Hi,
I started my career as a Horticulturist looking after crops such as tomatoes, cotton, coffee, etc, then moved into sports turf where I constructed golf greens, cricket pitches and football ovals. I was then approached to help out with rehabilitating a mine site. This provided the ultimate challenges, no topsoil, stringent requirements and no water. Hence my need for knowledge in erosion prevention and sediment capture.
Initially I was an Agronomist/ Horticulturalist working in the Agricultural industry when I was asked to help out on a minesite rehabilitation project in central Queensland. This opened up a new world of challenges where topsoil was non-existent, and the subsoil was heavily eroded. Research directed me towards IECA and EnviroCert and I became CPESC certified 15 years ago (CPESC 6458). I was lucky enough to become President of Region Two in its last few years before rationalisation occurred and this allowed me to experience many overseas projects. I have worked on gas pipelines in Greece, residential subdivisions in Pakistan, landslides/ airports/ mines and railway lines in India, Mines in the Phillipines, Malaysia and PNG, plus many major construction projects in Australia and New Zealand. I have been able to use ECI Certification to enhance and improve many countries ERSED documents, bringing them closer to our Australasian IECA standards. I come over to the US every second year to attend the IECA conference, often presenting a paper and catchup with old friends and meet new people.
As a stress relief I race vintage cars (photo attached), breed cattle, and grow native grasses for seed harvesting. I am a strong believer in ongoing education and regularly run training courses in soils, vegetation, and CPESC backgrounding. We were lucky enough to win the Australian Prime Ministers award for training in small business in the year 2000. This indicates our long-term approach to helping others improve themselves.
I’d encourage all those considering the industry to think outside the box and have a go at problematic sites.
Regards,
Colin Schiller
Rehabilitation Specialist
