Laurel started her Water Board career at the Central Valley Regional Water Board as a stormwater student assistant and in 2008 was hired onto the State Water Resources Control Board Industrial and Construction Stormwater NPDES Permitting program team, which Laurel then managed from 2015-2020. In 2020, Laurel transitioned to her current role as the Waste Discharge Requirements Program Manager primarily involving industrial and sanitation waste discharge requirements for discharges to groundwater in collaboration with the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards. Laurel holds a B.S. in plant science from UC Santa Cruz and has completed an A.S. in Geographic Information Systems from American River College.