Environmental Co-op Student; Hatch Ltd.
For the past several months I’ve been working at Hatch Ltd. within the Environment and Sustainability unit in Vancouver, BC. As a fourth year student, I have held this position for both my third and fourth co-op terms, assisting with environmental permitting and other considerations for various infrastructure, energy, oil & gas, and mining projects.
I provide desktop support for a number of projects from local works including the Patullo Bridge connecting Surrey and New Westminster, to international projects that have allowed me to connect not only with members of the Vancouver office, but the larger Hatch network of consultants worldwide.
Over the months I’ve gotten to work on survey workplans, compliance reporting, site assessments, permit applications, and a variety of other documents relating to both ongoing and future projects. This has provided me a number of opportunities to utilize my learnings in class towards practical applications when considering potential impacts and provide well researched and sound deliverables with considerations for fisheries and aquatics, vegetation, wildlife, hazardous materials management, and a variety of other considerations to minimize project impact on environmental receptors.
My work at Hatch has felt incredibly fulfilling and pulled on aspects of my learning in ways I had never considered before working in consulting. Each job I’ve worked in the co-op program has provided me with new ideas of how to shape my future career, and I can’t recommend it enough to any student looking to understand the diversity of skills one can build from what you learn in forestry.