AUSTRALIA / AGILITYPR.NEWS / February 28, 2023 / International design, engineering and advisory company Aurecon has appointed three leaders as part of its rapidly growing Environment and Planning practice to spearhead Aurecon’s nature positive capabilities and help clients balance ecology with economy.

Kylie Galway has been appointed to lead and grow a dedicated biodiversity offering and Dustin Lavery joins as Director – Environment and Planning with a focus on sustainable water use. Rupert Duckworth also joins as Director – Environment and Planning, bringing environmental planning and project management expertise to the assessment of impacts for resource and infrastructure, including major energy transition projects and associated approval delivery.

Nature positive refers to activity that enhances the state of nature, such as improving the quality of ecosystems including flora, fauna, soil and water to reduce biodiversity loss and environmental degradation while enriching the health and well-being of society. Kylie’s team will provide new advisory capabilities to help clients meet nature positive outcomes across asset life cycles and opens a significant new market for Aurecon.

Aurecon Managing Principal – Environment and Planning Geoff Hotton said that nature positive advisory services are becoming increasingly important for organisations looking to set targets and measure efforts that improve the natural environment and their bottom line.

“Rising expectations from customers, employees and investors are requiring organisations to assess the risks and opportunities and understand the value of biodiversity like never before. Organisations must analyse the impact their operations have on the natural environment and seek new ways to increase their positive impact on nature – for example, instead of just committing money to plant one kind of tree to account for carbon emissions, could they spend more to return a habitat to its original state of biodiversity with different kinds of flora and fauna?” Mr Hotton said.

“Failure to consider this in the future could hurt business through reputational damage, legal action or financial loss. We’re expecting significant growth in this area and anticipate Kylie’s team to triple in size over the coming year. Aurecon has made great advancements in the climate positive arena, helping clients transition to a net zero future and our expansion to helping clients with nature positive outcomes will help create a better future for people and the planet.”

Aurecon’s nature positive and biodiversity portfolio covers a broad range of areas including ecology and biodiversity, terrestrial flora and fauna, aquatic ecology, bushfire management, offsets and markets.

Canberra-based Aurecon Director – Environment and Planning Kylie Galway said it was a hugely dynamic time for the biodiversity space given expectations for organisations to be actively engaged in this space and have greater disclosure, following the establishment of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures that emulates existing recommendations from the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

“There is a mindset shift happening where organisations are evolving from simply meeting regulatory needs to adopting nature-positive design across the way we work and live. Leaders are choosing to do more for the benefit of society rather than just because they’re legally required to,” Ms Galway said.

“In the future, we’ll continue to see increased demand for nature-based solutions that are based on integrity and transparency as organisations seek to improve their social license and avoid claims of greenwashing.

“I chose to join Aurecon because of the huge strides the company is already making in this space, and the opportunity I’ll have to enact change at a fast pace given so many of Aurecon’s clients are already engaged in this area. I’m a strategic thinker and a problem solver so Aurecon’s ethos around bringing ideas to life for a better future for people and the planet completely resonated for me.”

Based in Melbourne, Dustin Lavery will focus on diversifying Aurecon’s capability in the sustainable water space. Looking after the Southeast Australia region, Dustin will help organisations decarbonise by applying nature-based thinking and solutions to shape sustainable water cycle management, integrated water management, water sensitive urban design, water quality and eco hydraulics, water security, resilience and climate change, waterways and riparian management.

Perth-based Rupert Duckworth will bring strategic and project environmental planning expertise to the forefront of major resource and infrastructure approvals, many of which include energy transition projects in Western Australia. The complexity of measuring nature provides critical science for the successful approvals of infrastructure, for example in relation to field surveys and multi discipline assessments. As clients reduce their carbon assets, Rupert’s expertise will help clients optimise environmental planning services that assess options, develop strategies, undertake impact assessment and obtain the environmental and social licence to operate new major energy infrastructure projects.

Aurecon has also bolstered its ecological and biodiversity advisory services in Asia following the acquisition of Hong-Kong based AEC Limited, to help clients better integrate ecological and biodiversity considerations into their business strategies and projects.

This builds on Aurecon strengthening its environmental, water sustainability and carbon market capabilities following the acquisition of another five companies in the past 18 months – Market Advisory Group in Australia, and in Hong Kong: ERE Consulting Group, Acuity Sustainability Consulting Limited, Acumen Environmental Engineering and Technologies Limited and Acumen Laboratory and Testing Limited (Acuity and Acumen).

Biography details

Kylie Galway, Canberra

Kylie has over 20 years’ environmental experience in federal and state governments, working across diverse regulatory functions including strategic policy, data analytics, business transformation and reform. She joins Aurecon from the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water where she created and led a new section in the department to focus on addressing challenges associated with environmental offsets. Prior to this, Kylie led the design of the $30m Digital Environmental Assessment Program for the Department of the Environment and Energy, which included designing interoperable workflow and data collection systems across Commonwealth and State jurisdictions. She has also been involved in many Indigenous Engagement programs at a State Government level. 

She holds a PhD in Landscape Ecology from Lincoln University (NZ) and Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Queensland.

Dustin Lavery, Melbourne

Dustin has over 25 years’ experience in natural resource management across south-eastern Australia in public and private sectors. Dustin previously worked at Jacobs where he held a diverse range of roles including project, operational and client management leadership in Victoria and the ACT. Dustin is an experienced project manager and project director and has successfully coordinated large, multidisciplinary and multi-locational project teams.

Dustin holds a Master of Environmental Science (Ecology) from the University of Wollongong; Graduate Diploma of Applied Science (Environmental Management) from Deakin University and Bachelor of Science (Zoology, Botany, Geography) from the University of Melbourne.

Rupert Duckworth, Perth

Rupert Duckworth is an environmental engineer with post graduate qualifications in Environmental Science and Engineering Geology. He has 18 years’ experience as a Business Manager, Project Manager and Environmental Scientist with a further 10 years as a Geotechnical Engineer. Rupert has been responsible for the delivery of projects in the mining, oil, gas and civil (infrastructure, residential, industrial) sectors at numerous locations across Western Australia, Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Burkina Faso), the Middle East (Oman, UAE, Qatar), South America (Chile) and Asia (Vietnam).

Rupert joins Aurecon from JBS&G where in this role and others he led the environmental impact assessment and approvals delivery for new mining areas. Prior to JBS+&G he led the delivery of environmental approvals for the Water Corporation’s $1 billion capital programme. Rupert is experienced leading teams to manage projects’ environmental impacts to reduce implementation delays, operational compliance demands and meet stakeholder expectations to deliver a social licence to operate. 

Rupert holds a Master of Science (Environmental Science) from Murdoch University, a Master of Science (Engineering Geology) from Imperial College London and a Bachelor of Science (Geology) from the University of Bristol.