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In order to serve you better, please select your Dominion Energy location services.
And a career protecting wildlife and the environment.
A glimpse at the important work one of our biologists is doing to ensure wildlife is protected across our footprint.
This article is about:
Matt, a biological consultant for Dominion Energy, shares his passion for wildlife, the environment and how his role is integral to the way we do business.Between April and October, I am typically in the field two to four days a week and the work really varies. Examples of things I might be asked to work on include observing a nest to determine the occupants and understand if our activities will impact the nest, conducting a fish survey at a power station, or assisting in design of a pollinator habitat at a solar facility. No two days are ever alike.
As a kid, my father took me hunting and fishing, which instilled an appreciation and love of the outdoors and all wildlife. My professional goal was to be a veterinarian, but as a solid B student, I didn’t make the cut. The mix of being a biology and chemistry major and the love of the outdoors steered me toward a career in the biological sciences.
I usually tell people that my education focused on fish, most of my early experience focused on plants, and my heart is with the birds. With this job, I get to do work in all three arenas.
I am partial to the birds. Being the subject matter expert for all things avian (which includes bats), I get to spend a lot of time on projects helping to protect birds from potential impacts.
People are always surprised that Dominion has biologists. Whenever I tell them what I do and for whom, they always ask, “Why does Dominion have biologists?” I tell them, that I make sure we don’t harm wildlife by our activities, whatever they may be.
It is our responsibility to be good stewards of the environment and to set a good example for how to interact with wildlife and their habitat. By protecting the wildlife and their habitat and even increasing habitat in some cases, we ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy what the outdoors has to offer.
We are also committed to compliance with appropriate laws. Most of the wildlife that we encounter near our facilities and infrastructure are protected by either Federal or State law (or both). Not only are we protecting the wildlife from our equipment, we are also protecting the equipment from the wildlife. This ensures reliability to deliver power to our customers.
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