Laura Pashley

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now? 

My bachelor's is in chemical engineering with minors in computer science and managerial economics. I interned at an air quality district during college and after graduation, I got hired by an environmental consulting company. And I'm still there 15+ years later. I have mostly worked with air quality and compliance and my career niche turned into working with environmental management systems and data that is used for compliance reporting.

How did you become interested in STEM?

In high school, I wanted a career path that was flexible and had a good growth potential. Both of my parents were in the tech field in some way so I leaned there, and ended up in the College of Engineering but moved my major to end up in Chemical Engineering.

What advice would you give to young girls who are interested in pursuing a career in STEM?

Having good problem-solving skills and the interest and ability to learn new things is key. The rest can follow.

What is one piece of advice you wish you had received when you were just starting out?

Careers, like life in general, are a fluid thing. Take chances and make changes to find the right fit.

How do you handle failure or setbacks in your work?

Mistakes are a learning opportunity, so determine what worked and what didn't, and why. Then make tweaks for the future.

How can parents and educators encourage girls to explore STEM subjects from a young age?

I love when schools offer a STEM program as one of the specials. That is a great way to get young kids interested.

What skills do you think are most important for success in STEM fields? 

Adaptability, collaboration, and problem-solving.

How has your field changed since you first started your career?

I started out doing air permitting for a brief time and got into compliance. With the way the tech industry is going, my recent project work has been in automation and working with developers to create tools to help environmental compliance teams do their work more efficiently and have fewer tedious tasks.