The Preserve at Vassar

Jen Rubbo, Director of the Environmental Cooperative, Receives NYS OCFS Grant for Exploring Science

Jen Rubbo, Director of the Environmental Cooperative, received New York State grant funding to support Vassar’s Exploring Science program. Through this grant, local youth, ages 18–21, will be hired as interns to work alongside Vassar undergraduates and provide summer programming for PreK–12 students, including opportunities to learn about nature, “think like a scientist,” and engage with the Preserve.

Jennifer Rubbo, Director of the Environmental Cooperative, was quoted in an article for The Imprint about how spending time outdoors, whether in sports or nature, helps prevent crime among youth.

In Poughkeepsie, children and teens have been participating in a state-funded hiking and wilderness club; participants say it is a great alternative to being indoors all the time.

A large group of people standing under a large tree with a Main Building in the background.

On the Occasion of Arbor Day, Vassar Celebrates the 100th Year of Its Arboretum

Celebrating the official kickoff of the 100th Anniversary of Vassar’s cherished Arboretum on Arbor Day, students, faculty, staff, and alums came together to enjoy a day of activities that included a gratitude walk, a ceremony honoring the campus grounds crew, the Class of 2027 tree planting and more.

The Environmental Cooperative Theater at the Vassar Barns

Preserve at Vassar Receives State Grant for New Pavilion

The Preserve at Vassar was awarded a grant through the NYS-funded Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquaria (ZBGA) Capital Program in support of the construction of a pavilion to serve as a visible anchor for the site while providing needed shelter for education and outreach programs, including those of the Poughkeepsie Farm Project.

New Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (LH-PRISM) Grant

Keri VanCamp, Director of the Field Station and Ecological Preserve, and her collaborators received another grant from the Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (LH-PRISM).

Three people with shovels digging around a newly planted tree.

Vassar’s Preserve Receives Grant for “Sowing Seeds of Engagement: Meadow Restoration Demonstration Area”

Keri VanCamp, Director of the Preserve at Vassar–in collaboration with Jen Rubbo, Director of the Environmental Cooperative; Dean Jaeger, Grounds Manager; Evan Lasher, Grounds Foreman; and Ethan Skuches, Vassar-Kenauk Conservation Fellow–was selected by the Partners for Climate Action (PCA) for an Ecological Restoration Grant supporting creative and engaging ways to support pollinators through native meadow restoration in the Hudson Valley bioregion.

Green illustration with aquatic animals and text that reads: Lower Hudson Prism.

Keri VanCamp, Director of the Field Station and Ecological Preserve, and Her Collaborators Receive a Grant from the Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (LH-PRISM)

This grant award will support the continuing project of invasive species monitoring, assessment, and control this summer on Vassar’s Ecological Preserve, as well as at collaborator's sites.