WHO’S WHO
IN TOWN & COUNTY GOVERNMENT
SUSANNAH GOLDSTON WORKS TO IMPROVE SOIL AND WATER QUALITY THROUGH CONSERVATION
S
BY MEGAN TILLOTSON
usannah Goldston’s roots in
Chatham County run eight generations deep. She grew up on her grandfather’s small dairy farm in Goldston. (The town was named after an ancestor.) In 2002, Susannah graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s in geology. She worked for engineering and consulting firms in Sydney, Australia, and Oakland, California, before returning to Chatham in 2010. Susannah is an environmental specialist and director of Chatham Soil & Water Conservation District. She lives in her hometown with her many houseplants. How did you become interested in soil and water issues? Growing up on a farm, I spent a lot of time outside. I guess making mud pies, skipping rocks and damming up creeks is how it all started. I’m just fascinated by the natural environment. What kind of work did you do before you became district director? I would work on environmental site assessments and remediation projects for clients with contaminated soil and 26
CHATHAM MAGAZINE
PHOTO BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
groundwater. Some projects were gas stations with underground tanks that had leaked, and some projects were industrial plants with bigger chemical spills. I would oversee the testing of soil and groundwater and the subsequent cleanup. After 10 years, I was a little homesick for green, rural North Carolina and less interested in contaminated industrial sites. What is the typical workday for you? There really is no typical day in this job. We’re a small office of three people – [Brandy Oldham and Joseph Trimnal are my colleagues] – and we have over a dozen programs and services we provide within our mission of “ensuring the wise use of our natural resources by providing technical and educational services.” One service we provide is conservation planning for farms. We work directly with farmers, and based on their objectives, we assess resource concerns and recommend best management practices to address those concerns.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2022