A woman on an environmental mission

Anadarko engineer and mother of twins loves her job, has climbed Kilimanjaro, got lost backpacking in France, is headed to Australia, then Antarctica

BY LIZ BESTIC FOR GREENING OF OIL

A childhood promise to her sister and a love of the great outdoors helped 29- year-old Rebecca Thingelstad make one of the smartest career decisions of her life.

“I grew up in the northwest corner of Montana, which is about the most beautiful area you will ever see. I had always been interested in environmental issues and when I was younger did volunteer work at the Glacier National Park. However, my sister and I made a pact to move no more than 1,000 miles away from each other when we went to college. So I stayed close to home and studied environmental engineering at the School of Mines in Butte, Montana,” she explains.

(Start the conversation. See comments section at bottom of page.)

Butte is an old mining town which provided Rebecca a fascinating insight into the way life carried on before environmental regulations.

“It really was the best place to study this subject. Butte is one of the largest Superfund areas in the United States and so presented an amazing opportunity to study environmental issues. Our studies often involved looking at real time examples of contaminated land. You really got to see what can happen when everything that could go wrong environmentally has gone wrong. It put a whole different perspective on everything and gave me hands-on experience of learning about appropriate environmental approaches,” says Rebecca.

Early love was writing and art

Taking her degree in environmental engineering turned out to be a pretty shrewd decision. Yet Rebecca’s life could have turned out very differently.

“When I was really little I wanted to be a writer and an artist,” she says. “Those were my two great loves. I had worked out that I was going to write to support my drawing habit. My mom encouraged me and in second grade we had to write a journal. Whilst the other kids were trying to eke out a page I would turn in twenty pages of prose. To be honest I’m not entirely sure my teacher appreciated having to read it all!”

Luckily for Rebecca her dad saw she also had a clear talent for science.

“I have to give my dad some of the credit for encouraging me to take up a career in engineering. He is a principal and math teacher and used to grade my homework. We would sit down together and talk about the areas which were proving difficult. One day he suggested engineering might suit me as a career. I was lucky that a chapter of the Society of Women Engineers—a not for profit education service that aims to encourage women into engineering as a profession—were based at my college. Listening to what they had to say really inspired me to go out and find my dream job.”

Dream job with Anadarko Petroleum

That dream job turned out to be with Anadarko, one of the foremost oil and natural gas companies in the United States, where today Rebecca is an environmental engineer covering the whole of Southern Wyoming.

Her task is to ensure that the company follows all regulations and that proper environmental procedures are in place.

“For example, when we take on a new project my job is to understand the environmental issues and cultural considerations of the area and make sure we use innovative techniques to protect the locations in which we are operating and minimize our environmental footprint.”

Anadarko, Rebecca says, “is highly committed to protecting natural resources and wildlife in all areas in which they operate. We have won numerous awards as an operator including the Reclamation and Wildlife Stewardship Award from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. I feel quite privileged to be working where I am supported in making a positive difference. Instead of trying to fix problems, I can actually prevent them. By making slight modifications in the way things are done we can provide a necessary energy resource whilst being environmentally conscientious,” says Rebecca.

So are there any down sides to her job?

“I guess the worst thing is that sometimes we are viewed as ‘police’,” she says. “However this is not the case at all. Our priority is protecting the environment and an important part of my job is to ensure that we foster strong, transparent relationships with both employees and contractors. Through close collaboration and coordination of ideas we can ensure safe operations so good working relationships with the various companies who also operate in the area are vitally important.”

Restoring land to its original condition part of her job

Part of Rebecca’s job also involves land remediation.

“When the company has been producing in an area, we will return there and restore it to its original condition,” she says. “That does not necessarily mean whole fields, but often involves just one well which we have finished with. We remove the well according to all state and federal regulations, and re-contour the land so that it looks like the original landscape. We then reseed the whole area so that proper vegetation can begin to grow again.

“Within the company we have worked very hard to develop drilling techniques which reduce the surface area occupied by our facilities. We have also taken part in a host of wildlife studies to understand migration patterns of wildlife so that we can preserve habitat. To be honest these days we usually identify areas where there are natural habitats before we even begin operations. For example in Wyoming, there are whole seasons when we don’t do any activity at all because it would disturb the wildlife.”

Balancing family and her professional life

Rebecca is proud of the work she does and is full of enthusiasm for the company she works for. “I love the fact they are so conscientious and proactive in the environment,” she says. “I sit on around half a dozen working groups of various organizations and it feels good in a meeting to know that you have a company with such an excellent reputation behind you. Anadarko has been recognized by a whole range of different agencies from non-governmental organizations to local environmental groups so I feel like the work I do is really worthwhile.”

Rebecca  has also been impressed with the company’s approach to balancing work and family life.

"I am married to a petroleum engineer and have 20 month old twins, which could have made life difficult for my career. However, Anadarko has worked with me in juggling the care of my babies and having a career. It is these types of business approaches that make you value the company you work for."

Nevertheless Rebecca works long hours starting at 6.30 a.m. and leaving some days at 5.30 p.m., but the varied nature of the job is what keeps her hooked.

“I don’t mind the early start. You never know what to expect or what you are going to deal with day to day. The phone is usually ringing off the hook at that time of the morning, and it is not unusual to have meetings start at 7 a.m. The company is based in downtown Denver which is really cool, too!”

When she gets time to relax between working and looking after her twins, Rebecca loves to travel and reckons she has been pretty much everywhere. She has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and got lost in France.

“In fact our honeymoon was spent backpacking round Europe. In France, the trains were on strike, which made travelling a little difficult, and we often ended up stuck in places we had no plans to be in. But that was where we met the most interesting people. We are heading to Australia in a month and hope to go to Antarctica next year. That will finally complete all my continents!”

Links of interest

Anadarko Petroleum

School of Mines and Engineering

Society of Women Engineers

Contact Liz Bestic at liz@bestic.co.uk or visit her Web site.