Promoting belonging, empowerment, and community care for BIPOC students in the interdisciplinary environmental sciences at UVM

This thesis explores the ways in which race influences environmental learning experiences for students of color at UVM. I engaged in focus groups with eight UVM students and alumni to garner insights on their experiences in environmental learning, in addition to how they perceived community resources such as the BIPOC Environmental Collective. Participants reflected on their racial identity formation, their relationship to the outdoors, their perceptions of Vermont, and the ways in which they found community at UVM. The findings of this research underscore the profound importance of community care in supporting BIPOC students’ feelings of belonging and empowerment in environmental spaces.