The Vermont Caribbean Institute (VCI) supports sustainable solutions to strengthen communities in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the U.S. by designing people-to-people and educational travel opportunities and implementing collaborative projects to address today’s most pressing socio-ecological challenges.
Margarita Fernandez joined VCI as Executive Director in January 2015 to lead their programs in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Margarita comes to VCI with over 15 years of experience working on sustainable agriculture, community development and biodiversity conservation in Latin America, the U.S. and Southeast Asia. In 2004, Margarita received her Master’s degree in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science where she studied Havana and NYC's urban agriculture movements. In May 2015 she earned her PhD in Agroecology at the University of Vermont where she has been working with coffee farmers in Chiapas, Mexico and northern Nicaragua to understand the relationship between agrobiodiversity, food sovereignty and rural livelihoods. She is an advisor for CUSAN.
Website: www.vtcaribbean.org
Margarita Fernandez joined VCI as Executive Director in January 2015 to lead their programs in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Margarita comes to VCI with over 15 years of experience working on sustainable agriculture, community development and biodiversity conservation in Latin America, the U.S. and Southeast Asia. In 2004, Margarita received her Master’s degree in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science where she studied Havana and NYC's urban agriculture movements. In May 2015 she earned her PhD in Agroecology at the University of Vermont where she has been working with coffee farmers in Chiapas, Mexico and northern Nicaragua to understand the relationship between agrobiodiversity, food sovereignty and rural livelihoods. She is an advisor for CUSAN.
Website: www.vtcaribbean.org