Neal has spent more than two decades helping airports tackle complex environmental and planning challenges. His work spans air quality and noise, sustainability and resilience planning, and energy and environmental analysis, where he supports projects from early planning through implementation. He’s known for bringing clarity to technical problems and guiding teams through complex, high-stakes projects. Before joining the consulting world, Neal served as a U.S. Army Ranger, leading teams on multiple overseas deployments.
What does it mean to you to be part of an employee-owned company?
Being a part of an ESOP makes me feel like I actually have a real stake and say in the company I work for and that what I do really matters to me and my co-workers.
What keeps you coming to work here at ESA every day?
The people!!! My co-workers and even some of my clients!
What’s your favorite thing to do when you are out of the office?
I play military simulation airsoft games about a dozen times a year. They are 3-day fully immersive games where me and my friends get together from all over the country and shoot each other in the face for fun! I even have one of my clients joining me for a game in 2026!
If you had one free hour each day, how would you use it?
Read more about how historical world events, big and small, are so intertwined.
What are three skills that you bring to the ESA team? In other words, what should colleagues know to reach out to you about?
- Mentorship/People Management
- Aviation sustainability
- Energy management/resilience
In a nutshell, what kind of work does your team do?
I’m part of the Airports Practice, so we focus on aviation-related air quality, noise, sustainability, resilience, NEPA, master planning, and community engagement. We also rope in folks from other practices, as needed, to help with things like bio/ESA, historic/Section 106, etc.
Describe your role at ESA and the type of work you do.
We are a pretty well-rounded group of folks, so I wear a lot of different hats (air quality, noise, sustainability, etc.) My career started with being an air quality modeling geek, then focused on noise, and now on sustainability and resilience. Although the technical work is interesting, I find being a people manager and mentor to others to be truly rewarding.
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 NEPA work with Amazon’s drone program has been fascinating. I’ve learned so much from some of my co-workers about some of the coolest and most esoteric things, like bat foraging times and the Eastern massasauga snake! I like working with a fast-paced client and I really enjoy the “team” aspect (internally and externally).
Have you had the opportunity to work on any career defining projects?
I have, but what I have learned is that those projects tend to quickly get relegated to a few lines on your resume as time and my career moves on. The good thing is that those experiences aren’t wasted and everything I learned I still apply to my daily work, even now.
