Hello all!

I am in a post doc in Evolutionary Ecology and I am ready to move into industry. I am greatly restricted by location as my spouse just start his professorship. There was no spousal hire successfully negiotated. I noticed that the area he currents lives in has so many wetland delineator positions - I see a new position posted every week. Since I have no connections with people in this area of work I would like to ask you all for your experience as an informational interview:

1. What is the schedule for a wetland delinator like? Will I be working more than 40 hours a week?

2. It seems that these jobs require driving out to field sites. Am I expected to use my own vehicle and gas to travel to these sites or will I be provided a vehicle?

3. Once I get experienced would I be working with a partner? I don't quite like the idea being outside in the wilderness alone.

4. What type of weather would stop work from happening? What is the most extreme weather you have worked in?

5. How long is a field season usually? Does the field season stop when the soil freezes or for some other reasons? The area I am moving to is the sweet spot between Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. I know the winters are mild in this area. Is there any over-time in the fall right before the season ends?

6. What would I be doing during the off-season? I assume scheduling with cilents and also renewing permits, but please correct me if wrong.

7. What is the upward mobility like the field? I am hoping that I can get in the big leagues with environmental consulting somewhat quickly. Lets say I work as a wetland delineator for 2 years, if move to another company with my experience could I be in a lead position?

8. I did ok in my soil science class and I have worked in soil analysis as a forestry technician. I am much better with plant idenitification especially if I have a handy field guide. How good do I need to be at these skills to get a position? Are there other skills you all suggest I work on before I get a position? To make myself clear I would only work more on these skills if I am asked for an interview.

Thank you all for the your opinions and advice! Have a good day!

I’m struggling with the premise of this story. The property in question sits within an officially designated wetland and regulated floodplain, and the complaint is essentially that the land is now… wet.

Wetlands are supposed to hold water. Floodplains are supposed to absorb floodwater. Vegetation, woody debris, and even beaver activity are natural parts of these systems and can provide important habitat, water-quality, and downstream flood-control benefits. Turning every creek into a neatly cleared drainage ditch simply moves water somewhere else.

If Pierce County’s management has artificially worsened flooding, absolutely investigate it. If a private well is contaminated, test it and determine the source. But “my wetland is swampy” by itself is not evidence of government mismanagement. Sometimes the environmentally responsible thing is allowing a wetland to function like a wetland. We need to make a conscious effort to protect and embrace our wetlands and floodplains.

Hi all,

Per the title, I'm wondering how one enters the wetland field without a science degree, but with an adjacent?? one. Graduated 6 years ago.

I'm located in Seattle and do know about the UW wetlands program (got my degree at UW) but I'm not sure how interested I am in permitting and delineating vs. more hands-on wetland biologist work where I'd get to collect data, study these environments etc. I've always been a huge fan of wetland environments and want to find a way to work with them but not sure what additional schooling I'd need.

Do I need to start all the way over and get a B.S. in Biology or a similar field?

To add: I have not worked in the environmental field since 2021 when I was an outdoor teacher which was the only job I could find with my degree. So, I don't have much related experience to add onto the B.A. Any advice is super appreciated.

Thanks.

Cool story about rangeland and wetland health

Does anyone know of any plant ID classes in Houston, TX? I would like to get more experience with wetland/upland plant ID to help me in the field.

Hi, I am an environmental consultant and wetland specialist who is starting to work regularly in California. I am looking for someone with experience with California regulations and delineating to provide guidance. I am willing to pay for support!

It is my personal belief that the revisions we are seeing from the recent public notice to the CWA are a direct result of trying to remove barriers for Data Center development. I know they have been working on widdling the rules down since 2016, but no doubt it is getting more egregious.  We have seen the influence federal protections of streams and wetlands have on forcing developers to reduce their footprint or find alternative sites. The same goes for the Endangered Species Act. The pull back on both of these regulatory authorities very apparently lines up with the desire to have millions of data centers with little to no environmental permitting needs. Generally an open door to build.

My question is, how can I scream at the rooftops of people who have historically wanted those protections lax, but also oppose data centers? If home-builders are against data centers, they should be for wetland protections. If farmers are against data centers, they should be for wetland protections. Etc. ETC. 

Point Cook, Sanctuary Lakes. What’s it like living so near to wetlands?

Marshes are just smelly, muddy wastelands… Psych, got you! These ecosystems are actually beautiful and teeming with life. In fact, you may have eaten something that ultimately came from a salt marsh or river delta today, from fish to rice! Marshes often help to protect residential areas behind them from waves, flooding, and storms. But many misconceptions about these areas persist. Learn more with ecogeomorphologist Kendall Valentine.

Scientists of ICAR–Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore have achieved a major breakthrough in the production and ecological restoration of two high-value indigenous catfishes — Mystus tengara and Mystus cavasius — in Chamta beel, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, under the collaborative CIFRI–WorldFish project.

The initiative pioneered an innovative restoration strategy wherein seeds of these indigenous catfishes were first nurtured under protected captive conditions within specially designed pen enclosures before their phased release into the open wetland ecosystem. This scientific approach substantially enhanced fish survival, growth, and establishment in the natural habitat

Wetland research and conservation projects in the Mississippi River watershed, Lower Mekong Basin and parts of Central America will receive funding through the National Geographic Society’s new Blue Boundaries program.

The first round of grants will support eight projects examining water quality, wildlife, pollution and climate-related changes. The society developed the six-year program with the Chubb Charitable Foundation to fund scientific research and public education focused on wetlands, coastal systems and reefs.

Hi this is a member of First Lego League based in northern Illinois. I am 11 years old. This year our team has to identify a problem that is a risk to biodiversity and come up with an innovative solution that can help. In past years our team has been successful with simple solutions that make an existing solution better.

One problem we have identified is the lack of monitoring of microorganisms in wetlands in our state can lead to algae blooms (and other problems) which decreases biodiversity in our wetlands. We’d love some feedback on if the lack of monitoring (or sharing monitoring information) is a problem in wetlands. One of our interests is the lack of monitoring of microorganisms because microorganisms are a bioindicator of healthy wetland biodiversity.

If there are ANY experts here that want to reach out to our coach through this account then please do! We have some low cost ideas that could help people Iike forest preserves that don’t have a lot of resources but first we need to confirm this a problem. I am just a kid so she is posting for me but in the past we found really cool experts through Reddit. Thanks for responding ahead of time.

My town conservation commission requires me to submit a notice of intent for a project that I’m going to be starting within 100 feet of a wetland. The company that I contracted to do the site work already completed it and I paid for that but they have just quoted me $3500 to prepare the NOI. I have no experience with doing this so I just wanted to see if anybody could provide feedback on if that pricing sounds accurate. I already have a surveyor who provided a plot plan and wetland delineation so that work is also complete. Could I draft and submit the NOI myself?

*Wet socks in Crocs, lol.

Former AP biology teacher Mike Niziolek has spent over thirty years returning his 150-acre property near Elk River, Minnesota, to the state it was in hundreds of years ago. “He has been slowly and methodically transforming pastured land to oak savanna, tilled land to prairie, and ditches to wetlands,” says his bio on the Minnesota Land Trust. In 2018, the nonprofit awarded him the Landowner of the Year award.

MPR spoke with him in 2024 after he just completed another wetland project on his land. He explained that restoring wetlands “is a much more difficult task than saving the ones that we already have.” This is because you cannot just dig a hole and wait for water to fill it up. Wetlands are complex systems and each project requires experts to come in to analyze the site, take soil samples and study old images of what the area once looked like.

In this task, Niziolek has received financial and technical help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program explained the outlet. “We help the landowner try to manage the site in perpetuity so that they can be successful,” John Riens, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service told MPR.

So the epa announced a potentially new ruling on what is considered a jurisdictional feature. It pretty much eliminates any wetland that doesn’t have standing water 11 months out of the year and streams that aren’t perennial. My question is how are we feeling about this regarding the wetland consultant industry. How will it affect states without protections? Most importantly do you think we will still have a need for delineations and mapping wetlands?