From hiking to biking to sports, Kayla McMurray grew up enjoying everything about the outdoors. That made it only natural for the Christiansburg, Virginia, native to pursue a career protecting the environment.

Kayla is an Environmental Consultant in ONE Environmental Group’s Richmond office. While new to the company, she already feels at home.

“I can tell this is a tight knit group with the team here and they really care about what they do,” she says. “I’ve always valued relationships and like that they are an important aspect of the mission at ONE.”

Kayla will spend ample time away from her desk with responsibilities in due diligence, industrial hygiene, and sampling of stormwater and groundwater

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Growing up 25 minutes from Blacksburg, Kayla didn’t stray too far for college, attending Virginia Tech. She earned a Bachelor of Environmental Science with a focus on Land Restoration and Management — a niche she discovered thanks to the influence of her great uncle, the Southwest Regional Director of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

During her time at Tech, Kayla discovered timber sports as a member of the Forestry Club.

“Knife throwing, ax throwing, sawing; we even went to LSU one year for a big tournament and we hosted one,” she says. “We did fundraising, and I was a big part of that.”

Kayla is rarely idle in her spare time. Her father introduced her to motorcycles, and she looks forward to planning her first long distance road trip. Despite her 5-foot-4 frame, Kayla is a longtime volleyball player. She looks forward to finding new trails to hike and kayak in Richmond while also making time for regular trips back to her hometown to visit family and friends.