Looking To The Future

Elizabeth, a hydrogeologist for Mott MacDonald's Water and Environment Division, undertook a secondment to Mott MacDonald Indonesia and the American Red Cross (ARC) for the design of rural permanent water supplies in Aceh, as part of their post-tsunami recovery programme. Elizabeth was responsible for the technical groundwater aspects of the feasibility study and detailed design, as well as project management.

During her ten month secondment, Elizabeth overcame many challenges, including difficult communities, uncomfortable working conditions, earthquakes, the cultural implications of being a young Western non-Muslim woman, and the unusual risk of encountering elephants and tigers during site visits. She ensured that the project's outcomes were achieved to everyone's benefit and that everyone worked in an integrated way with each other. To help achieve this, she taught herself the language to enable better communications with the staff and beneficiaries; gave local staff informal lessons in hydrogeology so that they could understand the work she was undertaking; spent her own time doing extra research looking at the impact of deforestation on springs and salination of a borehole after an earthquake; and tried to encourage the use of more sustainable options such as solar and wind powered pumps.

Rachelle Sullivan, an Environment Officer for the Environment Agency in Wales, was nominated in recognition of her contribution to CIWEM's profile in South Wales. She was one of the founding members of the Welsh Branch New Members Group (NMG) and has been instrumental in organising events such as a bus trip around the flooding hot spots of Cardiff, study trips to the La Ranch barrage in France, an environmental careers evening for graduates and competency workshops.

The competency workshops, where support and advice is offered to people going through the process of becoming chartered, have helped many CIWEM members, and over 150 people attended the environmental careers evening, making it a regular feature on the CIWEM Welsh Branch calendar. Rachelle's commitment to promoting good environmental messages is extends to holding voluntary positions in the Office Green Group; organising the Fair Trade Fortnight programme of events in her office; taking environmental leave at a Young Rangers nursery at Parc Penallta community park; helping found Green Drinks Cardiff; and fundraising for Water Aid.

Both receive a place at CIWEM's Annual Dinner on 28th May, where they will be presented with a certificate, trophy and an equal split of the prize fund - GBP500 each. They also receive a place at a CIWEM national conference of their choice.