Climate Hero – Eve Nicholson, Turner & Townsend

Name: Eve Nicholson

Job Title: Junior Net Zero Consultant

Company: Turner & Townsend

School – Matched with St Ninians High School, Kirkintilloch

How I chose this career path:

Throughout my high school years I only felt an emotional connection when studying Geography, both the physical and human elements made an impact on me and brought me to the realisation that climate change has to be taken seriously. This led me to want to become a consultant, to be an expert in a field and share knowledge to others to help them become more sustainable and conduct themselves in a way that helps the environment recover from damage, stay protected and be an integral consideration in every business. I left school at the end of my fifth year and was accepted by Glasgow Caledonian University to study Environmental Management. I loved my course being so broad covering things such as environmental policy, urban planning, construction materials and lab work. It was during my studies that I realised the frightening reality of how dire the climate situation was, this motivated me further to graduate and pursue a career in sustainability.

I managed to gain some work experience with a land consultancy whilst studying and this consolidated that I wanted to keep pursuing to be in this field. Whilst working I would be on active construction sites and I realised that sustainability is not top of the priority list for projects and being the only female on the entire site I realised that the challenge of encouraging construction companies to change their practices, materials and methods would be extremely challenging. Another challenging aspect would be the ability to collaborate with seasoned construction workers whilst being a twenty-year-old female graduate, but this realisation spurred me on to chase this career and instil change.

In my second year of university the pandemic struck, and I completed my final two years in and out of lockdowns which I found challenging and so decided I wanted to get into the industry as soon as possible, not pursue a masters and attempt to get a consultancy role within a construction/real estate company. Whilst writing my dissertation amidst yet another lockdown I applied to Turner & Townsend and kept going through each application stage until I was offered a consultancy role in March 2022! In my first three months I have been exposed to so much and feel like I am truly making a difference, helping businesses reach net zero is challenging as large businesses have not had this at their forefront and they are lacking in knowledge, resources and strategy and so I feel like working collaboratively with them is proving that the world can and will move to a more sustainable future.

Why Climate Heroes is important to me:

In the short amount of time since I have been in high school, I feel that younger people are far more aware of the climate situation, their environmental awareness is far more advanced than when I was their age and they have enthusiasm for change – I feel this can be attributed to COP26 in Glasgow and the protests showcasing all the young people who want change and are aware of the impact of their choices and are scared for their future. My passions lie within youth employability in the sustainability sector as I know how stressful thinking about career paths can be so showing students my other passions for climate activism and responsible sustainability practices can hopefully show them that they can turn their passion, knowledge and awareness of these topics into a meaningful and rewarding career that makes change in the real world.

My goal for my role in Climate Heroes is to harness students’ enthusiasm, increase knowledge and emphasise that sustainability will be an aspect of all workplaces in the future, so it is an emerging industry that needs to have young people put into these roles that are passionate about the environment.

Areas where I feel like I can help:

• Increase technical knowledge in areas that the students would like more information on eg what is net zero? How to make a home net zero? Sustainable practices?
• I am aware of many companies in the industry so can direct them to applicable employers if they have a certain career path in mind or simply show how many sustainability roles are available
• I am a female in the construction industry, have worked on active construction sites being the only female and have graduated in a STEM degree therefore can encourage female students who feel unsure about entering the industry
• I explored multiple career paths including university, graduate apprenticeships and employment so can create awareness that university is not the sole way of getting into the sustainability sector.

Overall, I hope my role in Climate Heroes keeps the students focused on sustainability therefore I would really like for them to steer the sessions as to what they are interested in/need the most help with, resulting in their enthusiasm for the topic growing and they get the maximum benefit from the programme.

Twitter: @turnertownsend

LinkedIn: turner-&-townsend

Website: www.turnerandtownsend.com

Discover more about the My Climate Path Initiative. If you would like to join Eve and many others, please email us at myclimatepath@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com