Marlyn Argueta interviews Laurel Williamson, Watershed and Stormwater Planner at the Center.
How did you get started working on watersheds?
Coming out of college, I knew I wanted to work in the environmental field, but I didn’t have a clear picture of which direction to go with it. When I read this vivid article by
Mary Battiata
(sister of former CWP-er!) in the Washington Post, stormwater and watershed management suddenly seemed like my calling.
What is your favorite part about working for the Center?
Working at CWP gratifies the Jack-of-all-trades part of me – this month alone I’ve taken soil samples, planned a workshop on illicit discharges, researched how trees reduce runoff, and worked on preparing a grant proposal.
Now for the silly questions. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card?
I was raised in a very frugal family, and I don’t really like shopping so the idea of maxing out my credit card gives me heart palpitations! But if you
really
twisted my arm, I’d max it out on a year’s worth of the most delicious gourmet food to share meals with friends and family.
What was your favorite TV show when growing up?
I remember coming home from school and rushing to the TV to watch the Ricky Lake Show before my parents would get home. Being a pretty timid person who avoided conflict, I was totally wide-eyed seeing people curse and throw punches at each other…and then occasionally make up by the end of it. Looking back, that taught me a lot about the good, bad, and ugly of human nature. Forget Sesame Street!
What is your favorite river?
I have a new favorite. Several times this summer I took my one-and-a-half-year-old daughter down to the creek deep in the woods nearby. There’s a spot where the wide, shallow creek makes a horseshoe bend and the bank is lined with towering white sycamore trees. There are sandbanks and pebbles, speckled shade, and a place where the water shoots down a bedrock shelf. A place like that might be enough to turn a little girl into a lifelong nature lover.
What’s the strangest talent you have?
I play a mean mouth trumpet.
What do you want to make sure you do before you die?
Say what I mean and mean what I say.
