Office and People Directory

Ellen Emery

Biography

Ellen received her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in both Spanish and math and her M.Ed. from Saint Michael’s College. Following her 22 years as a classroom teacher, 10 years working with new teachers, and 27 years training new teachers, Ellen brings an exceptional level of expertise in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to the TAP program. Even after 35 years of instruction, she is passionate about teaching and working with pre-service and novice teachers! Ellen serves on several state and national boards in the service of making schools better for both teachers and students.

What are your hobbies?

Zumba, gardening, reading, scrap booking, furniture refinishing, games, and walking the dog

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

Love to walk local bike paths and Fellowship of the Wheel trails, eat sandwiches from Martone’s Market and spend time on Seymour Lake.

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Laura Ennis

Biography

Laura Ennis joined the Financial Aid team at Champlain College in 2021. Laura is the Financial Aid Counselor for the online and graduate students.

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Jorge Erazo

Biography

Jorge Erazo graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Mathematics. He began his career in Undergraduate Admissions that following year and remained there until moving into the hospitality industry in Northeast Pennsylvania. He then decided to pursue a move back into Higher Education and Admissions with Champlain College where he is excited to engage with new and inquisitive minds as they embark on their college journey.

Territories

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, Salem), New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia

US Territories:
American Samoa (AS)
Guam (GU)
Northern Mariana Islands (MP)
Puerto Rico (PR)
United States Virgin Islands (VI)
Marshall Islands (MH)
Federated States of Micronesia (FM)
Palau (PW)

Armed Forces:
Americas (AA)
Europe, Middle East and Canada (AE)
Pacific (AP)

Hobbies

Gaming, Reading, Scale Model Building and Walking Dogs

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Erik Esckilsen

Biography

Erik Esckilsen came to Champlain College from the publishing industry, where he worked as a writer and editor. Today he teaches writing-intensive courses in a range of subjects, emphasizing art and digital culture, and remains active as an essayist, fiction writer, journalist, and scholar.

Curriculum Vitae

READ MY CV

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Valerie Esposito

Biography

Valerie Esposito has been at Champlain since July 2010 and is the Director for the Applied Sustainability and Environmental Studies and Policy programs. She teaches courses on Sustainability, Environmental Justice, Women’s Leadership, Place-based Sustainability, Ecological Economics, Mindfulness, Becoming Part of the Creative Economy and the Capstone.

Valerie attended American University, earning a B.A. in Justice. She received an M.A. from Brown University in Environmental Studies. She obtained her Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Ecological Economics from the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics and the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Prior to coming to Champlain she served as the Executive Director of the Vermont Earth Institute.

After college Valerie spent two years living abroad in Costa Rica and Chile, where she participated in environmental volunteer work and taught English. She pursued her international interests in her doctoral work, conducting research and working with local non-profit and non-governmental organizations in Costa Rica, Peru and the Dominican Republic. She is very interested in bringing this experience to the classroom, to ensure relevant local, national and global issues are addressed. Her research interests include ecological literacy, education for sustainability, service learning and ecological economic policy implementation.

Valerie enjoys spending time with family and friends and taking advantage of Vermont’s natural and cultural playground, through skiing, hiking, biking, canoeing, camping, theater visits and seeing live music. Sustainable travel, gardening, cooking, reading and cultivating her inner yogini also keep her busy.

Distinctions & Awards

John Lavalle Innovation Award, 2019
Academic Innovation Award, 2023

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

• US Society for Ecological Economics
• International Society for Ecological Economics
• North American Association for Environmental Education
• Association for Environmental Studies and Science

Curriculum Vitae

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Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• Kimmerer, R.W. Braiding Sweetgrass
  A beautiful and poetic exploration of how humans can reimagine a holistic, inclusive relationship with the environment and all living beings based on indigenous wisdom and ways of knowing.
• Kaza, S. Mindfully Green: A Personal and Spiritual Guide to Whole Earth Thinking
  Explores Buddhist ideals of reducing harm, being with ecosystems and taking a deep systems view to implement the green practice path.
• Eisler, R. The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating A Caring Economics
  Explores the impact of the caring economy to give visibility and value to the socially and economically essential work of caring for people and the planet.

Favorite Quote

“To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it.”

—Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Sinyoung Evans

Biography

Sinyoung Ra Evans is a born-in-Japan, Korean-American instructor. She started her career teaching English in Japan, and currently teaches Japanese in a high school, in an online program, and at Champlain College.

From the beginning, her teaching philosophy has remained the same: teacher as a learner, teacher as an entertainer! In other words, she tries not to forget to see the lesson plans, materials, and activities from the learner’s point of view. She says, “Probably I am lucky to be a non-native speaker of English who needs to keep monitoring English language use consciously and subconsciously in my daily life.” She tries to find something interesting “such as songs, games, films, products, and such” so that students can connect their target language to the real world naturally. As she travels nationally and internationally, as she teaches in the classrooms, as she guides and translates for exchange programs in Japan and in the U.S., she truly believes connecting knowledge to actual successful communication brings genuine smiles to the students and contributes significantly to their achievement of the learning.

Sinyoung Ra Evans has an MA in TESOL from Saint Michael’s College and a Vermont State K-12 educator’s license for ESL and Japanese.

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Jenny Evans First

Biography

I have been a Family Nurse Practitioner for almost 15 years in Burlington, at the Community Health Centers of Burlington and Champlain College. I received my nursing license and degree at the University of Vermont. I love working with young people – learning their stories and particular interests, strengths and challenges and helping them learn to care for themselves. I love to play outdoors with my family and friends, particularly mountain biking, skiing and hiking. I also love to read, fiction mostly, spend time in museums, fresh grapefruit and bodysurfing. I am learning to play pickleball.

What are your hobbies?

I love to read, ride my bike, play in the ocean, hike and hang out with my family and friends.

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

Honey Road and Gray Jay restaurants; play in Lake Champlain

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Christopher Ewing

Biography

Professor in business and psychology, consultant and Six Sigma Black Belt. Leader of healthcare teams and call centers. Author and researcher on Cultivated Leadership™.

Publications & Abstracts

Living Your Leadership: Grow Intentionally, Thrive with Integrity, and Serve Humbly

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

• Horizon Research Publishing Corporation, Peer Editor
• Mensa, Member

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• Bass, B.M. (1985). Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press.
• Greenleaf, R.K. (1977). Servant Leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
• George, B. (2003). Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Favorite Quote

Humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak, but of the strong.

—Pope Francis

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Samara Fantie

Biography

Samara Fantie is a game developer and artist currently based in Vermont. Her robust background in the sciences includes an MA from American University in Mathematics and a BA with distinction from Amherst College in Psychology and Mathematics.

Leveraging a lifelong love of art, games, and interactive narratives, Samara has accumulated over a decade of experience helping people tell their stories. Her portfolio spans a wide array of projects including visual development, comics, 3D modeling, illustration, and many other flavors of game-related art and design. She has collaborated with a diverse range of clients including neuroscientists, indie developers, and Unity, showcasing her versatility and expertise in both technical and artistic domains. Her passion for the craft and innovative adaptability have enabled her to consistently deliver compelling creative solutions that resonate with audiences.

As co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of game studio Glossbird, Samara brings a unique blend of analytical rigor and creative vision to the gaming industry. Prior to teaching at Champlain College, she taught graduate-level courses at American University’s Game Lab for their Master of Arts in Game Design program.

Distinctions & Awards

• a16z TxO f’23 Accelerator Cohort
• PocketGamer: Most Innovative Mobile Game of the Year Finalist
• SmithMicro: The Avatar Challenge Design Contest

Publications & Abstracts

A Burlington Game Developer Hopes to Hit It Big With ‘Fitment’

Professional/ Scholastic Affiliations

Glossbird

Recommended Reading

Mrs. Davis

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Nick Faulk

Biography

Nick Faulk leads Champlain College Library’s in-person and online instructional programs. These initiatives develop students’ skills in information literacy and digital scholarship methods through in-class sessions and online learning objects. He is particularly interested in helping faculty and students explore techniques for integrating computer programming and geospatial methods with more traditional library research methods. Additional interest areas include motivation and communication in online learning scenarios and the development of digital collections and interactive spaces to teach sociocultural topics. He has been connected with libraries for his entire life as a third-generation library employee.

Publications & Abstracts

• Faulk, N. & Crist, E. (2020, Apr.). A mixed-methods study of library communication with online students and faculty members. College & Research Libraries, 81(3), 361-377.
• Faulk, N., & Carbery, A. (2019). Using motivation theory and research when teaching information literacy online. In S. Steiner & M. Rigby (Eds.), Motivating students on a time budget: Pedagogical frames and lesson plans for in-person and online information literacy instruction. Chicago, IL: ACRL Press.
• Faulk, N. (2018). Bringing scale and structure to the online information literacy program. Journal of Library and Information Services in Distance Learning, 12(3-4), 198-208.
• Faulk, N. (2018, Apr.). What faculty have to say about library outreach. College & Research Libraries News, 79(4), 193-196.

Favorite Quote

“Time exists in order that everything doesn’t happen all at once”¦ and space exists so that it doesn’t all happen to you.”

—An “old riff” as interpreted by Susan Sontag

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Fay

Biography

Fay obtained their bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saint Michael’s College and an MFA in Emergent Media from Champlain College where they worked as a project management fellow for two years. While pursuing their education, Fay also worked as a YouTuber, Twitch.tv live streamer, & esports commentator. In January of 2018, Fay moved to Akron in order to design, implement, and manage the new esports program at the University of Akron as well as serve as the head coach of their newly formed varsity teams. Fay also built, opened, and managed the Esports Center at Rutgers University from 2019 until 2021. In 2022, Fay sought to bring their passion for student development to bear for Champlain College and its Esports Living Learning community.

What are your hobbies?

Dungeons & Dragons, League of Legends, & Valheim

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Cooper Fellows

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Jonathan Ferguson

Biography

Jonathan Ferguson, Assistant Professor, Game Design and Game Production, Division of Communications and Creative Media at Champlain College is a Game Designer and software freedom advocate. Prof. Ferguson has over 28 years of technology development experience, spanning careers in Cybersecurity, Software Development, Game Development, and Teaching.

Professor Ferguson maintains particular interests in free and open source software, game technology, game history and game preservation and access. Prof. Ferguson holds a Masters of Science in Managing Innovation in Information Technology from Champlain College.

Professor Ferguson is the creator of the Game History Collection at Champlain College. The mission of the Game History Collection is to preserve and provide access to historical games for study and play. This requires ongoing preservation and maintenance of game software, hardware and online platforms needed to replicate the experiences of historical games. Providing access to past experiences drives the preservation efforts of the Game History Collection in The Game Studio at Champlain College. The GHC offers access to thousands of games for students to study and play, providing direct access to original hardware, emulation, and hardware-reimplementation of games.

Since 2009, Prof. Ferguson has served as the Faculty Advisor for the 3 hours weekly project-based Free and Open Source Technology Club (FOTC) at Champlain College, offering weekly opportunities to explore and discuss software and hardware freedom. Over the 2022-2023 academic year, students built a small-scale (Beowulf) compute cluster, and learned about Amateur Radio and Electronics. Over 2024-2025 academic year, students engaged in learning about Software Defined Radio and the HamSCI project.

Professor Ferguson is also the Faculty advisor for the Juggling Club.

Read My CV

Distinctions & Awards

2021 John Lavallee Innovation Award

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

• ACM
• IEEE
• AAAS
• IGDA

Curriculum Vitae

READ MY CV

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Cole Filson

Biography

Cole is the Health and Medical Office Coordinator at the Champlain College Student Health Center. He just recently started his position at Champlain College and as recent college graduate himself, lends a welcoming perspective to the students. In his free time, Cole enjoys being outdoors, photography, and listening to a wide range of music.

Hobbies

Photography, Music, Hiking

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Jessica Fischer

Biography

Jessica Fischer teaches a section of Biology of Nutrition & Fitness. She attended University of Rhode Island for Nutrition & Dietetics with a focus on Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems. She then attended UVM to complete her graduate studies in Dietetics. She is also a Clinical Dietitian at UVM Medical Center where she counsels a variety of adult populations with chronic diseases. She is passionate about nutrition and overall wellness through movement and time spent connecting with nature. In her free time she is an avid gardener, skier, and trail walker accompanied by her dog.

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