Our Students
Caitlin Downs ’23, Early Childhood Education
Caitlin began on her path in ECE with an associate degree from CCV. Now in her seventh year as an early childhood educator, she is set to begin classes at NVU toward a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education through the CCV to NVU Pathway. “The way it’s set up, from the bridge from CCV to NVU to the way the classes work, it all felt within reach the more I learned about the program — even with parenting (two young children) and teaching at the same time.”
Christian Kapoukranidis ’21, Graphic Design
Christian fulfilled a dream the year before he started in NVU’s Graphic Design program: a year of Amateur National Motocross racing during which he won three national titles. “I always wanted to see more of the country," he said. “I got it that year, and came back with a new perspective.” Graduating in May 2021 with a B.A. in Graphic Design, an A.S. in Photography, along with minors in both Marketing and Business, Christian's drive on the race course has transferred into his drive in the classroom and soon his career.
Lily Robitaille ‘21, Music Business and Industry
Lily Robitaille chose the Music Management concentration when she enrolled in the Music Business and Industry program, then added the Audio Production concentration. And that decision opened the opportunity to work with NVU Assistant Professor Brian Warwick on the film Summertime, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. "Being able to work on this film was an amazing experience,” Lily said.
Jocelyn Pellerin '21, Health Sciences and Psychology
Jocelyn is working with Dr. Emily Tarleton on a study that will assess falls risk and nutrition status in older Vermonters. It’s a topic that is personally interesting to Jocelyn as well. Her 90-year-old grandmother fell recently and broke her neck, “but she healed well,” Jocelyn said. She takes good care of herself, and it will be interesting to see these connections in the research, she added.
Joselyn Bull ’21, Early Childhood Education
While still in high school, Joselyn had worked as the assistant director of an afterschool program. She really enjoyed working with the kids, although the education field wasn’t in her career plans at the time. But life changes brought her back to it, which led her to the CCV to NVU Pathway and the bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education she will earn in spring 2021.
Laura Gypson ’22, Early Childhood Education
While going back to school was always a goal of Laura’s, the push for early childhood teachers to hold a bachelor’s degree and a teacher’s license in Vermont was what she needed to take the step. “As much as I knew I wanted to pursue a bachelor’s degree and teaching license, I lacked the right direction to head in until I found NVU” through the CCV to NVU Pathway.
Maison DeJesus '22, Climate Change Science
Two months into his first year at NVU, Maison DeJesus ’22 was attending a professional conference at a Stowe resort, talking with meteorologists. As a climate change science major, the valuable networking opportunities he had at the American Meteorological Society conference potentially opened doors to internships for him.
Sam Cavazos '21, Education
As a sophomore, Sam spent 60 hours in a practicum at Cambridge Elementary doing a range of duties: observing, designing and executing lesson plans, reading books to students and helping the teacher.
Emma Moore '21, Outdoor Education, Leadership, and Tourism
In her sophomore practicum, Emma visited local ski resorts to learn about all aspects of the ski industry, from events and marketing to ski school, management, and operations. A bonus was a free pass to ski at the end of the day at each resort.
Olin Reed '21, Environmental Science
On a road trip across the U.S., Olin visited national parks, forests, and public lands. The trip inspired him to pursue an environmental science degree. “I figured that I should do something to help preserve places like that, do whatever I can to help better the world around me,” he says.
Rachel Valentine '21, Broadcast and Digital Journalism
As a broadcast and digital journalism student, Rachel works at News7, building skills that will help her stand out to employers. Her experience shooting, writing, and editing stories for classes prepared her to work at the station, where she and her peers do it all: report, edit, anchor, direct, produce.
Rebecca Flieder '21, Journalism
Every other Sunday morning, journalism major Rebecca lays out the biweekly, student-run newspaper, Basement Medicine, with other staff members. By that point, most of the heavy lifting has been done for each issue.
Faith Poirier '21, Exercise Science
Faith is pursuing a concentration in pre-professional athletic training. She's used to working with athletic trainers as member of NVU-Lyndon's basketball team, but now she's planning her own career to help athletes avoid and treat injuries.
Our Alumni
Chris Vollaro ’93, Environmental Science
When the clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were scheduled at Pfizer’s New Haven (Ct.) Clinical Research Unit location, Pfizer Environmental Health and Safety Manager and Industrial Hygiene Lead Chris Vollaro ’93 got to work setting the protocols to ensure the health and safety of all involved.
Maria Brosseau ’20, Political Science
Maria’s undergraduate program with NVU culminated with the perfect experience for a political science major with a minor in pre-law — an internship with Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy through his Burlington, Vermont office.
Cameron Sprague ’08, Outdoor Education and Environmental Education
While studying Outdoor Education, Cameron worked in the Child Development Center on the Johnson campus, starting as a student helper and moving up to an assistant teacher role by his senior year. “That year, especially, really started me thinking that Early Years could be the right place for me,” he said. Today he is the team leader of an Outdoor Nursery Campus in Ft. William, Scotland, which he played a key role in getting started.
Andrew Neddo '16, Business
The skills Andrew gained at NVU have helped him as his family has expanded their farming operation with a vineyard and winery, a step they took because of challenges with the dairy industry in Vermont and around the country.
Jess Barber ’20, Outdoor Education, Leadership, and Tourism
Jess found NVU when she was ready to take her associate in adventure sports to the next level. She chose the management and administration concentration, which combined her love of the outdoors with her natural knack in the management field. Today, she’s a fulltime teacher in an outdoor nursery program, learning about another side of the outdoor ed field as she looks toward her future on the administrative side.
Jordan Racine '16, Music and Business Industry
Shortly before he graduated, Jordan landed a position as a booking assistant at the Los Angeles company where he now works — and was promoted twice in his first two years.
Erin Dezell G'19, School Counseling
When Erin Dezell was a child, she told her dad she wanted to be a school counselor when she grew up. Today she is just that — a licensed School Counselor at Harwood High School in Moretown, Vermont. While her path wasn’t as direct as you might expect, she’s landed right where she wants to be.
Olivia Carter ’18, Outdoor Education
As a senior in the Outdoor Education program, Olivia interned with True North Wilderness Program in Waitsfield, Vermont, gaining direct experience in her Therapeutic Wilderness and Adventure Programming (TWAP) concentration. This experience led to employment at True North when she graduated — as the first Northern Vermont University Outdoor Education major with a concentration in TWAP graduate!
Shayna Bennett '17, Math and Environmental Science
After a successful undergraduate career at Northern Vermont University, Shayna is now a Ph.D. student in Applied Mathematics at UC Merced.
Diego Melendez '12, Graphic Design
Since graduating from NVU, Diego’s work has been published in HOW Design and Graphic Design USA and recognized by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
Liz Carr '16, Media Arts
The first movie set Liz Carr built was at NVU for a senior project in the media arts program. Since she graduated, Liz has spent most of her time around TV and film sets. Including sets for Netflix and Hulu produced shows.
Jonathan Hutchinson '20, Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology
Jonathan gained specialized skills at NVU by creating weather forecasts for the Vermont Agency of Transportation and Southwest Airlines. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position as a meteorologist at a private company in Germantown, Maryland.
Kate Murphy G'08, Mental Health Counseling
Kate Murphy was the Residence Hall Director at Northern Vermont University’s Lyndon campus when she began graduate school at NVU-Johnson. Kate’s initial goal was to work her way into higher education — which she did, but not in the way she expected. Because when Kate began the coursework in her graduate program, she fell in love with counseling.
Monica Kerr '19, Psychology
Monica's research with the The Infant Laughter Project helped her launch into her career after graduation. She currently works as a Behavioral Interventionist, working one-on-one with students with behavioral challenges to help them alter their behavior to be more positive.
Monique Priestly '08, Visual Arts
Monique uses all the skills she gained at NVU in her latest venture, The Space On Main, a Bradford, Vt, coworking nonprofit she founded in 2016, where she is executive director. The Space provides office amenities for makers and entrepreneurs in various fields and hosts community events.
Zach Levy '17, Business
Zach learned about advertising, sales, and market research in his business classes at NVU, but used his internship at Untapped to gain skills in search engine optimization, writing, and social media.
Eliza Doncaster '15, Environmental Science
In Eliza’s position with the state agriculture agency, she's tracking disease-bearing insects and educating the public about how to avoid tick and mosquito bites.
Steven Lamonde '16, Environmental Science
Steven was known on campus as a “bird nerd” for the hobby that has steered his career. His love of birds, mixed with his geographic information system (GIS) talents have led to his work in bird conservation.
Kelly O'Brien '15, Broadcast and Digital Journalism
As a student, Kelly developed skills as a reporter, web editor, and producer at NVU’s News7-TV, the Emmy award-winning, student-run campus station that covers about 15 nearby towns with a live newscast every weeknight. “I was more prepared than anyone else for the job because of News7,” she says. “It’s very important to know every position and be multiplatform in a newsroom. That’s where the industry is going.”
Catie Roman '20, Education
After graduating with teacher license endorsements in elementary education (grades K-6) and special education (grades K-8), Catie started her first full-time teaching job at Bridgewater-Hebron Village School.
Tom Benton '14, Journalism
Tom's experience as editor-in-chief of NVU-Johnson's student newspaper, Basement Medicine, prepared him for his journalism career and job at the St. Albans Messenger.
Cole Stillson '19, Criminal Justice
Cole spent a summer as an intern at the Vermont Correctional Academy in Lyndonville, which gave him the opportunity to learn a lot on the job.
Gabby Fecher '17, Education
“I went into my job after graduation knowing what to expect, and I felt really good about that.”
Sophia Ruiz '20, Animation and Illustration
During her time at Lyndon, Sophia developed marketable skills working with Professor Gilbert and other Visual Arts faculty who are widely respected in the field. Professor Gilbert introduced her to one of her favorite art techniques: stop-motion animation with origami.
Ben Fournier '18, Mountain Recreation Management
As an intern at Jackson Hole, Ben was tasked with doing fieldwork for avalanche education and wilderness medicine courses. Today, he's certified to teach avalanche education courses.
CJ Gaunce '20, Outdoor Education, Leadership, and Tourism
Through his education at NVU, CJ had the opportunity to work at Vail resorts in Vermont and Colorado. After graduation, CJ continued at Stowe Mountain Resort in an operations job working to keep ski lifts and snow guns running.
Francis Tarasiewicz '19, Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology
In an unusual opportunity for college students, Francis and other NVU students prepared forecasts on campus for a Mount Everest expedition one spring, which he says is “the most intense forecasting I’ve ever had to do."
Electra Poulsen '20, Animation and Illustration
Electra learned early how NVU’s focus on hands-on experience is valuable for students. She used the skills she’s gained to create an ad for the most recent Animation Festival that ran in the statewide publication Seven Days.
Emily Jones '16, Business
By working nearly full-time while in college, Emily could apply what she learned at NVU and in her job and discuss work challenges with her business professors.
Jordan Niles '19, Psychology
Jordan had the opportunity to do research as an undergraduate with psychology professor Gina Mireault on infant behavior, first on humor in babies and now a study of “curiosity and grit.”
Minda Moskowitz G’16, Education: Curriculum and Instruction, Inclusive Childhood Education
While Special Education wasn’t on Minda’s radar when she applied to NVU to earn her teaching credential, she was advised to add it — a step that has proven beneficial in her career. “Special education unlocked the door” to opportunities she wouldn’t have had without it, she said.
Jordan Zach '20, Outdoor Education, Leadership, and Tourism
“I like the big picture of NVU, where it’s situated and the quality of the education you get. It’s more than just getting a college degree. It’s really building a life for yourself,” he says. “The professors have so many different connections. They’ll help you get where you want to be.”
Emily Cass '20, Math
Learning about yourself is the unexpected gift of the college experience, as Emily found out. Seeking smaller class sizes and the opportunity to build relationships, she changed both schools and majors in her second semester of college, enrolling at NVU as a dual math and education major.
Mike Paul '08, Exercise Science
“How to get from Point A to Point B in the healing process fascinated me,” he says. His experience with the injury convinced him that his choice of exercise science as a major was right, and it led him to pursue physical therapy as a career.
Sara Ford '20, Political Science and Education
Sara has wanted to be a teacher since she was in kindergarten. She’s also fascinated by government and politics. At NVU, she was able to study political science and earn a secondary teacher licensure.
Alec Jones '20, Environmental Science
Geographic information system (GIS) mapping skills Alec learned at NVU helped him land an internship at Vermont Electric Co-op. The ability to use GIS is “a very powerful skill to have in any science field. A lot of jobs have that mapping component.” Alec says.
Emily Mixon '19, Interdisciplinary Studies
As an interdisciplinary studies major, Emily — with the help of her adviser — designed a curriculum with courses in literature, creative writing, visual arts, and education to prepare her for a career as a behavioral interventionist.
Colleen Hagan '18, Psychology
Her internship and job as an office assistant and orientation coordinator in Johnson’s Office of First-Year Experience helped her consider — and rule out — career options. “While planning orientation and helping these students, I felt a real connection with students at our school and gained so much knowledge of how I can help them,” said Colleen.
Marie Vaine '19, Outdoor Education, Leadership, and Tourism
As a recent graduate, Marie is excited about the many outdoor recreation career options NVU has opened up for her. “I feel like I’m ready to take on any outdoor job,” she says.
Tyler Cadorette '16, Broadcast and Digital Journalism
When Tyler Cadorette ’16 became an on-air reporter and weather anchor at WMTW-TV in Portland, Maine, soon after he graduated from NVU-Lyndon, his duties — and the station itself, where he had had an internship — were familiar to him.
Madison Rodgers ’19, Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology
As an atmospheric sciences student at NVU-Lyndon, Madison Rodgers ’19 has already had one of the ultimate experiences in weather forecasting — providing accurate information for people in a potential life-or-death situation, a Mount Everest expedition