Women and Girls in Science Day on February 11 provides an opportunity to spotlight the importance of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). While participation has significantly improved, women are still under-represented in these fields.
According to the United States Census Bureau, “In 1970, women made up 38% of all U.S. workers and 8% of STEM workers. By 2019, the STEM proportion had increased to 27% and women made up 48% of all workers.”
Ecology is proud of the many women working on behalf of environmental science across Washington. Their enthusiasm and work ethic are a role model for the next generation of women scientists.
Recently, an elementary school counselor in Spokane asked for help answering questions posed by fifth grade girls about working in environmental science. We thought we’d share a bit about the women at Ecology who participated, and how they responded.
Lynn Schmidt
I am Ecology’s Statewide Flood Engineer. I focus on reducing flood risks to communities while enhancing the natural functions of rivers' and streams’ floodplains. I hold a BS in Civil Engineering and MS in Environmental Engineering from WSU, and am a Professional Engineer and Certified Floodplain Manager.
What kinds of things did you like to do when you were in fifth grade?
I liked to draw, ride bikes with my friends, play volleyball, go camping, and I learned to ski in fifth grade, which I enjoy doing to this day.
Did you have to go to school for your career? If so, can you tell me about what you studied?
Yes, and college was a ton of fun! I went to Washington State University in Pullman and studied civil and environmental engineering. I learned how water shapes the landscape, how chemicals have contaminated parts of the earth and how to clean them up, how to manage wastewater and stormwater, and a lot of interesting things about physics, chemistry, and math as they apply to the natural environment and human structures.
What does your job look like each day?
I work with many different teams on projects across the state, so no two days are alike. These days, most of my time is in my home office connecting with colleagues remotely. The projects that we work on primarily focus on river restoration combined with flood hazard reduction. We work to reduce risk to people that live in floodplains, prevent new at-risk development, and restore habitat for salmon and other aquatic species.
Do you get to work outside a lot or with animals?
I get to work outside on occasion. Traveling to floodplain restoration sites to see new log jams, riparian (this means the area between land and a river or stream) plantings, and levee setbacks are my favorite days at work. River restoration work benefits salmon, orcas, lamprey, and other wild animals.
Do you get to travel with your job? If so, where do you go?
I used to travel quite a bit across Washington, and hope to do so again soon. Every corner of Washington has unique rivers and floodplains, and most of Washington’s communities are at least partially within a floodplain.
What can I do now, if I want to work as an environmental scientist?
Be curious and ask a lot of questions! There's so much to learn about the environment, from soils and rocks, rivers, streams, wetlands, plants, and animals. Park rangers and hiking guides in the national parks are also a great way to learn about environmental science.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
The work that I am involved in leaves a positive impact on communities and the environment in the long term. Although I’m only one person, the collective effort of Ecology’s Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program and our partners is something that I’m proud to be a part of.
Adriane Borgias
I am the Water Quality Section Manager for Ecology. My job is to keep the waters clean in Eastern Washington. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Masters in Science in Environmental Management.
What kinds of things did you like to do when you were in fifth grade?
In addition to the normal things, like playing outdoors with my friends, I really enjoyed reading science books. My dad was a scientist, so I would do home science experiments with him. We had a kit called “Things of Science” that came each month in the mail. It had interesting facts and experiments that helped me learn about common everyday things . . . like how is paper made? What are rubber bands made of? Why does plastic melt? How does a lightbulb light up?
Did you have to go to school for your career? If so, can you tell me about what you studied?
I went to college and studied chemistry. One reason I chose chemistry is that everything we see and use is a chemical (even water and the air we breathe!). My favorite class was physical chemistry because it helped me understand how and why chemicals act the way they do.
What does your job look like each day?
Today I use chemistry as a background for understanding the world around us . . . the environment, the water and animals that live in that environment. My job is to help keep water clean. That involves understanding the chemicals we use every day in our homes and how to keep them from polluting the water. I think about this when I wash my hair with shampoo or flush something down the toilet. Where does it go? How does the water get treated at the sewage treatment plant? What can I do to make sure my actions keep the river clean?
In my job, I manage a large team of professionals who all share the same goal: to keep the water clean. We use regulations (or rules) to guide other people on how to do this. We give advice, issue permits that protect the water, and provide money for special projects that help make streams and rivers better. When people break the law and cause pollution in streams or rivers, we also give them an order to clean it up or fine them. That is something we don’t like to do, but sometimes it is necessary.
Do you get to work outside a lot or with animals?
No, I don’t work with animals, but what I do helps them, especially the wild animals. We help prevent pollution from getting into the water. That way all the animals that rely on water — fish, birds, and others — have a safe supply of food.
Do you get to travel with your job? If so, where do you go?
With my job, I travel in Washington state. I have, however, travelled to India many times to do workshops on the environment and how to better manage chemicals. I have learned quite a bit from living and working in another culture. It helps me understand that we are all connected as people through the environment. And it is so important to protect it.
What can I do now, if I want to work as an environmental scientist?
Be curious, be observant, study math and science. Even today I am curious and am always learning new things. Last year, I was walking in the garden and I saw a wasp carrying a spider. “That is strange,” I thought. So I spent some time learning about how some wasps will sting a spider and take it home with them so they can feast on it later. Curiosity and observation makes science interesting.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
Even though I am a scientist, I also like people. When there is a problem to be solved, I like working with people, especially people with different ideas. This can be difficult but also very rewarding. Often the best ideas come when we are open to hearing others’ ideas.
Hallie Ladd
I am a shorelines specialist with Ecology, and an expert in wetlands. I work with residents, cities, and counties to protect important marshes and bogs in Eastern Washington. My professional and educational background includes aquatic ecology, fisheries, and how to identify when a natural resource is damaged and how it can be restored. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, cooking, going to concerts, traveling, and attempting to garden.
What kinds of things did you like to do when you were in fifth grade?
When I was in fifth grade I liked to play basketball with friends, hang out with my dog, fish along the banks of the Mississippi River, work on my tree fort, and make mixtapes!
Did you have to go to school for your career? If so, can you tell me about what you studied?
I did. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Master’s degree in Fisheries Science from Texas Tech University.
What does your job look like each day?
Each work day is a little different, which is one of the reasons why I really like my job! Typically, my days consist of meetings, project review, site visits, answering questions about wetlands and rivers, and writing permits.
Do you get to work outside a lot or with animals?
Earlier in my career I spent a lot of time outside working on boats, chasing birds, and surveying streams. My job now is more centered in the office, but I do get out in the field monthly.
Do you get to travel with your job? If so, where do you go?
My current job takes me all over Eastern Washington from the Canadian border down to the WA/Oregon border. It’s pretty cool.
What can I do now, if I want to work as an environmental scientist?
I would say the best thing you can do now is to start paying attention to what brings you joy at school and outside of school. What are your favorite classes in school? What do you like to do in your free time? Do you like to garden, fish, solve math problems, write about nature, or chase lizards? Knowing what you like now may help you decide what environmental field you want to go into in the future — there are a lot of options to choose from!
What is your favorite thing about your job?
My favorite part of my job is helping people and traveling around the beautiful state of Washington.
Elaine Snouwaert
I have been with Ecology for 21 years and recently became the manager for the Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program’s Eastern Regional Office in Spokane.
I’ve worked in a few different roles at Ecology. I started as an education and outreach specialist for the Water Quality Program and later a Watershed lead. During this time, I worked to help improve water quality in many different ways. In 2018, I joined the Hazardous Waste and Toxic Reduction Program as the Pollution Prevention Assistance Partnership Coordinator. Here, I helped government partners find ways to properly manage and dispose of hazardous products so they didn’t hurt the environment or people.
My career is supported by two Bachelor’s Degrees (Industrial/Organization Psychology and Biology) and a Masters of Public Administration.
What kinds of things did you like to do when you were in fifth grade?
In the fifth grade, a lot of my interest was on spending time with my friends. I made a lasting friendship during this time and much of our connection was centered on learning more about the world around us. My parents and I took a cross-country road trip and I was able to bring my new best friend with me. We visited several national parks, monuments, and museums. On that trip, we learned so much about nature and history. I had always spent a lot of time in the woods around my house and camping throughout Washington but on this trip I saw and learned about many different environments and I’m sure in some ways that sparked my interest in the environment and science.
Did you have to go to school for your career? If so, can you tell me about what you studied?
My education is a big part of how I got to where I am today. My first degree out of high school was a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. This degree sparked my interest in the scientific process and research methods. I enjoyed designing studies to understand people’s behaviors or reactions to certain events, then collecting and analyzing data from the studies. However, I realized after completing that degree that my research interest wasn’t really in psychology but rather in animal and environmental sciences. So I went back to college and got a Bachelor of Science in Biology. After graduating with that degree I started working at Ecology where I used both degrees to study water quality issues and provide public involvement opportunities for water quality improvement plans. After about 10 years with the agency, I returned to school to obtain a Master’s of Public Administration degree. This is the degree that took me from the day to day science and environmental work to a management position.
What does your job look like each day?
Currently, my job is primarily people-focused. I have a lot of meetings with other managers and staff to plan our work, set goals, and develop projects. Those are the types of things I now do as a manager. As you advance in your career, it often means focusing on the people side of things and making sure they have the information and resources they need to advance our agency goals and improve the environment. However, there were years earlier in my career when I’d spend many days in the field collecting water quality samples and working with communities to help them understand the health of their local waterbodies and what changes were needed within the community to improve the environment.
Do you get to work outside a lot or with animals?
I used to work outside when I was helping with water quality studies but now I’m primarily working from an office. However, there are many environmental and scientific careers that frequently work outside and with animals. It’s important to know the type of work setting you’d like to be in to determine the careers that might best align with your preferences. Working to improve the environment in Washington is very important to me and even though I’m not directly in the field conducting research, I know my influence as a manager is having a positive impact that aligns with my values.
Do you get to travel with your job? If so, where do you go?
Because I work for the state of Washington, most of my travel has been within the state. However, I have occasionally traveled to several destinations around the country for conferences and training. One of my best trips was to Washington D.C.
What can I do now, if I want to work as an environmental scientist?
Be curious and never stop asking how and why. Take opportunities to explore your environment. Learn how things work. Determine what interests you the most. There are so many different environmental science career pathways, so take the time to learn about them and what the day to day work looks like and then steer yourself toward education that aligns with what you want to do. Achieving results for environmental science takes all types of people and specializations. Environmental science isn’t only done by someone working in a lab coat or conducting surveys in the forest. You need the researchers, the chemists, the geologists, atmospheric scientists but you also need the policy makers, the regulators, and the educators.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I work with amazing people who are driven to improve the environment and make Washington a great place to live. The work I’m involved with aligns with my values.
Amanda Richardson
I work as a Watershed Implementation Lead for Ecology’s Water Quality Program. I work with communities, landowners, and organizations to improve the quality of water in Eastern Washington streams, rivers, and lakes. I have worked for Ecology for 3 ½ years. Before that, I lived in Northern Arizona for almost a decade, where I worked for local governments and a nonprofit organization on local water issues. I spent some time in Nepal as a Peace Corps Volunteer and in Thailand as an English teacher. I live in Spokane with my husband and two old dogs. I enjoy slow walks with my dogs, reading, cooking, baking, knitting, gardening, live music, and outdoor activities like hiking, paddling, swimming, mountain biking, and Nordic skiing.
What kinds of things did you like to do when you were in fifth grade?
I loved reading and writing when I was in fifth grade. I had a very active imagination and wrote a lot of stories. I even entered and won awards in the Young Authors contest! I also loved being outdoors with my family and spending time with our dogs. In the summertime, I played on a softball team and spent a lot of time swimming and riding bikes. My friends and I would put on plays and dances in my basement.
Did you have to go to school for your career? If so, can you tell me about what you studied?
I have two degrees: a four-year college degree in Conservation Biology and an additional 2-year degree in Community Development. My schooling for Conservation Biology consisted of a lot of science — general sciences like biology, chemistry, zoology, but also environmental science specific classes like forestry, limnology (lakes), recreation, etc. I also took literature and poetry courses because I still enjoy reading and writing. My environmental science specific classes were a lot of fun with hands-on and experiential activities like field trips and a two week summer field school. Between years of college, I worked fun and interesting summer outdoor jobs that gave me good experience and helped me figure out what type of career I wanted to pursue. I spent a few years after college working summer field jobs and traveling around the world and working in another country. My international travels influenced me to go back to school to study the human and economic side of the environmental. The extra degree may not have been required to get the job I have today, but I enjoy learning and it helped me expand my perspective on working in the environmental science field.
What does your job look like each day?
Every day is different! I have a few ongoing projects, so on any given say, I might be reviewing plans and reports, meeting with people to discuss the project, researching and making decisions on how to move the project from planning into implementation stages. I work with people in counties all over the east side of the state, responding to citizen concerns, helping local organizations develop and fund projects that benefit water quality and the environment. There’s a lot of planning involved in my work, so it is always a treat to see a project that I helped develop get to where it is being constructed.
Do you get to work outside a lot or with animals?
These days, most of my work is in front of a computer (partially due to COVID-19). I miss being outdoors and try to get out as much as possible. Because I work all over the east side of the state, sometimes I travel to meet with people, assess problem sites, visit potential project sites or projects under construction. It's important to get outside and connect with the people and the resources that I am working to help. Fun fact: I worked on an elephant conservation project in Nepal!
Do you get to travel with your job? If so, where do you go?
I travel all over the east side of the state and sometimes travel to the state capital where my agency headquarters is located. One time over the course of a week, I traveled down the southeast corner of the state for a project near the Grande Ronde River. The next day I traveled over to Moses Lake to meet with a group of people working to improve the lake water quality. And the day after that, I traveled north almost all the way to the Canadian border to look at a potential project. That was an exceptionally busy travel week and is not normal, but goes to show how no day is every the same in my job.
What can I do now, if I want to work as an environmental scientist?
My advice would be to stay curious about the world and find things that ignite excitement in you and nurture that excitement. Seek experience and adventure. Understand that career paths are not straight lines and there is so much more to being an environmental scientist than simply understanding scientific concepts. So much of my work is working with people and finding ways to work environmental protection into human systems. Being creative and a problem solver and utilizing communication, education, writing, and negotiating skills are very important.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I like that water connects all of us and often defines our community history and culture. And while people may own land, no one owns the water. It is a public resource, to be enjoyed and protected for all of us. It is easy to take that for granted. I like that I am part of protecting and restoring waterways for humans, wildlife, and aquatic creatures.
