Erica began her environmental career early on with an interest in science in elementary school. Later as she became aware of the earth’s dire environmental crisis, she began to encourage friends in school to recycle and decided that she would study the environment in college. While attending Duke she was able to gain an invaluable environmental education, study a semester abroad in Madagascar and gain hands on environmental experience via interning. During the summer of 1996, she interned at Waste Management’s Bradley Landfill where she worked on reporting Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) for air emission reports and conducted ground water sampling. In the summer of 1997 she interned at Hughes Aircraft’s Opto-Mechanical Division, where she used an Infra-Red scanner to produce emission spectra while analyzing chemical components to determine levels of adhesiveness.
Erica graduated with her Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Science and Policy and a Minor in Chemistry from Duke University in May of 1998. Happily, soon after graduation, in December 1998, she began working on her environmental career with the City of Los Angeles at the Environmental Affairs Department where she wrote articles and researched topics for the Greening Guide and provided information for the Environmental Information Center. Erica became an Environmental Specialist with the City of Los Angeles in June 1999 and in 2008 an Environmental Supervisor. Throughout her career, Erica has had the opportunity to work for various city departments (including the Department of Water and Power) on many environmental issues including water quality, water conservation, water supply, energy, cultural resources, policy, planning (California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)/National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)), air quality, storm water and hazardous substance management.
Erica pursued her Master’s Degree while working full time and participating in the city’s tuition re-imbursement program. In 2005, she received her Master’s Degree in Environmental and Occupational Health with honors from California State University - Northridge and became a Registered Environmental Health Specialist with the state of California. Erica has been a regular speaker and presenter for students of all ages advocating careers in science and the environment.
Erica’s previous area of focus was Sustainability at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Erica began working at LAX, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)/the City of Los Angeles Department of Airports in 1999. Her early work at LAWA primarily focused on regulatory compliance for hazardous materials, waste, noise pollution and stormwater management. More recently, from 2013 to 2018, Erica worked on sustainability (recycling, solar power, green energy, electric vehicle charging, green building, sustainable purchases, water conservation and energy conservation) and wildlife issues at the LAX. As part of LAX’s sustainability initiatives, she was responsible for green building initiatives and environmentally preferred products at LAX.