PROVIDED BY LEAH PARENTE

Special to The Press

The Parkland Garden Club awards a scholarship every year to a student who plans on completing studies in a field related to gardening, horticulture, floral design and protection of the environment.

Leah Parente, who was the recipient of the scholarship in 2013, attended the club’s August meeting and provided an update of what she has done since she won the scholarship.

Parente told club members she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Temple University in 2017 and a Master of Science degree in geology from the University of Tennessee in 2019.

The focus of her Master’s research was investigating the effects of industrial activity on the soils of adjacent urban parks.

The results of her research showed an observable increase in heavy metals and petroleum compounds in urban soils, even when no known discharges of industrial materials occurred.

After graduating with her Master’s degree, she moved to North Carolina where she worked as an environmental specialist for Leonhardt Environmental, a small consulting firm.

In this role, she assessed industrial and commercial facilities to make sure they were in compliance with federal and state environmental laws.

In May 2022, she moved into her current role with the state of North Carolina.

She now serves as the geologist/hydrogeologist for the Non-Discharge Branch of the Division of Water Resources within the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

This branch is responsible for the permitting and compliance of residual and wastewater effluent land application facilities.

In this role, Parente is responsible for permitting non-discharge systems throughout the state, as well as assessing the monitoring of well networks and potential groundwater contamination from these sites.

Parente is the daughter of longtime Parkland Garden Club member Darlene Wenhold.