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neurial or commercial experience. The success of these endeavors is vitally important given the governmental emphasis for a more entrepreneurial economy, the current prominence of environmental protectionism, and the social insistence on revitalizing aged industrial properties.

The considerations that lead to starting a new scientific venture and entering into the new venture are only vaguely understood because the current appreciation of the experience these scientific individuals endure is incomplete. What are the deliberations that trigger environmental entrepreneurs to consider a new venture? Do these motivations coincide with the extant literature of other scientific entrepreneurs? How are these motivations realized and understood in the early years of the venture? Researchers have contributed limited knowledge about these entrepreneurs and their new venture creation process. This research has taken many approaches and has sought to describe the characteristics of these entrepreneurs, the challenges of their ordeal, and the pitfalls inherent in this process (Burns & Stalker, 1966; Dubinskas, 1988; Roberts & Wainer, 1971; Samsom, 1990). Yet, the phenomenon surrounding the triggers and motivations of the environmental entrepreneur's experience as they enter into and progress through the new venture creation process is less understood. This qualitative exploration in the phenomenological tradition discusses the triggers and motivations of these individuals and enhances the existing body of knowledge of scientific entrepreneurship and serves to enlighten those that dare to engage in this endeavor.

BACKGROUND

Addressing environmental issues is a concern in the worldwide domain. The United Nations (U. N.), since 1974, has implemented environmental programs to coordinate and organize environmental projects around the globe (Hochberg & Cohen, 2006). Of concern to the U. N. is not only minimization and remediation of environmental degradation, but the dearth of environmental scientists. The U. N. suggests that the number of people capable of managing such concerns is inadequate. Domestically, the creation and maintenance of these entrepreneurial endeavors are receiving the highest levels of attention. President Barack Obama has stated that his presidency will strengthen environmental policies, plan an explosion in “green” market products and services, and create millions of new jobs in the process (Schuster, 2008). The emphasis on entrepreneurship coupled with the political palatability of environmental endeavors makes for a growing demand for a limited number of environmental scientists, and even fewer environmental entrepreneurs.

The impetus fostered by governmental attention is however, tempered by the statistics suggesting entrepreneurial success is not a foregone conclusion, even in the growing environmental market. Headd (2002) suggests that one-third of businesses voluntarily close their doors within the first 4 years and another third fail within this same period. This is not new news in the entrepreneurial world; high risk and elevated failure rates have been known for decades. Academia continues to research the subject of entrepreneurship, in general, and scientific entrepreneurship, specifically.

The research into scientific entrepreneurship has progressed similar to that of entrepreneurship in that the initial attempts were to classify the spe