In his role as a Senior Environmental Consultant with Arup, Dan provides expert advice on a range of environmental topics, such as impact assessment, licensing and due diligence. Much of the work is at the planning and concept design stage of major projects, identifying environmental constraints and helping to steer the design to becoming more sustainable and resilient.
After graduating with a BA (Hons) in Geography and Public Policy Studies, Dan started at Arup with an interest in land use planning. He knew a number of people who had completed professional planning courses with the Open University from primary geography degrees. Whilst working in the environmental consulting team he become more and more interested in the nitty gritty of environmental protection and went on to complete an MSc in exactly that. 18 years later, he doesn't regret a thing!
Dan became a member of the IES as he feels it is essential in the field of environmental consulting to be part of a professional institution and it is an efficient way of communicating the level of qualification and experience he has achieved. He values the pathway offered by the IES towards Chartered Environmentalist and Chartered Scientist and says “the excellent IES journal, environmental SCIENTIST is a bonus!”
As an environmental consultant, he enjoys the variety of projects and that for each job there will be particular environmental sensitivities, whether it is rare plants, protected landscape, cultural heritage, or a hundred other things. Having worked on gas pipelines, wind turbines, roads, railways, flood relief schemes, pharmaceutical plants, urban developments, university buildings and data centres Dan says he is “always learning, and that really appeals to me”. He also leads the Arup Environmental Consulting and Ecological Skills Network for the Europe Region, and relishes the opportunity to share knowledge and insight with colleagues.
One project which he found very satisfying was to provide wind turbines on a number of industrial sites in Ringaskiddy, County Cork. The client manufactures pharmaceutical and healthcare products and have large power requirements, so this was an opportunity to address their needs with renewable energy. He was involved at every stage of the project, from securing a variation to the local Development Plan, identifying constraints, preparing environmental impact statements, through construction, to monitoring of bird and bats while the turbines are operating, which is still ongoing.
Dan’s plan for the future is to continue to influence the projects he works on, always pushing for the most sustainable and environmentally responsible options, and to encourage others to do the same.
“We are living in exciting times for environmental scientists. The critical global issues of climate change, loss of biodiversity, water scarcity and resource depletion are creeping more and more into our daily lives, and environmental professionals have the knowledge and expertise to lead in the response to these issues”.
