Mark. E. Smith

Mark joined EDI in late 2018 to grow EDI’s practice in Baltimore and the Mid-Atlantic region. In March 2020, he was promoted to Executive Vice President, Operations, and has ultimately been elevated to Chief Operations Officer in 2023.

Mark is an accomplished leader with over 37 years of executive experience in designing, building, and leading diverse teams in the pursuit and performance of complex environmental and engineering programs and projects for numerous government and commercial clients. He has provided program and project management for over 480 environmental and engineering projects involving conventional and renewable energy, water and other natural resources, transportation, healthcare, and nonproliferation.

He has managed and authored numerous National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents as well as many other environmental and natural resource management and planning documents. His primary technical focus areas include the assessment of the environmental impacts on human health and marine, aquatic, terrestrial, avian, and wetland environments including Threatened and Endangered (T&E) and other special status species.

After four years in construction management in Los Angeles, CA and Washington, DC, Mark began his environmental career as a project civil engineer analyzing impacts to infrastructure and utilities across the nation for the US Department of Energy’s five-year, $75 million Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Reconfiguration of the Nuclear Weapons Complex. This experience led Mark to focus his energies on providing comprehensive environmental and natural resource planning support to clients utilizing NEPA and associated processes.

Before EDI, Mark worked at Tetra Tech, Inc., for 23 years in a variety of leadership positions, eventually as Vice President and Northeast Regional Manager for Tetra Tech NUS. One of Mark’s most memorable projects was the Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This complex document assessed, and made available to the public, the environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with the continued operation of LLNL. LLNL, located just outside Oakland, CA, was established at the height of the Cold War in a then remote location to meet urgent national security needs by advancing nuclear weapons science and technology. Now, LLNL is involved in a large spectrum of cutting-edge science and technology in the realms of Biosecurity, Counterterrorism, Defense, Energy, Intelligence, and Nonproliferation. Analyzing and assessing LLNL’s diverse programs and their potential impacts on the surrounding communities was as fascinating as it was challenging.

• BS, Civil Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Mark’s advice for someone starting a career in environmental consulting:

“Strong, positive professional relationships are the key to success in consulting. Give all your clients, no matter what size, your best possible effort. Treat all you colleagues, no matter what level, with the utmost respect.”