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Taylor McCauley

A smiling woman stands outside a brick municipal building.

Taylor McCauley – Project Manager/Civil Engineer at the City of Louisville

I manage projects for the City of Louisville’s water and wastewater treatment plants to ensure they are running effectively and kept up to date with treatment requirements. I also lead the city’s Internal Decarbonization project, which has the goal of reducing carbon emissions and prioritizing clean energy sources throughout city buildings, fleet, equipment, and operations. Though not water related, sustainability is all connected in terms of water and energy. I love being handy (it’s the engineer in me) and camping.

My Path

AP Environmental Science to the Environmental Field

Taking AP Environmental Science in high school helped me realize my passion for the environmental field. I started by considering becoming an environmental scientist but coming from a family of engineers I checked out what environmental engineering would look like. I started my college search by looking up accredited environmental engineering schools. The program I chose focused on water and wastewater, and it interested me right away.

Finding Project Management

Internships in college were encouraged, and my senior year I did one with a professor who was involved with consulting that turned into an offer for a full-time position. Early in that first job I was assigned to manage part of a project focusing on preventing saltwater intrusion to ground water. I was really drawn to the leadership parts of the project versus the more technical aspects of engineering. I loved leading a team and managing and organizing the project.

Looking for a Community

I realized my ideal job would be project management in the water/wastewater field but wanted to make a switch to the public sector. I wanted to feel more settled and focus on one community, rather than the many different clients I juggled as a consultant.

My Work

Scales showing how this person's work breaks down. Most time is spent working indoors and getting creative versus doing distinct tasks. They get to work on their own as well as with other people.

Both engineering and project management require creativity. Engineering is a lot of problem solving, where you need to identify all possible approaches and consider what will be best for your team. Managing a project involves communication and tracking, and you need to build processes that keep these both streamlined and information accessible to everyone.

Hiring and Managing Consultants

I write requests for proposals and manage the consultant selection process to ensure we are picking the right company for the job. I manage these relationships and keep communication lines open between our team and the consultants.

Grants

Grants can provide key funding for projects but require applications, follow specific timelines, and require communication and reporting.

Organization and Tracking

Project and contract management and managing grants require a lot of organization skills. You need to track and communicate everything from the high-level progress of a project to the nitty gritty details.

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My Why

I really enjoy the project management role and find water very interesting. There are so many hidden, creative solutions and options to the water issues our communities face. Understanding why stuff happens and why we do things a certain way is important to me. People usually aren’t thinking about the interesting work that goes on behind the scenes. My job is really fulfilling, I know that even when I spend my day looking at spreadsheets, I am working towards larger community goals.

My Advice

Don’t feel like you need to make the big decisions right away or all at once – many water and environmental jobs have overlap, and you see people switching between things like engineering, planning, and research. It’s great if you know exactly what you want to do but know that it does change for most people. Find ways to get involved and learn more about what you might want to do. By volunteering or joining clubs you can make a difference and find other people interested in the same thing. Pay attention to what you are curious about – what are you asking questions about?