New Land Use Planner and Water Quality Educator Hired

The Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) Program is pleased to announce the appointment of a new staff member. Linda Patterson joined the team in August as the Land Use Planning and Water Quality Educator, a position previously held by Becky Tharp, who is now directing the Green Infrastructure Collaborative with LCSG and the VT Department of Environmental Conservation.

Linda is responsible for coordinating education programs designed to target professional groups and municipal board members on the impacts of land use on water quality. Linda will focus her efforts on a suite of courses targeting Real Estate professionals licensed in Vermont and will expand those offerings to New York licensees. She will also further develop the Sustainable Landscape Stewards Program to offer high-impact programming to municipal planning and development review board members.

Linda is co-founder of Ahead of the Storm (AOTS), a tri-town educational resource collaborative for public and private landowners, affiliated with the Lewis Creek Association. Ahead of the Storm is developing demonstration sites within the Charlotte/Shelburne/Hinesburg watershed region upon which to design and implement optimal conservation practices to manage storm water runoff. Linda’s involvement with other local watershed initiatives includes her role as Lake Wise Leader through the Department of Environmental Conservation and Blue Green Algae tracker with the Lake Champlain Committee.

Linda’s office is located in the George D. Aiken Forestry Sciences Laboratory on Spear Street.  She can be reached at Linda.Patterson [at] uvm.edu or by phone at (802) 656-7668.