ILWA & The Shipley Group Launch Program to Modernize Environmental Permitting in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is changing industries across the country, and environmental professionals are finding ways to use these tools to improve environmental review processes without sacrificing trust, transparency or rigor.

Utah State University’s Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water & Air and The Shipley Group are announcing the launch of the Certified AI-Ready Environmental Professional (CAREP) program — a forward-looking certificate designed to help students and professionals integrate AI responsibly into environmental permitting and regulatory work.

The CAREP program gives participants practical skills for using AI responsibly in environmental review and permitting. Courses introduce foundational AI tools and show how they can be applied to document review, quality assurance, stakeholder comment analysis and response, and clearer, more accessible environmental documents. CAREP is a professional certificate program and does not offer academic credit.

“Environmental professionals are navigating unprecedented complexity — from accelerating project timelines to expanding public expectations,” said Jeff Stewart, president of The Shipley Group. “AI, when used responsibly, can help us review public comments more effectively, identify patterns in large datasets, streamline repetitive tasks, and produce documents that are clearer and more accessible to the communities we serve. Partnering with a university institute like ILWA allows us to combine practical experience with academic rigor to ensure professionals are retooling and upskilling for the future.”

The program will open enrollment in May, with the first cohort beginning in the fall semester. CAREP is structured as four intensive 2-3 day workshops offered monthly. Participants may complete the certificate by attending one workshop each month over four consecutive months, or they may spread the workshops out over the course of a year to accommodate professional schedules.

“CAREP is structured to support professionals across federal, state, local, community and tribal agencies, as well as private-sector environmental consulting firms,” said Anna McEntire, managing director of ILWA. “The program also creates an upskilling opportunity for Utah State University students and alumni seeking to enhance their readiness for AI-integrated environmental careers.”

The new program builds on a longstanding relationship between The Shipley Group and Utah State University, pioneered by Joanna Endter-Wada, Judith Kurtzman and Lisa Welsh in USU’s Department of Environment and Society. Shipley previously partnered with USU on a National Environmental Policy Act certificate program, which concluded during the university’s recent strategic reinvestment process. That reinvestment created an opportunity to re-envision how USU could best serve students and working professionals navigating a rapidly evolving regulatory and technology landscape.

“The university’s strategic reinvestment allowed us to step back and ask how we could design a program that meets the moment and current workforce needs,” said Brian Steed, executive director of ILWA. “We saw an opportunity to reimagine professional education in a way that better serves USU students, the state of Utah, and environmental practitioners nationwide. CAREP reflects that forward-looking vision.”

McEntire emphasized the importance of partnership in developing the program.

“We are thrilled to partner with The Shipley Group on CAREP,” McEntire said. “Their decades of experience in environmental planning, NEPA practice and compliance training, combined with ILWA’s mission to connect research, policy and public engagement, creates a powerful platform for innovation.”

By aligning university expertise with industry experience, ILWA and The Shipley Group aim to ensure that environmental permitting evolves alongside technology — strengthening both environmental outcomes and democratic processes.

About the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air

The Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University serves as a trusted statewide source for land, water, and air expertise. Building on USU’s land-grant mission, ILWA connects decision-makers with high-quality research through applied scholarship, public convening, compelling communication and cross-sector partnership to help Utah navigate complex natural resource challenges.

About The Shipley Group

The Shipley Group has over 40 years of experience specializing in NEPA compliance and environmental review training for federal agencies. The firm focuses on improving the efficiency, clarity and defensibility of environmental documents. Through its training programs, Shipley helps agencies develop streamlined, analytically sound documentation practices that save time, reduce risk and enhance transparency an approach that now extends into the responsible integration of AI tools.