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A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT’S MPA PROGRAM SPRING 2012

MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Preparing Innovative

Leaders for the Public Sector

UVM MPA ProgrAM reAches globAlcorners: The InTernATIonAl edITIon

MPA News . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

On Internships . . . . . . . . . .3

Student Update . . . . . . . . .4

Faculty Profile . . . . . . . . . .6

Student Perspective . . . . .7

INSIDE Vol. 6, No. 1

Dear ReaderLetter from MPA Director Chris Koliba

Jonathan Williams MPA ‘12

INTERNSHIP UPDATE Jonathan Maddison ‘11

Laura Frey discusses how her internship helped a local camp

Asim Zia’s work reaches corners of the world and Vermont

Beyond The Green

www.uvm.edu/mpaMaster of Public Administration103 Morrill HallBurlington, VT 05405mpa@uvm .edu | 802 .656 .0009

Many of those enrolled in UVM’s MPA program are local practitioners looking to gain valu-

able insights and skills to enhance their value in the workplace here in Vermont. But, for one student, the case is almost entirely the opposite. Rocco DeVito, MPA ’12, is a returned Peace Corps (PC) volunteer who sought out skills that will help him on the international, rather than the Vermont, front. “I wanted to come to the MPA program so that I could learn how to manage projects, learn about govern-ment and nonprofit management, and how administration in the states could be applied in the international field with aid programs. Peace Corps gave me the opportunity to see aid agen-cies, and NGOs from the outside. Peace Corps also teaches you to be critical of what we do as volunteers so that we can improve the program. The ability to see programs from the outside let me see what worked and what didn’t. I wanted to learn how to cultivate sustainable, effec-tive programs and the MPA program helped do just that.” Rocco’s PC volunteer experience started him in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania as an environmental educator, where he lived in a 500-person village where he was the only PC volunteer to the local Wolof language--in eight weeks. His experience helping to educate women in the local women’s farming co-op proved to be a valuable turn for Rocco, “I worked the communal fields with them, brought my host mom to a fruit tree training series, and had my own garden. It was a great experience and really steered me toward agriculture.” Rocco ultimately became the training logistics coordinator for Maruitania and piqued his interest in administration and management, and thus the MPA program. After ten months in rural Liberia teaching biology to up to 115 high school students at a time, as well as helping the town start a library at the high school, he came back stateside and enrolled in the MPA program, yet he didn’t settle in for very long before finding international work. Between his MPA semesters, Rocco went to Ethiopia last summer to develop survey and interview methodologies to study USAID’s $251 million Joint Emergency Operations Plan, which provides emergency food aid to over one million beneficiaries going through short term food shocks. “I was able to use my MPA skills to map out local food aid bureaucracy and give USAID some help in identifying what areas they could gain influence. It was a great op-portunity to apply what I learned in Peace Corps and at UVM to a real world situation. It was also great because USAID gave us a lot of leeway to make this project our own and they really liked the result.” As Rocco transition from the MPA program--he graduates in May--he is continuing to marry his MPA experience with his desire to work internationally. “My major interests are in land use in developing countries, especially Africa. My passions lie around land use: agricul-ture and conservation. You can’t ask people to choose between protecting their environment (which most want to do) and feeding their families. My goal is to work and make sure that isn’t a choice that needs to be made, every community should have the abilities and tools to do both. “Cultures were always interesting to me and that is the biggest draw for me now. There is so much more to be learned from working with communities than in classrooms,” something that the MPA program values greatly: applied work of grounded theoretical practice.

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Letter from the Director

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the winter 2012 edition of Beyond the Green. This issue fo-cuses on the international scope of the UVM-MPA Program. On these pages you will read about the in-ternational internships our students have undertaken, as well as the in-ternational interests of Professor Asim Zia. When the MPA Program moved to the Community Develop-ment & Applied Economics (CDAE) Department almost ten years ago, it was clear to all of us that we had an opportunity to build synergies with the range of international partner-ships that already existed in CDAE. Several years ago we developed the Peace Corps Fellows Program that continues to bring us bright, talented and committed students. The MPA Program’s reach and interests are truly global.

In other MPA news, we are busy pre-paring for a visit from the National Society of Schools of Public Af-fairs and Administration (NASPAA) accreditation team. They will be spending three days with us, March 21 to 23, speaking with all of our constituencies and learning more about our program. One way or another, we hope to bring the program into the ranks of our nationally accredited peers in the near future. This feat would complement the top 100 ranking the program recently received from the US News and World Report. (This is 100 out of 320 programs nationally).

In other news I’m pleased to announce the creation of the UVM-MPA Advisory Board. A group of program alumni have worked to draft and pass board guidelines and have begun to meet on a regular basis. Alice Christian ‘07, Rich Donahey ‘09, Matt Probasco ‘06 and Kath-erine Gleeson Forman ‘10 have all stepped in to take on leadership roles. The board will advise the program faculty and work on ways to deepening alumni support of the program and its students. Look for more information coming from the board in the months to come.

Another major addition to the program is the development of a culminating Capstone experience for all students. I’m working with a small group of current students on piloting this. The Capstone involves students’ developing their own learning portfolios, team service-learning projects, written case studies, and a public event.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions, comments and ideas.Sincerely,Chris Koliba, Ph.D. MPA Program Director

CHRIS KOLIBA, DIRECTOR

OUR MISSION

MPA News

As part of my UVM MPA experience, I had the unique op-portunity to intern at the Pontifical Catholic University

of Peru (PUCP), where I worked closely with the manager of international collaborations, Economist Rossana Rivas. The internship experience allowed me to connect with a diverse and vibrant group of public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders, both in Peru and around the world. Along with researchers and administrators at UVM and PUCP, I worked with the Peruvian Social Security Agency, the Ministry of Health, the Pan Ameri-can Health and Education Foundation, and hospital architects from the US, Argentina, and Peru, among countless others. The internship gave me first-hand experience in the field of international project development and administration. I was able to build on the knowledge that I gained in the MPA program to engage on a higher level than I could have imagined with such a diverse group of stakeholders. Of particular value in my internship was my prior learning about governance net-works and network administration. I was able to see the theory play out in real terms, which made the results of classroom learning much more tangible. As one would expect from an internship of such magnitude, I had unforgettable experienc-es and confronted both personal and professional challenges. I lived with a host family, which gave me the opportunity for cross-cultural exchange and allowed me to improve my Spanish consider-ably. A highlight of the internship was traveling to the small town of Huancarani in the highlands of Cusco to help assess the potential site of a research project being developed at the local health center. The journey was a two hour long minibus ride on an unpaved road carved into the side of the Andes. While in Huancarani, we stayed in the mamawasi, or ‘waiting house,’ where pregnant women from even more remote areas would stay prior to giving birth in order to have access to the health center for delivery. Touring the facilities at the health center and speaking with employees and residents gave me a true appreciation for the seemingly impossible achievements Interning at PUCP allowed me to explore the dynamic nature of this region, while compel-ling me to apply the theoretical and practical learning from the MPA program to the real issues fac-ing the country. I am confident that the experience provided me with skills that will serve me well in my professional career.

nIck ArchdeAcon blends InTernshIP exPerIence

WITh InTernATIonAl Work In PerU

Laura B . Frey, MPA Class of 2012, on Internships

Nick Archdeacon in Huancarani

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chrIs kolIbA And AsIM ZIA PArT of $20 MIllIon nsf grAnTsocIAl scIenTIsTs helP Model goVernAnce neTWorks for ecologIcAl solUTIons

Phosphorous—one of the three main nutrients of healthy plant growth, and therefore farming—has be-come one of Lake Champlain’s greatest nuisances. A state so defined by its agrarian landscape, Vermont

(and New York, whose borders share the other half of Lake Champlain) is battling high phosphorous levels in Lake Champlain—a problem that leads to unsafe algal blooms and changes in native fish and marine plant populations. CDAE Associate Professor Chris Koliba and Assistant Professor Asim Zia are part of a $20 mil-lion grant from the National Science Foundation that seeks to address the growing problem of Phosphorous in Lake Champlain. Dr. Koliba is one of the three “science leaders” of the project. “It is unique for social scientists to be integrated early on in a project of this nature, rather than as a later- or as an afterthough. It’s a truly transdisciplinary approach to a problem that requires a transdisciplinary solution.” The current approach to the issue is to educate and incentivize farmers to reduce the phosphorous runoff from their soils. Still, over half of the phosphorous running into the lake is from farms. The “educate and incentivize” approach really isn’t working. So, Zia and Koliba are developing agent-based models (models that incorporate the actions and interactions of autonomous agents like individuals or organizations) for watershed governance networks (from the national to the local and individual) and then feeding the models’ findings into the land use and hydrological models. Their model will be able to incorporate political will, which allows the model to explore scenarios of possible outcomes for different kinds of mitigation efforts. Koliba says “we will determine if the political will exists to tell households what to do on their land, and hope-fully this project can identify ways to mitigate the problem with the right governance design considerations.”

OUR MISSIONThe Master of Public Administration at the University of Vermont is a professional interdisciplinary degree that prepares pre and in-service leaders, managers and policy analysts by combining the theoretical and practical foundations of public administration focusing on the complexity of governance systems and the democratic, collaborative traditions that are a hallmark of Vermont communities.

ProgrAM UPdAtes

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Quite by accident, my internship stemmed from volunteering to help

organize a charity golf tournament to benefit the children of Camp Ta-Kum-Ta. Located in South Hero, Vermont, Camp Ta-Kum-Ta is a place where youths can go to reclaim a childhood that has been profoundly compromised by cancer. The Camp is independent and self-sustaining, financed completely through private donations and fund raising efforts. Admittedly, I had no experience fundraising, but at the time it struck me as a minor inconvenience. The ‘big picture’ held promise of seeing what organizational structures worked in a

nonprofit, leadership styles, and effective motivation techniques that encourage people to donate time and time again to Camp Ta-Kum-Ta. Every class I took in the Public Administration program armed me with valuable puzzle pieces of information and observations. Being involved as an intern in an organization and having the chance to fit these puzzle pieces together helped define a more comprehensive understanding of the larger picture. Working on the tournament ‘Tee Off fore Ta-Kum-Ta’ didn’t start as an internship for me—it became one after two years of being a volunteer. After those two years of largely figuring out things on my own, I wanted to formalize the relationship with Ted Kessler, the founder and director of the Camp, and shape it into a structured educational experience for the MPA program. Making that happen as part of my curriculum had an impact on the way that I planned to utilize an MPA degree in my professional future. I was captivated by the

cause, inspired by the tireless enthusiasm of my mentor, and intrigued by the longevity of the many volunteers of Camp Ta-Kum-Ta. It is an environment brimming with learning opportunities for a student. Make no mistake, an internship is in many ways about what we as students bring to the table. There is no syllabus, exams, or roll call. The educational ‘program’ is regimented generally by the student, and self-initiative is a fair gauge in the assessment of the educational experience. The chance to partner with groups within the community facilitates valuable professional contacts and the chance to apply classroom concepts in a real world environment. The wonderful thing about my internship is that I’ve made a personal commitment to continue Tee Off fore Ta-Kum-Ta for years to come. With over $30,000 donated to the children of Camp TKT to date, it is a personal and professional goal and achievement to see the tournament grow and improve each year.

Laura B . Frey, MPA Class of 2012, on Internships

LARUA B. FREY ‘12

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stUdeNt Profile

Jonathan Williams, MPA ’12, may be one of the few students who welcomes job and

internship postings via program email lists. It is, after all, how he landed an internship with Essex Junction that led him on a path to a position with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, where he is currently an associate for advocacy and information.

While serving the town of Essex Junction, do you feel that the MPA program—classes, experiences, professors—could be integrat-ed into your work?

Oh, absolutely. Again and again it came up that I’d learn something in class one day and the very next day, at Essex Junction, I’d have to apply it. It happened over and over again. Particularly with Professor Cate’s budgeting course, the program and performance budget-ing came up quite frequently.

As the MPA program honed my skills, the

Essex Junction internship was my opportunity to put them into practice. The internship was really a class in and of itself—like an applied lab component. And really all of my classes applied: Professor Koliba’s classes on net-working, as well as my nonprofit classes with Jane Van Buren, nonprofit governance, has really led into my work here at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT).

Let’s talk about your current position at the VLCT a little bit. How did the journey play out?

After working at Essex Junction for a little over a year, while at the

SPOTLIGHT ON: Jonathan Williams, MPA ‘122011-2012

MPA Faculty

dorIs Anderson (‘04)rIchArd cATe

JAson dUqUeTTe-hoffMAn JoshUA fArley

sTeVe kAPPel (‘03)chrIsToPher kolIbA

JAne kolodInsky

roberT lAWson

brIAn lee

glenn McrAe

Meg o’donnell

ThoMAs PATTerson

JAne VAn bUren

cUrT VenTrIss

MAUrA collIns VerslUys (‘08)cATherIne fInley WoodrUff (‘07)AsIM ZIA

Read more about these faculty members and practitioner lecturers at www .uvm .edu/mpa .

Jonathan Williams MPA ‘12 at work for the 2012 Legislative Priorities Bro-chure with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns

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MPA Program Makes Top 100 MPA Programs in the Country!

The MPA Program at the University of Vermont was ranked number 100 in the country by U.S. News this year. The scores are based on peer assessment surveys sent to the 269 programs listed by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NAS-PAA) and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Congratulations UVM MPA!

“There’s really a demand for munici-pal officials statewide. I think the MPA, the State of Vermont, and mu-nicipal governments can only benefit from what the program is doing in the future.”

Williams, Page 6

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AsIM ZIA’s lIfe And Work sPAn The globe

bUT keeP rooTs In VerMonTDr. Asim Zia’s body of work spans interna-tional borders but so does his personal his-tory. Born and raised in Pakistan, home to In-dus Valley, Zia’s grandparents migrated from India when Pakistan was created 65 years ago, and his family’s roots in the Valley run deep, “thousands of years,” notes Zia. He has held positions and studied in five countries on four continents, and his work has touched six of the earth’s seven continents as well.

Dr. Zia’s global path to policy analyst, social and natural systems modeling expert, and professor in Community Development and Applied Economics as well as the Master of Public Administration program started in an unlikely place “I studied mechanical engi-neering and philosophy—especially logic and artificial intelligence—at university before joining the Central Superior Services (CSS),” which is no small feat: only the top three-to-four percent of the citizens who take the CSS examination are selected to join the service.

“I started working in finance and economic affairs dealing with the bilateral developmen-tal assistance—initially responsible for the Asian Development Bank, then I moved to the Germany desk and finally worked with USAID and Australia’s AUSAID,” remem-bers Zia. “I also worked with the secretary for the economic division on the Aid-to-Paki-stan Consortium to coordinate which projects would be funded from bilateral and multilat-eral development in a given year.” And that was only his first five years out of college.

He received his M.A. in philosophy in 1996 and went on to study ecological economics—a discipline for which UVM houses many of the country’s leading ecological econo-

mists—at the Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg, Germany with Professor Malte Faber and his team. Zia’s work in interna-tional aid, economics, and finance led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Environ-mental Policy from 2000 to 2004 at Georgia Tech, where his dissertation work focused on decision modeling—something he still researches today.

His work on climate policy began during his post-doc tenure at the Institute for the Study of Society and Environment, part of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Zia was researching the intersection of climate change mitigation (How do we reduce carbon emissions?) and the international policy surrounding climate change and adaptation to climate change (How will developing countries like Pakistan and India and countries in Africa adapt to new climate events and norms?). “In 2005 I helped organize a four-day regional workshop in Islamabad, “Impact of Weather and Cli-mate on Society Affairs,” where people from Pakistan, India, Nepal, US, Norway, China came to understand how climate change and international policy might affect the people living in different regions around the world.”

Moving further west, Dr. Zia landed at San Jose State University and then shortly afterwards transitioned to UVM, where he has been a co-Principal Investigator on a four-year, six million dollar MacArthur Foundation Grant collaborating with other universities: University of Georgia – Athens, Arizona State University Global Institute of Sustainability, and other universities in Peru, Tanzania and Vietnam. “My role was to look at how the tradeoffs between biological

conservation and economic development are valued,” Zia explains. “In the latter part of this project I have been traveling to the dif-ferent countries to work with stakeholders on specific case studies. For example, in Peru, in a region close to the Peruvian-Bolivian-Brazilian border, the Brazilian government has offered the Peruvian government two mega-scale hydro powered dams, and in return, Brazil would purchase power from Peru. We are asking, though ‘what happens when you build roads and laying out electric-ity infrastructure in the middle of the Amazon where indigenous communities are living and basically fighting for their cultural survival?’ There’s a recipe for conflict there. So we try to go in and work with policymakers, experts, and indigenous peoples and figure out the tradeoffs between conservation and this pro-posed economic development.”

All the while that Asim is working with international collaborators, traveling to con-ferences around the world,

fAcUlty sPotlight

Asim Zia conducts a discussion with his PA 311 students regarding policy anaylsis and program evaluation. To-day’s discussion was about TARP fund allocation in the 2008 economic collapse.

Spring 2012 MPA CoursesPA 206 InTrodUcTIon To PUblIc AffAIrs

Catherine Finley-Woodruff ‘07

PA 302 orgAnIZATIonAl Theory & behAVIor - Thomas Patterson

PA 306 PolIcy sysTeMs

Curt Ventriss

PA 311 PolIcy AnAlysIs And PlAnnIng Asim Zia

PA 321 negoTIATIon And MedIATIon Doris Anderson ‘04 PA 323 nonProfIT AdMInIsTrATIon

Jane Van Buren

PA 395 InTergoVernMenTAl relATIons

Richard Cate

PA 395 MIcroeconoMIc PolIcIes for A JUsT And sUsTAInAble socIeTy Josh Farley

PA 395 cAPsTone ProJecT

Chris Koliba

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Zia, Page 7

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Williams (‘12) working with Vermont League of Cities and Towns

coMMUNity coNNectioN

same time taking classes, I saw an opening at the VLCT for an associate for advocacy and information position, which is coinci-dentally Trevor Lashua’s old position, an-other graduate of the MPA program in 2004. Having worked with Trevor, who is now the assistant town manager in Essex town, I contacted him and he recommended that I go for it, saying it was an important posi-tion and would lead me to learn much about local municipal governance in Vermont. I applied and I think my qualifications earned through my MPA classes as well as my work in Essex Junction, and the Peace Corps, too, led me to be offered the position.

You spent some time in the Peace Corps in Morocco. How did your that experi-ence lead you to UVM and the MPA program, and how does bringing an international experience like that back to the U.S. work with your career?

One of the primary reasons I am in the MPA program at UVM is due to the Peace Corps Fellows program. I also got to write my Peace Corps Capstone experience for six credits analyzing my Peace Corps experi-ence through the lens of the MPA program. Aside from the fact that I’ve always wanted

to live and work in Vermont, the Fellows program and the six-credit Capstone made integrating my reflections on the Peace Corps into my life in Vermont easy and beneficial.

As far as what I bring back, skill-wise, from the Peace Corps, I learned how to write grant applications while in Morocco, which helped both my time in Essex Junction and with the VLCT. I would say that practice helped my writing in general, which en-hances my time in the MPA program.

What I’m hearing from you throughout our conversation is that you’re working to gain skills—from the Peace Corps to the MPA program to Essex Junction to the VLCT—and then you are applying to jobs, and landing the position based on your skills and experiences, as well as a bit of MPA-program-networking. How does the MPA program fit?

I think the UVM MPA program is very well known among those who work in the field of local government in Vermont. A lot of really great municipal officials currently serving local governments statewide now are graduates of the program. I think the

respect that the MPA program really carries around is really well known, particularly in Chittenden County, but I know that Jason Duquette-Hoffman and Dr. Koliba are ar-ranging internships statewide and really put-ting an emphasis on fostering these burgeon-ing relationships.

There’s really a demand for municipal of-ficials statewide. I think the MPA, the State of Vermont, and municipal governments can only benefit from what the program is doing in the future.

Follow us on Facebook! Search for “Master of Public Administration at UVM” to join. We will be giving up-dates about visiting scholars, MPA events, achievements by students and faculty, and other MPA news!

Executive Director Sarah Carpenter announced Robert Purcell (MPA ‘10) of Georgia, VT has joined Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) as Financial Analyst.

Purcell brings vast accounting and analytical experience ranging from accounting positions at Wells Fargo to account man-agement in the captive insurance industry. He also brings strong systems and process improvement skills.

Purcell holds a Masters in Public Administration earned at The University of Vermont and a B.A. in Business earned at The University of Colorado.

Tom Connors, VHFA’s Chief Financial Officer, commented, “we look forward to having Rob apply his skills to some of the Agency’s more complex applications like rebate arbitrage and the financial forecast.”

VHFA is a self-sustaining, non-profit agency created in 1974 by the Vermont Legislature to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since its inception, the Agency has helped approximately 27,000 Vermont households with affordable mortgages and financed the development of approximately 8,400 affordable rental units.

Congratulations Rob!

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Zia’s work transcends many borders (from page 5)

JONATHAN MADDISON ‘11

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Jonathan MaddisonPolicy Analysis, American Pain Foundation

“I worked as a Policy Analysis Intern with the American Pain Foundation, a national non-profit organization that educates, supports and advocates for people affected by pain . As a Policy Analysis Intern, I worked with the APF to address the policy issue of medicated driving . I wrote a report analyzing state drugged driving laws and summarizing academic research on the impact of pain relievers on driving performance . In addition, I spoke with pain care advocates, government officials, and rep-resentatives from the pharmaceutical industry to gain a better understanding of the current state of knowledge and political climate surrounding this issue . My internship with the APF tied my personal interest in social justice and policy advocacy with my career interests in policy analysis and research . This experi-ence gave me insight into the national and state policy process and valuable hands-on experience analyzing an ongoing policy issue .”Jonathan was recently named the 2011 Student of the Year by UVM’s Transportation Research Center and has been published in numerous peer-reviewed articles with UVM faculty. He successfully completed his Master’s thesis in 2011.

stUdeNt PersPective

and modeling Phosphorous effects on Lake Champlain, he is also writing on a book, to come out later this year. Post-Kyoto Climate Governance: Confronting the Politics of Scale, Ideology and Knowledge is a cul-minating piece of all of his academic and policy work, “this book will be a synthesis of my research on climate policy issues at the international scale since my post-doc days, targeted to policy makers in the countries who are negotiating under the UN system, as well as analysts who are looking into these negotiations.”

As part of this research Dr. Zia has been attending many of the UN conferences and summits in recent years, most recently trav-eling to Durban to conduct interviews and collect data. “These events are very useful places to collect data. I can talk to people from 50 countries, in one place, in the span of one week, rather than flying all over the world to find each individual.”

Switching gears to his more local role in a $20 million EPSCoR grant exploring the phosphorous loading in Lake Champlain, Zia is a leading developer of two agent-based computation models. One of them would be to model the land use transitions in the Winooski and Missisquoi watersheds. In this case, we model the human societies as the

“agents” whose decisions have impacts on the land use. We are especially interested in capturing that tension between forest conser-vation, agricultural land use, and urbaniza-tion. Within that we explore the how: How are we building houses? Are farmers using best management practice for soil conser-vation versus the conventional globalized agriculture approach? Given these condi-tions: climate change and extreme weather events, management and building practices, policy changes, and conservation efforts, we try, to answer ‘what will be the nutrient load in Lake Champlain?’ and subsequently we want understand what the policy makers are doing with this ecological knowledge of the health of the lake. We are using the Com-plex Systems modeling tools to model this coupled human-natural system.”

Given Zia’s body of work, he is an apt trainer in the methods of local and international policy work, modeling, and policy analysis and program evaluation. Students in Dr. Zia’s courses are directly involved in his research. His teaching emphasis is all on the “how,” and skill-based learning: how to build models, how to analyze policy, how to conduct program evaluation. “Students are given enough information and trained enough so that, if they want to follow any of these tracks in their career, they are set up for

that,” Zia explains.

Looking forward, Asim’s interests are, well, forward-looking, “I want to develop early warning systems for developing coun-tries that have to do with how farmers and households use seasonal to decadal climate forecasts in their short- to medium-term de-cision making. As climate change increases extreme weather events—like the flood that displaced two million people on the Indus River in 2010—I want to explore what we can do to avoid these catastrophic scenarios. These early warning systems can help in the early removal or repatriation from harm’s way and help recovery efforts too.” In a few words, Zia’s work’s focus is somehow simple sounding and yet simultaneously complex, “I am most interested in the inter-section between natural and human systems: the complex feedback interactions between natural and human systems.”

Closing the conversation, Zia humbly mentions—and the true academic within shows—his other work “I’ve dabbled in foreign policy, too. But I haven’t published on that yet.”

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Master of Public Administration at UVM

The MPA program at UVM offers a flexible curriculum, with a course of study individually designed for each students. Our concentrations offered are in state and local government, non-profit organizations, sustain-able community development, healthcare, agriculture, and the environment. Classroom studies are enhanced by transdisciplinary learning resources throughout the University and a wide range of internship opportu-nities.Located near sparkling Lake Champlain and the foothills of the Green Mountains, the UVM campus offers easy access to boating, hiking, skiing, and biking. Research, internships, and networking are faciliatated by the short drive to major local and state government offices and Vermont’s high concentration of non-profit organizations. Find all the latest MPA news and events at www.uvm.edu/mpa.

Representative Honors, Publications, and Books Costanza R., Farley J. (2011) Common Asset Trusts and the World Environmental Constitution. In Y. Tunytsya (ed.) World Environmental Constitution. Methodological basics. Lviv: Publishing House of UNFU, 2011: 224-225.

van den Belt, M., V. Forgie and J. Farley (2011) Valuation of Ecosystem Services. In: van den Belt M. and Costanza R. (eds) Volume 12, “Ecological Economics of Estuaries and Coasts”. In Wolanski E. and McLusky D.S. (eds) Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science. Waltham, MA: Academic Press.

Farley, J. (In Press) Reflections on a Life Lived Well and Wisely. Solutions

Farley, J., A. Schmitt Filho, J. Alvez and N. Ribeiro de Freitas, Jr. (2012) How Valuing Nature Can Transform Agriculture. Solutions, 2:6 pp. 64-73 | Jan 2012

Farley, J., D. Batker and I. de la Torre (2012) Mangrove Ecosystems and the Tragedy of Private Property Rights. Solutions, 2:6 p. 48. Jan 2012

Koliba, C. 2011. Book chapter: Administrative Strategies for a Networked World: The Educational Imperative for Intergovernmental Relations in 2020. Thurmaier, K. and Meek, J. editors. Network Governance: Implications for Intergovernmental Relations in 2020. New York: Sage Publications.

Conner, D., King, B., Koliba, C., Trubek, A. and Kolodinsky, J. 2011. Mapping Farm to School Networks: Implications for Research and Practice. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition. 6:133-152.

Koliba, C., Zia, A., Lee, B. 2011. Governance Informatics: Utilizing Computer Simulation Models to Manage Complex Governance Networks. The Innovation Journal: Innovations for the Public Sector. 16(1). Article 3.

Pollak, N., L. Chase, C. Ginger and J. Kolodinsky (in press). The Northern Forest Canoe Trail: Economic impacts and implications for community development. Journal of Community Development.

King, Benjamin, David Conner, Christopher Koliba, Amy Trubek and Jane Kolodinsky (2011). Mapping Farm to School Networks Implications for Research and Practice. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition. 6(2): 133 – 152.

Roche, Erin, and J. Kolodinsky (2011). Overcoming barriers to provide local produce in school lunches in Vermont. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development . Volume 1, Issue 3 / Winter 2010–2011. Available: PDF

Kolodinsky, Jane, and Amanda Goldstein (2011). Time-Use and Food Pattern Influences on Obesity. Obesity. Advanced on-line publication: May 26, 2011; doi:10.1038/oby.2011.130

Kolodinsky, Jane (2011). Diet/Nutrition. In Green Culture, Robbins, P. Wehr, K. Golson, K., and J. Geoffrey, eds. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage).

Richard Watts, Karen Frick, Jonathan Maddison. Policy Making, Incrementalism and News Discourse: Gasoline Tax Debates In Eight U.S. States. Public Works Management & Policy.

Accepted January 5, 2012.

Richard Watts, Jonathan Maddison. The Role of Media Actors in Reframing the Media Discourse in the Decision to Reject Relicensing the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. Accepted December 29, 2011.

Jonathan Maddison, Richard Watts. The Technological Fix as a Frame in Media Debates about Tailpipe Emissions.Technology in Society. Accepted October 27, 2011.

Jonathan Maddison, Richard Watts. Newspaper Source Prominence in News Media Coverage of Motor Vehicle Emissions 2000-2008. Newspaper Research Journal.. Accepted October, 2011.

Curtis Ventriss, The Challenge for Public Administration(and Public Policy)in an Era of Economic Crisis, Administrative Theory and Praxis,

C. Ventriss, G.Candler,and J. Salm, A.G. Ramos:The In-Betweener as an Intellectual Bridge Builder, Organizancoes and Sociedade,

D.Laven, D.Krymkowski,C.Ventriss,B.Manning,From Partnerships to Networks:New Approaches for Measuring U.S. National Heritage Area Effectiveness,Evaluation Review

S.Deleon and C.Ventriss, Diamonds,Land-Use and Indigenous Peoples:The Dilemmas of Public Participation and Multi-National Diamond Corporations, Public Administration and Management

D. Laven,C.Ventriss,B.Manning,Evaluating Historical Heritage Areas: Theory,Methods,Applications, Environmental Management

C.Ventriss, the Future of Policy Analysis in an Era of Theoretical and Analytical Ambivalence, Administrative Theory and Praxis

W.Kuentzel and C. Ventriss, Social Psychological Barriers to Communicative Rationality,In H.Schachter(Ed).Public Participation Vol 1, Peter Lang.

Zia, A. and Koliba, C. Accepted for publication. Climate Change Governance and Accountability: Dilemmas of Performance Management in Complex Governance Networks. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis.

Grants:

Koliba, C. Science Leader. 2011 – 2016. Research on Adaption to Climate Change. Judy van Houten, Principal Investigator. National Science Foundation EPSCoR. $12,000,000 research grant of which ~$1,500,000 that Koliba is responsible for.

Koliba, C. and Farley, J. 2011-2012. Principal Investigator. Managing Vermont’s Groundwater. Northeastern States Research Cooperatives: Research for Northern Forests. $9,950.

Koliba, C. 2011. Sandia National Laboratory Faculty Exchange Program. Jeff Marshall, Principal Investigator. Sandia National Laboratories. $22,000.

Koliba, C., Zia, A. and Lee, B. 2010-2012. Principal Investigator. Signature Award. James Jeffords Center. University of Vermont. $99,500.

Presentations:

Koliba, C., Zia, A., Tucker, M., and Novak, D. 2011. Fostering Innovation in an Intergovernmental Transportation Planning Governance Network

through Multi-Criteria Analysis. American Political Science Association National Conference. Seattle, WA

Curtis Ventriss was invited by President R. Oliveri of the Brazilian Affiliate of The Ecole d’ Administration to be the Keynote Speaker at the International Policy Governance Conference,Florinapolis,Brazil. His talk was entitled, The Challenge of Public Policy in Era of Economic Crisis.

Curtis Ventriss Presented a research talk entitled,Democratic Citizenship and Public Ethics, American Society for Public Administration, Baltimore, MD

Zia, A., Metcalf, S., Koliba, C. and Widner, M. 2011. Agent Based Models of Cross-Jurisdictional Governance Networks: Simulating the Emergence of Project Prioritization Patterns Under Alternate Policy Theoretical Frameworks and Network Structures. COMPACT Conference. Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Koliba, C. and Zia, A. 2011. Theory Testing Using Complex Systems Modeling in Public Administration and Policy Studies: Challenges and Opportunities for a Meta-Theoretical Research Program. Public Management Research Conference. Syracuse, NY.

Appointments/Honors

Glenn McRae is serving as a member of the organizing group for a National Transportation Workforce Summit in Washington DC in April 2012. This summit will bring together stakeholders from around the country to craft a national framework for workforce development in the transportation sector and will align and leverage work going forward with the Departments of Transportation, Labor and Education. The intent is a new model for action that will enhance efforts on all levels across the country. http://cutcworkforce.com/

Glenn McRae, in his role as Outreach Manager at the UVM Transportation Research Center has taken responsibility for the newly initiated Graduate Certificate Program in Sustainable Transportation Systems. The new certificate allows students in a variety of disciplines to gain key competencies in working at the local, regional and global level examining transportation systems and the vital role they play in building community, the economy, and quality of life. Transportation designs, programs and policies impact the environment, energy, culture, equitable mobility between regions and groups, as well as quality of life. Critical transportation system issues and problems in the 21st century will require interdisciplinary teams to design innovative solutions. The overall goal of Certificate is to establish a baseline of transportation system knowledge and to develop advanced critical thinking around interdisciplinary partnerships addressing problems in transportation and mobility. http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/?Page=grad/grad_certificate.php

Curtis Ventriss has been appointed as a (Part-time) Professor of Policy Studies, Institute for Policy Studies, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.