Back to People Spotlight: Meet Our Team
Environment & SustainabilityContaminated LandEnvironmental Consulting and ComplianceEnvironmental Impact Assessment and ApprovalsSouth Australia
Tonkin's People Spotlight gives you behind the scenes insights about the technical specialists in our business.
When she saw a job advert in her hometown of Mount Gambier, Alison jumped at the chance to return home.
Alison has spent the 15 years since refining her expertise across multidisciplinary environmental and water projects. Working in a regional setting, Alison thrives on variety – tacking everything from soil and groundwater investigations to water and wastewater solutions for councils, authorities, and private clients.
No two working days are the same, making each project a unique challenge.
When she saw a job advert in her hometown of Mount Gambier, Alison jumped at the chance to return home.
Alison has spent the 15 years since refining her expertise across multidisciplinary environmental and water projects. Working in a regional setting, Alison thrives on variety – tacking everything from soil and groundwater investigations to water and wastewater solutions for councils, authorities, and private clients.
No two working days are the same, making each project a unique challenge.
What first inspired you to pursue a career in water and environmental engineering, and how has your career evolved over time at Tonkin?
In high school I had an amazing chemistry teacher who encouraged me to apply for an engineering degree. I completed a degree in chemical engineering and worked in mining for a while before spotting an advert for a role at an engineering form in my hometown, Mount Gambier. On the job I expanded my environmental expertise and grew my project management and proposal writing skills with a lot of guidance from Tonkin’s Tim Thiel – who was the Mount Gambier office manager at the time.
Over my 15 years with Tonkin, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects with both our water and environmental teams.
Over my 15 years with Tonkin, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects with both our water and environmental teams.
Working in a regional city can be quite different to a capital city? How does this influence the types of water and environmental challenges you encounter?
Working in a regional location we are often able to respond quickly to requests to inspect sites, and we’re often the first point of call for our clients when they have a challenge that needs solving. We see a range of environmental projects ranging from small private property investigations, fuel tank removals to large commercial level soil and groundwater investigations, due diligence, licence compliance activities and more. From the water and wastewater side we have a range of projects from Authorities and Councils including pump stations, pipeline investigations, pond designs, and system upgrades.
The vast variety of enquiries usually involve calling on our extended Tonkin team for advice. No two working days are the same which keeps work life interesting.
The vast variety of enquiries usually involve calling on our extended Tonkin team for advice. No two working days are the same which keeps work life interesting.
What emerging trends in water and environmental engineering are you most excited about, and how are you applying them in your projects?
In the environment space, I’m most interested to see the progress of PFAS and micro plastics - both emerging contaminants that will impact environmental investigations and treatment/clean up options. I’m very interested from both an environmental and water treatment perspective to see how both emerging contaminants impact future project development and how clean up technologies develop to commercially viable solutions for our clients to apply.