Amber Deem

Amber Revae Deem—an impactful and pioneering environmental specialist—was shaped from a young age by her mother, who instilled in her a great sense of self-worth. She has faced much rejection and criticism in her field, but her willingness to fight for what she believes in has brought her to where she is today. Upon graduating from high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1998 and subsequently moved to Alaska to attain a master’s degree in environmental health engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2002.

Equipped with her master’s, she secured a job at a consulting firm in Anchorage, which helped fuel markets deal with contaminated sites. Over the course of the position, her perspective on the fuel market changed—she then became an environmental manager for the airline industry through Anchorage International Airport, ensuring the transportation systems were efficient and working to address contaminated sites. Not only did she instantly excel in this male-dominated field, she was the youngest on the team. While she faced pushback, especially in regard to environmentally friendly improvements, she overcame many obstacles to see her visions through—and in doing so, she significantly improved how facilities were managed and how streamlined inspections and drills were handled over the course of her accomplished career.

Ms. Deem was active as an environmental consultant at Ecology and Environment, Inc. from 2002 to 2005, and then joined Aircraft Service International Group as its environmental manager for 12 years, through which she represented the industry on such issues as supply chain and storage capabilities, as well as tank expansions, fuel hydrant system expansions, and the federal, state, and local environmental compliance, training, and drills. She served in the role of a project engineer at Geosyntec Consultants for a year before showcasing leadership skills as vice president of Global Fuel, LLC from 2017 to 2020. Since 2020, she has found success as an environmental specialist at McKnight & Associates, a global leader in the commercial construction industry, where she provides expertise in environmental compliance, permitting, and documentation for a wide range of projects.

Outside of her primary responsibilities, Ms. Deem is an active contributor to food banks and cleanup initiatives in her community. For more than 10 years, she was heavily involved in the Alaska Chadux Network and has long been a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Proud of her work in the field, she looks toward the future with the goals of being healthy and reassessing her value to the market. In addition, her two sons continue to be driving forces for her to serve as a good example and hard worker.