Emmett Perdue

Name: Emmett Perdue

Summers as a Camper: 9 (1985 to 1993)

Current Profession: Chief Operating Officer, Ecosystem Planning and Restoration (EPR)

Can you provide a brief overview of your job responsibilities? 

Ecosystem Planning and Restoration (EPR) is an environmental engineering services firm specializing in ecosystem restoration with projects along the eastern seaboard, gulf coast and in Alaska. We inspire passion in our public and private partners through our team members to develop practical solutions that strike a balance between project goals, cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits.

As a water resource engineer, I am responsible for collecting/assessing existing ecosystem health, developing designs to increase ecosystem functions, assisting in permitting with state and federal agencies, administering construction activities and performing monitoring to determine project success. As the Chief Operating Officer, I oversee the daily operations at EPR to ensure all our team members have the resources and support to accomplish their responsibilities.

Do you have any career advice for members of our Camp community?

Be true to yourself and find the passion in life you want to pursue. I entered the water resource industry because of my love of the Neuse River and my experience at a young age of seeing algal blooms disrupt an entire ecosystem. I vowed to myself that I would do whatever was in my power to guarantee my children and future generations would have access to clean water and be able to enjoy all the benefits of the Neuse as I did (motorboating, sailing, skiing, fishing, hunting). I then developed the skillset necessary to allow me to work in an industry that fulfills that passion.

What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments? Is there a goal toward which you are currently working?

I have had the pleasure to work on some really cool projects over the years, but it is difficult to call them personal accomplishments. The one thing I love about our industry is it requires a technically diverse team to produce a successful project. But it will be nice to know that through these efforts, I have had impacts on others through some of the projects we have implemented – from drinking water for the citizens of Dallas, to salmon runs in Alaska, to recreational parks across North Carolina.

I thrive when others succeed, so my current personal/professional goal is to see all the staff in our company rise to the potential I know they have. I am able to assist department leads in attracting new talented employees or in pursuing an innovative approach to a service, helping junior staff develop their professional skills and the leadership team brainstorm on how EPR can affect true change in our industry. Each of these pieces are just as important as the other, and I challenge myself to ensure they are all working in unison to make EPR the premier environmental services firm.

How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life? 

Teamwork, personal responsibility, love of nature and sense of community are the defining tenants of both my personal and professional life. Each of these were instilled in me through various activities and interactions at Camp. It is interesting how one can cherish a memory of something that at the time, was not very fun. But looking back at cabin chores and how that crafted comradery while developing personal responsibility is something I still try to recreate for folks around me. Additionally, how growth through the ranks required a buddy, either a peer or a younger camper, left me knowing that while I can now generally accomplish a lot on my own, it is way more fun to bring someone along. I try to challenge myself and others to bring a buddy and let them either learn from other or maybe even show them show how to do a thing or two. 

Then, there was the beauty of Camp. Some of my fondest memories are walking the back nine and seeing the tall pines sway in the wind, sitting on the pier fishing while watching all the boats dot the sea, and funny enough, hunkering down in a cabin as a strong storm blew in to teach you to respect the power of wind and water. And finally, there were the staff and counselors who always seemed to know exactly what to say to engage you in an activity or to pick up your spirits if you were feeling a little homesick. That sense of community and togetherness in giving back to someone you may not know at the time has pushed me to reach outside of myself to help lead, mentor and provide for others as those wonderful people did for me.

Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you?

Lloyd Griffith’s son, Christopher, was my cabin’s senior counselor in my fourth year during a time I was struggling to find myself. Christopher gave me the encouragement and confidence to go out every day, find an activity and apply myself. He taught me to not worry about the things I could not control but to focus on what was in front of me and to give it my all and let the dust settle. This was a lesson I took with me the rest of my life. 

Favorite Camp meal: Fried Chicken

Favorite mess hall song: Desperado – who doesn’t like horsing around.

Devotion you best remember from Camp: I can’t remember a specific one, but I do remember being comforted each night and falling asleep thinking about how I could improve the next day. 

If you had to have an intro song every time you walked into a room, what would it be?  Burning Down the House by Talking Heads

What profession other than your own would you like to try? Captain of a large seafaring vessel – be it a ferry, commercial ocean liner, or a cargo ship.