Marlys E. Eddy

Marlys Eddy is an associate professor and program director of Landscape Contracting. She is a plant and soil scientist with a focus on sustainable agriculture and viticulture. Her teaching is focused on plant biology courses including Botany, Greenhouse Management, and Introduction to Horticulture. Marlys also works on native plant conservation for the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forest of the US Forest Service. Marlys has traveled to the Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland to study sustainable agriculture and to participate in the day-to-day life of the intentional community. Prior to her appointment at Vermont Tech, Marlys worked as a soil testing and fertility consultant for grazers and vineyards, an agricultural research assistant with the University of Vermont Apple Team, and an environmental educator with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Marlys is from Belmont, Vermont, and enjoys cross-country skiing with her dog.

  • School

    Agriculture, Plant, and Animal Sciences

  • Role

    Professor & Department Chair

  • Department(s)

  • Degrees

    BA, MS, University of Vermont

  • Phone

    (802) 728-1780

  • Email

    meddy@vtc.edu

  • Respect in the Workplace

    Respectful work environments are open and feel like they’re full of open-minded people, according to Marlys. Within that type of environment, Marlys can express her creativity more which is the highest level of functioning to solve problems better, create more interesting lectures and more enlightening lab experiences. Marlys defines a positive, respectful culture as having the qualities of trust, openness, a lack of wariness, and the assumption of competence.
  • Respect and Appreciation

    Marlys feels respected when colleagues take an interest in her work, especially if that interest is above and beyond what information they need for basic work functions. When the Forest Service invested in safety training for her and her team, she felt respected as an individual as well as being bolstered as a functioning team. During the training, inclusive language was used, which signaled to Marlys that she was in a respectful environment.
  • Supervisor Modeling Respectful Behavior

    Having a supervisor that is respectful motivates Marlys even more to do a good job. It enhances her confidence in her ability, her dedication and motivation. Her best supervisors have always focused on her strengths and the worst have only been negligent rather than critical. Marlys has felt that she’s making a difference when it’s noted by a supervisor since that reinforces that the decision-making is on track.