Board of Directors and Staff

Friends of the Winooski River is led by a volunteer Board of Directors.

Jared Carpenter (President) moved to Vermont in 2007, having grown up in Connecticut and lived in Colorado and Washington, DC. He attended Vermont Law School, receiving both the Master of Environmental Law and Policy degree and the Juris Doctor. At VLS, he focused on water quality and watershed conservation. An avid fly fisherman, he spends his free time exploring the state’s rivers, particularly the Winooski and its tributaries, looking for quiet places to catch big fish. A resident of Montpelier, he is also a Board Member of the local chapter of Vermont Trout Unlimited, the MadDog Chapter.

Gary Gulka (Treasurer) lives in Cabot and has served on the Conservation Commission for over 25 years.  He has been involved with river studies and water quality monitoring for many years.  He retired from the VT Department of Environmental Conservation after 32 years working in the wastewater, hazardous waste and pollution prevention programs.  He enjoys paddling in the watershed and has a passion for increasing public access to the Winooski and habitat restoration.

Lauren Chicote is our newest board member, joining in 2022. Lauren works as Operations Manager for the Winooski Valley Parks District, where she has developed a passion for conservation and outdoor recreation management. She has a degree in Environmental Science and Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. Lauren lives in Winooski where she visits the Winooski River almost daily on walks with her dog. Lauren spends her free time outside as much as possible paddling, skiing, biking, and hiking. 

Douglas LaPoint developed his appreciation for watersheds and water quality at a young age while wading, fishing, and swimming in the streams and creeks of Dutchess County, New York.  He earned a BS in Biology from Brockport State and a MS in Science and Science Education from the University of Rochester.  Doug retired from teaching after 30 years, working at a local high school on the banks of the Jail Branch, teaching Environmental Science and Biology.  The stream provided an opportunity for him to share his appreciation of nature with his students.  The students and members of his student group, Spaulding Action for the Environment, participated in Friends of the Winooski River activities like geomorphic surveys, river cleanups, riparian planting, and monitoring non-stormwater discharges into the Winooski River.   Doug has also been a long-term water quality monitoring volunteer for FWR. Doug joined the Board in 2019. 

Ann Smith is the former Executive Director of the Friends of the Winooski River (2005 to 2017).   She is thrilled to rejoin the Friends as a board member. Working for the Friends was a great opportunity to explore VT’s largest watershed, by land and by water.  Ann has a Master’s degree in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan.  Prior to moving to VT in 2004, she worked for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. She also has experience in the private sector in IT consulting for healthcare.  Ann lives in Waterbury. 

Staff

Michele Braun (Executive Director) was delighted to take the helm in 2018 of the watershed organization for which she was the founding president 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 lived in Montpelier since 1997, raising her children, serving on the school board, gardening with her husband, and walking the dogs. 

Email: [email protected]

Taylor Litwin (Project Manager) was born and raised in Upstate New York, where her family shared with her their love of and curiosity for nature. Her environmental career began at SUNY Oneonta, where she traveled near and far conducting field work and completed a dual bachelor’s degree in environmental science and geography. This led her to accept a position in Hawaii as a grant writer for a small environmental nonprofit, working closely with the farming and ranching community to fund sustainable agriculture projects. Her next position would lead her to Utah, where she worked alongside the National Park Service conducting vegetation monitoring and grassland restoration studies. With a desire to learn more about restoration ecology, Taylor then attended the University of Utah for a Master’s of Science degree in environmental humanities and global sustainability. In her most recent role as Stewardship Director for a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit, she worked to protect the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest by mitigating invasive plant species and promoting native biodiversity. She is thrilled to be planting her roots back in the Northeast, the region that shaped her early passion for stewardship. She enjoys skiing, reading, road trips, and now exploring Vermont's trails!

Email: [email protected]

Sam Puddicombe (Project Manager) grew up in Vermont exploring the Green Mountains by foot and ski. Looking for different and bigger terrain, he went to the University of British Columbia where he studied agricultural sciences and food systems. While in school he began farming, which he did in various capacities both in BC and Vermont, and continues on a smaller scale at a Montpelier community garden. This spring, he began working as a fisheries technician for Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Here he learned how wonderful it is to work along Vermont's waters and support the creatures that call them home. He also learned this summer, as all of Vermont did, how much work needs to be done in order to live more safely around our rivers and streams. Sam is excited to integrate his knowledge of aquatic organisms, river processes, and GIS with his experience working with soils and plants. He currently lives in Montpelier.

Email: [email protected]