Katherine Stevenson

"I think that my personality type results match with me quite well!It’s really important to have good communication skills in environmental consultancy, as you’re required to liaise effectively with technical specialists with a range of backgrounds, clients in government and private businesses and your immediate teammates/ colleagues on a daily basis. It’s a very collaborative role to work in (similar to project management), so being somewhat diplomatic, being good at working with a wide range of people and communicating with them well is essential. It’s also important to be thorough, good with detail and good at finding and reviewing information. I think that a lot of the traits associated with the ‘Coach’ personality type (such as being a good listener, compassionate, friendly, trustworthy and honest) are critical to being successful and a good, valued colleague in almost any role and also outside of work.A lot of the ‘Quality Controller’ traits also resonate with me. I’m quite passionate about ethical issues and social and environmental justice, which probably contributed to me pursuing a career in the environment sector! I also like to think that I’m quite hardworking and proactive, which led to my being successful academically and in acquiring my current role. "

"I work as a Graduate Environmental Consultant for AECOM. AECOM are a global infrastructure firm - this means that as a company we’re planners, designers, engineers, consultants and construction managers, who design and consult on infrastructure projects (such as HS2, the World Trade Centre or the Rio Olympic Stadiums). Environmental consultants advise companies and governments on how they can behave in an environmentally friendly way and comply with environmental legislation. I work on projects such as quarries, road schemes and energy projects, and am involved in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and planning. For projects to get planning permission to go ahead, they often require environmental assessments (e.g. an air quality assessment, to show that the project won't negatively impact air quality and consequently human health). I work with technical specialists within and outside of AECOM to produce these assessments and their associated reports. "

"It took me a while to decide on what to study at University. I thought about Maths, Business, Law and Marine Biology just to name a few of the routes that I considered! I decided on Environmental Science beacause I felt that it would involve elements of all of the subjects which I enjoyed (maths, geography, biology and business) (it did, and more which I didn't know that I liked yet!), and because I've always been interested (and pretty passionate) about the environment (probably a result of all of the David Attenborough documentaries I watched when I was younger!). Before starting and over the course of my degree I considered a number of careers within Environmental Science, before deciding that Environmental Consultancy seemed to suit me best. I worked a couple of jobs before arriving at my current role. Whilst at University for example, I was a student ambassador for ~2 years, which involved assisting with open days and speaking with prospective students and their parents/guardians about the University and my experience there, in person at the events and virtually. I also volunteered whilst at University, first at a local primary school (I was trying to decide whether teaching was something that I wanted to pursue), and then at an RSPB Reserve. I enjoyed all a lot, and feel that the experiences were useful when applying for graduate jobs in demonstrating my proactivity and commitment. "

"After work I like to read (not as often as I'd like to!), go on a long run, go to a yoga class or binge watch a netflix show. I spend most of my weekends visiting friends and family or exploring where I live with them (I moved to a new town for my job). I'm also a STEM Ambassador (through work) and really enjoy attending events in schools, to introduce students to Environmental Science and hopefully inspire some interest, and maybe encourage them to pursue a career within it. "

"My typical day at work starts in my office, usually with a coffee and replying to emails. The rest of the day is usually a mix of technical work (writing reports etc.), coordinating with technical specialists (some in the office, some in other AECOM offices over the country) and speaking with other members of my team. It's useful to have such a large and diverse office - if I have a question relating to air quality, engineering or noise/acoustics for example, there's a specialist in the office who I could ask. I get out of the office every few weeks - sometimes to visit a site that we're working on, or to meet with planning officers (from councils) or representatives from the company that we're completing the work for, or for training events. In January I attended the first training event of my graduate programme - there were 400 AECOM Graduates, just from the UK and Ireland! "

"I took A Level Mathematics, Biology, Geography and Business Studies, before going on to study an MSci (integrated Masters) in Environmental Science at Lancaster University. With this background, I was qualified to apply to AECOM's Graduate Scheme, and was successful in getting the job I wanted in Environmental Consultancy. For most roles in environmental consultancy, you would need a BSc (Bachelor of Science degree) in a relevant subject (e.g. Environmental Science, Geography, Ecology) "