It’s been awhile since I’ve written but I’m still here.  Over the last few months, I’ve been learning air dispersion modeling.  For those of you unfamiliar with modeling, since that was the boat I was in before starting at Trinity, here’s a quick overview.  EPA has standards for the maximum allowable concentration of certain air pollutants in ambient air, referred to as National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).  For projects which will result in an increase of a pollutant above a specified level, air dispersion modeling must be done to show that the project will not result in an exceedance of the NAAQS.  The model used for this is AERMOD.  You make a digital 3D model of your facility in AERMOD, including all buildings and emission points.  Then you import terrain data for the surrounding area and five years worth of historical meteorological data.  AERMOD uses advanced algorithms to calculate the resultant pollutant concentrations at a wide variety of receptor points.  The facility must show that all of these resultant concentrations are below the NAAQS in order to move forward with construction.

Modeling is a career path that consultants have the option of choosing and most Trinity offices have at least one consultant that is capable of doing modeling.  Modelers often have a background in meteorology but it isn’t a requirement, as shown by my mechanical engineering degree.  The modeler in my office is moving to Trinity’s new Pittsburgh office, leaving a hole to fill.  I had done one basic modeling analysis and enjoyed it, so I volunteered.  I have been working with our current modeler to learn the ins and outs of modeling.  I am enjoying it thus far.  I wouldn’t want to model full-time but it is such a great change of pace from the other work we do.

The first step in my modeling training was an internal, introductory course of air dispersion modeling in Kansas City.  About 30 consultants from Trinity offices across the country, who had been at Trinity for as little as a week to a couple of years, went to the Kansas City office to learn the basics over three days.  It was a great opportunity to learn the basic principles and steps to a modeling analysis and to meet other consultants.

After coming back to the office, I’ve worked on several modeling projects.  I did a modeling analysis from scratch for a manufacturing facility to show compliance with Maryland’s toxic air pollutant regulations.  I’ve also worked on updating an existing model to determine if an existing facility is in compliance with new, more stringent NAAQS.  I have also done screening analyses using AERSCREEN.  AERSCREEN is a less rigorous but more conservative modeling technique.  If a facility is expected to pass modeling, a screening test can be conducted prior to a full AERMOD analysis.  Since AERSCREEN is much more conservative than AERMOD, if the model passes in AERSCREEN, there is no need to run the full AERMOD analysis.  There are some limitations to AERSCREEN though, such as only being able to model one emission point at a time, that make its applicability somewhat limited.

In March, I also went to EPA’s 10^th Modeling Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.  A dozen Trinity employees went to the conference to hear about recent model updates and possible updates in the future.  Attendees from Trinity ranged from people who do almost entirely modeling to me with only a few projects under my belt.  It was a great experience for meeting established modelers within Trinity and seeing the other side of modeling - the actual development of regulations and models.

Learning and working on air dispersion modeling has been a great experience.  It can be frustrating at times with the need to do multiple iterations or waiting several hours only to get failing results or realize there was error but it is great change from the other types of work we do. 

I have officially been with Trinity for a full year.  having my one year anniversary pass got me thinking to where I started a year ago and where I am now.  I came to Trinity with absolutely no environmental background.  I was a mechanical engineer who had never taken a single environmental class.  In truth, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  But one year later, I love what I'm doing and I couldn't be happier I took the leap in joining Trinity instead of going the traditional MechE route.

 On the day of my anniversary, I gave what we call at Trinity a brownbag.  A brownbag is basically an internal, informal training session given by someone in the office to the rest of the office.  I gave my presentation on the new NSPS and SIP regulations for commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (the CISWI rules).  A year ago, I didn't know what NSPS or SIP stood for (in case you also don't know: New Source Performance Standards and State Implementation Plans), much less what a CISWI unit was and somehow a year later I found myself giving a presentation about these regulations to people who have been in this industry far longer than me.  Giving this presentation made me realize how much I have learned in this past year but also how much there will always be to learn.  Environmental regulations are always changing.  Even people who have been in this industry 20 plus years are continuously learning new things.  I've enjoyed my first year at Trinity and have learned a lot, I look to this next year, excited about what I will learn this time around.

When people ask me what I do and I answer "environmental consulting", most people are confused and have no idea what I do.  So, they ask the typical follow question and ask what a typical day is like.  Recently, I was asked this question and had no idea what to answer.  I never know what my day is going to be like when I head into the office in the morning.  In my mind there are lots of  different types of days, all of which are different, all of which have pros and cons, and all of which happen regularly.  But a typical day?  Besides "I get up, go to work, do stuff, come home", I'm not sure what's typical at all.

 The next type of day is when you're working on a deadline.  These days, you can spend an entire day working on one task, trying to get something done by the end of the day.  These days can be stressful but it is so rewarding to send out that deliverable when it's done.  These are the days when email is ignored and you actually say no when someone asks if you have time for a 15 minute QA.

 So that's it, my life at Trinity.  Even with these four types of days, I’ve had days that wouldn't fit in any category.  So, I guess my answer to what my typical day is like would have to be, "I don't know because I haven't had one yet but I'll let you know when I do."

Well, January is coming to a close and what a busy month it's been.  Clients were away for the holidays and returned to find they had new reporting requirements with due dates right around the corner.  This means lots of work for Trinity and very quick turnaround times.  I have been doing a lot of work related to the new greenhouse gas reporting requirements (GHG MRR).  All sites with the potential to emit more than 25,000 tpy of CO2 equivalent are required to develop a monitoring plan and report emissions.  I have been busy putting together plans for facilities in the natural gas, steel, and lime industries.  Each industry has had its own subpart to the MRR with different requirements.  SO there has been a lot of new regulations coming out and a lot of work for Trinity deciphering the requirements and passing the information along to all of our clients.

 In other news, I helped put together my first set of course slides this week.  This may not seem exciting but it was a really interesting experience.  I was pulling slides from old Trinity presentations, presentations which I had gone through as a part of my training when I first started.  I remember feeling slightly overwhelmed by the slides and thinking I hadn't really retained that much information from the vast number of slides I went through.  It was a pleasant realization to put these slides in a together and feel like I knew the information in them.  The learning curve is so steep when You first start at Trinity.  I didn't really realize how much stuff I had learned in the past 7 months until I saw it all together.

 That's it for now.  Thanks for reading!

Well, it is my first holiday season with Trinity.  Every year, each office has a holiday party.  This year, the Maryland office went out to a nice dinner in downtown Frederick.  We played get to know your co-workers games (which even though I have only been here 6 months I won, thank you very much) and holiday-themed games throughout the meal.  It was a great way to get to know everybody outside of the office and to have some fun with the people we work with. 

I have been working from the parents' house in New York for the past two days.  It has been a great way for me to be able to get to spend a lot of fun holiday time with my family and not use up a bunch of my days off.  I love this flexibility, not to mention the fact that I have been working amidst the aroma of baking Christmas cookies (and performing the occasional taste test).  I just brought my laptop with me and logged on to our messaging system remotely.  I still have full access to email, messaging, and our office's network of files.  I have used this option before when I was sick or needed to leave early for an appointment or anything like that.  As long as you don't do it everyday, Trinity is wonderfully flexible and really tries to work with their employees to keep everybody happy.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!  See you in the new year!

Hello!

 I am a consultant in Trinity's Maryland office in Frederick, MD.  I have been there for just over six months.  I am really enjoying my job and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.  Just so you have some background, here is a little about me.

 I graduated in May from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering.  I did undergraduate research in robotics and micro-mechanics.  I had no environmental experience prior to coming to Trinity and I have been learning as I go.  My MechE friends all think I bailed on mechanical engineering to go over to civil and environmental engineering but in truth, Trinity employs people from all different backgrounds and everyone finds a way to use their unique experiences.

 I am originally from New York and I had actually never heard of Frederick, MD when I applied to Trinity.  Frederick is a great city with lots of fun restaurants and downtown shopping.  It is within close driving distance to Baltimore and Washington DC which not only makes it a cool place to live but gives our office a wide array of clients.  Our office serves Maryland, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, West Virginia, and Delaware.  Because of this, we deal with a very wide range of industries and every day is different than the last.

 Well, that's it for now.  Thanks for reading.