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Hi, I'm Laura - The Environmental Career & Mindset Coach

After spending over 8+ years as a career coach helping more than 200 individuals and hundreds more through group sessions and talks, I bring both deep environmental expertise and proven coaching success to help you navigate your path. But my journey started just like yours – in the field. 

My Environmental Science Journey

As an environmental scientist, I built a dynamic career spanning multiple disciplines. I started as a surface water quality monitoring sampler, conducting field assessments and ensuring environmental compliance. My dedication and innovative thinking led to roles managing critical habitats and seagrass restoration projects. As Artificial Reef Coordinator for Tampa Bay/Hillsborough County, I oversaw crucial marine habitat enhancement initiatives. Throughout my career, I developed expertise in:

  • Environmental resource permitting
  • Surface water quality monitoring
  • Habitat management and restoration
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  • Database development
  • Grant writing and management

Professional Leadership & Industry Engagement

My commitment to the environmental profession extends beyond field work. From 2011-2016, I was an active member of the Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals, serving as Vice President (2015) and President (2016). In these roles, I mentored students and peers, helping them navigate their environmental careers.

Today, I co-host the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) podcast - Environmental Professionals Radio (EPR). With over 150 episodes and listeners worldwide, I've interviewed environmental professionals from diverse backgrounds – from regulatory agencies to consultancies, nonprofits to industry leaders. This gives me unique insight into the ever-evolving environmental sector and the many paths available to professionals like you.

Surface water monitoring in Tampa Bay, Florida
2016 Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals Women in STEM Workshop committee
Marsh and oyster reef habitat restoration MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida

Why Choose Me as Your Coach?

As both a former environmental manager at the Environmental Protection Commission and a business consultant, I've sat on both sides of the hiring table. I understand what employers look for and how to help you stand out. Many of my clients:

  • Don't know what to apply for
  • Feel burned out from endless job searching
  • Aren't getting interviews despite meeting job requirements
  • Feel uncertain about their next career move
  • Need help crafting compelling resumes
  • Struggle with effective networking
  • and many other issues

I never had a mentor or coach – I am not sure I was even aware I should seek one. That gap led to burnout and temporarily leaving the environmental field. My mission is to prevent that from happening to you.

 

My Coaching Approach

We don't just focus on finding your next job – we design your career trajectory. Whether you're seeking roles in:

  • Environmental compliance and permitting
  • Natural resource management
  • Water quality monitoring
  • EHS
  • Environmental consulting
  • Government agencies
  • Nonprofit organizations
  • Sustainability
  • Private sector environmental departments
  • or anything natural resources related

I help you understand the landscape, prepare effectively, and make strategic career decisions that align with your values and goals using the proven ENVIROlocity™ 3 Keys Framework. 

Environmental field hydrology work
Oyster reef habitat restoration work in Tampa Bay, Florida
Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals 2016

 

Core Values

Our work together is guided by:

  • Passion for environmental health
  • Unwavering perseverance
  • Commitment to personal growth
  • Creative problem-solving
  • Courage to forge your own path

My Promise

As someone who switched from photography to biology, started over, and navigated the challenges of building an environmental career without guidance, I understand the importance of making informed career decisions. I've transformed my experience – including the missteps – into actionable insights that help my clients thrive.

I consider myself both a career and life coach because fulfilling environmental work is intrinsically tied to life satisfaction. Through our partnership, you'll gain not just career direction, but the confidence and strategy to create lasting professional fulfillment in the environmental field.

Ready to take the first step toward your dream environmental career? Let's connect and chart your course together.

Visiting Kenya with a group of other environmental scientists and Biologist in 2015
Speaking to girls in the Gage Foundation's Girl Ambassadors Program about future leadership and activism

Hire me for your next event.

Need a keynote speaker or workshop host for your next student or career seeker event? Send me a message with dates and other info. 

Contact Us

About The Environmental Career Coach

Field-tested guidance for finding your place in the environmental field.

If you care about the planet but feel stuck trying to turn your education, experience, or interests into a real career path, you are not the problem. Environmental careers can be hard to map without someone who understands the field.

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Biology | Ecology | Conservation | Sustainability | Marine Science | Wildlife | Forestry | Geology | Climate Policy | Environmental Engineering | Natural Resources | Renewable Energy | Certifications

Why this exists

You should not have to guess your way into an environmental career.

So many capable people come here after months of searching, rewriting resumes, second-guessing their qualifications, or wondering if they chose the wrong degree because the path forward is still not obvious.

The Environmental Career Coach was created to help you stop spinning and start making clearer decisions: what roles to look for, how your background fits, what employers need to see, and which next step gives you a better shot at momentum.

You may be here because:

  • You do not know which environmental jobs you should be searching for.
  • You keep applying and hearing nothing back.
  • You are not sure how to explain your value to employers.
  • You feel overqualified for entry-level jobs and underqualified for everything else.
  • You want meaningful work, but you also need stability, pay, growth, and balance.

The field experience behind the guidance

Environmental career advice should sound like it understands environmental work.

Environmental career milestone and field-informed guidance
Oyster reef habitat restoration work in Tampa Bay, Florida Environmental professional field and travel experience

Laura's background includes more than a decade in environmental science, with work across surface water quality, critical habitats, artificial reefs, restoration, GIS, databases, grants, environmental management, and public/private partnerships.

That matters because environmental job seekers do not just need generic job-search advice. They need help translating real interests and real experience into roles, language, materials, and conversations that make sense inside this field.

What that means for you

You get guidance from someone who has been around the work, the people, the program needs, the hiring conversations, and the confusing gap between "I care about the environment" and "I know what to do next."

What the coaching helps you do

A clearer path, stronger positioning, and less random effort.

Find your direction

Explore the full spectrum of environmental career paths so you can stop searching only for the job titles you already know.

Strengthen your materials

Make your resume, LinkedIn, cover letters, and applications clearer for environmental employers who need to understand your fit quickly.

Practice the conversations

Prepare for interviews, networking, and professional conversations so you can speak about your value without freezing, rambling, or underselling yourself.

When your search feels scattered

We help you narrow your focus so you are not burning energy on every posting that mentions the environment.

When your background feels hard to explain

We help you connect your skills, projects, fieldwork, coursework, or transferable experience to what employers actually need.

When you are losing confidence

We help you look at the strategy before deciding something is wrong with you. Often, the missing piece is a better map, not more willpower.

Credibility signals

Practical experience, professional leadership, and years of coaching pattern recognition.

200+individuals helped through coaching
250+Environmental Professionals Radio episodes
10+years in environmental science
Since 2017environmental career support

Field and program work

Surface water, habitats, artificial reefs, restoration, GIS, databases, grants, and environmental management.

Professional networks

Leadership and participation in environmental professional organizations, including regional and national environmental networks.

Hiring perspective

Experience reviewing candidates, building internship pathways, and understanding how environmental employers evaluate fit.

Why the guide matters

It is easier to keep going when someone can help you see the terrain.

Laura did not have a clear mentor or coach while building her own environmental path. Trying to figure everything out alone led to burnout, a hard reset, and a temporary step away from the environmental field.

That experience shaped the purpose of The Environmental Career Coach: to help capable people avoid staying stuck longer than necessary. The goal is not to promise a fantasy shortcut. The goal is to help you make informed decisions, recognize your value, and take action with a stronger strategy.

Environmental field work and career exploration

Core Values

The work is practical, but the values matter.

Passion for environmental health

The work starts with caring about the land, water, wildlife, communities, and systems environmental professionals serve.

Unwavering perseverance

Environmental job searches can be confusing and discouraging. The strategy has to support steady action through the messy parts.

Personal growth

Career development is not only about applications. It is also about confidence, self-awareness, communication, and professional maturity.

Creative problem-solving

Environmental careers are rarely linear. We look for practical paths, transferable strengths, and new ways to connect experience to opportunity.

Courage to forge your own path

The right environmental career may not look exactly like someone else's path. Your strategy should fit your values, strengths, and reality.

Field-informed honesty

Good coaching should be encouraging, but it should also be grounded in what employers, organizations, and career paths actually require.

My Promise

You will not be treated like a generic job seeker with a generic problem.

If you are trying to make career decisions without a clear map, the goal is to help you understand your options, recognize the strengths you already bring, and take the next step with more confidence. Field experience, hard lessons, and coaching patterns are here to support your path forward.

Environmental career milestone and field-informed guidance

What this is not

No fake certainty. No job guarantees. No generic pep talk pretending to be strategy.

The Environmental Career Coach does not guarantee interviews, job offers, salary increases, or hiring outcomes. Hiring decisions depend on many factors outside any coach's control.

What we can do is help you understand the field, strengthen how you present yourself, choose better next steps, and build a strategy that gives your effort a clearer direction.

Ready for the next step?

Start where you are stuck, then build from there.

You do not need to solve every part of your environmental career at once. You need the next right layer of clarity, feedback, or practice so the path stops feeling so random.

If you need hands-on support

Explore resume review, interview prep, networking support, Power Hour coaching, and personal coaching options designed for environmental career seekers.

If you are still sorting out what fits

Use the FAQ, course, workbook, and ENVIROlocity™ resources to understand your options and choose a more focused next step.

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