Sarah Mittlefehldt Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Ames 114
One Brennan Circle
Poultney, VT 05764-1199
Email Address: mittlefehldts@greenmtn.edu
802-287-8323

Sometimes our passions require us to break away from the mainstream. For me, that meant paddling over 1,650 miles across the Great Lakes and hiking 2,175 miles along the Appalachian Trail to learn how communities have worked together—through both conflict and cooperation—to protect their local environments. I teach courses in environmental policy, environmental justice, and natural resource management—fields that offer rich opportunities for hands-on projects and service learning experiences. I am thrilled to teach at an institution like Green Mountain College that values strong student-teacher relationships and meaningful engagement in the world. In my spare time, I enjoy most all forms of physical activity in outdoors and playing upright bass in a bluegrass band.

Education
Ph.D., Forestry and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2008
M.Ed., concentration: Science Education, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, 2004
B.A., Social Ecology (self-designed major), concentration: Environmental Science, Carleton College, 2000

Field Studies:
Natural History and Environmental Geography of the Texas/Mexico Border, Wild Rockies Field Institute, University of Montana, Spring 2000
Coastal Ecology of Zanzibar and coursework in Swahili Culture, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, School for International Training, Fall 1998

Selected Teaching & Related Experience
2009: Green Mountain College, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Courses: Images of Nature, Introduction to Natural Resource Management, (tentatively scheduled for Spring 2010: Public Policy and the Environment, Environmental Justice)

2008: American Society for Environmental History, Curriculum Developer
On-line teaching unit: Plastics and Environmental Health: Using environmental history to investigate challenges posed by low-level toxic chemicals, available at: http://www.aseh.net/resources/toxic-env-toxic-bodies-workshop/

2004, 2006: Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, UW-Madison, Teaching Assistant
Course: Introduction to Environmental Studies: The Humanist Perspective

Fall 2005: Department of Forest Ecology & Management, UW-Madison, Guest Lecturer, Course: Introduction to Forestry

Selected Research Experience

2006-2008: Dissertation Research, Principal Investigator

• Explored the social and environmental history of the Appalachian Trail by visiting ten archives from Georgia to Maine and conducting oral histories with local residents, volunteers, non-profit partners, and government officials as I hiked the 2,175-mile trail

• Used these data to assess changes in the dynamic interplay of power and authority between different groups in the effort to protect and develop this national resource

• Currently revising the dissertation manuscript for publication

2005-2007: Department of Forest Ecology and Management, UW-Madison, Research Assistant

• Investigated the history of community forestry in Wisconsin on McIntire-Stennis grant

• Conducted oral histories and investigated local archives in rural communities in northern Wisconsin

• Participated in regional watershed planning meetings and workshops

2001-2004: Understandings of Consequence Project, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, Research Assistant

• Worked on National Science Foundation-supported project to explore ways to deepen students’ understanding of complex ideas in science

• Analyzed data using qualitative measures and quantitative measures, including statistical programs such as JMP and SPSS

• Developed curricula, educational films, and teacher workshops to enable practitioners to put the research findings into use in classrooms

Selected Publications
The Tangled Roots of the Appalachian Trail: A Social and Environmental History, University of Washington Press, manuscript in progress.

“Toxic Waste and Environmental Justice in Warren County, North Carolina,” in Charles V. Willie, Steven P. Rindini, and David A. Willard, eds., Grassroots Social Action: Lessons in People Power Movements, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008.

“Discovering Nature in the Neighborhood: Raymond Zillmer and the Origins of the Ice Age Trail,” in Eric Sherman and Andrew Hanson III, eds., Along Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008.

“The Origins of Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail: Ray Zillmer’s Path to Protect the Past,” Wisconsin Magazine of History, 90:3, (Spring 2007), pp.2-14.

Awards
Vilas Travel Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007-2008
Caroline Thorn Kissel Environmental Studies Scholarship, Garden Club of America, 2007
Hal K. Rothman Dissertation Fellowship, American Society for Environmental History, 2007
E.V. and Nancy Melosi Travel Grant, American Society for Environmental History, 2006
Culture, History, and the Environment Award, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, 2006
Travel Grant, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, 2006