Practical guidance for early-career environmental professionals ready to understand how environmental consulting works,
build their foundation, and shape their role within it.
THE CORNICE CAREER CATALYST IS COMING SOON
Be the first to hear when Career Catalyst launches
Career Catalyst is a practical introduction to environmental consulting led by Robyn Black, environmental consultant, mentor, and Director of Operations & Corporate Strategy at Cornice Environmental.
Add your name to the first-cohort list for program details, dates, and early access to registration. You will have the opportunity to decide whether the program is right for you before making any commitment.
2011: In the Yukon and absolutely certain I had chosen the right industry.Start your career with the context most people learn later
For more than 20 years, I’ve worked alongside students, recent graduates, junior biologists, and emerging environmental professionals as they found their footing in this industry.
Career Catalyst brings that guidance into one practical, immersive experience, giving you access to industry context, career direction, and mentorship that many environmental professionals only gain after years of figuring things out on their own.
You will not leave knowing everything. You will leave with a clearer understanding of the industry, where you may fit within it, and how to take your next steps deliberately.
Meet RB
My hunch is you’re here because you’re trying to figure out how to turn your education, experience, and interest in the natural world into an actual career path.
Maybe someone sent you this link. Maybe you found Cornice online. Maybe you’re deep in the “what do I do with my degree?” spiral.
However you got here, I’m really glad you did.
I’ve been there. Fresh out of school. Trying to translate what I had done into something tangible, credible, and at least interviewable.
Since then, I’ve spent more than 25 years in environmental consulting and more than 15 of those years working alongside recent graduates, junior biologists, and emerging professionals as they find their footing in this industry. And they do.
Career Catalyst is my way of sharing the guidance I wish I had when I graduated—and during those early years when I was still trying to understand how the industry worked. It combines practical insight, industry translation, mentorship, and a community of peers navigating many of the same questions.
What we will explore
Career Catalyst is designed to help you understand:
How environmental consulting actually works
The types of roles, projects, clients, and career paths within the industry
How to translate education, field experience, volunteer work, and transferable skills into professional value
What employers are assessing beyond technical qualifications
How to present yourself credibly on a résumé and LinkedIn
What professional communication, judgment, initiative, and accountability look like in practice
Where your current gaps are and how to begin closing them
How to build a practical next-step plan for your career
You’re the Sciencey type,
so let’s look at the data…
Do you wish someone had explained how this industry actually works before you graduated?
Are you trying to turn your degree into a career path but unsure where to begin?
Are you struggling to explain what you can contribute when you are still building experience?
Are you sending out résumés but receiving little—or no—response?
Does LinkedIn feel like a platform for people who already have established careers?
Do you feel as though everyone else received an industry rulebook you somehow missed?
If you recognize yourself in any of these questions, Career Catalyst was created for you.
Career Catalyst may be right for you if you’re:
Completing an environmental, biological, ecological, natural-resource, or related program
Preparing to enter the environmental industry
Still in school or in the first few years of your career
Trying to move from academic knowledge into consulting work
Re-entering or redirecting your career toward environmental consulting
Looking for practical context that formal education did not provide
Program format, dates, and registration details will be shared with the first-cohort list before public registration opens.
Joining the list gives you early access to those details and the opportunity to decide whether the program is right for you. It does not commit you to enrolling.
The first cohort is in development
Your career does not have to begin with guesswork
You have already invested in the education, experience, and interests that brought you here. Career Catalyst will help you translate that foundation into a clearer professional direction—and a practical plan for entering environmental consulting.
Early days to today. Never a dull moment.