Tony is a Principal Consultant at ABPmer, a marine consultancy and survey company based in Southampton. He specialises in marine physical processes, with over 12 years consultancy experience working in offshore, coastal and estuarine environments. He provides project management and technical input to a wide variety of projects, including renewable energy and port developments. He has also been involved in a number of projects considering the potential impacts of climate change on marine environments. More recently, Tony has become ABPmer’s business development manager for renewable energy and is responsible for ensuring the company’s continued growth and success in this sector.
Tony greatly enjoys the diversity of his role at ABPmer, working on a wide range of different projects for both government and private sector clients. Over the past decade, much of his work has involved EIA for offshore wind farm developments, including most recently for Rampion 2 off the south coast of England and Awel y Môr off the north coast of Wales. Tony has also carried out a number of studies for Associated British Ports (ABPmer’s parent company), including horizon scanning for climate change related impacts, as well as environmental studies in support of their ongoing programme of port masterplanning.
Tony recently co-authored a guidance document for Natural Resources Wales setting out ‘Guidance on Best Practice for Marine and Coastal Physical Processes Baseline Survey and Monitoring Requirements to Inform EIA of Major Development Projects’. This draws upon the marine EIA experience developed during his time working for ABPmer and covers a wide range of development projects in offshore, coastal and estuarine settings. This includes offshore wind, tidal energy and nuclear power. The research is expected to have an important role to play in ensuring robust appraisal of major Welsh development projects planned over the next decade or so. It is expected to be widely consulted upon, given the country’s aspirations to become established as a global leader in sustainable marine energy generation.
Over the past decade, Tony has greatly enjoyed being involved with technical studies in support of offshore wind farm developments both in the UK and overseas. He is very keen to continue his involvement with this sector and, in particular, with floating offshore wind. The floating offshore wind sector is at a nascent stage but is expected to play a key role in helping the UK achieve net zero by 2050.
Tony graduated with a degree in Geography from the University of Durham in 2003. During his undergraduate degree, he developed an interest in coastal processes and climate change. This led to him undertaking a PhD in sea-level research at Trinity College Dublin, which he completed in 2007. Following a year lecturing in geography and geomorphology, he joined the Coastal Processes team at ABPmer in 2008 where he has remained since. Whilst Tony has maintained a keen interest in leading and contributing to technical studies, he is increasingly involved with business development activities and project management.
There were several reasons which motivated Tony to join the IES. He knew early on in his career that he wanted to become a Chartered Environmentalist and felt that the IES provided an excellent route through which to achieve this. His role at ABPmer also requires him to keep up to date with a broad range of marine environmental issues and he was particularly attracted by the multidisciplinary nature of the organization and membership. Finally, he was impressed by the range of expert-led events and webinars which have proved extremely useful for CPD.
Tony became a Full Member of the IES in 2010, and achieved Chartered Environmentalist status in 2013.
