Hanna Taylor, an Environmental Sustainability Coordinator for the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, walks into work, ready to work on her latest project. As part of her mission to make Fredericksburg a carbon-neutral city for good, she is doing numerous things to decrease carbon emissions in the area.
After getting her bachelor’s degree in environmental science with a minor in biology, Taylor pursued her master’s degree in renewable energy and sustainable systems. She is now working for the city of Fredericksburg, contributing to keeping the air clean.
What made you want to go into environmental sciences? Is there a time or experience that made everything “click” for you?
“When I was a junior in high school, I took our AP Environmental Science course,” Taylor says. “Our summer reading assignment was to read Slow Death By Rubber Ducky by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. I learned so much reading this book that I suddenly became that annoying person who pestered everyone to not use antibacterial soap or things with the word, ‘fragrance,’ in the ingredient list because it was not good for us or the environment.”
Eventually, Taylor’s efforts to help the environment led her to choose to do environmental science and help the environment on a larger scale.
“I annoyed my mom so much,” Taylor says, “one day she snapped and told me maybe this is what I should do with my life–maybe I should go into environmental science. Between the book, my mom and the class, things began to click in my head.”
What has been your most exciting project that you’ve worked on so far?
I am currently working on reducing the City of Fredericksburg’s carbon emissions,” Taylor says. “I have done all the math to tally up our operations emissions and am finding ways to reduce them. We are currently in talks to put a solar array on a closed landfill.”
While a landfill doesn’t initially seem like the best thing for the environment, utilizing one in the way that Taylor is is actually helping the environment.
“Normally, I would rather put solar on existing structures rather than on land but to use a closed landfill is an opportunity to do something with land that is considered a Brownfield site,” Taylor says. “Brownfields have many regulations and requirements for remediation that using it for solar is a great opportunity. We plan to add native plants that will attract pollinators around the array to create a dual use for the land.”
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?
“After I graduated, I left to work in an environmental lab. I was so excited to work in the lab, I thought I’d be testing pollutants and solving how to fix them. Nope,” Taylor says. “I was testing for pollutants but mainly to ensure water was meeting state and federal requirements.”
Taylor realized that her job wasn’t allowing her to help the environment in the way she wanted to, and she decided to change paths.
“In the job, I had a misogynistic boss who looked down on all our female employees and that was a challenge in itself,” Taylor says. “But after transferring labs, I was about to spearhead a lot of new things, set up new instruments and I even got to research and create an entirely new testing method. Setting up the new method scratched that science part of my brain and I realized I lost that spark I had started this entire journey with.”
“That was my biggest challenge, finding how to do what I actually wanted to do in this field,” Taylor says.
“My master’s made me desirable for the jobs I actually wanted to do, but my experience still held me back a bit,” Taylor says. “So, I even went and got a LEED certification to bolster my resume. It was difficult and there were many challenges along the way, I certainly feel like I took a roundabout way to get to where I wanted to be.”
Even though it took longer than she would have liked, the challenges that Taylor faced have ultimately led her to where she is today.
What advice would you give young women planning to pursue careers in STEM?
“Don’t give up. For all the challenges I have faced, I am so glad I never gave up.”
“I could have stayed put, in the lab, gotten the promotion to the head of the department that they were tempting me with to stay, and have been miserable,” Taylor says. “But I didn’t. I followed my heart and now feel like I can make a difference in the world. It is my job to make the City of Fredericksburg carbon neutral and while that is a lot to do and I will need the help of all the city departments, it is something that is worth working towards.”
Pushing through the rough spots and persevering allowed Taylor to make a difference in her field, and the same can be said for many other people facing challenges as well.
“I can make changes and policies to reduce our carbon footprint and make sure we are contributing to a cleaner world. I may have to fight a little harder to be in the room and to be heard, but I won’t give up trying and I can certainly be louder than I already am. So don’t give up, keep charging forward and be loud about it because it is worth it. And certainly, do not let anyone tell you that you cannot do it, including yourself.”