In this episode we welcome Michele Braun, the Executive Director of the Friends of the Winooski River.

Michele took the helm at the Friends of the Winooski in 2018. She was the founding president of the watershed organization twenty years earlier. In her prior role as the planner for the Town of Northfield, Michele was responsible for the acquisition and demolition of 18 homes damaged in Tropical Storm Irene. Following that buyout, she coordinated a multidisciplinary project team focused on restoring the floodplain to reduce flood risk and enhance downtown recreation opportunities.

Previously, she worked as an environmental policy analyst, responsible for managing projects, designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder meetings and workshops for city and state governments, US EPA, watershed organizations, environmental health associations, and multi-partner collaborative environmental planning projects. Michele has a Master of Science in Natural Resources Planning from the University of Vermont, and she earned her bachelor of arts degree in Government & Legal Studies and Romance Languages from Bowdoin College. She has served on the Board of the Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools since 2013, and enjoys a busy life in Montpelier with her husband and children.

Music for this episode: "The Good Life" by Railroad Earth.

This episode is sponsored by the Cosmic Cotton Tie Dye Studio. (enter "Bordertown" at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase)

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