On Thursday evening, Caitlin Morgan, a food systems scientist, picked up a call from her boss at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service at the University of Vermont. He told her that everyone who was still within their probationary period should brace for an imminent termination letter.

Less than 24 hours later, Morgan’s arrived — effective immediately. 

“It’s been super chaotic and traumatizing for those of us who’ve been working in the government, but it hasn’t hit the general populace the same way yet,” Morgan said. “There’s going to be ripple effects from what’s happening to us, and there’s probably going to be iterations on that for other people.”

Morgan was part of a 17-member team of researchers and scientists dedicated to studying food systems and agricultural sustainability in the state. Their work included research on flood resilience and the transition of agricultural land following the decline of dairy farms.

According to multiple employees, at least nine employees have been fired so far, including six scientists, stripping the team of years of institutional knowledge focused on building a more sustainable agricultural future. Despite being terminated for “poor performance,” all employees had spent years training for the role and received “fully satisfactory” ratings in their quarterly reviews, Morgan said.

Neither the University of Vermont nor the U.S. Department of Agriculture responded to multiple requests from VTDigger for comment.

The recent move to fire probationary employees across the federal government is the latest of several actions President Donald Trump has taken since starting his second term that have roiled parts of Vermont’s workforce.

On Feb. 5, all probationary employees received an email from the USDA reminding them of their probationary status and urging them to accept a buyout offer, noting they could be let go at any time, Morgan said.

“The buyout offer was that if we chose to resign, we would be paid through September and that we could get another job,” said a former employee who asked for anonymity fearing potential retribution. 

The former employee said the buyout offer encouraged employees to move from the “low-productivity public sector” to the “high-productivity private sector”.

But leaving a “dream job” wasn’t so simple.

“I really believed in the research. We were doing such good work, and it’s devastating. It just doesn’t exist anymore,” the employee said.