Environmental Science Associates

Proud to support the next generation of LGBTQ+ students interested in STEM! This Fall, as part of ESA’s Scholarship Program, we’ve partnered with Out to Innovate (formerly NOGLSTP)—an organization committed to providing education, advocacy, mentorship, and professional development for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This year’s scholarships will support Elliot Cummins, an undergrad at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt majoring in Environmental Science and Ecological Restoration and Marie Owino, a grad student at Drexel University studying epidemiology. As Barbara Belmont, Out to Innovate Treasurer and Volunteer shares, "We are very grateful for ESA's generous contribution this year to support Out to Innovate scholarships for LGBTQ+ STEM students. This donation allowed us to extend our portfolio of scholarship types, as well as support more applicants with scholarship awards. It's inspiring to see the caliber of applicants who set an example of academic excellence, community involvement, and PRIDE in their STEM education, and it's a joy to be able to facilitate their education through scholarship support." We’re thrilled to support these students and Out to Innovate’s mission to promote academic excellence and increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ students and young professionals. Check out their work at: https://lnkd.in/gR4qFq86 #ScholarshipProgram #OutToInnovate #STEM #STEMCareers #ProfessionalDevelopment #LGBTQAdvocacy

While her official title is senior publications specialist, we know her as “Word wrangler extraordinaire!” For more than eight years, Kristine Olsen has been working her formatting magic at ESA, producing complex documents and deliverables for countless projects and working with technical specialists to ensure quality control for our print and digital publications. “I’m so proud of what we do and getting to work on so many interesting projects.  I love seeing ‘my’ projects in the wild when they get built,” she says. Known for her knack for “making documents pretty” by turning dense pages full of complex text, tables, and graphics into user-friendly, clear, and communicable resources, Kristine is also avidly passionate about riding custom cruiser bicycles and has traveled the world touring cities on two wheels together with her husband. And lest we forget, she can craft a superb cocktail while bartending in her free time! Get to know more about Kristine in our latest Employee Owner Spotlight:  https://lnkd.in/gFdSk3AK #EmployeeOwnerSpotlight #EmployeeOwner #PublicationsSpecialist

Join us at the American Fisheries Society 154th Annual Meeting in beautiful Honolulu from September 15 - 19! 🌺🌴🐟 Chris Fitzer, Eric Ginney, and Ramona Swenson PhD, CERP will be there to talk about groundbreaking projects and conservation practices aimed at revitalizing fish habitats and conserving fish species. Don't miss the following presentations and poster sessions: 👨🏫 Presentations Monday, September 16, 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰, 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲, presented by Chris Fitzer, Fish and Aquatic Science Practice Leader Thursday, September 19, 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝘆-𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿, presented by Eric Ginney, Fluvial Geomorphologist 📊 Poster Sessions Monday, September 16, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱, presented by Ramona Swenson PhD, CERP, Restoration Ecology Program Manager Find the full agenda and more information about these presentations at: https://lnkd.in/edJeB9G #AmericanFisheriesSociety #AFS154 #AnnualMeeting2024 #FishAndAquaticScience #Fisheries #EcologyManagement

We’re overjoyed to welcome our new Senior Director of Human Resources and Senior Vice President, Ayo Oliver! With her esteemed background spanning more than 20 years in the legal and healthcare professional services industries, Ayo will oversee ESA’s People and Culture Programs. Ayo is well respected for her work driving people-centered HR programs. At ESA, she will be focused on career and leadership development, creating people-focused initiatives which support the needs and perspectives of ESA’s employee-owners, building upon our industry recognition, and enhancing our compliance and risk management. “With a long career in professional services industries, Ayo will help us further develop the strategic people-centered programs that are integral to achieving our business goals and supporting a healthy and forward-looking organization,” says ESA CEO Leslie Moulton-Post. We’re excited for the incredible contributions she brings to support our employee-owners—please help us give Ayo O. a warm welcome! And get to know more about her and her experience, at the following link: https://lnkd.in/ghF95Eek #WelcomeToTheTeam #PeopleFocused #HumanResources #EmployeeOwnedCompany #CareerAndLeadershipDevelopment #ESACulture

“At most, this implies that the Bay Area should plan together for higher amounts of sea level rise, since regional action will have some minor effects,” shared Senior Engineering Hydrologist Matt Brennan with the KneeDeep Times Magazine. Check out the following article featuring Matthew and Wetlands and Estuaries Director Michelle Orr who spoke to the Times about new insights into flood management and sea level rise planning in the San Francisco Bay! #SeaLevelRise #FloodManagement #SeaLevelRiseAdaptation #SeaWall #NatureBasedShoreline

🌊 A watershed moment for sea level rise adaptation projects throughout the San Francisco Bay! This August, Civil Engineer Edward Divita and team partners from Mithun and the The Watershed Project led a guided shoreline tour around the West County Wastewater District treatment facility. The tour was organized by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) as part of its event “Rising Together: The Bay Adapt Summit.” The summit highlights the local actions and strategies working to protect communities, infrastructure, and the environment from rising sea levels.  A key feature on the tour was discussion of the proposed “Living Levee” ESA and partners designed, which will provide sea-level-rise-resilient flood protection, enhanced habitat, and recreational trails along the wastewater treatment facility. The living levee is one of several flexible, multi-benefit approaches for sea level rise adaptation outlined in the North Richmond Collaborative Shoreline Adaptation Plan, a community-led vision for adaptation and resilience for the North Richmond community. It was a great day being able to share more about this exciting project with the North Richmond community! #SeaLevelRise #CoastalResilience #ShorelineAdaptation #LivingLevee #NatureBasedSolution #HorizontalLevee #SanFranciscoBayArea #NorthRichmond

💡 Creativity and collaboration thrives when we’re all in the same room. When our Biological Resources and Land Management (BRLM) leaders from across the firm got together for an annual summit this month, they generated tons of new ideas, participated in insightful workshops, and shared in a wonderful opportunity to connect together in person. ESA’s BRLM leadership team were joined by senior-level biological resources staff, human resources specialists, marketers, and other teams across the firm to share their ongoing work, discuss ways we can meet our clients’ needs for biological services, continue to grow our scientific and technical expertise, and support justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts across the firm. It was a great time connecting with one another, not only to share our passions for protecting the natural world, but also to strategize exciting, innovative solutions to protect our resources, continue to invest in our people, and deliver value for our clients. #BiologicalResources #NaturalResourcesManagement #Biologists #EnvironmentalConsulting #Collaboration #Teamwork

A huge win for climate protection efforts in Southern California! This summer the EPA awarded a $500 million grant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Southern California’s freight transportation sector, funded through the agency’s $4.3 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. The $500 million grant benefits the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s INVEST CLEAN program, a transportation initiative between agencies, labor organizations, and communities within Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. The program will invest in and help scale zero-emissions technologies along the region’s notoriously congested shipping and freight corridors, and is expected to reduce 12 million metric tons of GHG emissions, and cut more than one billion gallons of diesel fuel by 2050! We’re thrilled to have played a role in securing this crucial grant for South Coast AQMD. To help qualify the region for this funding, ESA’s climate planning specialists worked with local agencies and other stakeholders to produce Priority Climate Action Plans in less than a year for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA. These essential climate plans aggregated emissions data and developed key “implementation ready” GHG reduction measures for the program. ESA’s Climate Planning Services Director Jeff Caton and Air Quality, Climate, and Acoustics Director Brian Schuster share more about the program and ESA’s climate planning efforts in the following article. Read it at the following link: https://lnkd.in/g3rjTPNU #INVESTCLEAN #ZeroEmissions #FreightTransportation #ClimatePlanning #PriorityClimateActionPlan #GHGEmissionsReduction #Decarbonization #AirQuality #EPA #SouthernCalifornia

🥎⛹️♀️🏀Squad goals! It’s been an awesome season this year for employee-owners participating in our recreational sports leagues and games. ESA’s Narwhals (a.k.a. the “unicorns of the sea”) team wrapped up their 2024 season of the San Francisco Architects, Engineers, and Contractors league, finishing up with a 8-7-0 record this year, and celebrated their success with a pizza party. The Northwest region staged its 14th annual ESA kickball tournament for employee-owners and their families, scoring a tied game in the closely fought match between the Rainier Pounders and Blood, Sweat, and Beers teams. Until next summer, we’ll see you on the mound! 📷's by Michael Friedman and Julie Bayer #WorkHardPlayHard #ESACulture #Winning #GoTeamGo #SoftballLeague #Kickball #GoNarwhals

More great news out of our Southeast region! We’re thrilled to share that Christopher Warn has been promoted to Biological Resources Director. A principal environmental scientist, project manager, and employee-owner since 2016, Chris has more than 26 years of experience in coastal and watershed studies, management, and restoration. Throughout his career, he has worked across the nation on complex environmental projects, notably on the emergency response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and he has supported many environmental programs—from Everglades restoration to port deepening and expansion programs. His passion for biology is only matched by his commitment to fostering a culture that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. As Biological Resources Director, he will oversee the southeast region’s biological experts specializing in environmental planning, permitting, restoration, water quality, and land management. Please join us in congratulating Chris on his new position! #Congrats #BiologicalResources #EnvironmentalPlanning #Restoration