With 12 years of experience as a professional wetland scientist, Melissa divides her time at Stantec between watershed/stormwater planning and natural resource investigation projects. She spent a number of years working in the rapidly developing Lockwoods Folly River community on two projects involving a watershed assessment, a restoration plan, a TMDL for the impaired river and an implementation plan to reduce impacts. Melissa enjoyed working with community members because they shared her enthusiasm about improving and protecting the area that was suffering from the impacts of development.
Advice Melissa would give to anyone considering the environmental science field – be willing to tackle projects outside of your comfort zone, because unique situations always arise where an environmental assessment or solution is needed. When she’s not in the field helping clients tackle environmental issues, Melissa enjoys taking her kids to one of the many parks in Wake County, listening to a (quick) read at the library’s story time, or discussing a good book with friends over dinner.