College in Environmental Sociology and then got a Masters in Botany from the University of Vermont as a Field Naturalist. Jens has taught high school science in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey and for a study-away program in Thailand, Southeast Asia.
Contact Jens at Jens.Hilke@Vermont.gov
Joanne Garton joined the Urban & Community Forestry Program (UCF) of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation in 2017 as the project coordinator for the rural roads portion of the burgeoning Resilient Right-of-Ways project, a state-led initiative focused on assisting municipalities with smart and forward-thinking vegetation management along their roads. Now serving all of the technical needs of communities statewide working with trees in public ways and places, Joanne continues the robust data collection, writing, outreach, and information sharing that the UCF program delivers. Joanne holds a B.Scs. in geology and architecture from McGill University and is a 2015 graduate of the Field Naturalist and Ecological Planning M.Sc. program at the University of Vermont.