Graduation to Vocation: Passion for the Outdoors Leads to Career in Environmental Consulting
Emma Anderson is graduating with an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources: Ecosystem Assessment. After graduation, she will be an Environmental Scientist with Kimley-Horn, an engineering consulting firm in Raleigh, North Carolina.
How has the College of Natural Resources impacted you and prepared you for your future?
The genuine and passionate students and staff in this college have prepared me to be a great addition to my field. Natural Resources in an important aspect of our world and CNR has prepared me to assess them, measure them and manage them in my future careers.
What kind of research or other hands-on/in-the-field learning did you participate in?
I worked as the team lead for the Soils and Topography group in NR 300 to help complete inventory of the NW quadrant of Raleigh’s Lake Johnson Park in collaboration with Raleigh Parks, Recreation, & Cultural Resources and Wake Nature Preserves Partnership. Our final report included an evaluation of the area of interest based on topography changes and soil samples used by park staff for future trail implementation.
Tell us about a faculty member who influenced you.
Dr. Hess has been a great professor and mentor to me over the last couple of years. He was one of my first interactions with staff in CNR as my advisor and I am grateful to him for directing my career paths and getting me navigated through my degree audit! It can be challenging at times. He was also my professor for NR Measurements and Conservation Biology. The way he teaches and structures his classes are very different than most and allow for a lot of hands-on experiences and collaborative learning. I will miss him for sure!
What is unique about your work?
My work is in the field of environmental consulting. I have approximately a 60/40 in the office/ in the field type of week and I LOVE IT. I get to travel around the state and to other states with my field team taking delineations, endangered species surveys, GPS stream mapping amount other things. I am also an artist by trade so I get to incorporate my creative side into my work with making GIS maps.
What motivated you to pursue your work?
I interned with Kimley-Horn summer of 2018 not really knowing what to expect. I quickly learned to love the work I was doing and found out that all of my team members had graduated from NC State with my exact same major, go figure! That was the first time I had really seen my degree “in action” so to speak. I was so grateful for them for teaching me all the in’s and out’s of environmental consulting over the summer and really enjoyed it. At the end of the summer, they offered me to come back with a full-time position after graduation and I was elated! I am really excited to see what’s in store over the next five years at this job as I pursue my Professional Wetland Scientist license.
What advice would you give students entering your major or field?
Take GIS. It is not only helpful but a massively growing field of work and worth all the hard work it takes to figure it out!
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