Meet Kirsty

Q1: What is your role at Ramboll?

Kirsty: I am a Principal in the Site Solutions team in our Newcastle Office. The Site Solutions team has a focus on solving complex contaminated land issues for our clients.

Q2: What do you enjoy most about working in Ramboll?

Kirsty: I really enjoy the technical challenges of our project work. Over the past 17 years at Ramboll, I have worked on a number of locally significant projects that have given me the opportunity to hone my technical skills in contaminated land assessment, remediation design and implementation of validation programs.

Q3: Can you share an interesting project that you are working on?

Kirsty: There are two main projects I have been working on, the first one is the demolition and remediation of the Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri Smelter. This is a project I have been working on since the closure of the Smelter in 2012 and it will be coming to an end in the next six months.

I'm also currently managing Ramboll's role as the Contractor’s Environmental Consultant for capping works at a local landfill that closed in the late 1990s. What makes this project interesting is the location of the landfill - it is situated in swamp land that is tidally inundated, has typical landfill issues like leachate generation, landfill gas and odour and is adjacent to a RAMSAR-listed wetland.

Q4: What is one achievement in your career you are most proud of?

Kirsty: I am most proud of the fact that we are currently wrapping up the Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri Smelter project - we have a long-standing relationship with the client and Ramboll has been one of the few consultants that has worked with Hydro throughout the full 13 years since closure was announced in 2012.

I completed one of the first investigations back in 2012 and I have collected many, many soil, surface water and groundwater samples since then. All of our work has led to the development of a sustainable remediation strategy, which has now been successfully implemented.

Q5: What opportunities did Ramboll provide you?

Kirsty: In terms of opportunities, one of the best things is being able to pursue the projects I am interested in, for example on-site role as the Contractor’s Environmental Consultant for the landfill closure project.

Apart from project work, in recent years I have taken the opportunity to present at national and international conferences including presenting on sustainable remediation of aluminium smelter waste at RemTech Europe in September 2024. The timing for this conference coincided with my taking part in Ramboll’s Global Exchange Program. As part of that program, I spent September 2024 working from our Aix-en-Provence office where I learnt about large-scale demolition and remediation projects in France. This was a great opportunity for me to make global connections within Ramboll. I had a similar opportunity when I attended the Site Solutions Technical Conference in Los Angeles in 2015.

Q6: What attracted you to stay in Ramboll?

Kirsty: I have been at Ramboll for 17 years now and I have seen our local Newcastle Office grow from a small team of two people to a team of over 20. I have stayed because we have built a great team with great people, and we continue to find clients with really interesting projects to work on.