Introducing Andrew Brown, Lake Champlain Sea Grant fellow

Lake Champlain Sea Grant is thrilled to partner with six Chittenden County municipalities; Burlington, South Burlington, Colchester, Essex, Essex Junction, and Shelburne, Vermont to host Andrew Brown as a Stormwater Regional Utility Research Fellow. This is Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s sixth partnered fellowship. In these unique positions, we team up with community groups such as local nonprofits and municipalities to support a position that will benefit both organizations at the same time as affording the fellow opportunity to develop knowledge and skills that can enhance their future careers.

While Andrew will sit at the University of Vermont with Lake Champlain Sea Grant, he will coordinate with these partners to understand how each municipality addresses specific stormwater permit requirements. Based on his findings, he will determine what practices may make sense to scale up or regionalize, which might be most cost effective to be adopted by other municipalities, and which make most sense for each municipality to address individually. He will also look to other areas for examples of regionalized services to address requirements and identify where challenges may exist. These findings will increase the efficiency of stormwater management in the region.

“As a pre-doctoral fellow with expertise in public administration, Andrew brings significant knowledge and experience to this fellowship,” said Kris Stepenuck, Lake Champlain Sea Grant Associate Director and Extension Lead. “At the same time, he will be able to build his professional knowledge about stormwater management regulations as he works to research and prepare recommendations for the municipalities and Lake Champlain Sea Grant. We are eager to support his learning as well as to learn from Andrew and couldn’t be more pleased that he has accepted this position.”

Andrew comes to the fellowship with over a decade of experience in quality improvement efforts for various social safety net programs. He also concludes 12 years as a local elected official in Essex Junction. Beyond his professional experience, Andrew holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in local government from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Andrew is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sustainable Development Policy, Economics, and Governance under Dr. Asim Zia’s leadership at the University of Vermont.

“Vermont communities are faced with solving many societal challenges while complying with various regulations under limited resources,” explained Andrew. “Within this reality, I am excited to explore whether the six partner communities may be able to serve their communities more cost-effectively by regionalizing their efforts. I look forward to better understanding stormwater management and regulatory practices while continuing to give back to my home communities.”

Andrew’s findings will be shared widely, including through the Lake Champlain Sea Grant newsletter, once published. We look forward to this partnership and his work!