Kristyn Dumont Achilich Director, The Patrick ’61 and Marcelle Leahy Institute for the Environment; Senior Sustainability Officer; Instructor, Education
Bio
M.S. University of Vermont
M.Ed. St. Michael’s College ’20
B.S. St. Michael’s College ‘05
Areas of Expertise:
Systems Thinking, Organizational Design, food Systems Sustainable Agriculture, Experiential Education, Environmental Education, Sustainability
Courses I Teach:
- Food Systems & Sustainable Agriculture
- Environmental Education
- Independent StudySpecial Topics, Student Leadership, and Independent Research Academic Supervisor
The courses I teach highlight the need for liberal arts trained citizens to contend for some of the largest social issues of our time – equitable food and engaged education. Food Systems & Sustainable Ag grounds systemic issues in the food system in the agriculture that supports our livelihoods. It covers knowledge and theory of sustainable practices in the classroom and technical skills in agroecology on our campus’ working farm and in service to our community farm partners. Environmental Education prepares the students to see opporutnities in their teach for interdisciplinarity thorough rigorous learning opportunities in an outdoor setting and create curriculum that supports the learning opportunities as a leverage point for integrating more active, out of dorrs learnign in the public schools whilst keeping and often building intrinsic student engagement. The independent work I do with students and our Leahy Institute for the Environment team members focuses on building leadership skills along side building the skills, knowled, and experience necessary to work in the environmental sector. This work often has studnets leading significant research for the advancement of our college infrastructure and culture as a lighthouse of sustainable operations and engaged education.
Research
My primary research focus has shifted from supporting the development of a food-secure campus and collaborating with colleagues in applied field research, such as water quality, soil chemistry, and entomology. I now concentrate on integrating Competency-Based Learning for Career Readiness, Experiential Learning Theory, and Communities of Practice to structure the college’s learning experiences. This approach enables the integration of multiple disciplines to undertake the transdisciplinary, coordinated, collective, and systemic actions required to address one of the world’s most pressing challenges—climate change.The central thesis is that to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary in systemic transdisciplinary fields, we must model our teaching and institutional practices accordingly. This alignment ensures that students can effectively translate their learning into meaningful contributions to their future careers and exist in their classrooms in an active manner contributing to their success.
Recent News
Kristyn Achilich ’05, director of the College’s Institute for the Environment and instructor of Environmental Studies & Sciences, has led the Center to a Silver STARS rating, a strong national recognition that came this summer for the Center’s valuable and innovative work under her direction. This rating comes from the Association for the Advancement for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). An official for the national AASHE STARS team wrote to announce the news in June to Karen Talentino — the retiring biology professor and former vice president for academic affairs who was instrumental in plugging the College into the rating system years ago and advocating for sustainability measures at the College. Achilich has carried forth those early efforts energetically and comprehensively since. The certification is valid through July 5, 2024. Also last semester, Kristyn joined a Zoom talk by the author of this year’s environmentally themed Common Text, Braiding Sweetgrass, as an active participant.
(posted February 2022)
Kristyn Achilich’05, director of the Institute for the Environment and instructor of Environmental Studies & Sciences, led students in tapping maples and boiling maple syrup this winter into spring across campus and at the College Farm. They collected sap for nearly two weeks and did their main sap boil on the March 24 break day. In May, Kristyn organized and led a week of activities culminating in a special volunteer planting push on Vermont Green-up Day (Saturday, May 1); all told, over about a week, 70 students harvested, washed and planted spring crops on the farm, 30 or so planted native pollinator plants in the center of campus, complementing the tree nursery installed in fall of 2019, and another 30 found their way to the 360-acre Natural Area on the other side of Route 15 to contribute to the ecological restoration efforts of the college on the local watershed.
(posted July 2021)
Kristyn Achilich, Environmental Science/Studies & The Farm (with both instructor and staff roles), was a winner of one of this year’s Staff Awards for her notable contributions to the College; the announcement came during a virtual Staff Assembly in September to celebrate community achievements among Saint Michael’s employees.
(posted February 2021)
Kristyn Achilich, director of the Institute for the Environment/instructor of environmental studies & sciences, along with Karen Talentino, director of the health science program/professor of biology, and Doug Facey, professor of biology, all contributed to Saint Michael’s virtual observance of The 50th Annual Earth Day on April 22. Though many earlier plans for the occasion calling for in-person activities had to be canceled because of the pandemic. The three shared stories with students and colleagues from their personal “first Earth Days” remotely through technology. Karen participated in the first ever while in college, Doug shared his circa 1990 Earth Day shirt with the Sustainability Committee; and Kristin noted how her Earth Day in 2001 came with an earthquake in Vermont.
(posted June 2020)