2025 WINTER/SPRING INTERNS
Fritz Junker
Communications Intern
Born in Brookfield, Vermont, Fritz was reared in the woods where his love of the natural world began to bloom. When his family moved to Thetford in 2016, his love of agriculture grew strong roots with Crossmolina Farm in Corinth. He has worked with produce and livestock for the last 5 years at Crossmolina. Fritz also spent one semester in Mississippi working on a cattle farm raising grass fed beef and pasture raised eggs. He has now returned to Crossmolina as the livestock manager and is planning on finishing his schooling at Vermont State with a degree in digital marketing and communications. When he’s not out in the field, Fritz can be found running with his dog, fishing with his friends, or playing guitar in his cabin in Corinth.
Nathan Webb
Legislative Intern
Nathan enrolled a broken-down farmstead into Vermont’s Use Value Appraisal program about 20 years ago, slowly nursing it back to health ever since. He worked all along as a potter and educator, while pursuing a dream of building a production-scale wood-fired kiln that reaches porcelain temperatures. Such firings are collaborative, building community while stoking around the clock for days to melt ash into a natural ceramic glaze. This ancient craft puts a beautifully fluid and organic patterning on the pots, distinguishable from modern kiln designs. While connecting solar power to the studio one day, Nathan’s electrician described the growing interest in commercial solar development state-wide. With great curiosity, Nathan began looking into the idea of what he later came to know as energy justice. This led to conversations with folks at Vermont Law School, where Nathan went on to earn a JD in 2024. At VLS, Nathan worked with the Energy Clinic on clean solutions such as community solar and agrivoltaics - where farming and renewable energy generation coexist - maximizing land use efficiency and environmental sustainability. Nathan is excited about this next chapter - advocating with Rural Vermont for the health of future generations.
Isabel Kapitulik
Legislative Intern
Originally from the hilltowns of western Massachusetts, Izzy now lives in Craftsbury where she is starting her final semester at Sterling College this spring. Her studies have focused on ecology and sustainable food systems. She became particularly interested in addressing issues within those fields through policy after taking an environmental law and policy class. Her love of agriculture was sparked by a permaculture design course that she somewhat randomly took at her previous college, and continued to grow as she began working and volunteering on small farms. In her downtime you can find her crocheting, mending an old sweatshirt or taking a walk in the woods.