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Meet some of the APEM Group Environment Team in Australia. With decades of experience producing high-quality environmental impact assessment (EIA) and approvals, combined with APEM Group’s extensive global offshore wind experience, the team are already supporting the developing offshore wind industry and broader energy sector in Australia.
The team comprises Alyssa Giannoni – Senior Environmental Consultant, Jenna Huckenswager – Principal Environmental Consultant and Caitlin Ford – Environmental Consultant, brought together by Australia Market Lead Tara Kennedy, who has led feasibility licence applications and EIA for some of the world’s largest offshore wind and energy developers. They join Sean Sweeney, who led teams in the UK, Ireland, Europe, the US and Australia as head of ornithology consultancy at APEM Group before making the move to become Country Manager – Australia earlier this year.
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We’ve got a long and connected history with great working relationships, dedication to the environment and high-quality work. We’re not about telling people what they need: we’re asking them to tell us what their challenges are, what they’re trying to solve and then working on the issues together rather than selling solutions.
– Tara Kennedy, Australia Market Lead
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L-R: Sean Sweeney, Caitlin Ford, Tara Kennedy, Jenna Huckenswager, Alyssa Giannoni
The team’s career paths have crossed on some landmark projects, for global engineering firms, large and complex infrastructure including pumped hydro, marine projects, air quality and noise, groundwater and wastewater. Each member of the team brings a variety of experience in technical and practical disciplines and a real respect for the natural environment in Australia.
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What keeps me coming back is the incredible variety in my day to day, from office to field work. In 12 years working in environmental management and marine consulting across a range of industries, I’ve used my commercial diver and coxswain certifications in projects on the Great Barrier Reef, coastal wetlands, diving surveys, living aboard vessels and on remote islands for weeks at a time.
– Alyssa Giannoni, Principal Environmental Consultant
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As a female-heavy team in a male-dominated industry, the team has been involved in mentoring, lecturing, initiatives for gender equality in STEM and keynote speeches. There are few women in offshore wind, so the team has been a talking point at recent events. Supporting each other with technical, scientific and academic experience, the team’s communication skills and work in heritage assessments and community engagement will be vital in helping their clients to navigate a complex cultural landscape.
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We’re the boots on the ground in terms of local and country experience. APEM Group have a commitment to quality and a care for the environment that’s notable in the energy sector, and we can see the benefits of that scientific mindset in the work they’ve done in offshore wind in other countries. There’s a great work ethic, huge amounts of trust and very high standards within the team and I’m excited to see what we can do.
– Caitlin Ford, Environmental Consultant
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The team are used to working together with effective communication, influencing decisions, engaging stakeholders and being able to challenge and be challenged. Jenna explains that as experienced EIA practitioners, they work to the strengths and knowledge they have built up in practice.
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Writing impact assessments is about the effect of the work, not just the mechanism of the impact. A good quality report adds confidence, coming from an understanding of what’s necessary. A scientist doesn’t want to write a chapter on legislation, the project description or the environmental values. They want to write the conceptual model and the bundling and the result. My job is to tie all of that together, to make it understandable, thorough and cohesive, and send it off to the client with a firm recommendation. It’s hard to pick up my report and make an argument against what I’m recommending, because the story of the impact assessment is clear from start to finish.
– Jenna Huckenswager, Principal Environmental Consultant
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The team has already got stuck in with conferences, projects, proposals and client meetings. Interested in working with the team? Follow our careers page or keep an eye on LinkedIn.
Want to learn more about offshore wind in Australia? Watch our latest webinar here. If you’d like to speak to the team in Australia about EIAs, approvals, offshore wind or renewable energy, contact us using the form at the bottom of the page here.
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