Lindsey White, B.S. 2016

Lindsey White was drawn to the EES program because the variety of topics and concentrations helped her narrow down her interests. She noted that before she chose soils and water sciences as her concentration, she had chosen the sustainability concentration, but soon after taking the course called Introduction to soil science she found that she had a greater interest in soils. In making the switch, she remarked that, “the EES program was flexible and easy to work with and I felt I could tailor what I wanted to focus on based on my personal interests. In fact, EES gives students the opportunity to create their own concentration if one of the choices doesn’t quite fit their interests. I think these aspects of the program set it apart from other programs; you can be as focused or as general as you’d like in EES.”

During her time in the EES program, Lindsey completed a capstone project in her senior year, which involved working in groups with other EES students and reviewing the literature of natural resource topics at Acadia National Park to provide a summary of documented information about the status of the Park’s streams, rivers, ponds, and wetlands, including physical and chemical characteristics and the future of these resources.

Lindsey’s experience at UMaine provided her with the experiences she needed for her current career by allowing her to grow as an individual and as a leader. She reflected that she “gained a lot of organization and managerial skills from working on projects, papers, and preparing for exams. My experiences have taught me how to multitask and use my time efficiently which are two very important skills in my career. The EES program’s flexibility has allowed me to expand my knowledge so that I can jump into almost any topic and contribute general or specific information regarding that topic.”

Right after graduation Lindsey began working as an environmental consultant for GZA, GeoEnvironmental, Inc. and is now a wetland scientist and soil scientist apprentice. Her current position involves getting out more in the field and doing wetland delineations under supervision, and she provides maps and permitting plans for clients using ArcGIS. She describes her work environment as “fast paced, exciting, challenging, and every day is different, which is exactly what I wanted in my career after college.”

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Wetland delineations are part of Lindsey’s new job as an environmental consultant.