Farley has had a connection to the land since she was young, through her family business, the Farley Lumber Company, and exploring the woods in the suburbs of New Jersey. “I have always questioned how we make land use decisions and who gets to make those decisions. Most importantly, how can we become the best stewards of the land?” Her passion for the land led her into the nonprofit field where she served as the executive director of both Vermont Woodlands Association and Vermont Coverts:Woodlands for Wildlife for several decades. She has worked with landowners, logger, and legislators throughout Vermont helping to protect the working landscape and wildlife habitat. She has witnessed the growth of the land conservation movement in Vermont over the past 25 years. Farley started teaching Ecology at Sterling College and several state colleges in 1989 as an adjunct faculty member and came to Sterling full time in 2006. Her connections around the state provide many opportunities for Sterling students, both in the classroom as well as in the professional world. “It is a great joy to now work with Sterling College alums in the conservation field.”
Profile
Award | Institution |
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AA in Natural Resource Management | Sterling College |
BA in Environmental Studies and Sociology | Sarah Lawrence College |
MS in Natural Resource Planning | University of Vermont |
Presentations |
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“Working the Land: Conservation and Management of Our Rural Landscape”, Rural Heritage Institute, Sterling College, June 2008. |
“Portrait of a Local River: Results from a Bioassessment of the Wild Branch in Craftsbury and Wolcott”, EPSCoR Streams Project Symposium, April 2009. |
“The Black River: Past, Present and Future”, Memphremagog Watershed Association, July 2010. |
"Introduction to Watersheds”, Memphremagog Watershed Association, August 2011. |
“Hardwick Lake Today and Tomorrow”, Northern Rivers Land Trust Annual Meeting, June 2013. |
"Exploring a Changing Rural Culture”, Cultural Sustainability Symposium, Vermont Folklife Center, August 2013. |
“Upper Black River Stabilization Project” Craftsbury Conservation Commission Public Presentation, February 2015. |
Publications |
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The Mad River Valley Rural Resource Protection Project. (1989) Prepared for the Vermont Land Trust. |
Woodbury Lakes and Ponds. A summary of a report conducted by Jeff Parsons, Don Meals and Deb Lester. (1991) Prepared for the town of Woodbury, Vermont. |
Town Plans for local Vermont communities: Craftsbury (2006, 2011), Brownington (1992), Victory (1993). |
Hardwick Lake: Today and Tomorrow. (2013) Prepared for the Northern Rivers Land Trust. |
Accomplishments
Vermont Forestry Leadership Award, 1991, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and University of Vermont Extension Program Vermont Coverts Leadership Award, 2010, Vermont Coverts: Woodlands for Wildlife, Inc.
Three Books You Recommend?
- Water: A Natural History by Alice Outwater
- Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America by Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata
- The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-made Landscape – Land Use History and Planning
Farley's Recent Blog Posts
Jared Nunery, Orleans County Forester, Now on Campus
South House is now more than a dormitory; it also houses the office of the Orleans County Forester, Jared Nunery. Nunery has been the Orleans County Forester since 2013, but…
View moreJackson Dam
In June, faculty member Farley Brown ’85 presented the results of an eighteen month investigation into the ecology and natural history of Hardwick Lake, undertaken at the behest of the…
View moreFrog Call Surveys: A Recap
Last week, I finished up my frog call surveys. The ending is bittersweet, as now I have more time to focus on other work that needs to be done, but…
View more