By Jill Nagy
Wetlands scientist and ecologist Deborah Roberts is used to being called in at the beginning, the middle and the end of various projects.
Her company, Roberts Environmental Consulting in Queensbury, can warn a potential developer of environmental constraints on a planned project; can help guide a developer through environmental issues during the course of a project; and, if necessary, can suggest ways to remediate environmental blunders.
Roberts formed the company in 1994, after several years working for a large company in the Boston area. She moved back to the area where she grew up when her children were in grade school. She then set up shop on her own.
Today, with those children long since grown and gone, she still relishes the independence of her own company, the flexibility and the control she has over her projects.
“I generally take on only as much as I can do myself,” she said.
There is a downside created by her focus, however. “I can go for days without talking to anyone else,” she said. “I can get a little stir crazy.”
She has responsibility for support business functions like billing, taxes, and office maintenance. Her income stream can be difficult to predict.
Roberts finds balance by dividing her time between the work for local companies and municipalities she does on her own and the work as a subcontractor on larger projects, mostly with a Boston-area company that has contracts with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
As a state-certified Woman and Minority Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE), she offers something extra to contractors who have to include woman- and minority-owned businesses in their projects. She can help them get contracts with government agencies that hold those requirements.
However, the role of Roberts’ company goes far beyond helping a contractor to check off the woman-and-minority box on their applications. She brings close to 40 years of experience to a project. She has degrees from Colgate University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, including a Ph.D. in biology. And she is certified as a professional wetland scientist.
Some of her projects include wetlands restoration in the Village of Hudson Falls and the design for a drainage system for rainwater runoff at the YMCA’s Silver Bay Conference Center.
Local engineers rely on Roberts to advise them on the environmental requirements of new subdivisions and small businesses. Much of her work involves environmental permitting, including the treatment of wetlands.
As a subcontractor, she is involved in the cleanup of hazardous waste sites in parts of New England. In fact, she said, she has been working for decades on EPA projects in New England.
As with most sole proprietorships, it is a sometimes precarious and but generally the satisfying way to work.