Lauren Weston, Researcher & Writer, Seed Media Project
Lauren Weston serves various roles in the fields of agriculture, food systems, and community building. She is currently the Peoples Farm and Gleaning Program Assistant and the Program Logistics Coordinator for a free meal program at the Intervale Center in Burlington, Vermont - a non-profit organization connecting people, land, and farms to strengthen community food systems. Additionally, she serves as a regenerative gardening and community building consultant for Grow More, Waste Less, a business that works with schools and organizations on gardening, composting, and community projects.
She is also a very active Board member for the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition where, for the past two years, she has led the efforts to host the Soil Series - a webinar series focused on soil health, community resilience, and social justice.
Lauren graduated from the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College in Northampton, MA in 2015 with a degree in Engineering Science and a minor in African Studies. She has worked in Uganda on clean drinking water initiatives; in Massachusetts at Amec Foster Wheeler on renewable energy and civil engineering projects; in Washington State as an Americorps member with the Washington Conservation Corps on environmental stewardship and river restoration projects; and in Vermont at Milone & MacBroom as a water resource engineer focusing on stream restoration, dam removals, and stormwater system design. Following her time as an engineer, she later worked as a soil health researcher, writer, and consultant while farming in various parts of the State.
In her work, Lauren has moved back and forth between water and land systems, acknowledging their inherent relationship and connections. With climate change at the forefront of her mind, she sought to investigate the potential for healthy soils and watersheds to address some of the weather trends being experienced around the world. Through this investigation, Lauren repeatedly came to understand that social justice work must be the first priority when seeking to address climate change and soil health because without equity in stewardship of the Earth, systems of oppression, devaluation, and degradation will prevent us from creating meaningful, necessary change in how the planet is treated. These ideas have driven her involvement in many initiatives related to supporting indigenous agricultural efforts in Vermont, helping to create a program for high school students of all backgrounds to earn school credit through hands-on farm days focused on understanding intersectionality, and seeking to amplify the voices of marginalized communities in projects focused on food and land sovereignty in Vermont.
She is also a very active Board member for the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition where, for the past two years, she has led the efforts to host the Soil Series - a webinar series focused on soil health, community resilience, and social justice.
Lauren graduated from the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College in Northampton, MA in 2015 with a degree in Engineering Science and a minor in African Studies. She has worked in Uganda on clean drinking water initiatives; in Massachusetts at Amec Foster Wheeler on renewable energy and civil engineering projects; in Washington State as an Americorps member with the Washington Conservation Corps on environmental stewardship and river restoration projects; and in Vermont at Milone & MacBroom as a water resource engineer focusing on stream restoration, dam removals, and stormwater system design. Following her time as an engineer, she later worked as a soil health researcher, writer, and consultant while farming in various parts of the State.
In her work, Lauren has moved back and forth between water and land systems, acknowledging their inherent relationship and connections. With climate change at the forefront of her mind, she sought to investigate the potential for healthy soils and watersheds to address some of the weather trends being experienced around the world. Through this investigation, Lauren repeatedly came to understand that social justice work must be the first priority when seeking to address climate change and soil health because without equity in stewardship of the Earth, systems of oppression, devaluation, and degradation will prevent us from creating meaningful, necessary change in how the planet is treated. These ideas have driven her involvement in many initiatives related to supporting indigenous agricultural efforts in Vermont, helping to create a program for high school students of all backgrounds to earn school credit through hands-on farm days focused on understanding intersectionality, and seeking to amplify the voices of marginalized communities in projects focused on food and land sovereignty in Vermont.