Christopher Sorrell

IESA degree obtained and graduation year:
2021 Environmental Spatial Analysis B.S. Magna Cum Laude Graduate
Certificates: Environmental Science, Fundamentals of Geospatial Technology and Geographic Information Science

What is your current professional title?
Jackson County Stormwater Specialist and Keep Jackson County Beautiful Coordinator

On a typical day in your position, what do you do?
I have been a member of Jackson County Government in the Public Development Department since January 2022. The department as a whole incorporates planning and zoning, building permitting, code enforcement, Keep Jackson County Beautiful (KJCB) and stormwater management. My role is essentially an environmental specialist. I manage data for annual reporting of environmental efforts to various organizations. My duties include organizing public outreach events, environmental education to all people in the community, monitoring illicit discharge, soil and erosion issues, code enforcement, and review of local ordinances. Additionally, I represent Jackson County as a member of several professional groups such as Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP), Georgia Association of Floodplain Management (GAFM) and Southeast Stormwater Association (SeSwa).

What things/experiences in IESA did you value most? 
The things that stand out the most for me were the professors in the program. The passion for their wide variety of subjects helped keep me motivated during an extremely scary time in my life when I decided to quit my job of 20 years to focus on school, then within the first few weeks of class starting Covid shut the world down. For brevities sake I won’t go into details, but thank you to all of the teachers and staff in the IESA program from the bottom of my heart. 

What advice would you give a current student?
First off, start a LinkedIn page now and start networking/connecting with people in the program and in jobs that interest you. Strength: Networking 

Second, don’t be afraid to reach out to local companies, governments, and agencies about getting raw data for projects. Take advantage of the tools available as a student to help you learn how to process the data you need in the real world. Many professional groups also have opportunities for presentations/grants. Strength: Initiative 

Third, always verify and understand your results! Remember this is a scientific field and sometimes the results that you get may have errors or be misleading. It is better for you to indicate the short comings of a projects results, than to provide unverified results because it shows that you know what you are doing. Strength: Honesty/integrity/knowledge

Finally, I would recommend that all grads have a portfolio of their projects that can provide visual proof of their capabilities. 

Office: 706-367-1832
Mobile: 706-215-7751
Email: csorrell@jacksoncountygov.com
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