Our Goal

FEMC is committed to establishing an ongoing process of self-examination to identify and address any biases and barriers, both internal and external, that prevent us from encouraging an environment of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ).

FEMC covers a seven-state region that includes many diverse communities. However, FEMC has historically engaged primarily with organizations that are specifically oriented toward forest stewardship, data collection, and research.

Through our DEIJ initiatives, FEMC will invest time and resources toward inclusion and accessibility for all communities across the region.



Our DEIJ Initiatives

  • Land Acknowledgment
    Examining our relationship with the land on which we work, and the past and present Indigenous people that call this land their home.

  • Website & Tool Accessibility
    We are currently reviewing and making strides to ensure that our website, apps, and tools deliver the best user experience for everyone, and are optimized for any adaptive technologies people may use to understand content.

  • Field Standards of Practice
    Identifying areas to include and support a diverse group of summer field technicians while participating in our Forest Health Monitoring program.

  • Hiring
    Examining and improving our hiring processes to attract a more diverse group of candidates for FEMC positions, and increase the diversity of the staff we hire.


Land Acknowledgement

To date, FEMC has done little to engage with indigenous communities in the region we serve. FEMC is in a unique position to be able to not only support indigenous communities in monitoring forests but also bring indigenous knowledge, integral to the understanding of the Northeastern forested ecosystem, into broader conversations about forest health issues. Through strengthening these relationships, FEMC will work to understand how to support existing land stewardship efforts of indigenous communities across the region.

Additionally, because FEMC's Forest Health Monitoring sites exist on many different indigenous peoples’ lands, we are working to create a land acknowledgement that honors this relationship. If your organization has a land acknowledgement, or helpful resources, would you be willing to share them? If so, please send to Elissa.Schuett@uvm.edu.

Why do a Land Acknowledgement?

  • Invite us to respect and give gratitude to the past and present Indigenous people who have been living on and caring for the lands we reside on, and to the future generations we are leaving this earth to.

  • Challenge the cultural conditioning that makes the Indigenous experiences, people, and communities invisible and something of the past.

  • Recognize that colonization and extractive capitalism are the reason most of us live and work where we do.

  • Reflect on the type of relationship non-native people need to build with Indigenous communities, especially regarding environmental protection and climate change.


Land Acknowledgement

While FEMC's impact extends beyond the boundaries of the University of Vermont, we have chosen to temporarily adopt their Land Acknowledgment as we work to draft our own.
University of Vermont's Land Acknowledgement (2022)
The campus of the University of Vermont sits within a place of gathering and exchange, shaped by water and stewarded by ongoing generations of Indigenous peoples, in particular the Western Abenaki.

Acknowledging the relations between water, land, and people is in harmony with the mission of the university. Acknowledging the serious and significant impacts of our histories on Indigenous peoples and their homelands is a part of the university’s ongoing work of teaching, research, and engagement and an essential reminder of our past and our interconnected futures for the many of us gathered on this land.

UVM respects the Indigenous knowledge interwoven in this place and commits to uplifting the Indigenous peoples and cultures present on this land and within our community.


Territories of Indigenous Peoples Across FEMC's Partnering States




FEMC Forest Health Monitoring Plot


FHM plots are slightly displaced to protect location information.

This map was made using data from native-land.ca and includes this disclaimer: This map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, contact the nations in question. Also, this map is not perfect -- it is a work in progress with tons of contributions from the community. Please send us fixes if you find errors.


Sources and Resources


FEMC's Field Standards of Practice

Through this Standards of Practice document, FEMC commits to supporting the Forest Health Monitoring technicians as they conduct their work in the field. This is a living document and will be updated as needed.

If your organization has a Standards of Practice (SOP) document, helpful resources, or would like to suggest changes to FEMC's SOP, please reach out to  Elissa.Schuett@uvm.edu.


Download


How to cite:

  • Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative. 2023. FEMC Field Standards of Practice: Forest Health Monitoring. https://doi.org/10.18125/69327f. South Burlington, VT.


Hiring

FEMC recognizes that having staff that represent a diversity of experiences and backgrounds can improve overall organizational creativity and productivity, and that providing equal opportunities for individuals with marginalized identities is a critical step in creating a more just and equitable society. FEMC is working to increase the diversity of applicants for open positions, and of our small team of full-time staff.

What We're Doing

  • FEMC’s follows UVM’s Affirmative Recruitment Guidelines.

  • FEMC is always looking for more places to share job announcements that will reach a broader audience. In addition to the FEMC and UVM pages, and depending on our available budget, we share jobs on the Green Jobs Board, idealist (idealist.org/en), the HBCU Career Center jobs board (jobs.thehbcucareercenter.com), the Vermont Professionals of Color Network's jobs board (vtpoc.net/jobs-board/), and in the jobs listings in Seven Days (jobs.sevendaysvt.com). We also reach out individually to representatives from various colleges and universities; if you would like to be added to that list, please contact Elissa Schuett at Elissa.Schuett@uvm.edu.

  • FEMC does not discriminate based on age, ancestry, color, crime victim status, disability, gender identity, health insurance coverage status, HIV+ status, national origin, place of birth, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or association with a member of any of these groups.


Sources and Resources