Curriculum Vitae

Philip Ackerman-Leist
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Director of GMC Farm & Food Project
Green Mountain College
Poultney, VT 05764
802.287.8254

UpTunket Farm, Tunket Road
Pawlet, VT 05761
802.353.0965
ackermanleistp@greenmtn.edu

Click here for CV in PDF format

Educational Experience

• Associate Professor in Environmental Studies at Green Mountain College (1999-present):
  Courses taught include Fundamentals of Organic Agriculture; Agroecology; Animal Husbandry; Sustainable Farming Systems; Agroecology in the Alps; Food, Agriculture, and Community Development in the Northeast; Biodiversity Issues in Agriculture; Current Choices: Biography of a River; Images of Nature; A Delicate Balance; Dimensions of Nature; Introduction to Environmental Studies, and A Homesteader’s Ecology
• Director of GMC Farm & Food Project (2002-present):
  Founded college farm in 1997; oversee fundraising and budget for farm, including procurement of three-year grant funding for first farm manager position; initiated Family Farm Forum speakers series in 2000; established Sustainable Agriculture & Food concentration in 2002, including development of all courses in the curriculum; began local foods initiative with Chartwells dining services in 2003; facilitated team-taught “Food, Agriculture, & Community Development in the Northeast” to create sustainable food purchasing guidelines with Chartwells in 2006 (winner of Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence & Pollution Prevention); work with Chartwells to foster and monitor sustainable food purchasing efforts; established continuous farm internship program with Brunnenburg Castle & Agricultural Museum in 2005; initiated and directed spring 2008 study abroad semester at Brunnenburg Castle & Agricultural Museum for 14 students.
  
• Farm & Food Project website
  
• Block Course Syllabus
  
• Governor's Award Summary
  
• Director of Environmental Initiatives at Green Mountain College (1997-2002):
  Established campus recycling and composting programs with grant and donor seed funding
  
• History Instructor for Troy Academy (1997-98)
  
• Academic Director of Action English summer program for Mejiro Gakuen University of Tokyo (1996-98)
  
• Instructor and Assistant Director of the English Language Institute at Green Mountain College (1996-97)
  
• Organizer and translator for U.S. lecture tour of Austrian photographers Erika and Irmtraud Hubatschek on Alpine and Corsican agriculture
  
• Organizer, curator, and fundraiser for photographic exhibit, bilingual catalog, and lecture series on Alpine farm life. Arranged two-week lecture series and did all near-simultaneous translations (1995)
  
• Liason, curator, and editor for cultural exchange between Brunnenburg Agricultural Museum in Italy and Mountain Gateway Museum in North Carolina, culminating in photographic exhibit and bilingual catalog on Southern Appalachian agriculture (1994)
  
• Managing Director of Brunnenburg Castle International Study Program and Farm Manager in Dorf Tirol (autonomous province of South Tirol), Italy (1991-94) : Courses taught include Agro-archaeology, Medieval Literature and Iconography (“Saints and Heroes”), The Poetics of Space, and Survival German
  
• Staff for experimental “new Black Mountain College” (1989)
  Resident St. Andrews College faculty member at Brunnenburg Castle: taught Culture Through Composition (Aug-Dec 1988)
  
• Resident St. Andrews College faculty member at CET Chinese Language Training Center in Beijing, China: taught Modern Chinese Culture and supervised 12 students’ independent studies (Jan-May 1988)
  
• Founder and Director of Supplemental Writing Tutorial Program at St. Andrews College (1986-87)
  
• Instructor at St. Andrews College (1986-87): Courses taught include SAGE (St. Andrews General Education) courses in freshman composition, remedial writing, and peer-tutoring, as well as English as a Foreign Language
  
• Editorial Assistant for St. Andrews Press (1987)
  
• Resident Director of college residence hall at St. Andrews College (1987-88)
  
• Assistant to President of St. Andrews College (1986-87)
  

Agricultural Experience

• Co-owner of UpTunket Farm & Homestead in Pawlet, VT (1997-present) : Constructed all facilities for diversified off-grid farm (solar electric, solar hot water, & wind) featuring 100% grass-fed American Milking Devon cattle and heritage breed poultry (56 acres of primarily woodland and 40 acres of leased pasture). Products include beef, dairy, cattle breeding stock, eggs, pork, and milled lumber.
• Founder and Manager of Green Mountain College Garden in Poultney, VT (1997-2000): Built and initially self-funded 1/2 acre college garden for sales to dining hall, farmer’s market, and college employees.
• Farm Manager (1995-96) and Summer Employee (1987-89) for Clayton Orchard & Tree Nursery in Norman, NC: Helped manage grandparents’ 192 acre farm, including peaches, grapes, apples, melons, vegetables, and fruit tree nursery. Worked under Dr. Carlyle Clayton, plant pathologist, plant breeder, and first-rate grandfather.
• Farm Manager at Brunnenburg Castle & Agricultural Museum in autonomous province of South Tirol in Italy (1991-94), Visiting Faculty Member (1988), and Student (1983): Managed 5 acre vineyard and wine production (Chardonnay & Vernatsch), as well as fruit trees, woodlands, and agricultural museum. Led summer “Agroecology in the Alps” study tours to Brunnenburg in 2000 and 2006.

Community Service

• Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL) (2002-present): One of the founders, executive board members, and current vice-president of this grassroots organization dedicated to promoting and building the agricultural sector of the Rutland (VT) region. RAFFL’s projects include developing the first complete database of farmers in the region, creating an annual local buying guide, hosting a large annual farmers’ gathering and summer farm tours, piloting a farm to school initiative, planning for establishment of an “incubator farm” for new farmers in our region, developing a regional food hub with a commercial kitchen and flash-freeze operation, and constant fundraising. Nonprofit status pending.
  Rutland Area Farm & Food Link
• Poultney-Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District Board Member (1998-present): PMNRCD works with farmers, landowners, NGOs, and federal and state agencies to conserve natural resources, with a longstanding commitment to soil conservation and water quality. PMNRCD has developed a significant funding pool and oversees five employees, with a strong focus on nutrient management issues.
  Poultney-Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District
• Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council Member (2006-present): Appointed by the Vermont Secretary of Agriculture and the UVM Dean of the Division of Agriculture, Natural Resources, & Extension, with the council helping to coordinate statewide initiatives related to sustainable agriculture, with a mandate to work with Extension, VT Agency of Agriculture, and the Vermont legislature.
  Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council
• Pawlet Planning Commission Member (2002-present): Appointed by Pawlet Selectboard to oversee town planning and zoning in a strongly agricultural region.
• Steward for The Nature Conservancy’s North Pawlet Hills Preserve (2000-present): Volunteer oversight and general caretaking of preserve, including highly-popular Haystack Mountain trail in Pawlet, VT.

College Committees

• Presidential Search Committee (2007-08)
• Campus Land Use Committee (1997-present)
• International Programs Committee (2007-present)
• Masters of Science in Environmental Studies (MSES) Committee (2005-present)
• Faculty Development & Evaluation Committee (2004-2007, chair from 2005-07)
• Coordinator of Images of Nature (first-year composition, orientation, & advising program) (2004-07)
• ELA Council (2000-07) (oversight of Environmental Liberal Arts general education program)
• Search committees for faculty positions in philosophy, environmental studies, and college farm manager
• Faculty evaluation review team member (2005, 2006, 2008)

Graduate Education
M.S. in Environmental Biology from Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH
Additional graduate study:
-George Mason University (creative writing)
-San Francisco Theological Seminary (theology)
-Northeastern University (teaching composition)

Undergraduate Education
B.A. in Philosophy from St. Andrews College in Laurinburg, NC

International Study
• CET Chinese Language Training Center in Beijing, China (Jan-May 1998)
• Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France (Jan-May 1984)
• St. Andrews in Greece Program (Jan 1984)
• St. Andrews at Brunnenburg Castle in Italy (Aug-Dec 1983)

Language Abilities
• German: Advanced (incl. Tirolean dialect)
• French: Intermediate
• Italian: Beginning
• Chinese: Beginning

Academic Honors
• Presidential Scholarship to San Francisco Theological Seminary (full tuition)
• Scholarship to Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France
• Distinguished Scholarship to St. Andrews College (full tuition)

Publications
• A Homesteader’s Ecology: Contracted book in progress on ecological and ethical considerations in homesteading. Manuscript to be completed by June 1, 2009 with publication scheduled for late fall/early winter 2009 by Chelsea Green Publishing Company
• “Mountain Farmers: Lives Etched in Landscapes”/“Bergbauern: Leben in die Landschaft gezeichnet” in Bergwelt im Wandel: Festschrift Erika Hubatschek zum 90. Geburtstag, Verlag des Kaertner Landesarchivs, Klagenfurt, 2007
• Vom Leben am Steilhang/This Field On My Back (Verlag Dr. Erika Hubatschek, Innsbruck, 1995): Translations and introduction for bilingual catalog to accompany ethnographic photography exhibition of farm life in the German-speaking Alps
• “Schalensteine auf den Langseeplatte” (Der Schlern 69/1995 Heft 5): Article in South Tirolean archaeological magazine on my discovery of a Stone/Bronze Age cultic site at 2300 meters in the autonomous province of South Tirol, Italy
• Die Frucht Ihrer Arbeit/Into Their Labors (Verlag Brunnenburg Agricultural Museum, Dorf Tirol, Italy, 1994): Introduction, design, and editing for bilingual catalog to accompany ethnographic photography exhibition of Southern Appalachian farm life

Recent Presentations
• Two workshops for Solarfest in Tinmouth, VT. “Meat: Debating the Fuels & Fueling the Debate” (a comparison of grass- and grain-based meat production on the environment and climate change) and “Season Extension: Stretching Your Mind, Your Season, and Your Pocketbook” (an overview of garden season extension methods for the home and farm) (July 2008)
• “The GMC Farm & Food Project” (PowerPoint) as part of panel on University Food & Farm Initiatives for Community, Farm, & New Food Systems: A Vision for Virginia Agriculture, Local Economies, & Healthy Communities” at invitation of Virginia Cooperative Extension (March 2008)
• Guest presentations on “The GMC Farm & Food Project and College Food Systems” (PowerPoint) at James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University, arranged by Virginia Cooperative Extension (March 2008)
• “College Farms: Plowing Ahead with Moldboards & Mortarboards” at Farm-Based Education Alliance conference in Shelburne, VT (PowerPoint): Organized and chaired panel presentation on college farms, including overview of characteristics and strategies of college farms across the U.S. Co-presenters from Sterling College, Deep Springs College, and Middlebury College (November 2007)
• New Farmer Workshop: Hosted and helped organize a daylong workshop for “new farmers” on the GMC college farm, in conjunction with UVM Extension and Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Presented session on season extension methods (PowerPoint) (August 2007)
• “Season Extension: Stretching Your Mind, Your Season, and Your Pocketbook”: Workshop for Solarfest in Tinmouth, VT (July 2007)
• “The GMC Farm & Food Project” (PowerPoint) as panelist for “Building Partnerships with Student Groups, Clients, and the School Administration” at the Community Food Security Coalition’s National Conference in Baltimore, chaired by John Turenne of Sustainable Food Systems, Inc. (March 2007)
• Panelist for workshop on implementing local food purchasing in Vermont educational institutions at Northeast Organic Farming Association-Vermont annual conference, chaired by Abbie Nelson of VT FEED (February 2007)
• “Local Food Purchasing: Opportunities and Challenges for Institutions and Farmers” presentation (PowerPoint) at 2nd Annual Farmer’s Gathering hosted at Green Mountain College for the Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL) (December 2006)
• “Local Food in a Liberal Arts College: Green Mountain College’s Farm & Food Project” presentation (PowerPoint) at Slow Food’s Terra Madre 2006 in Turin, Italy (October 2006)
• “The Role of the College Farm in a Liberal Arts College” presentation (overheads) at the “Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture,” the first national conference for sustainable agriculture programs in higher education at the Ecofarm preconference in Asilomar Conference Center in CA (January 2006)

Working Group Seminars
• Invited participant to review UVM’s “Vermont Food Systems Leadership and Policy Institute and Sustainable Food Systems Laboratory” proposal with Michael Pollan (June 2008)
• Invited participant in Restoring America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) workshop to identify endangered foods and culinary traditions in the Northeast with Gary Nabhan (August 2007)

Memberships

• Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (institutional membership)
• American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
• American Milking Devon Association
• Community Food Security Coalition (institutional membership)
• Northeast Organic Farming Association-Vermont & New York
• Pawlet Historical Society
• Slow Food
• The Nature Conservancy (VT Chapter)
• Vermont Farm Bureau
• Vermont Grass Farmers Association