Alice Mellor

"My personality types were Quality controller, Manager and Coach.I think the quality controller type fits well with the detail of the work I do. I handle a lot of data which requires attention to detail. I also have to be able to judge the risks of decisions that I am making, looking at the problems as a whole to get the complete picture. It's also important in my role to question why we do things a certain way and suggest alternatives that may improve treatment/the way we work. The manager and coach qualities are important to be a team player. I really enjoy working with others and seeing people of different strengths come together to achieve more than we could on our own. Recognising each others strengths and making sure the right people are consulted is really important in doing a good job."

"I support the design and operation of mine water treatment schemes for Coal Authority. I review a lot of chemistry data from our schemes to monitor the scheme performance and support our operations managers in improving the efficiency of our schemes. I really enjoy the problem solving aspect of my job and being able to make a difference to the environment.I started my career as and Environmental Consultant which involved working on a wide range of projects from remediating brownfield sites, monitoring the impact of operational industrial sites and investigating the impact of historic metal mines. The range of projects gave me a good grounding in environmental projects and some interesting site experience (plenty of digging/drilling big holes and taking lots of water and soil samples). "

"I'd always enjoyed science and geography at school (I did Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Geography A Levels) so I wanted to be able to carry on studying these things at University. I did my degree in Environmental Earth Science which I really enjoyed. It involved a lot of maths and chemistry but in an applied setting and I learnt a lot about Geology (which I'd never studied before!). I really enjoyed doing a dissertation research project and after finishing my degree I was successful in applying to do a research masters looking at contamination from an old lead zinc mine in Mid Wales. Through my masters I made links with an Environmental Consultancy that had previously investigated the site and managed to get an interview when I'd finished my studies. In my job as a Graduate Environmental Consultant I managed to continue looking at historic metal mines which led me to my current role as Geochemist at the Coal Authority."

"I love to bake, to cook and to sew (although I spend more time unpicking than sewing!). I've also just bought a house so my DIY skills are definitely increasing (learning by doing - mostly through youtube tutorials)!"

"I do a mixture of working from home and working from an office of about 150-200 people (and occasionally get to site to visit schemes or undertake some sampling). When I'm in the office we hot desk so my first job is to find a desk, some days this is with my team and other days I sit with the project managers or the innovation team! I always start with a cup of tea and a quick catch up with people in my team and checking the email inbox for anything urgent. My job can be really varied from taking part in project meetings, sharing information with operations managers, writing reports or spending the day looking at data spreadsheets trying to understand what the data means! If I am visiting a site then my days can be longer and usually involve an early start so that we can get as much time on site as possible. Site visits can include a site inspection to check the safety and operation of a site or may include undertaking a research project to give us more information on how the schemes are operating or performing."

"A Levels - Maths, Chemistry, Biology, GeographyBSc Hons - Environmental Earth ScienceMPhil - Research project looking at the contamination from a historic metal mine"