In this role you will work on a wide variety of environmental compliance and natural resource projects as they relate to water, transportation, pipeline, renewable energy, power infrastructure, and building engineering and development projects. You will work under the supervision of an experienced environmental project manager, gaining valuable industry knowledge. You will support federal, state (primarily NJ and NY), and local environmental permits, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation, biological assessments and other environmental compliance documentation. You will assist senior and other mid-level scientists in the field and perform data processing associated with the collection of natural resource data.
Primary Responsibilities- Serve as an Environmental Scientist supporting natural resources field studies and environmental permitting efforts.
- Perform wetland delineations and ecological/biological field surveys, including flora/fauna surveys, threatened and endangered species field surveys, data collection, interpretation, analysis, and technical report preparation, with oversight from senior staff.
- Prepare wetland and watercourse delineation reports, biological assessments, monitoring reports, mitigation plans, and related environmental documentation.
- Support development of federal permits and compliance documentation, including Clean Water Act Sections 404 and 401 and NEPA documentation.
- Assist in the development of NJDEP Division of Land Resources Protection permit applications (Waterfront Development, CAFRA, Flood Hazard Area, Coastal and Freshwater Wetlands).
- Familiarity with permit development, compliance documentation, and planning in NYS including: Joint Permit Applications, NYSDEC Protection of Waters, Coastal Erosion Management, Freshwater/Tidal Wetlands Permits, Industrial SPDES, SEQRA, and other environmental related permits.
- Familiarity with NYC permitting and planning including: CEQR, NYC Dept City Planning Waterfront Revitalization Program, NYC Landmark Preservation Commission NYC Parks and Recreation, and NYCDEP SWPPP approval process.
- Define the level of environmental analysis needed including assessing and analyzing project impacts to identify permitting requirements; develop strategies to avoid or minimize project impacts, and prepare environmental constraints mapping.
- Prepare and review technical sections of environmental impact statements (EIS), environmental assessments (EA), natural resource reports, and other environmental documents.
- Conduct field work , including potential multi-day field assignments.
- Manage multiple tasks concurrently and collaborate with interdisciplinary teams.
Preferred Qualifications- Significant experience performing wetlands, aquatics, terrestrial or other field surveys to support permitting and environmental compliance related tasks.
- Experience coordinating with federal, state and local regulatory agencies.
- Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
- Experience using mobile data collection tools and GPS equipment, and familiarity with ArcGIS software.
- Ability to travel for field assignments.
- 40 Hour HAZWOPER Training.
- Other potentially applicable certifications including: Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) or Wetland Professional in Training (WPIT), Certified Wildlife Biologist (CWB), International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Arborist, Professional Ecologist, Certified Ecological Landscape Restoration Practitioner (CERP)
- Local candidates preferred
- Experience with rare plant species survey protocols and agency coordination is a plus.
QualificationsRequired Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science or closely related field
- 5 years technical and/or field experience preparing environmental documents
- Proficient with MS Office (Word, Excel)
- Strong environmental writing and communication skills
- Strong conceptual, organizational, problem-solving and research abilities
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must
