International Women’s Day – Heather and Emma

This week we’re celebrating International Women’s Day and the women who work in the environmental sector. Today we focus on Heather and Emma.

Get in touch

This week we’re celebrating International Women’s Day and the women who work in the environmental sector. Today we focus on Heather and Emma.

Get in touch

International Women’s Day – Heather and Emma

 

This week we’re celebrating International Women’s Day and the women who work in the environmental sector. With women working as geo-environmental engineers on site, as senior consultants and in business development roles, GGS is very proud to have women representing the company on every professional levels. We shared the thoughts of Lisa and Emily on Tuesday, and today we focus on Heather and Emma.

international women
Heather Hodgson (née Rutter) – Principal Geo-Environmental Consultant

How does it feel to be a woman working in the environmental sector?
The construction industry is incredibly male dominated at times and it can be a struggle sometimes to fight certain stigma. I have found on occasion that some sites I attend seem to feel the need to go overboard to try and be helpful. At times it is nice, but I know that if a man had attended the same site to do my job they would have just been left to ‘get on with it’.

What’s your favourite memory while working for GGS?
When I passed my ILM Level 3 Team Leader with Distinction after over a year of working towards completing it. It was quite a proud moment!

What do you like about working here?
The company culture. It’s an incredibly flexible and understanding workplace which I think is extremely valuable. The whole team looks out for each other and are there to lend a hand where necessary. The high level of experience and expertise of my colleagues means that they can cover my work when necessary and I know they’ll carry it out to the highest standard.

Emma Bates – Marketing Manager

How does it feel to be a woman working in the environmental sector?
To me, being a woman working in the environmental sector is the same as working in any other. I’ve worked in sport, healthcare, and supported housing, and I’ve come across the same challenges. As I’ve gotten older and acquired experience, my confidence has soared which carries me through any encounter. In short, it can be tough, but it is also inspiring and motivational.

What’s your favourite memory while working for GGS?
This makes me sound rather dull and a bit odd but assembling the new boardroom chairs with my colleagues a few years ago! It was monotonous and fiddly, but we talked, laughed, and got to know each other better.

international women

What do you like about working here?
Everything! I like how the company allows you to carve your own niche by encouraging ambition and CPD. GGS is also a very caring organisation that respects and rewards its staff, which I very much appreciate.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I work in a business support role, so I don’t experience the same challenges as my female colleagues on site. That being said, I have attended more than one business dinner and listened to a man insist that a woman couldn’t do his job. No-one argued with him, including me. I now follow a sage quote my friend once shared with me; “When we’re in a situation where someone makes us uncomfortable and we choose to be polite instead of honest, all we’re doing is holding onto all that discomfort for ourselves when the other person should be uncomfortable.”

 

Look out for Stacey and Claire’s stories tomorrow.

 

The following pages include news articles, videos, guidance notes and white papers on a range of ground gas related topics which we hope you will find of interest. Please browse through but if you can’t find something on your particular issue of interest, we’d be very pleased to hear from you so we can put that right.

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Video
GGS Webinar: Continuous Ground Gas Monitoring – Trust, Telemetry and Calibration

Catch up on this webinar with Simon Talbot exploring these issues and how they apply to continuous monitoring systems!