© Putnam's vine/yard

New space, new guests, all of the same fun! For the upcoming 2025 season (January through May) we are excited to announce that Suds & Science will be held in vibrant, downtown White River Junction at Putnam's vine/yard! Join us on Tuesday, January 7th as we kick things off with our first guest, Dr. Celia Chen. Not only is Chen a research professor at Dartmouth, but she also leads our board's science committee. Come hear her talk about environmental pollutants like mercury and how they interact with aquatic ecosystems.

A collection of field guides © Kent McFarland

Help VCE reach one million Research Grade observations for our Vermont Atlas of Life! We are lucky enough to have a wealth of observations on iNaturalist for this project (about 1,375,300), however; the most useful kinds of observations are Research Grade, or observations with sufficient data and community agreement on an ID. Do you have expertise to lend? Hop on over to our mission page and help us reach one million Research Grade observations!

2024 Field Season in Review

Wow, what a field season! Do we feel like that every year at VCE? Well, yes, but this year definitely brought exciting progress on many of our projects, both old and new. 

2024 Loon Season Summary

Lakes are freezing over, and the season of raft building, loon outreach, and watchful monitoring has drawn to a close. Here’s a recap of what our team of biologists and more than 350 dedicated volunteers found this year.

Champions of Long Term Monitoring Count the Benefits

We ask a few of VCE’s leading proponents of regular surveys to explain how long-term datasets contribute to every stage of the conservation process.

A Dark-eyed Junco in the snow © Kent McFarland

When you give to VCE, you’re helping to bring people a deeper understanding of natural systems, a deeper connection to each other through science, and a hopeful path toward a more sustainable future. 

In a world that feels fractured and divided in so many ways and in which the environment is under constant threat, your contribution is a profoundly meaningful act. 

With our best wishes for a healthy and hopeful New Year, thank you for cultivating conservation and partnering with us. 

A Red-tailed Hawk with pure white feathers perches in the bare branches of a tree. @darontansley

Congratulations to iNaturalist user @darontansley for winning the November 2024 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! Their photo of a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) with leucism perched upon a tree branch received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month. Read the full blog here.