Summer Forsman is a Technical Editor with seven years of experience supporting environmental planning and compliance projects. Based out of our Southern California region, Summer works closely with project teams from across the firm to edit, format, and prepare document reports, helping ensure reports are clear, consistent, accessible, and ready for public review. Summer is known for her attention to detail and for helping teams produce polished, high-quality deliverables.
What is your favorite ESA moment/memory so far?
My favorite ESA memory was getting to meet my team in person in Los Angeles for our Editors Summit. It was a great opportunity to share ideas, learn from one another, and connect as a team.
What does it mean to you to be part of an employee-owned company?
Being part of an employee-owned company means having a sense of ownership and pride in the work we produce. It creates a shared commitment to quality and collaboration, where everyone’s contributions help shape the company’s success.
What keeps you coming to work here at ESA every day?
What keeps me coming to work at ESA every day is the opportunity to collaborate with different people and continue to learn new things. Each project brings new challenges, which keeps the work engaging and helps me to grow professionally.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you are out of the office?
- Going to the beach
- Baking
- Reading sad books
- Traveling
- Watching Law and Order SVU (before Barba left)
If you had one free hour each day, how would you use it?
Take my dog to the beach!
What are three skills that you bring to the ESA team? In other words, what should colleagues know to reach out to you about?
- Technical editing
- Style guide knowledge
- 508 compliance
In a nutshell, what kind of work does your team do?
As technical editors, we review complex documents to ensure clarity, accuracy, consistency, and adherence to style guides. We also fact check, improve organization and flow, and enhance readability so the final product is clear and effective for its intended audience. Through this work, we add value by strengthening the quality of each document and helping to produce clear, well-supported, and legally defensible documents.
Describe your role at ESA and the type of work you do.
I’m a technical editor, so I review all types of documents including cultural assessments, DPR forms, biological assessments, EIRs, IS/MNDs environmental assessments, proposals, and more. I enjoy the variety and the opportunity to work across different disciplines.
What’s been your favorite project to work on here at ESA and what impact did it have on the community and/or environment?
My favorite project to work on so far has been the Perkins Renewable Energy Project. Perkins is a complex project because it is part of this accelerating shift toward green energy, and the construction will create local jobs. It has also identified an important piece of the Native American cultural landscape in the Colorado Desert. It was so rewarding to see everyone’s hard work come together.
