Vander Gac, Northeast SARE Communications Professional
Vander Gac (they/them) joined UVM in February as a communications professional for Northeast SARE. Gac’s role includes writing and producing content to share the stories of Northeast SARE with potential applicants, grantees, supporters, partners, and the farming public. They live in Bethel, VT with their spouse and a growing menagerie of pets.
Prior to joining SARE, Gac worked as an executive director for the Historic Masonic Temple of Bay City, as a development director for The MINT: Rutland’s Makerspace, and as news director for WUCX, an NPR affiliate based in University Center, Michigan.
Gac hold a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Wayne State University and a masters in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In their spare time, Gac tinkers in their workshop, reads, and watches monster movies.
Debra Fraser, ARS Food Systems Research Center Grants Administrator
Debra “Debb” Fraser recently joined the ARS Food Systems Research Center as their grants administrator. In this role, Fraser will be responsible for the financial management and coordination of multiple, large-scale grant awards from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and other federal agencies.
From 2013 until 2022, Fraser was the program coordinator for the Vermont Space Grant Consortium (VTSGC) and Vermont NASA EPSCoR. Her Vermont NASA role involved a wide range of duties including grant financial management, preparation of annual reports to NASA, management of VTSCG academic and museum affiliates located across the state, and coordination of STEM research and student-support programs administered by the VTSGC. The VTSGC/VT NASA EPSCoR office is located in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at UVM, which enabled Fraser to work closely with multiple offices across the campus, including the Office of the Vice President for Research, Student Financial Services, and Sponsored Project Administration.
Frasers experience includes functioning as a representative of the VTSGC within the national Space Grant Program. Over the years, she has cultivated strong working relationships with NASA leadership, both in the Space Grant program and NASA EPSCoR, as well as with other Space Grant consortia across the nation. As VTSGC program coordinator, she played a major role in the expansion of Space Grant programs. She made critical contributions to new programs in Vermont across the spectrum from STEM education to advanced aerospace research. These expansions include the NASA Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, the addition of a new affiliate organizations to the VTSGC, multiple grant awards under the NASAs Rapid Response Research Program, several $750K research grants under the NASA EPSCoR Faculty Research competition, and a three-year flight-opportunity project to test new technology aboard the International Space Station.
Fraser holds an associate degree in criminal justice from Champlain College.