Profile

Photo:

Gary Chapman

    • About Me:

      I live in Bristol with my 3 young children (currently all pre school age) and much older cat Monty, and generally relax by watching any sort of sport on TV but with a particular preference for Formula 1.

    • Read more

      I am fortunate enough to hold 2 post graduate accreditations. Once focused on my previous contaminated land experience as a Chartered Environmentalist with the Institution of Environmental Sciences. Chartership is a detailed application to a panel of selectors where I had to demonstrate an impact in the field of environmental science.

      Then I was successful in applying for fellowship member level of the Royal Geographical Society which was also done via a selection process.

    • My pronouns are:

      –

    • How I use Maths in my work:

      –

    • My Work:

      I  work for the UK Government as an environmental advisor and work on checking the Environmental Impact Assessment work undertaken on national scale projects, including those advanced and financed by the government itself. On national projects, my environmental advice gets reported to the relevant secretary of state (government minister). These projects include new wind and solar farms, roads and other transport facilities, and newer projects such as carbon dioxide capture and hydrogen production.

      I provide advice on the geographical topics of Natural Resources, Waste, Pollution and Emissions, Population and Human Health / Safety, Flooding, Biodiversity, Landscape and Visual, Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, Transport, Land Use, Land Stability and Climate. 

    • Read more

      –

    • My Typical Day:

      My day will typically involve one or more of the following:

      • Reviewing of colleagues work on environmental impact assessment screening (is the development large or complex enough to need a special type of assessment), and if so what needs to be assessed
      • Reading assessment reports submitted for various types of projects and providing comments / queries
      • Writing of formal reports on environmental matters for publishing on a government run website for national project documents
      • Meeting with a developer of a national scale project to discuss how they are progressing on environmental assessment work
      • I am a manager of 3 colleagues so typically check in with them to see if they need any help or may do a formal monthly chat with them
    • Read more

      –

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I would look to donate this to a local school or my former university to contribute towards either fieldwork trips, equipment purchase or media / other publicity campaigns to continue to bring new interest in geography.

    CV

    • Education:

      Borden Grammar School, Sittingbourne, Kent

    • Qualifications:

      GCSE’s 2004 – 2006

      A levels and AS levels 2006 – 2008

      BSc Environmental Geography, University of Portsmouth 2009 – 2012

      Chartered Environmentalist – 2023

      Fellow of the Royal Geogrpahical Society – 2026

    • Work History:

      Contaminated land investigation and remediation (up to) senior consultant in various consultancies from September 2012 – November 2020. This involved managing site works and reporting to test for pollution and then cleaning it up to make sites safe for building on. I got to watch lots of types of heavy equipment working, and worked in some amazing sites like abandoned factories and industrial buildings, rural fields, rivers and coasts.

      Environmental Advisor specialising in Environmental Impact Assessment since November 2020.

    • Current Job:

      Environmental Advisor

    • Employer:

      The Planning Inspectorate

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        Sport loving environmentalist

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        I had a previous ambition to be a chef but realised I liked the cooking side but not the work environment or hours

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Not really (especially not in geography classes!)

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        If I had a free choice i'd be an F1 driver but I think i'm a bit past starting that now!

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Kraftwerk (maybe one to ask your parents about!)

        What's your favourite food?

        Fresh seafood

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        Be able to travel more, be able to speak another language, and be able to play an instrument

        Tell us a joke.

        There's 2 fish in a tank, 1 says to the other "know how to drive this thing...?"

Questions answered by Gary

No questions to show