Working as an environmental coordinator at North American Palladium's Lac des Iles mine, north of Thunder Bay, has given Aaron MacDonell, 30, everything he wants out of a job.

"I just kind of fell into it," Aaron says of his career in the mining industry. "I wanted to be in an industrial setting in the environmental field."

A desire to stay close to family in the Thunder Bay area was also a factor in his decision to work at Lac des Iles.

"I like the north and living in small communities," says Aaron, who enjoys hunting, fishing and golf. "It's cleaner than large cities such as Toronto."

Aaron became interested in environmental sciences in high school and went on to earn a technical engineering diploma at Confederation College and a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Western Ontario.

Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics in high school helped him prepare for the career he wanted.

While a Bachelor of Science is enough to get your foot in the door, a Masters degree can open up many more doors and help you climb the ladder much faster, he says.

Luckily, he works for a company that offers ample opportunities for on-the-job training.

Aaron works in his office about 30 per cent of the time, and spends the rest of his day in his favorite surroundings, the great outdoors. He collects water samples, monitors the mine's potable water treatment plant and makes sure that waste oil and chemicals are properly disposed of.

Outdoors
"I like the outdoors, so I wanted to be in a role that allowed that," he says.

"I started out in an environmental lab in Thunder Bay and I decided I wanted to be working with the mines and the mills instead of just analyzing the results." He went from there to a job selling chemicals to the mining industry, but wasn't really keen on sales.

North American Palladium started him at $65,000 but that reflected the four years of experience he had gained in other jobs. With five to 10 years of experience, an environmental coordinator at a mine can expect to make between $90,000 and $95,000, he says.

Aaron's job involves staying on top of all environmental concerns at Lac des Iles and making sure the mine is in compliance with all of the government's laws and regulations, both federal and provincial, as well as staying on top of all permits for the mine's operation.

He also prepares environmental closure plans, ensuring that when the life of the

mine ends, it is rehabilitated back to its natural state.

Misconceptions
"There are a lot of misconceptions about the environmental impact of a mine," he says.

One of the more challenging aspects of Aaron's job is staying on top of complex government legislation to ensure his employer acts within the law. "You need a good understanding of environmental law for this position," he says.

One of the perks of his job, aside from the good pay, is his schedule. Aaron works from Monday to Thursday and always enjoys a long weekend.

With opportunities for advancement, he looks forward to a life-long career in the mining industry. He hopes to eventually become a sustainability manager at Lac des Iles, which would give him more of a public role and lead to work with the First Nation communities in the region.

His advice to high school students considering a career in environmental science is to find a niche. "Environmental Science is a very broad field so you really should specialize in something to be taken seriously by employers," he says.

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