Our Staff

Abe Noe-Hays - Energy Educator in Southern Vermont

  In addition to being a VEEP Educator, Abe Noe-Hays also designs and manufactures educational equipment to use in VEEP presentations. He is a graduate of College of the Atlantic, with a B.A. in Human Ecology. To his work with VEEP, he brings a lifelong interest in science and electricity, a love of teaching and learning, and a passion for environmental conservation. He also is a consultant for Sustainable Harvest International's eco-sanitation program, designing and building waterless toilets in rural Belize and Nicaragua. Abe lives in Putney.

Andy Shapiro - Energy Engineer

  With a B.A. in engineering from Brown University, Andy Shapiro, through his company Energy Balance, Inc, has been providing energy consulting and design services to a wide variety of clients since 1988. He works with homeowners, architects, engineers and builders, as well as towns, landlords, non-profit housing organizations, and electric utilities. Services range from house-doctoring to sustainable building design and include research projects as well as utility program design and impact evaluation. He is the author of The Homeowners Complete Guide to Add-On Solar Greenhouses and Sunspaces (Rodale Press, 1985). He became VEEP's energy scientist in 1994. Shapiro provides a level of technical expertise unusual in classrooms and along with Barhydt is helping to enhance science teaching in New England schools. Andy lives in Montpelier.

Erin Malloy - Energy Educator in Central Vermont

  Erin Brannen Malloy has worked with VEEP since 2001.  Erin, a Prescott College alumnus, has been involved in alternative education programs dedicated to farming, the arts, environment and energy.  In 2002, Erin created an off-grid, solar / wind – powered earthen home, using the home as a teaching tool, Erin & her family have hosted over 800 volunteers. When not working with VEEP, Erin spends the majority of her time mothering, tending the garden, and planting more trees in their orchard.

Fran Barhydt - Director of Curriculum and Instruction 

  A graduate of the University of Delaware and Central Michigan University, Fran was awarded NSF grants to study biology and physics at Northern Arizona University and “Science A Process Approach” at the University of Delaware. She was recognized by the National Science Teachers Association and the University of Delaware's College of Education. She was a consultant for the Delaware Museum of Natural Science, Delmarva Power, and schools in Delaware, Vermont, and New Hampshire.  Fran is the writer and on-camera teacher in Disney’s education video, “Chemistry Matters,” and has written science resource books for Prentice Hall, including The Science Teacher’s Book of Lists.  Fran started with VEEP in 1989 and served as Director until 2007. Fran now serves as VEEP's Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and she has been awarded grants from US EPA and US DOE for developing VEEP energy resource guides for teachers. 

George Hooker - Energy Educator in Southwestern Vermont

  George taught Biology and Environmental Science at Rutland High School for 35 years.  He retired from public schools in 2008, but can’t stop teaching. He now works part-time at Castleton State College (where he teaches “Science & Sustainability”), Mt. St. Joseph Academy (teaching AP Biology), and as an Energy Educator for VEEP. He lives in Rutland with his wife, Cheryl, and has four grown children (one of whom works at VEIC!).

Ginny Elliott - Energy Educator in Northern Vermont

Ginny joined VEEP in November, 2003, after retiring from teaching in various capacities in elementary education. She has a BS degree in Elementary Education and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. VEEP has been the “perfect fit” for her passion for the environment.

 

 

Lynn Wurzburg - Energy Educator in Northeastern Vermont

  Lynn has worked as a VEEP instructor since 2007. She has a B.S. degree in Environmental Science and Secondary Education Certification from Lyndon State College in Vermont. Lynn lives in St.Johnsbury, VT on a small farm with her husband Otto, daughters Thea and Amelia, and various other domesticated animals.

 

 

Seth Wolcott-MacCausland - Energy Educator in Northwestern Vermont

  Seth has held most any job you can imagine while broadening his life experiences from the small dairy farm and maple sugaring operation in Northwestern Vermont where he grew up. After earning a teacher’s certificate in secondary education at Middlebury College and a teaching stint (5th and 6th grade science and math) in lower Manhattan, Seth returned to Vermont with his partner, now wife, Martha. His taxes are still complicated with annual activities including independent contracting work in both carpentry and organic vegetable, dairy, and maple inspections. Springtime brings a full-time commitment to his family’s 4000 tap sugarmaking operation. Seth is also the founder of Pumpkin Village Foods, a distributor that supplies high-quality Vermont products to nearly 20 retail businesses in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Since 2008, Seth has enjoyed the excitement that students of all ages experience while investigating the world of electricity and conservation through various VEEP programs. This work has continued to provide optimism and inspiration in this rapidly changing world. Seth lives in Burlington.


Wendy McArdle - Managing Director

  Wendy has a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and has devoted her professional life to conveying the conservation ethic.  She is passionate about working with kids, protecting the environment, and building community. Wendy lives in Starksboro and enjoys traveling, cooking, skiing, and spending time with her husband Scott, daughters Caroline and Jenna, and dog Stella.