Name: Sara Sutherland, CET, EP
Role: Project Manager
Location: Toronto, Ontario
What are your responsibilities as a Project Manager?
I’m responsible for coordination and management of projects from beginning to end, including preparing quotes, coordinating field work, liaising internally between Terrapex’s different service lines (environmental, geotechnical, hydrogeological, and ecological) to facilitate a smooth execution of multi-disciplinary project work and liaison externally with our clients and sub-contractors. I also complete and produce the final reports and approve project invoices, as well as provide support and mentorship to more junior staff.
Career Development:
After a five-year career in the freight forwarding and customs brokerage industry, I returned to school to pursue my interest in environmental science. I started my career at Terrapex as a junior Environmental Technologist, and have since progressed in seniority to Project Manager. My experience in the field has provided me with a very good understanding of what the time, costs and challenges are at various job sites and how to best approach them.
My professional development includes receiving various designations including OACETT’s C.Tech (Certified Technician) and C.E.T. (Certified Engineering Technologist) designations, and ECO Canada’s E.P. (Environmental Professional) designation.
What do you enjoy most in your role?
I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes from working on a project from inception to completion, especially large projects that may take several years of work and include Records of Site Condition, Risk Assessments and our other service lines. I also like that every project is unique with its own set of factors and challenges to work with and that each project adds to my knowledge and experience.
What other aspects of Terrapex make it a great place to work?
Terrapex has a great corporate culture with good flexibility and work/life balance for staff. We are lucky to have a place of employment that offers us great colleagues, challenging and interesting work, career development opportunities, and upper management that genuinely cares about you as an individual.
Finally, what keeps you busy besides work?
My favorite sports are snowboarding and kiteboarding (also called kitesurfing). I often travel in pursuit of these sports and have even lived on the beach in the Dominican Republic in order to get out on the water every day. My most recent adventures have included travelling to Australia’s Gold and Sunshine Coasts, as well as Sakalava Bay on the north coast of Madagascar.
Visiting provincial parks to do some canoeing and back-country camping with friends is a great challenge and is also a lot of fun. I am also a bit of a nerd who loves to read fantasy and sci-fi novels, play RPG video games and watch anime. I am always up to playing a card or board game with my friends and family.
