We are Honored to Welcome Christina Erickson to the Board of Trustees!
Christina is an ideal fit for the Sterling College community. As Executive Director of Local Motion—Vermont’s statewide bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization—she leads a dedicated team of 13 full-time, year-round staff and over 30 seasonal employees. Together, they work to ensure Vermonters have safe, accessible, and enjoyable experiences on foot and by bike. From grassroots advocacy and community organizing to technical assistance, workshops, classes, and bike-friendly business resources, Christina’s work aligns closely with Sterling’s mission and values.
Before leading Local Motion, Christina spent over twenty years advancing sustainability in higher education, with roles at the University of Vermont, Champlain College, and right here at Sterling College. She began her time at Sterling in the Career Resource Center and went on to serve as a faculty member for more than six years. During that time, she taught courses such as Bounder, Tools & Their Applications, and Flatwater Canoeing. Christina also launched the "Sense of Place" course, which continues to be a core part of our curriculum today. In addition, she contributed to campus sustainability efforts through the “Sustainable Sterling” initiative, among many other contributions.
Christina deeply understands the importance of our mission at Sterling, and we greatly value her insight as an experienced thought leader in environmental advocacy, education, and sustainability.
Reflecting on her return to the College, Christina shared: “I am honored to join the Board of Trustees, and spending time there over Commencement weekend really felt like coming home... to an incredible community in a beautiful place. I am so glad to return!”
Christina holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources with a focus on Sustainability Education from the University of Vermont, an M.S. from the Audubon Expedition Institute at Lesley University’s Ecological Teaching & Learning Program—which emphasizes place-based, ecological education—and a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Sociology from St. Lawrence University.
She lives in the Old North End of Burlington, Vermont, with her husband, daughter, dog, bunny, and chickens, and has been a dedicated walk and bike commuter since 2006. Christina enjoys skiing, canoeing, growing and processing food, and generally spending time outdoors. In addition to serving on Sterling College’s Board of Trustees, she is a board member of the North Star Community Hall and a mentor with the King Street Center.
Please join us in giving Christina a warm welcome back to the Sterling community!
Help Us Reach Our Year End Goal!
Earlier this month we launched 30 Days to $30K, the final leg of our $125,000 Spring Appeal. With just $15,000 left to go by June 30th, your contribution will directly support scholarships, capstone projects, maintaining our working farm and natural lands, sustainable food systems, enhancing outdoor classrooms, and strengthening community partnerships and events.
Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to our goal and has a tangible impact on our students and the place-based education they receive. Together, we can ensure that Sterling continues to thrive as a model for sustainability and experiential learning.
A Place We Call Home: Essays and Stories by Nature Writing Students
This semester, students in Dr. Carol Dickson’s Nature Writing course were given an open-ended assignment to “Write about a place that is significant to you—one that represents your relationship to where you live, or the place you call home.”
The prompt marked a creative culmination of weeks spent exploring environmental writing from diverse perspectives. Through intensive study of authors, craft, and the ways language shapes our connection to the more-than-human world, students prepared their own place-based stories.
Read the full essays on the recently published blog post and discover how our talented students draw meaning and inspiration from the unique places they call home.
While campus feels quieter in the Summer months, the farm is buzzing with activity.
We currently have four farm interns on-site, with a fifth joining us in late June. They're actively engaged in day-to-day garden and livestock management and gaining valuable hands-on experience across several areas, including sheep care, garden production, and chicken management (both meat and layer flocks). They’re also helping run the CSA program.
We’re currently rotationally grazing our sheep and cattle in the nut grove agroforestry area. This practice helps maintain the space as productive pasture, suppress invasive plants and brush, and support the healthy growth of our young trees. This summer marks the first full grazing rotation in this area without the need for tree protection—an exciting milestone in the development of our agroforestry system!
The hoop house is full of warm-weather crops—tomatoes, pole beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. While most of these are destined for fall meals in the dining hall, we’re also preserving some for next winter. Green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower remain some of our kitchen’s favorites.
Out in the fields, things are looking strong. We’ve been working hard to get ahead of lingering weed issues brought on during the pandemic, when the absence of students during critical growing periods left a lasting impact. Last summer, we planted a late-season cover crop of oats and peas, which winter-killed naturally and left behind a thick mulch. We’re now planting many of our summer crops directly into that mulch, helping to keep the soil covered, release nutrients, support beneficial microorganisms, and retain moisture.
We’re also excited to introduce a new Johnson-Su bioreactor compost system on the farm. This fall, we’ll be hosting a workshop in collaboration with NOFA-VT to share more about this innovative approach.
Follow us on social media for more updates as our interns continue their great work in the weeks ahead!
Sterling Graduate Mikail Tipton Shares the Impact of the Work Program
Sterling College is proud to be one of only ten federally recognized Work Colleges—a distinction that makes our academic program truly unique. Through our Work Program, students not only earn money but also gain valuable skills that prepare them with confidence and professionalism for life after college.
One of our recent graduates, Mikail Tipton, was featured on the Work Colleges Consortium website. He shares how the Work Program helped him keep his education affordable, allowing him to graduate with little to no debt.
"I feel strongly that the only reason I'm still in college is because of Sterling and the hands-on education that they offer. Through the work program, I have been able to keep my education affordable and will graduate with almost no debt. After I graduate, I plan to move back to my parent's farm in Northeastern Vermont to build a small house and continue growing and raising food to feed my community. A large part of the reason I can do this right out of school has been the work program at Sterling, both from a financial aspect and because of the skills I have gained in my time on the Sterling Farm." -Mikail Tipton, Class of 2025
From the Classroom to the Press: Sterling Students Get Published
Congratulations to Sterling students Michael Apicella and Sarah Tutt on being published in The Hardwick Gazette! Their articles feature thoughtful interviews with local leaders dedicated to community building and sustainability.
Michael spoke with Erika Schaper of the Lamoille Regional Solid Waste Management District, exploring the critical role of waste management in Vermont. Sarah interviewed Katherine Sims—former Vermont House Representative and founder of Green Mountain Farm-to-School—delving into the importance of communication in effective community work.
Written as part of a Science & Communication course, both articles showcase the power of storytelling in science—and the value of stepping outside your comfort zone to engage with others.
Join us for one-night-only performance with Ben Cosgrove!
We’re delighted to welcome acclaimed musician Ben Cosgrove for a special evening of music. A traveling composer and performer, Ben’s work explores the relationship between sound, landscape, and place. Hailed by The Boston Globe as “a sonic plein-air painter,” he has performed in every U.S. state except Delaware and collaborated with artists, scientists, and institutions including NASA, the National Park Service, and Harvard. His music has been featured in radio, film, and most recently in Ken Burns’s documentary The American Buffalo.
This concert is open to all, and we warmly invite you to attend. A suggested donation of $15 helps support the artist and event costs—we hope to see you there!
Sterling acknowledges that the land on which we gather, also known as Vermont, is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abenaki people. We also learn in and from a range of landscapes that belong to other indigenous peoples.
As we seek deep and reciprocal relationships with nature, we respect and honor the place-based and cultural wisdom of indigenous ancestors and contemporaries. These words are offered as a reminder that must be matched with acts of respect and repair.
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