This International Women’s Day theme calls for gender equality today to secure a sustainable tomorrow. Today we come together to Break the Bias and celebrate the contribution of women and girls around the world.
‘Women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation. They are involved in sustainability initiatives around the world, and their participation and leadership results in more effective climate action’. UN women.org
At Perspektiv we understand the importance of harnessing the skills and knowledge of women and recognise that both their work and the work of all our employees should be celebrated.
Meet some of Our Wonderful Women…
Gargi Mukkamala is a Sustainability Consultant (ESD) with a background in Architecture. She is strongly passionate about green building design and sustainable solutions and is now delivering life cycle assessments for some of our largest infrastructure clients. Her recent achievements include:
Performing a killer welcome speech at the Infrastructure Sustainability Council’s (ISC) ISAP day that received tremendous feedback.
Working on sustainability projects in collaboration with the likes of John Holland and Laing O’Rourke and is the first point of contact on projects like the St Marys and Brownfields Enabling Metro Works.
Recently being awarded her Green Star Accredited Professional for Performance and is on her way to becoming a WELL Accredited Professional.
“Perspektiv have a balance of both men and women working, and I look up to all the women in Perspektiv who are at senior level. They really inspire me that maybe someday I can also rise to a higher position in the industry”. Gargi Mukkamala
Sustainability Consultant Jamie Brown has a strong passion for lifecycle management and circular design, and has been involved in some exciting initiatives including:
Engineers Without Borders Working with a rural Nepalese village community to understand and combat water scarcity issues they were facing. Jamie designed a modular, low-tech, cascaded storage tank system using local source materials which allowed for safe rainwater collection.
Home bio-gas system (RMIT research project) Research project comparing the environmental impacts of industrial biogas production with domestic-scale digesters in Victoria through comprehensive inventory modelling and impact assessment methods.
Sustainable Engineering Materials Course (RMIT research project) Research project that explored bio-based, biodegradable alternatives to single-use polypropylene (PP) surgical facemasks. This was conducted in response to increased use of PP facemasks during Covid-19 pandemic.
Crushed Recycled Concrete Quantifying the carbon sequestration potential of crushed recycled concrete.
Talis Consulting Local government waste treatment. Sector looking into carbon emissions generated from kerbside collection and waste processing facilities
Melbourne Airport Rail Resource-use modelling for a key piece of Melbourne’s future transport infrastructure
Sustainability Consultant Tierney McCourt is expert in rehabilitation and reconstruction projects within disaster relief settings. Tierney has project managed climate adaptation and resilience and capacity building programs in Southeast Asia, working in the United Nations Human Settlements Office in Laos.
Tierney undertook both qualitative and quantitative research into the effectiveness of post-disaster recovery programs;
Through stakeholder engagement activities, researching the effectiveness of post-disaster recovery programs to determine current and future vulnerabilities and implement improvements.
Consistent implementation of large-scale multi-phase projects aligned with the sustainable development goals and legal and regulatory structures, while balancing the needs and requirements of national and international stakeholders.
Evaluating goal WaSH projects undertaken in partnership with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the Nordic Climate Fund (NCF).
Image Credit: Tierney McCourt , UN Habitat, Lao PDR
Tierney is an Infrastructure Sustainability Accredited Professional (ISAP), an ISO 14001 EMS Lead Auditor and has recently been managing several major projects including:
Apple Street IS Essentials
Sydney Gateway stages 1, 2 & 3
Perth Airport New Runway
Emirates Global Aluminium Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI)
Senior Sustainability Consultant Colleen McDonald brings many years’ experience consulting across the construction and environmental sectors. Colleen has facilitated various projects across infrastructure, land development, mining and agriculture industries working with clients on projects including:
Main Roads WA Sustainability
CBH Group Moora Grain Receival Site Biological Surveys
Horizon Power Denham Biological Assessment
FMG/Iron Bridge North Star Weed Mapping and Monitoring Program
Barra Resources Burbanks Mine Closure Plan
Water Corporation Bodkin Park Oblong Turtle Relocation
“Perspektiv focuses on building a diverse team to utilise their unique skill sets to produce genuine and better outcomes”. Colleen McDonald
As we continue to advocate for gender parity in our workplace, we realise structural changes are necessary to make this a reality. To that end we actively promote flexible working arrangements, are in the midst of crafting our equitable and inclusive parental policy and continue to ensure DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is at the heart of all new business initiatives.
Though we must acknowledge the importance of empowering our women, it is important to invite our men and people who identify beyond binary classification into the conversation. The more everyone is involved the more likely we are to engage in the dialogue and action needed to bring around equality for people of all gender identities.
Interested in a career in sustainability? We are open to anyone who believes they can offer us value but do look favourably upon people with qualifications or experience in our service areas. Get in touch!
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