How do you describe your job when you meet people at a party?
I tend to say I’m a ‘Development Environmentalist’ and that I try to improve otherwise eco-unfriendly planning and construction projects to impart environmentally-responsible features and sustainability. They usually then ask if I’m an Engineer, and of course I explain I am a Scientist!
What is ‘cutting-edge’ about your work?
The sustainable approach to projects – widely embracing in single buildings site selection and building orientation, renewable energy, water conservation, the use of environmentally-responsible materials, waste recycling, and indoor environmental quality. For larger urban planning projects we address street layout and orientation, access to public transport, walkability, and in the Arab World, the incorporation of often ancient Arabic architectural features such as wind towers and shaded windows, which were incredibly energy efficient before the advent of air conditioners.
What are the biggest implications your work will/could have in the future?
Buildings and developments that will last at least 50+ years will be less of a drain on the environment and contribute less to climate change and global warming. The adoption of energy-efficient and environmentally-responsible innovative ideas
Describe briefly how your career has progressed to date.
Really very mundanely and mostly unplanned! From geology I got into hydrogeology and ground water; then into water supply. Somewhere along the line someone decided if I could do water I could probably do sewage, then marine work. When EIAs became mandatory I seem to be the obvious choise to undertake them. Most recently, and perhaps most easily, I made the transition onto green buildings (I became a US Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional) and sustainability.
How is your job cross-disciplinary?
Perhaps my job is the ultimate cross-disciplinary occupation, covering all aspects our natural and built environment, from geology, hydrology, water treatment, history and archaeology, through ecology and natural habitats, to socio-economical issues such as housing, employment, community facilities, health and safety, and women’s issues, and many others
How do you see your field developing over the next 5-10 years?
The field is already developing exponentially. But the present intense ‘cutting edge’ aspect will diminish as sustainable development becomes conventional
What’s the most unexpected thing about your job?
That I still have to constantly argue that what I do is beneficial to those who often stand to gain the most
What’s the biggest achievement of your career so far?
My biggest achievements have often not been the most satisfying. In terms of career achievement I would have to say becoming a Director of a major international consulting engineering practice in the UK, subsequently being UK Operations Manager for a French company, and later surviving, and thriving, 15 years as an Independent Consultant. Way back in 1989 the then IWEM awarded me its Overseas Paper Prize for an article on urban water supply in Yemen. But in terms of personal satisfaction I would have to highlight my secondment to UN HQ New York for the Socotra Island Master Plan; water supply projects in Malaysia, leading infrastructure design for Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, my first EIA for a residential tower, ditto for an urban master plan, development projects in The Gambia and Jamaica, and humanitarian aid agency work in Sri Lanka the immediate aftermath of the 2005 tsunami.
