Kent McFarland, Director
A co-founder of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and director or the Vermont Atlas of Life, Kent McFarland is a conservation biologist, photographer, writer and naturalist. Kent has been on the State Advisory Group for Invertebrates for the Vermont Endangered Species Committee since 2002. In 2016, Kent was presented with the Sally Laughlin Award for the Conservation of Endangered and Threatened Species by the State of Vermont Endangered Species Committee. Profile »
Jason Loomis, Senior Software Developer
Jason enjoys the challenge of designing and building physical and virtual objects that work well and will last. He holds a BA in Physics from the University of Vermont, and has over twenty years of experience as a software developer, both as consultant and employee. Jason is putting all his skills to work helping VAL with open-source software infrastructure initially developed by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), which is now a critical component of the Global Biodiversity Information Infrastructure (GBIF) international network. Stay tuned to be dazzled by some amazing tools here at the Vermont Atlas of Life! Profile »
Nathaniel Sharp, Citizen Science Outreach Naturalist
A native of southeastern Pennsylvania and birder since the age of 9, Nathaniel’s interest in birds and the natural world was first sparked by the natural spectacle of shorebird migration along the Delaware Bay. Over the next year, he will be serving in this position through a program called ECO AmeriCorps, a branch of AmeriCorps (think the Peace Corps but in the US instead of abroad) with a focus on environmental careers and opportunities. Nathaniel will be your go-to guy for questions about projects at the Vermont Atlas of Life like Vermont eBird, iNaturalist, e-Butterfly, and other citizen science tools, as well as any Vermont nature questions you may have. Profile »