Congratulations to Ben Fox for being November’s Values in Action winner! His support to the team and ownership of various initiatives align right with Isett’s shared values. As a member of the Environmental Department, Ben splits his time between being out in the field and inside doing office work. He primarily works on Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs)—sampling and evaluating the data and then preparing the respective reports. Whenever a commercial property undergoes a sale, refinance, etc., the site needs to be evaluated for environmental impacts, such as screening for an underground storage tank that’s leaked into the local groundwater and soil.
Ben works closely with our other project geologists, scientists, and managers as they research, assess, and document the environmental conditions at the different sites. He stays current with the various standards and trainings, and also contributes to improved practices and programs. One side project Ben has been working on—alongside of Josh Ambruch and the Survey and Forensics teams—is developing a drone program here at Isett. With two drones already acquired, our teams have been using them to scout out large properties for Phase I ESAs; calculate stockpile volumes; survey large sites to collect topographical data; and scout out the interior of condemned buildings. In addition, our drones have also been used to document the construction of the new Crackersport office. Another effort—Ben has created a new ArcMap template file that has made workflow more efficient for the team.
Ben enjoys the general freedom and openness to new ideas at the company. He finds his department to be a great balance of size and opportunity: small enough to operate as a close-knit team but large enough to have access to many different types of work, allowing for growth and additional training. The inclusion of staff-level personnel on proposal preparation is also a bonus. Ben is grateful to be nominated and for the confidence from leaders in his abilities.