Meet the Team: Tom Ambler

Tom Ambler

• Office:  Antea Group UK
• Practice Area: Environmental Planning
• Areas of Expertise: Ground investigation, soil and water contamination, remediation and verification strategies.
• About Me in 140 Characters: Love sport, coffee, running, cycling, delicious beers and spending time outdoors (all preferably in the sun)! Also a Geo-Environmental Consultant with experience in land quality risk management.

Get to Know Tom...

What is your favorite thing about being a Environmental Planning Practitioner?
The work I do is very varied and includes a lot of teamwork and collaboration with some great clients and colleagues, other disciplines and co-professionals. I find the work and projects I am involved in very interesting, intellectually stimulating and solution and sustainability focused. I have also had the opportunity to travel around the UK and, on occasion, abroad to fulfill my role.

What is the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
I’ve worked on a number of very interesting projects, but one of my first was as an Geo-Environmental engineer on a large-scale ground investigation in east London to support remediation design for redevelopment. I was part of a great ground investigation team for over 10 weeks and enjoyed the amount of sunshine we got that summer! Also encountered some very interesting geology and contamination during the investigation.

What are some of your favorite tools/resources for professional development in this practice area?
Society of Brownfield Risk Assessment (SoBRA) has some really good webinars for early careers professionals in the industry. CL:AIRE also has some very good resources and guidance relating to risk assessment and remediation options appraisals.

If someone at a party asks what you do, how do you respond?
I investigate soil, groundwater and ground gas/ vapour conditions using both intrusive and non-intrusive methods to assess land quality risks that could pose a threat to people and the environment. Where necessary, I then provide sustainable and pragmatic solutions to reduce those risks to an acceptable level.

Just For Fun...

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A fireman or a farmer.

What was your first job?
My first job was at a family run Koi (fish) Water Garden shop near where I lived and involved looking after and selling Koi to customers. I probably wasn’t the best at the job, but really appreciated the opportunity from my friend’s parents.

If you had one month off, where would you go or what would you do?
I would probably go travelling with my wife, most likely across south-east Asia as we have just finished watching Race Across the World!