Employee Spotlight: December 2021

Rising Star: Industry accolade for Justine Leadbetter

Justine Leadbetter, Environmental Consultant and Project Manager at WRc, has been selected as Rising Star for the South West Area by the Institute of Water.

Since joining WRc in 2019 as a graduate, Justine has demonstrated passion and motivation for her work in the water industry and this has earned her this exciting opportunity with the Institute of Water. Each year, the institute offers a programme of support to its members to nurture talent in the water sector. The Rising Stars initiative rewards those who have shown passion and the potential to progress in their work and provides unique learning opportunities to develop professional excellence and skills.

Following Justine’s successful application and interview with the Institute of Water committee, she now has the opportunity to grow her own skills and network with leaders across the industry. The platform offered by the Rising Stars initiative was one of the main reasons why Justine applied for the programme. “The importance of networking in developing a holistic understanding of the industry was made more obvious with the pandemic,” Justine said. “The programme will expose me to aspects of the water industry I have not yet had the opportunity to see.” Having access to a range of organisations and experts will offer Justine the chance to grow her career yet further, providing her with new insights and perspectives from across the sector to ultimately deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.

Justine added, “I’m looking forward to learning more about the industry I’m passionate about, and to meet the Rising Stars from the other areas of the UK and hear how their experiences have differed from my own.”

Congratulations Justine on your achievement!

Gift of trees to celebrate conference success

Last month, colleagues from across the global RSK group gave presentations at the SustRem2021 conference on the future of sustainable land management. To celebrate their participation and contribution to the event’s success, speakers Nyangoma Mwesigwa, Linda Kavishe, Naeem Sutria, Johan Kriek and Stephanie Wray were each presented with a certificate to acknowledge that a tree had been planted at a school in Pretoria in their names.

Hosted by the Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Africa (NICOLA) over two days, the SustRem2021 conference brought together environmental professionals from around the world to discuss the topic of “Africa’s unique contaminated land challenges, empower sustainable remediation practices and leave a transforming legacy”. Nyangoma Mwesigwa, Manager, and Linda Kavishe, Environmental Consultant, from RSK Environment (East Africa), presented the story of RSK East Africa’s sustainability journey. They discussed their passion for their work and their experiences developing sustainable remediation practices in East Africa in line with RSK’s sustainability route map and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Linda and Nyangoma talked about the award winning remediation project they worked on, the challenges they have faced and how they have overcome them and how the team in Tanzania has evolved from offering just remediation services to a wider suite of environmental services.

Also presenting at the conference was Naeem Sutria, Project Manager at RGM South Africa. Naeem gave a presentation that consisted of an A4 poster and pre-recorded video on the topic of “Sustainability implementation in South Africa”, which highlighted the importance of considering sustainable practices at all stages of contaminated land management projects. Incorporating sustainable practices throughout a project ensures that social, economic and environmental benefits are achieved. On a similar theme, Stephanie Wray, Managing Director at Nature Positive, discussed the importance of the UNSDGs in taking an intelligent and informed approach to sustainable remediation and ensuring the natural-capital benefits of these projects are maximised. Continuing the debate on sustainable remediation and the importance of this to development in Africa, Johan Kriek, Technical Reviewer at RSK GCS and NICOLA steering committee member, gave a presentation on groundwater and the impact of regulations on its protection.

As a thank you from NICOLA for their contribution to the conference, Food and Trees for Africa has planted a tree in each of our speakers’ names. The trees have been planted in the grounds of a primary school in Pretoria to create a healthier and greener space for the pupils. Congratulations to Linda, Nyangoma, Naeem, Stephanie and Johan on your participation.