-
Aaron Conti, Certified Ecologist, Professional Wetland Scientist, Tennessee-Qualified Hydrologic Professional and avid wildlife photographer
Meet Aaron Conti, a Certified Ecologist, Professional Wetland Scientist, and Tennessee-Qualified Hydrologic Professional at EnSafe. Aaron is truly passionate about the impact his career has on the environment (and the wildlife and people who live in it). Here he is, in his own words, talking about how his hobby of wildlife photography has informed his professional passions:
Since taking up wildlife photography as a hobby, I’ve grown to appreciate viewing wildlife in a way that has helped fuel and sustain my professional passion for wetland ecology. For example, it’s helped me focus on wetland birds’ behavior in a way that I hadn’t before. With a camera in hand, trying to predict the moment when they will burst into flight to the other side of the pond or a high tree branch takes on a new importance.
To position yourself for any chance of success capturing avian elegance and vitality in an image, you often have to wake up early, drive to find and explore a quiet spot, and hope to be at least as lucky as you are good that day. In my own experience, so many blurred, flying-out-of-frame, and under/overexposed photos go into getting a quality image. And usually even then some branch is getting in the way of that “perfect” photo.
Wetland Restoration, Enhancement, and Preservation along the Loosahatchie River
EnSafe’s West Tennessee Wetland Mitigation Bank is transforming former farmland into a self-managing, sustainable, and productive wetland using hydrological and ecological design that leverages nature’s unparalleled capacity for ecosystem restoration. A sea of small orange flags speckling the wintery landscape of West Tennessee is a welcomed sight for EnSafe’s ecological staff. A host of small […]
Continue reading
Part 1 of 3: Five Tips for Successfully Navigating Compensatory Mitigation
How to Keep your Project on Track when Mitigation is Required Is there a stream, wetland, or other aquatic resource (e.g. pond) on your project site? You’ll need to do some proactive legwork if you suspect your project will impact water resources regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) or waters of the […]
Continue reading
Part 2 of 3: Should You Purchase Credits from a Mitigation Bank or In-Lieu Fee Program?
Top 4 Purchasing Benefits If your project’s plan to avoid and reduce adverse impacts to water resources isn’t enough and impacts are unavoidable and above regulatory pre-set thresholds – you will be responsible for compensatory mitigation. In other words, you must compensate for the form and amount of impact the Corps or other regulatory agency […]
Continue reading
Part 3 of 3: What to Do If Permittee-Responsible Mitigation is Your Only Route
A plain language explanation of the PRM process When your project’s impacts to water resources are unavoidable and above regulatory pre-set thresholds, you are responsible for compensatory mitigation. We reviewed in Part 1 how to navigate the process, and in Part 2 why purchasing mitigation bank or in-lieu fee program credits are the Corps’ preferred methods. There […]
Continue reading