Rebeckah Sims

As part of the Energy and Resource Team for the S&ME Energy and Environmental Business Unit at the Ayrsley/Charlotte location, I am responsible for all things natural resources including stream and wetland delineations, conducting the 404/401 permitting process, performing protected species surveys, GIS data collection and mapping, and navigating regulatory processes through the equivalent combination of education and experience. I am committed to be on top of industry trends and technology developments to help design and develop a variety of deliverables that meet the needs of our Energy and Resource clients.

An entry level environmental scientist on Moffatt & Nichol's Raleigh team working on a variety of coastal and land based projects, including current or upcoming transportation projects with NCDOT.
Responsibilities included: conducting field investigations (wetland delineations, stream delineations, natural system surveys, oyster surveys, threatened and endangered species surveys, etc.); preparation of NEPA documentation; preparation of community impact assessments; GIS data entry and map production; permit acquisition; assistant to structural engineering team on NCDOT bridge and culvert inspections; part of the NCDOT ATLAS GIS-Based Modeling Wetland/Stream Field Verification Team; part of the NCDOT ATLAS NC WAM Reference Wetlands Team; assistant project manager and field work lead for the Assessing Aquatic Connectivity in the Black River Watershed project in Bladen and Pender Counties; assistant project manager and field work lead for the Mid-Currituck Bridge Cumulative Impact for the Division of Water Resources project in Currituck County; and assistant project manager for the Mid-Currituck Bridge Cumulative Impact for the Division of Coastal Management project in Currituck County.

Responsible for site assessment and experimental design for stream restoration functions and values research, instrumentation calibration, deployment and maintenance, data collection (site survey, macroinvertebrate survey, flow analysis, sediment analysis, etc.), data analysis (statistical computation), and research report.

Responsible for performing turbidity analyses, soil tests with polyacrylamide (PAM) treatment, and writing instructions for laboratory testing.

Attended and assisted on many visits to projects out in the field, on some field visits meeting with local public officials, both government and business, to evaluate potential project sites On some field visits, collected data to be used for a specific project. On others, meeting with the project managers and Regional Production Group staff on the project sites, etc. Attended a Public Hearing and Public Information Meeting; prior to the meetings, contacting local government officials to invite them to the meeting, contacting local media to publicize meetings; during the meetings, setting up the meeting location, manning the sign in table, directing people to the meeting location; after the meetings, cleaning up the meeting location, organizing the attendance sheets, etc. Helped with projects in the office such as assisting with the reorganization of the Environmental Office’s records to allow better access; preparing presentations, charts, binders, CD’s, etc. Worked with GIS software such as inputting information into the GIS archive, setting up a soil GIS archive for the state of South Carolina, retrieving maps and other information for projects from the GIS archive, etc. Helped with additional tasks around the office such as filling in for the office manager in her absence; contacting local government offices and many other offices around the state of South Carolina to get contact names, emails, phone numbers, and addresses; prepared envelopes for mailings; etc. Learned about the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process. Learned about the Environmental Permitting process. Learned about Mitigation.