The Jersey Shore’s young girl was swept away by the seashells by the crashing waves. She smiles, laughs, and looks at the beauty of nature with little interest in the carnival music, rides on top-of-the-line, or boardwalk behind. Young Danielle Szimanski realized that she wanted to become an environmentalist after spending hours in the Atlantic Ocean.
Fast forward years later, Szimanski found herself as a freshman History major longing for a rekindled interconnection with nature – which she again discovered at the Chesapeake Bay watershed while attending Chestertown, Maryland’s Washington College.
She quickly refocused her talents, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Environmental Studies. Now, her environmental protection passions continue daily – uniquely operating as a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering With Nature (EWN) Coastal Practice lead and USACE Baltimore District project manager and ecologist.
Szimanski hails from New Jersey’s northwest, where he loves the tranquility of being in nature. He also loves how interconnected the whole environment is. “Not only with nature, but also with people. I was always interested in science and how it works. It is important to preserve the natural world, as we are all still part of it.
Trailblazing Woman
Szimanski is a shining light for women who are interested in leadership roles as part of Women’s History. Her example shows how women can use environmental science to make impactful decisions about the environment today and in the future.
Szimanski hopes that she can help communities to strengthen their ability to connect throughout nature. This will allow them to understand how the ecosystem works, what each element is and how they work together. Working for USACE, Engineering With Nature and other organizations, she has the ideal platform to accomplish this.
Expert with dual-hatted expertise
Szimanski said, “As an USACE ecologist as well as a project manager, I help to improve the existing environment.” “I focus on the beneficial use and shallow draft dredging of sediment. I’ve also managed and completed dredging projects on the Chesapeake Bay as well as Maryland’s Coastal Bays. These included island creation, wetland rehabilitation, and small-scale beach renourishment. Additionally, I have experience in multiple planning studies including water resource studies as well as Regional Sediment Management and Continuing Authorities Program studies.
Szimanski is also a lead for Engineering With Nature Coastal Practice and supports EWN field implementation in the USACE enterprise.
“My role is to assist EWN program managers in overcoming implementation hurdles across districts in regulatory, design, funding, and policy issues. We collaborate with USACE district counterparts, existing experts, and working groups to determine the best ways to implement EWN initiatives.”
No Easy Path
Whether she is enhancing the Navigation Mission of Baltimore District to support safe maritime traffic, commerce and national security or facilitating interagency communication, collaboration across USACE, to advance EWN practices, field-scale applications, these concurrent leadership roles are not without challenges.
Szimanski stated that one of the biggest obstacles we, as EWN practice leaders, are trying to overcome is increasing opportunities for Engineering with Nature to be implemented in Corps projects. “The practice leaders want to make the EWN Program, and its research to support future project opportunities, more accessible to all Districts across the Corps and make this information readily available to the study manager and project manager levels.”
Szimanski credits her coastal practice leadership role for broadening the scope of her views on nature-based solution.
Szimanski stated, “This role has helped me expand my ecological knowledge to which I would not normally get exposure here on Chesapeake Bay.” “Working with other practice leaders, Engineering With Nature leaders, and researchers from different parts, especially the middle of the country has given me new details about the problems and solutions they use for projects and Engineering with Nature.
“Engineering with Nature means a cultural shift of no longer ‘fighting against’ nature but using our understanding to improve societal needs,” Szimanski added. Understanding how sediment flows and wetlands reduce flooding will help us get closer to nature. We’ll also be able to work with systems that have been around for millennia. It won’t work everywhere to contain nature, such as with a concrete wall to reduce flood risk. We will achieve the greatest results and benefit if we use nature’s energies & processes in tandem with society.
Mission accomplished: Changing the Narrative
Szimanski didn’t know where her outdoor adventures near the Poconos Mountains would lead her. She is happy that she followed her gut instinct and pursued environmental affairs. She continues to change the narrative for women in power, and empower others with a passion about nature.
