Air Quality Services

Throughout my career, I have taken satisfaction that my work has focused on improving the environment. In all my projects supporting federal and state regulatory programs, I strive to make sure that our clients understand all the options available to them and that the regulatory analyses on which government decisions are made are accurately documented and technically sound.

I love the challenges and diversity of the air regulatory development work I do at ERG. To help clients protect human health and the environment, while also being mindful of the relevant economic and technical realities, I am continually learning new and emerging information about industrial and air pollution control processes relevant to affected industrial sectors. I enjoy discovering and applying this information to help our clients achieve their goals. I can, and often do, learn something new every day!

As a kid, I loved baseball, especially the statistics and data behind it. I would go through box scores in the paper the next day to keep track of my favorite team and players, logging the information into my Commodore 64. I enjoyed exploring the data and looking for trends. Working at ERG on a variety of emission inventory, ambient monitoring, and air quality modeling projects has allowed me to continue my passion for analyzing big data sets. And now I get to tell the story behind the data too.

Most of us come into this profession with a healthy sense of idealism, wanting to make a positive contribution to the environment. Looking back at the last 25 years, I can honestly say that what we do at ERG has made a difference. Sometimes small, sometimes big, but always positive. The type of work we do matters to the environment. I am fortunate to be working with people who genuinely care about doing good and doing a good job.

I gained an appreciation for the environment growing up in Florida, where I enjoyed spending time in the great outdoors—camping, hiking, surfing, and working on the ‘farm’ at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. At ERG, my career has allowed me to contribute to the protection of our environment, while continually being challenged to learn new skills and become familiar with the wide variety of industrial activities that give rise to air pollution.

After nearly three decades of consulting, it's still fun to come to work because there are always new challenges, new faces, and new opportunities to learn. I've worked on so many important projects, including developing the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particles; estimating Mexico's first national emission inventory; and assessing the potential air quality impacts from oil and gas exploration on Alaska's North Slope. I've installed samplers to measure woodstove emissions in homes in Medford, Oregon, and even vacuumed the streets of Bangkok to collect silt loadings for a PM inventory. I cannot imagine a better career and would encourage anyone thinking about working in the environmental field to pursue it with passion.

I still remember watching the news when I was 12 years old and seeing a report about a polluted river. From that moment on, I wanted to be part of the solution. Working at ERG, I have been able to realize this goal and exercise my passions for learning new things, solving problems, and helping our clients reach their goals.

I started working as an environmental scientist when the environmental impacts of acid rain were of great concern. Not long after that, I assisted on a project that examined how effectively fast-growth tree farms could remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. I soon realized I was very good at ‘counting things’ and that, in the air quality field, emission inventories form the basis of almost every project. My career focus on emission inventory development has been very diverse and continually offers new challenges and learning opportunities.