Environmental Policy & Civic Action with Bob Mello, Susan Kaplan, Paul Bierman, and Michael Snyder | 2026 Green Mountain Book Festival: Climate Critters & Canopies

Join critically acclaimed nature writers and environmentalists Bob Mello, Susan Kaplan, Paul Bierman, and  Michael Snyder for a panel all about Environmental Policy and Civil Action! The panel will be held on Saturday, September 19th from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM as part of the 2026 Green Mountain Book Festival: Climate Critters & Canopies hosted at Phoenix Books Burlington.  

Robert Mello is a retired Vermont Superior Court judge, author of When the Trees Came Back: The Great Battle to Save Vermont's Forests, and is also the author of Moses Robinson and the Founding of Vermont (published by the Vermont Historical Society in 2014) and Last Stand of the Red Spruce (Island Press, 1988).

Susan Kaplan is an environmental health lawyer, professor and writer. She has held policy positions in federal and state government, served as assistant director of an energy policy group at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and taught environmental health policy in the public health programs of the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor and other outlets. She lives in Vermont.

Paul Bierman is a Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Vermont, where he develops methods to understand ice and date rocks. His passions include telling stories and solving the mysteries of our planet. A researcher by training and a teacher for over four decades, Paul looks at our planet with wonder and curiosity. His career has taken him to searing deserts and frigid ice sheets to build an understanding of the link between our Earth and human societies - what today we call, sustainability. His articles have appeared in Science and Nature, and his findings have been covered by CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Weather Channel, among others. 

Michael Snyder is a Vermont licensed forester and owner of Greenfire Enterprises, advising, consulting, and writing on forestry, forest health, outdoor recreation, policy, and strategic communications. His clients include family and municipal forest owners, non-profit environmental and conservation organizations, and for-profit businesses. Previously he served for 12 years as Commissioner of Vermont’s Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and Vermont State Forester. Prior to that he served for 14 years as Chittenden County Forester, providing technical forest stewardship assistance to private landowners and municipalities. He also taught, for 12 years, two courses in Forestry at the University of Vermont and wrote the Woods Whys column for Northern Woodlands Magazine for two decades. He is author of the book, Woods Whys — An Exploration of Forests and Forestry.

DATE: Saturday, September 19, 2026 from 3:00 to 4:00 PM 

LOCATION: Phoenix Books Burlington, 89 Church Street, Burlington, VT 

TICKETS: Tickets for this panel are FREE! The Green Mountain Book Festival will be accepting cash donations during the event. You can RSVP through the Seven Days Tickets website. 

BOOKS: Books by the panelists will be available for purchase at the event.