2025 Candidate Lara Pomi-Urbat

Lara Pomi-Urbat (CV)
Senior Project Manager
GEI Consultants

Candidate for: Member of the Board of Professional Certification

Lara Pomi-Urbat is currently a Senior Project Manager with over 18 years of experience in the environmental industry. She completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Stony Brook University, with a focus on ecology. Lara has particular expertise in ecology, stormwater management, watershed management, wetlands, and State Environmental Quality Review Act regulations in New York. She currently serves on ESA’s Meetings Program subcommittee, and has a been an ESA member for over fifteen years.

Lara’s career has focused on numerous aspects of ecology including site assessments, project impact assessment, planning, invasive species management, and restoration. She is experienced in both upland and wetland habitats, and utilizes that expertise in permitting efforts and landscape scale planning efforts, including watershed management plans and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans. Notable projects have included design and oversight of grassland restoration in endangered species habitat after vehicles were stored in the habitat post superstorm Sandy, an assessment of Long Island Sound Stewardship Sites and conceptual stormwater improvement designs for two of these sites, and restoration design and permitting for a sand mine located in Westhampton, New York. Lara was also the lead author on three New York State Department of State funded watershed management plans on Long Island. Current work includes flood mitigation and habitat restoration planning for a river on Long Island, management planning for a Land Trust, and an invasive species management plan for a rare coastal habitat.

How would you support ESA’s mission, including the career aspirations and full inclusion of all ecologists?

In serving on the Board of Professional Certification, I will work towards recognizing and including ecologists with varying areas of expertise and backgrounds. In particular, I hope to foster increased collaboration between academia and public/private sector ecologists, and encourage knowledge sharing and transfer amongst ecologists with different experiences. Having been a private sector ecologist for my entire career, I bring a unique perspective to the work that such ecologists do daily, and the impact it has on the environment. My experience assists me in understanding the different stages of a private/public sector ecologists’ career, and the types of work that comprise the ecological practice that such ecologists conduct daily. I believe my experience will aid the Board in assessing applicants and how their experiences typify ecological application outside of academia.