Alexandra Norpel, EIT

Meliora has been fertile ground for Alex to apply her background in water resources engineering, natural resources policy, and urban planning. Since joining the team, her typical responsibilities have been designing stormwater systems in HydroCAD and AutoCAD, drafting civil site plans, and preparing permitting applications for public and private green stormwater infrastructure projects. She has also performed plan and permit reviews for proposed land development projects and watershed-scale water quality modeling to inform policy decisions.

Alex pursued a bachelor's degree in environmental systems engineering from Penn State and went on to complete a dual master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin in civil engineering and water resource management. The multidisciplinary program incorporated training in ecology, natural resources policy, and urban planning, which has been useful when working on environmental advocacy projects at Meliora. As a former graduate teaching assistant, she has leveraged those skills to connect with the firm’s interns and help with educational outreach programs.

In her free time, Alex enjoys going on nature walks and identifying birds, trees, plants, and fungi, which she finds lends itself to making flavorful foraged meals and herbal preparations. She also volunteers at organic farms, studies permaculture, and uses her family’s property as a laboratory for what she has learned.