Accelerating towards the future: MNR graduate and water engineer Matthew Smith gets a jump start on long-term goals

By Lindsay Key

For Matthew Smith, it was a no-brainer to start the online Master of Natural Resources degree while finishing up his undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech. As a biological systems engineering major, he knew that he wanted to pursue work as a stormwater engineer upon graduation. But he also wanted to gain a broader view of water and sustainability issues to position himself for additional opportunities down the road. 

Smith enrolled in the accelerated master’s degree option available to Virginia Tech undergraduates with a 3.3 GPA or higher. The option allows a student to begin taking courses in the MNR program during their senior year of college, and to apply credit for these courses to both the master’s degree and their undergraduate degree program.

“It’s a really awesome option for engineering students who want to dive further into global sustainability topics,” said Matthew, who graduated with his undergraduate degree in May 2023 and his master’s degree later that year, in December. “It’s a really flexible program that allowed me to start working at the same time. A lot of my friends who started master’s degrees after graduation still have two or three years to go, but I’m already finished.”

Preparing for future management roles

Smith works for Contech Engineered Solutions, an engineering company that works with contractors and developers on a wide range of projects, including bridges, drainage erosion control, and stormwater management. He covers the territories of Northern Virginia and Washington DC, which have specific phosphorus removal requirements to protect nearby water bodies, specifically the Chesapeake Bay. His typical day involves designing treatment solutions for new and existing projects across those regions.

As an undergraduate student, Matthew worked in the lab of Kelly Peeler, water quality laboratory manager at Virginia Tech. He helped to test residential water samples from around the state of Virginia for pollutants in order to provide citizens with information about what’s in their water. This position not only provided him with important technical skills, but helped reinforce the importance of water quality regulation. 

The undergraduate research experience and degree prepared him well for his current role, he said, but the MNR degree provided additional sustainability context and fostered other job-relevant skills, like project management and leadership.

“The instructors incorporate a lot of sustainability case studies, which helps build your base knowledge, but they also focus on skills that are critical for a leadership or management position, such as understanding the different perspectives of stakeholders in order to best collaborate. These skills are useful right now, but will also prepare me well for management positions down the road.”

Gaining a global perspective on water issues

The online MNR degree also features a 10-day Global Study trip, and Matthew traveled to Finland during the Summer of 2023. There he met with water quality specialists, wind turbine engineers, and reindeer herders who explained the complex issues each stakeholder group is facing. 

“Those experiences helped recontextualize environmental activism through the Finnish lens, which includes different relationships with nature and national government,” he said.

Currently, Matthew plans to continue working as an engineer until he obtains his professional engineering (P.E.) licensure, the profession’s highest standard of competence. His long-term goal is to work for an environmental NGO, combining his technical skills in water quality with global humanitarian projects.