In the latest in an ongoing series shining a light on the women of the arb sector, their careers and experiences, Georgina ‘George’ Tearne, senior arboricultural consultant at AECOM, shares her story.
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
I have worked almost exclusively within arboricultural consultancy pretty much continuously since leaving Myerscough College with an HND in Arboriculture in 1997. After leaving college, I worked alongside Frank Hope, an Arboricultural Association-approved consultant based in Peterborough. This gave me a foundation in consultancy and introduced me to writing technical reports for many aspects of arboriculture, including tree-related subsidence to buildings, BS 5837 reports in relation to development and tree safety. After a couple of years away from the place I call home, I returned to Yorkshire and secured a job with (then Jonathan Cocking Associates) JCA, a consultancy firm based in Halifax where I continued my role as a consultant. Here I continued to gain experience in arboricultural consultancy with a lot of focus on subsidence and development work. In 2005, I decided to set up my own arboricultural consultancy business, working for a variety of clients, mostly within the development sector. I enjoyed the flexibility of being self-employed and the reward from developing great relationships with clients. I had a bumpy ride through the financial crash of 2008 when work in the development sector pretty much stopped overnight, but I continued to work for myself and got back on my feet. I also became a mum in 2013. It goes without saying that parenthood changed my priorities, and although I have fond memories of the early days of surveying trees with my baby in a sling, I wanted the benefits of a more secure 9–5 position when my son was starting school. At the start of 2018, I was offered a job at AECOM as a senior arboricultural consultant. AECOM is a global infrastructure consultancy delivering projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, energy and the environment. Arboriculture within AECOM offers international expertise and experience in all aspects of tree management and development. I am part of the UK team delivering projects from small independent schemes to major infrastructure developments. I often work as part of a team within AECOM to deliver a complete project.
WHERE ARE YOU BASED?
AECOM has almost 40 offices in the UK. Usually I’m based in the Leeds office, although as is the case for many people I’ve been working from home for much of the last year. Pre-pandemic, I was typically commuting two or three days a week from my home in the quirky town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.
READ MORE: Women in arb: Kirsten Summers
WHAT MADE YOU PURSUE A CAREER IN ARBORICULTURE?
On leaving school, I had no idea what to study next, but the career search software suggested forestry and agriculture as the ideal industries for me. I assume this came up as I had an interest in the outdoors, farming and nature. I applied for agro-forestry and forestry on my UCAS forms and ended up at Aberdeen University studying for a forestry degree. I discovered arboriculture through a book on the course’s reading list, The Arboriculturalist’s Companion by N.D.G. James. After reading this book, I decided that understanding the interaction between trees and the urban landscape was more appealing to me than growing timber. The promise of a more practical course (i.e. one that included chainsaws and tree climbing) also attracted me. I left Aberdeen after six months and applied to study towards the HND in Arboriculture at Myerscough College. The HND was more practical and included tree climbing and chainsaw modules.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE OF ARBORICULTURE?
When I left Aberdeen, I looked for work experience and was fortunate to be accepted as a volunteer with the tree section at Bradford Council. I shadowed the officer responsible for trees within council-owned woodlands, parks and recreation grounds. This gave me a good introduction to arboriculture and woodland management and gave me my first experience of tree identification (beyond those I had learnt as a child), pests and diseases, and the specification of tree work.
WHAT DOES YOUR DAY-TO-DAY WORK INVOLVE?
My role is mixed. I spend time surveying trees on site but also preparing reports back in the office. As a lead verifier, I approve arboricultural reports written by others, so I do review a lot of documents as well as tree constraints and tree protection drawings. I also produce fee quotes for a wide range of projects where arboricultural services are requested. My role includes promotion of our team both within AECOM, to other disciplines such as engineering, architects, master-planners and ecologists, and to external clients. Part of my job includes supporting the development of a graduate arboricultural consultant and, through recruitment, I hope to expand AECOM’s arboriculture team in the north. I particularly enjoy site supervision work as it enables me to see everything I have produced through surveys and reports coming together to ensure the retention of important trees. For example, I supervised the use of vacuum excavators/air spades around the roots of mature and prominent trees in the centre of York. Due to highway restrictions, we were only able to close a section of the road and carry out this work during the night. Definitely a change from the usual 9–5! I have also walked the streets of central London, recording all trees within falling distance of the highway. This project involved recording the existing tree stock, including the species, age, size and life expectancy, as well as a full assessment to identify any significant defects and to provide a specification of any remedial work needed.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON CURRENTLY?
I have quite a list covering a range of projects, which are all in various stages of completion. This includes producing an arboricultural method statement for the creation of a link road between two motorways in the north of England. I have been involved with this scheme from the initial design stages and was involved in the surveying of many of the hundreds of trees included within the site. As the arboricultural lead for a regionally significant power infrastructure project in the north, I am working on the arboricultural input, which ranges from the initial scoping through to the submission of a detailed planning application. I am also currently working on providing tree constraints information for a regeneration project in Liverpool, undertaking CAVAT valuation assessments and working to safeguard a notable tree within a registered park and garden as part of flood alleviation works and contributing to a planning application for alterations to a major roundabout junction in Leeds. As you can see, there is a great variety of work at AECOM, which I really enjoy being involved in.
READ MORE: Women in arb: Annalize Wright
WHAT DO THESE PROJECTS ENTAIL?
All of these projects include the need to do tree surveys to BS 5837:2012 – ‘Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction – recommendations’. This involves producing reports and drawings that detail tree constraints on site to be taken into consideration during the design of the project. An Arboricultural Impact Assessment report typically follows the baseline report where the trees are assessed in relation to the final design. A drawing is produced to show tree removals and retentions and how retained trees will be protected during the development process.
WHAT GIVES YOU SATISFACTION IN YOUR ROLE?
I get great satisfaction from being able to retain high-value trees whilst enabling a client to meet their objectives for a project. Sometimes this requires ‘thinking outside the box’ to develop design options that a client had not thought of.
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED DURING YOUR TIME IN THE INDUSTRY?
Over time, I have concluded that trees are frequently not given the consideration they should. Whether it’s people working on an excavation of a utility installation needlessly damaging roots, an architect producing a master plan for a new development that fails to integrate existing trees into the design or make reasonable space for the provision of new trees that will achieve significant dimensions, a developer clearing a site of trees before submitting a planning application, or the removal of perfectly healthy trees because of an unsubstantiated fear that they are dangerous, they all lead to unnecessary tree removal. Trees need to be considered as early as possible in any decision-making process and I believe that, as a society, we should retain as many trees as possible.
WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE OF BEING A WOMAN IN A MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY BEEN?
I have had a positive experience generally. I still get the odd assumption that a male colleague is more senior or questions are automatically directed to him. To get respect on a construction site, I have drawn strength from my arboricultural knowledge and learned how to engage more effectively.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ENCOURAGE MORE WOMEN INTO THE SECTOR?
I think there is a need to raise awareness of the different aspects of arboriculture. Most people have little understanding of what arboriculture is or what it entails. Many assume that a career in arboriculture is about tree surgery with people wielding chainsaws. The reality is that it is about so much more. A career as a consultant in arboriculture involves some practical work, including scrabbling around in dense undergrowth to reach the base of a tree, sometimes in the rain three hours from home. However, it can be a great mix of being at a desk, being outdoors and travelling. When working at a desk producing reports or collaborating with other professionals, I am proud to know that I am making a positive difference to the environment through the retention of significant trees. If more people understood this, I believe it would encourage more women to consider a career in arboriculture.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE SECTOR, IN YOUR VIEW?
Recruitment seems to be the biggest challenge now. The small pool of arboriculture graduates makes building AECOM’s consultancy challenging. Many in the industry choose to operate as independent consultants so this also limits the number of available candidates.
ANY AMBITIONS YOU ARE LOOKING TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
Although we work on projects of all sizes, I would like to continue to gain experience in the larger infrastructure projects where arboricultural input is required for Development Consent Order (DCO) applications. This is the means of obtaining permission for developments categorised as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, which includes input into scoping reports and EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments). I am also focused on developing the team in the north and building our range of clients.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY BEYOND WORK?
Naturally, I spend a lot of time with my son, but I love mountain biking (there are a lot of great routes on my doorstep), walking the dog and being out in the countryside. I have also taken up running and attend a great gym near to me, 1Vigor. Through the gym, a large group of us are competing at the Total Warrior event in Leeds. 12K of obstacles and a lot of mud, which should be fun.
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