Getting her hands dirty is part of the job, and the fun, for environmental scientist

Pretty much everyone is familiar with ecology, but it’s a broad term and it covers a lot of territory.  

For our segment So What Do Yo Do?  Josie Dillard, a student journalist at Norristown Area High School sat down with ecologist Danielle Kreeger to find out exactly what her job entails.

Kreeger is science director for the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, a Wilmington based group focused on improving the quality of the Delaware River and Bay.  She’s been an ecologist (or environmental scientist) and science educator for 25 years.  

Kreeger has a short, simple description of her  work and the mission of her organization.

“The ultimate goal is to protect and restore the environment in the Delaware River basin,” she says.

While the goal of her work is to find solutions to help maintain the health and viability of the Delaware,  Kreeger wears lots of hats.  Some days she’s organizing conferences with stakeholders and attending meetings to build coalitions with other enviromental protection agencies.  Other days she’s “hip deep in mud,” placing electronic tags on fresh water mussels.

My team is always saying we need to get the TV program to come out and do [an episode of] World’s Dirtiest Jobs!, says Kreeger.

Kreeger says she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty, and being on the water is what she loves about the job.  

“I’m not by nature an office person. I need to be in the environment as much as possible.”

Interviewer Josie Dillard admired the work that Kreeger does and said she would be interested in volunteering, but admitted that she is not the “outdoorsy” type. “Im more of an indoors girl.  I don’t like the bugs!”

Kreeger assured Dillard that there are “more pleaseant field opportunities” that could potentially be a good fit for her, if she wanted to participate.