Meet Interdisciplinary Water Resources Engineer Emily Dubois

Interdisciplinary Water Resources Engineer Emily Dubois.

Emily is originally from:

I grew up in New Hampshire and didn’t move to Colorado until about four years ago. Even though Colorado is home, I have such a strong love and appreciation for New England. The White Mountains and coast of Maine are where I first fell in love with nature.

Favorite ecosystem, plant, or animal:

I don’t know where the interest originated from but as early as at least kindergarten I was obsessed with hippos as a kid and they remain my favorite animal to this day. I wouldn’t say I have one favorite plant but I love the smaller plants like moss and mushrooms and learning how they contribute to ecosystems and interact with organisms around them. Small but mighty!

Backpacking in Washington.

Favorite thing to do when not working:

I spend most of my time that I am not working outdoors. Most often I am hiking somewhere in the mountains with my dog but I love learning new things and picking up new sports so I may also be trail running, mountain biking, backpacking, climbing, or skiing. I don’t think you can ever have too many hobbies and have an always-growing list of new things I want to try – whitewater kayaking and mountaineering are currently top of that list.

Role model:

I don’t think I’m answering this right as I’d consider this someone who impacted my life but not my role model. In high school I started reading a book by Alastair Humphreys who introduced me to the idea of a microadventure and changed the way I view adventures and work/life balance. Although he has gone on some epic adventures, he often discusses how adventure can be right outside your door step, pushes people to explore locally, and encourages others to fill their 5-9 with little adventures. I love this mindset shift as I used to think of adventures as these grand challenges and trips but changing this mindset helped me find more joy and experiences in my daily life.

Childhood career ambition:

I wanted to be a vet for many years when I was younger, particularly for large animals (I had an obsession with hippos as a kid). Unfortunately, I learned that I handle injuries and blood very terribly so had to rethink that career path.

Pets:
I have a dog, Bailey. She’s a husky mix and my favorite adventure buddy! We do lots of hiking, camping, and trail running but her favorite activity is probably when I take her Nordic skiing/skijoring.

Bailey!