Meet Hannah: Consultant Ecologist at Tetra Tech

Introducing Hannah Coutts, an Ecological Consultant and Lead Surveyor making waves in her field. Hannah’s expertise, innovation, and love for nature continue to make a profound impact on Tetra Tech’s Ecology sector, take a peak into her life as an Ecologist.

What does your role entail as an Ecological Consultant and Lead Surveyor?

I am responsible for undertaking a range of surveys from baseline habitat surveys to targeted protected species surveys and subsequent ecological mitigation works.

On one project I am working on, I have ensured the smooth running of ecological mitigation works at a large scale site which involves leading a team of three ecologists, delegating tasks and prioritising work to meet the needs of the project team whilst adhering to timings and methodologies in the European Protected Species (EPS) mitigation licences. On top of this, I brief my team daily on responsibilities and work deliverables as well as any H&S shares, biosecurity or RAMS communications. To facilitate communication between myself and my team, I’ve introduced a WhatsApp group to share findings when working remotely on site.

What is the new programme you’ve set up at Tetra Tech?

In 2021, I bought a springer spaniel called Wren who I’m training as a Great Crested Newts (GCN) detection dog. Through training Wren, I realised there is more potential to be achieved here. With the help from detection dogs, we are able to identify the presence of protected species in an efficient, faster, non-biased, and non-invasive method of working.

I believe the implementation of dog detection could be very beneficial to us on site and ensure we’re Leading With Science® in all aspects of our role.

What have you achieved in your role so far?

Wren and I have embarked on a two-year training programme using external course providers who are leading experts in this field. The training involves 150 hours of attended training with additional daily training I undertake with Wren.

At the beginning of 2022, I achieved my National England GCN class 1 licence. However, this is just the start of our GCN detection dog journey and with the help of a mentoring programme, I hope to obtain an A29 licence for GCN to facilitate our training further and use Wren as a detection dog.

What was your favourite job?

I successfully led onsite licence mitigation works for a 17 Hectare Ministry of Defence (MOD) site delivering complex on-site ecology, whilst working closely with a third party consultant to ensure safe working practices due to potential risks of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) along with difficult working conditions from flooding. As the primary ecology contact, I had a great opportunity to show Tetra Tech my passion for my role. After finding a live barn owl chick adjacent to a known barn owl roost, I stopped works and organised a licenced surveyor to return the chick to the roost. I believe my contributions to this project were instrumental to my subsequent promotion and enhanced support for myself and Wren. This was a special one for me.