Learn to Assess Environmental Impact With Confidence
Our programs don't promise shortcuts or overnight transformations. What you'll find here is practical training built on real field experience. We teach the methods and frameworks that matter when you're actually standing on a project site or presenting findings to stakeholders.
Most people who complete our courses take 8-12 months to feel comfortable conducting independent assessments. And that timeline assumes you're willing to put in the work between sessions.
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Three Core Learning Paths
Each track addresses a specific aspect of environmental assessment work. You might start with one and add others as your projects evolve.
Site Assessment Foundations
This covers the basics of conducting field surveys, collecting meaningful data, and documenting baseline conditions. You'll work through actual case studies from industrial sites, residential developments, and infrastructure projects.
9 months program Next cohort begins August 2026Regulatory Framework Navigation
Understanding compliance requirements can feel overwhelming at first. This track breaks down federal and state regulations, helping you build a working knowledge of NEPA, Clean Water Act provisions, and permitting processes that show up in most projects.
7 months program Next cohort begins September 2026Impact Analysis & Reporting
The hardest part isn't collecting data. It's turning that data into analysis that decision-makers can actually use. This track focuses on quantitative methods, mitigation planning, and creating reports that hold up under review.
8 months program Next cohort begins July 2026
Taught By Practitioners
Led by Stellan Vestergren
Stellan spent twelve years conducting environmental assessments for mining operations and urban development projects across the West Coast. He's done the kind of work that involves hiking through dense vegetation at 6am to document wildlife corridors, and then defending those findings in public hearings.
His approach to teaching reflects that background. Expect detailed walkthroughs of real scenarios, including the mistakes he made early in his career and what he learned from them. The goal isn't to make environmental assessment seem easier than it is. It's to give you the tools to handle complexity when you encounter it.
How Our Training Actually Works
We've tried to eliminate the disconnect between classroom theory and field reality. That means working through messy situations where data is incomplete, timelines are tight, and stakeholders have conflicting priorities.
Case Study Immersion
You start with documented projects. These aren't simplified examples. They're actual assessments with all the complications that came up during execution. You'll review site data, regulatory correspondence, and final reports to understand how decisions were made.
Guided Practice Sessions
Each month includes structured exercises where you apply specific methodologies. This might involve analyzing soil samples, mapping habitat boundaries, or drafting sections of an impact statement. You'll receive feedback on technical accuracy and communication clarity.
Capstone Assessment
During the final weeks, you complete an independent assessment project based on a real site scenario. This includes field survey planning, data collection protocols, impact analysis, and a formal written report. It's the closest simulation we can create to actual consulting work.
What Past Participants Have Developed
We can't promise specific career outcomes. Job markets vary, and success depends heavily on your existing background and how much time you can dedicate to building your portfolio. But these are the skills that tend to emerge after completing the program.
Field Survey Competency
The ability to design and execute site surveys that capture relevant baseline conditions. This includes understanding when to call in specialists versus what you can document yourself, and how to ensure your data collection meets regulatory standards.
Regulatory Document Literacy
Being able to read through dense regulatory guidance and extract the requirements that apply to a specific project. Also, knowing where to find precedent decisions and how to use them to support your analysis.
Impact Analysis Methods
Working knowledge of quantitative approaches for assessing environmental effects. This includes basic modeling techniques, uncertainty analysis, and presenting findings in ways that acknowledge limitations while still providing useful information.
Stakeholder Communication
The capacity to translate technical findings for different audiences. You'll learn to write for regulators who want detailed methodology, and separately for community members who care more about local impacts than scientific precision.
"The hardest adjustment was learning how much I didn't know. I came in thinking my biology degree had prepared me, but field assessment requires different skills. By month five, I stopped feeling overwhelmed every time I looked at a new site. The capstone project was brutal but it forced me to pull everything together."
Completed Site Assessment Foundations, now working with a Portland consulting firm