Biggest Challenges Faced by a Staff Biologist at Blackhawk Environmental
Sarah's biggest challenges as a Staff Biologist at Blackhawk Environmental include effectively communicating findings to clients—often developers or oil and gas companies—"who aren't necessarily environmentally minded people"—and navigating the unpredictable schedule, which sometimes involves "finding out at 9:00 PM that I need to be up at 3:00 AM for a survey."
Communication, Environmental Regulations, Client Relations, Project Management, Adaptability
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Sarah Toback
Staff Biologist
Blackhawk Environmental
University of California, Los Angeles- 2015
Macquarie University- Master of Conservation Biology
Environmental & Related Sciences
Climate, Environment, Sustainability & Waste Management
Research and Development (R&D)
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Balancing client needs with environmental regulations is a significant challenge. Many clients prioritize profit over environmental concerns, requiring strong communication skills to ensure compliance.
2. Inconsistent schedules and short notice fieldwork are common, demanding adaptability and flexibility.
3. The role necessitates strong communication skills to convey complex scientific findings to non-scientists, bridging the gap between scientific data and practical applications for clients and stakeholders
Transcript
What is the biggest challenge in your current role?
The biggest challenge, can I go with two?
One main challenge is the clientele we work with. In consulting, most of our clients are developers or utility companies, like oil and gas. They aren't necessarily scientists or environmentally minded.
When we present our findings, there's sometimes pushback because they don't want to deal with the repercussions of having to be environmentally sound. Especially in California, there are many regulations they must follow. Trying to communicate to clients that we are just there to help them and not get them into trouble is definitely a challenge.
The second challenge is the uncertainty of the schedule. As I mentioned before, there have been times I don't find out until 9:00 PM that I need to be up at 3:00 AM for a survey. It's hard to plan long-term because it's very day-to-day. That can be challenging.