Environmental Scientist Upskills with CEQA

Elizabeth Brusati is a senior environmental scientist at the Delta Stewardship Council in the Adaptive Management Unit in Sacramento. After a couple rounds of job interviews where she was asked about her California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) experience, she realized she needed to up her game, and enrolled in UC Davis CPE’s CEQA Practitioner Program. 

“I decided to sign up for the full badge program to gain a deeper understanding of CEQA and because the badge would be something I could add to a rèsumè or LinkedIn to demonstrate my skills,” said Elizabeth. 

She completed the online CEQA program in June 2024, shortly after beginning her current position at the Delta Stewardship Council. Now equipped with a comprehensive overview of the CEQA process, Elizabeth is looking forward to advancing in her role and learning more about ecological restoration in the Delta. 

“I definitely recommend the program. It’s useful whether you write CEQA documents, review them or need to understand the rules that project proponents must work with.” 

We reached out to Elizabeth to learn more about her experience in the program. 

How long have you worked with CEQA? 

I have limited experience with CEQA. I don’t write CEQA documents myself, but part of my position requires me to read CEQA documents. Our unit works to advance adaptive management for restoration projects in the Delta and as part of that we need to understand the requirements those projects need to follow, like CEQA. 

What did you find most valuable about the program? 

I had very general knowledge of CEQA before taking these courses so the greatest benefit to me was learning the details and the complexity involved in complying with CEQA. 

What course in the CEQA Practitioner Program was most impactful for you? 

All of the courses provided a huge amount of information, and the instructors were great in both the recorded lectures and in the wealth of knowledge they brought while answering questions in the live sessions! But the most relevant course for me was Mitigation Measure Development and Monitoring. 

Would you recommend this program? 

I definitely recommend the program to others (and in fact, a couple of my coworkers are considering taking either CEQA: A Step-by-Step Approach or the full badge program). It’s useful whether you write CEQA documents, review them or need to understand the rules that project proponents must work with. I liked that the program offered the flexibility to choose from a menu of electives, so I could concentrate on the aspects of CEQA most relevant to my job.