April Doroski
Senior Wetland Scientist, Team Leader, Fuss & O’Neill: Age 35
It’s come to be known simply as the ‘mushroom calendar.’
That’s because it features photographs of mushrooms, taken and collected by April Doroski, who encounters numerous varieties of the fungi while out in the field serving as a team leader and senior wetland scientist for the Springfield-based engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill (F&O).
The calendar, which graces the cubes of many employees at the company, and several other settings as well, is offered as part of a fundraiser. Since 2020, Doroski has raised more than $6,500 for environmentally focused nonprofits including the Clean Air Task Force, Ecology Project International, Biobus, and Trees for the Future.
And such efforts comprise just a few of the ways Doroski has become … well, a standout in her field.
Indeed, as a senior wetland scientist and permitting specialist at F&O, she is a key member of its environmental permitting practice and the firm’s climate resilience work. She leads environmental permitting strategy and preparation for a wide array of climate adaptation, ecological restoration, transportation, energy, water, infrastructure, and development projects across the state. She has delineated wetlands across New England and has conducted compliance monitoring, as well as water quality and hydrologic assessments.
This is work she’s been drawn to since she was very young.
“As far back as I can remember, I always enjoyed spending time outdoors, camping with my family, and I knew I was interested either in microbiology or environmental science, and I ended up in environmental science,” Doroski said, adding that she enjoys many facets of this work but especially the places it brings her and the improvements she helps create.
“I drive by projects or sites or areas where I’ve performed wetlands delineation, and I always point them out to people,” she said, adding that she’s proud of the work she and other team members carry out across the region, such as the removal of obsolete dams that are no longer being used and repair of those that still serve a purpose.
“There are a lot of dams and infrastructure that are outdated and not needed,” she explained. “And the dam removals are exciting projects because we’re restoring the rivers to their natural flow and natural state.”
When not working or putting together the mushroom calendar, Doroski enjoys traveling — she has a trip to Spain planned for this summer — and snowboarding, two activities that provide her with more time outdoors, which is where she thrives.
—George O’Brien
