VNLA Twilight Burlington Rain Garden Tour | 8/19/26

August 19, 2026 – 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Burlington Rain Garden Tour
City Hall Park | Saint Paul Street
Burlington, VT  05401

Join us for the Rain Garden Tour in downtown Burlington, led by Michelle Lockhart , BLUE BTV Stormwater Program, Jill Srazen, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, Amelia McClure, Burlington’s Stormwater Specialist, Amy Houghton, Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture, Lucas Goldfluss, Winooski NRCD, and Megan Epler Wood, property owner will focus on municipal rain gardens located at City Hall Park and along Saint Paul Street as well as one residential rain garden on S. Union Street. These rain gardens fall within the Combined Sewer System (CSS) of Burlington, where household wastewater and stormwater travels in the same pipes to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Rain gardens play an important role in reducing stormwater volume going to the treatment plant, thereby reducing the amount of stormwater runoff carrying sediment and nutrients toward local waterways like Lake Champlain. When planted with native vegetation, rain gardens provide habitat for pollinators and birds in addition to water quality benefits and city-wide beatification.

We will gather first at City Hall Park and from there will walk to St. Paul Street and S. Union Street.

BIOS

Michelle Lockhart– Michelle coordinates Burlington’s Blue BTV Stormwater Program, which provides city residents with free stormwater assessments. With specialties in planting and green infrastructure design, Michelle is excited to work with homeowners to implement stormwater management practices such as rain gardens, vegetative swales, and permeable pavers that capture stormwater run-off and benefit the overall health and water quality of Lake Champlain.

Jill Sarazen– As the Green Infrastructure Collaborative (GIC) Coordinator with Lake Champlain Sea Grant, Jill works with the Clean Water Initiative Program (CWIP) at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. She coordinates the statewide GI Roundtable and supports development of clean water project verification and operation and maintenance programs for projects funded under the Clean Water Service Delivery Act of 2019. Through this role, she provides outreach and coordinates educational programming to encourage the use of low impact development, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), and nature-based solutions for managing stormwater runoff.

Amelia McClure– Amelia McClure is the City of Burlington Stormwater Specialist. In this role, she is responsible for inspecting and maintaining the City’s stormwater infrastructure, as well as working with contractors and developers to help them comply with the stormwater regulations. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Environmental Science from Wellesley College and a Masters Degree in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Vermont, where her research focused on the mechanisms of Phosphorous removal at the Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant. Outside of work she enjoys swimming in and kayaking on a wide variety of Vermont’s beautiful waterbodies.

Amy Houghton– Amy Houghton joined Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture, after working as a landscape architect and project manager for seven years with Sasaki Associates in Boston. Prior to Sasaki, and to receiving her Masters of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon, Amy worked as a civil engineer and stream restoration specialist in the Pacific Northwest in the mid 1990’s. Her experience has also led to site designs of historic landscapes, mixed-use developments and public parks and open space. Amy has received several design awards for her collaboration from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA), the Vermont Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects (VT ALSA) and American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Lucas Goldfluss– As the Conservation Specialist at the Winooski NRCD, Lucas manages district conservation programs, including riparian tree plantings, stormwater technical assistance, education programming, and other process-based restoration efforts that support the long-term health and resilience of Vermont’s watersheds. He has worked across a broad range of water quality restoration projects in Vermont.

Megan Epler Wood– Megan is the property owner for the rain garden located on S. Union Street. Megan is a conservationist, ecotourism pioneer, research leader and consultant on questions of managing sustainable tourism for destinations, business, and civil society. She has led her firm EplerWood International since 2003 to design net positive regional tourism development projects working in over 35 countries with support from the World Bank, IFC, IDB, GIZ and USAID.  Since 2010 her research and teaching with Harvard and Cornell universities vetted a wide range of solutions to help protect destinations using business management techniques dedicated to long-term conservation and local well-being, environmental and public health, social science, advanced technology and landscape design, and biodiversity research.