C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates is very proud to announce that Danielle McMath, PLS, in her 25th year with our firm, has earned her Professional License to Survey in the state of Louisiana. Danielle becomes one of only 6 women currently licensed to survey out of the 674 Professional Land Surveyors in the state.

Danielle joined our Fenstermaker family in early 1997, right out of college after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). She lent her enthusiasm and strong work ethic to the survey team under the mentorship of John Fenstermaker, PLS, who ran the division at that time.

Danielle felt a strong affinity to survey work right away, pointing to her fascination with the history of an area and each project’s unique challenges as the chief reasoning for her passion. Over the years, Danielle took on increasingly managerial roles, growing from Team Leader to Associate Director, and into her current position as Director of Exploration & Production based out of our Lafayette office. As for her decision to build her career with us, she points to our family first core value as a big attractor, saying, “Fenstermaker has always treated me like family. Even as we grow, there’s a push to keep that family feeling intact. I’ve never had any desire to go elsewhere.”

She took steps to earn a license to survey as early as 2006; however, after completing the required course work, she ran into a roadblock with the number of field experience hours that was required at the time to proceed. It was a disheartening setback, and Danielle shifted her focus to her work at hand and her family. With her youngest daughter beginning college last year, Danielle recognized that it was now the time to revisit her efforts to earn PLS licensure, and reached out to the Board to begin again.

With a path to success charted, Danielle doubled down on studying while simultaneously maintaining her impressive work ethic. It was definitely a challenge, as she laughingly described, “At 48 years old, it’s not easy to sit down and start studying again. The hardest part was dusting off these old brain cells, and getting back into the mode of studying. I had a bit of role reversal with my daughter, who’s in college, but I got it done and I’m excited.”

After completing the requisite steps remaining, Danielle successfully passed both the state and national survey exams, finally earning her PLS in the state of Louisiana. Travis Bodin, MBA, PLS, PMP, Vice President, Survey & Mapping had this to say about Danielle:

“Danielle has been a tremendous asset to the company over the years and has worked hard to accomplish her goals. This achievement is another testament to her determination and dedication to our profession.“

Survey Office Operations Leader, Michael Marine, PMP, adds:

“Danielle has been a resilient leader, and we have sincere admiration for her dedication to achieving licensure. In my short time here, I’ve clearly noticed the impact she’s made on our clients and employees, and we look forward to the many more years of high-quality service she’ll continue to perform as a Professional.”

Danielle’s mentor, John Fenstermaker, was instrumental in providing guidance, mentorship, and encouragement throughout Danielle’s career—a mentoring relationship that she is deeply grateful for and seeks to emulate with new professionals joining the team, “I’m hoping that I can do the same for the younger technicians that are coming up. I learned so much from John, and he was the first person I reached out to when I got my results.”

John himself was so proud of Danielle’s achievement that he prepared a special statement:

“Danielle’s achievement in securing her Professional License to Survey in the State of Louisiana was no easy task. Danielle came to work for me in 1997 as a graduate in Industrial Technology. She was a quick learner and was always wanting to learn more. She was a godsend as our workload increased. Through sheer diligence and hard work, she was able to take on our busiest client as a Project Manager under my supervision while I took on other clients.

“The sky has never been the limit for Danielle. We’ve had several conversations about her future and I’ve encouraged her every step of the way toward her goal of licensure. There are not many women in Louisiana who have accomplished this feat.

“We laid out a plan to get her the field experience needed, the additional education so that she would qualify for the first step—an oral exam. I will never forget her experience with that because it was initially a setback, but she did not give up. About 4 years later, she rescheduled that interview and was accepted to take the tests. Now, 25 years later, Danielle has rightfully earned the title ‘Professional Land Surveyor.’”

Congratulations, Danielle. We’re proud of your steadfast dedication to this pursuit and our firm!

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