The world of environmental consulting is expansive and stretches from a wide array of professional and academic backgrounds. Quickly I realized that I was far more interested in the science and policy aspects than the more engineering based parts. From here I had been looking at environmentalism in the private sector from this lens of policy and overall environmental research, however, exploring the field in such a broad context left me feeling rather lost. I knew that I wanted to be able to focus on a more specific area and be able to interact with more depth, but I did not know exactly where to go initially. So, I continued to research different policy frameworks that influence projects and began diving into the process of environmental impact assessments. Similarly to when I first began exploring the topic, I also found the idea of an environmental impact assessment to be rather broad. Although it was significantly more narrow than the concept of private regulators interacting with public environmental policy to provide services for private industry, it still had the same unapproachable, broad nature that would not yield good research.
This has led me to a particularly important and under researched front for impact assessments: brownfield assessments of derelict, often urban, properties that are often contaminated and economically unbeneficial. Through this, I can explore the elements of how brownfields are restored and the benefits associated with dealing with them. Additionally, I want to show the economic incentives with reutilizing brownfields, reiterating the idea that environmentalism can and is economically beneficial. Furthermore, in my search for professionals to speak to I am also expanding my search geographically because of the niche nature of individuals in brownfield consulting and regulation. This will allow me to hopefully see a specific function of consultants in a more in depth way.
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