[middtube nzucker mp3: jenniferturner_nathanzucker_10.21]

I interviewed Jennifer Turner on October 21st in her beautiful home in the hills surrounding Starksboro. Interestingly, she, like Caroline Camara, was influenced by the ocean in her life as an environmentalist and outdoors person. Our discussion ranged from the recycling program she helped start in Starksboro to her experiences traveling abroad.

0:30 Turner grew up on the Massachusetts coast, where she had a strong interest in swimming and fishing in the ocean. She became attracted to science through these interactions with the outdoors. She would later mention that school wasn’t a great outlet for her fascination with natural history and ecology.

1:20 After finishing college, Turner lived with a family on a farm in southern Vermont as a sort of homesteading experience. She learned to garden, run a woodstove efficiently, and operate a saw mill.

6:30 When she met her first husband in Vermont, they both discovered they had a great interest in boats and wanted to go sailing. The couple sailed across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, making it as far as Turkey. Turner remembers swimming with sperm whales in the Mediterranean as a special experience, although she admits that she and her husband didn’t get along well during the trip. However, the ancient cultures of Europe made a mark on Turner. “The richness of the culture was great for me to see,” she said.

12:00 After returning to the United States and separating from her first husband, she enrolled at the University of New Hampshire to study botany. She then met her current spouse, who was studying forestry at the time. The two then went to the University of Vermont in Burlington to complete graduate work in their chosen fields.

14:20 When they found a house in Starksboro, Turner realized that this was the perfect place to raise a family. The community was mixed, friendly, and safe.

15:40 In the late 1980s, Vermont passed a recycling law to reduce solid waste. Turner became involved in the local recycling program, which had limited funds and very little equipment. The effort slowly evolved until they could offer single-stream recycling, which increased the program’s popularity and efficacy.

24:30 Recycling is logistically difficult in rural areas with low population densities. First, many people still believe in the waste mentality and don’t see much difference between throwing something out and recycling it. Second, economic feasibility is limited because a hauler has to drive far to pick up a small number of items.

40:30 Turner’s daughter left school at the age of 15 to pursue alternative activities. She enrolled in a Folk School in Norway, which emphasized outdoor education and the mastery of traditional disciplines such as woodwork. This model of experimental education worked well for her daughter, and she then earned good money by working on several small dairy farms in rural Norway. When Turner visited her daughter, she “didn’t want to come home.”

50:35 As for Starksboro memories, Turner mentioned Gary Orvis. She describes Orvis as one of the main “characters” of the town. He is extremely creative with machinery and once made a wood-splitter that can handle seven logs at a time and place them on a conveyor belt for transport. His office is a collection of unusual equipment, grease, and cigarette smoke.

58:26 Turner recounted her experience winter camping at Ausable Lake in the Adirondacks. She used a poncho as a sail to travel across a frozen lake. “You go pretty fast,” she joked. We shared stories about various camping and boating trips in Adirondack Park.

1:04:50 As she gets older, Turner wants to develop her hobbies more. She mentioned forestry and woodworking as two activities she is currently pursuing. She has been working on creating trails for hiking and skiing.

1:08:38 We discussed the transition of Vermont’s agriculture from a traditional model to a boutique model that emphasizes sustainability and high-quality products. Turner emphasized the need to stay local and her joy at the expansion of farmers’ markets.

1:14:15 Turner would like to do some more traveling now. She wants to visit Greece again, as she feels each island has its own identity and a strong sense of local pride. Turkey is also on her mind, a place with a great diversity of landscapes and ethnicities.