Job Profile: Environmental Scientist

Name: Charles Hughes

Location: West Midlands

Employer: Canal & River Trust

 

Job Responsibilities:

This is an Environment specialist position working as an Environmental Scientist for the Canal and River Trust. Responsibilities include; Helping implement the Trusts Environmental Management System (EMS) including its environmental appraisal procedures. Monitoring and reporting on compliance with regulatory requirements and corporate environmental standards.

 

I identify implications of environmental legislation for the Trusts activities and provide practical advice on necessary measures to protect the Trusts interests and the waterway environment. Provide support and advice on waste management, contaminated land and water quality management across a range of Trust business activities to mitigate potential adverse environmental impacts and identify and deliver opportunities for appropriate environmental enhancements on our waterways. Contribute to the delivery of the dredging programme through prioritisation of projects, production of project booklets and liaison with Project Managers. Undertake environmental surveys (water & sediment sampling) implementing consistent standards for data management. Work with other colleagues within the environment team and others to respond to environmental issues and incidents. Liaise with external regulators and stakeholders (including Environment Agency and local Planning Authorities) in relation to environmental protection and management. Deliver training on aspects of environmental protection and management to Trust employees, contractors and volunteers.

 

My role is very varied from day to day, this could include undertaking water sampling and analysis as part of a pollution investigation to providing technical advice on waste management of contaminated dredgings for a dredging project. It is very rare that every day is the same.

 

The role allows a good mixture of indoor and outdoor work. Some weeks I can be out every day conducting sampling, audits, site inspections etc and other weeks I may be at home or the office writing up reports or providing advice via Teams meetings or in person workshops.

 

At the Trust we have a huge winter works programme which includes really important maintenance works undertaken across our assets. This can be a busy time for a person in my role however for things like priority projects (infrastructure etc) much of my work is needed to be done fairly in advance so can be variable depending on when works are scheduled (i.e. a Flood Risk Permit application will be submitted typically months before the works is mobilised on the ground). Conversely, a pollution incident by its very nature is very reactionary and thus I may need to attend site at the drop of a hat! (as seen with the major incident on the Walsall Canal involving the discharge of cyanide in August 2024).

 

Qualifications needed:

I have a BSc degree in Physical Geography and have undertaken a number of CPD short courses etc to build on my skills and knowledge. However, environmental scientists/consultants come from a range of academic backgrounds/disciplines including geology, geography, environmental science as well as some less related fields but have gained work experience to support this.

Additional training: Some training will be mandatory to the organisation you work for and is thus context specific. However, as mentioned we may be required or interested to develop specific skills via short courses. An example of a really great training session that was required for my role was the “Classification & Assessment of Waste” training delivered by C&P Environmental which has been very useful for my job.

Skills needed: Communication (written and oral), analytical skills, report writing, approachability, adaptability, and many more!

 

Advice to anyone looking at similar roles:

Be open to learning new things, this type of role can require knowledge and skills across a range of different environmental aspects (waste, water quality, contaminated land etc). Be relentless in asking questions if you do not understand something, typically there will be experienced professionals who can support you (I have been very fortunate to work with some great people!). Lastly, I cannot understate the importance of working and developing on your communication skills. Sometimes you may need to write technical reports but other times you may need to distil this type of information so that it is easily digestible to a wider audience. Remember, you cannot be an expert in everything!

 

If you have any queries about this role or would like to ask a question of the job holder please contact CJS by email here