Can you share a bit about your journey and what led you to work in water? 

My name is Hattie Walrod and I'm currently an EIT in the Water and Environment team at Gresham Smith.

I looked up to my grandfather who spent his career as an engineer for the Arkansas Hwy Department. Since high school, I knew that I wanted to pursue an environmental science or engineering degree.

I started attending KSU (SPSU) in 2018 as an environmental engineering major. During the first two years of college, I was still exploring and searching for a disciple of engineering that I was excited about. I took my first fluid mechanics class as sophomore with a professor that I liked and I felt like the material clicked with me. That class, as well as my water and wastewater treatment classes, gave me a direction to follow.

I had an internship working with subsurface utility surveys and was exposed to the complex and massive task of locating and coordinating underground utilities. I’m very fun to go on walks with because I still keep and eye out for the flags and spray paint on the ground!

I graduated with my bachelor's degree in environmental engineering in 2021 and started working at an engineering firm as an EIT in their public utilities market. It was small firm where I was able to experience a range of projects, including a water treatment plant expansion in Louisiana, AMI projects, municipal utility relocations, construction administration, and water loss auditing.

After 3 years as that firm, I had a clearer idea about the types of projects I was interested in, the day to day processes I enjoyed, and the kind of company culture I wanted. Thanks to a former coworker from my internship who recommended me, I joined Gresham Smith. Since then, I have been able to focus more deeply on my interests within water and environmental engineering and continue to grow professionally.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

For me, one of the most fulfilling parts of my job is knowing that a project I worked on exists in the physical world and helps provide an important service to. I also, a bit more selfishly, enjoy the puzzling and problem-solving that comes with subsurface utilities. It is so satisfying to able to navigate the web of existing utilities and figure out how to make a design work.

Why is celebrating women in water so important?

The water and environmental engineering disciplines have among the highest rates of women employed in engineering. I think that makes us, women in water, leaders in advocating for all women in STEM fields. This visibility means that we are an example for other STEM disciplines. As more women pursue degrees and jobs in STEM, we are able to demonstrate the positive impacts of including, accepting, and encouraging women and support diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

Representation Matters

We thank Hattie and Gresham Smith for supporting Women Leading Water and sharing their perspective with our community!