Alumni Profiles: Agathe Detanger
A multicultural Environmental Geoscientist with a passion for the environment and currently working in the waste management and valorisation sector.
In 2020, I graduated from UCL Earth Sciences Department with a first class MSci degree in Environmental Geosciences. I was able to develop and further explore this interest during the work on my final year master’s dissertation which covered the evolution of bromate contamination in the Hertfordshire Chalk aquifer. I had the honour to be guided, pulled through the Hertfordshire bog and challenged by Prof. William G. Burgess.
My time at UCL and the diversity of the modules available in the Earth Sciences department, made it possible to tailor the course to my interests in hydrology, geology and groundwater management; what a luxury!
During my 3rd year at UCL, I was determined to develop a career in the environmental services where the needs globally are the strongest but the challenges among some of the greatest. I applied for a summer internship in my third year in Hong Kong, working on the South East New Territories (SENT) landfill operated by Veolia. Eager to gain operational field experience, I joined the landfill’s environmental teams collecting environmental monitoring samples (ground water, surface water, noise, dust etc.). I also had the opportunity to write and present a report summarising data analyses and suggestions for further actions to the SENT management teams on Site.
Caption: Field environmental monitoring at SENT landfill with the Environmental Teams (August 2021)
The impermeable liner system; the leachate collection and treatment system, the landfill gas collection and management system, the surface water collection system; restoration and aftercare facilities, and more had me hooked. In September 2020 I officially joined Veolia as a full time Environmental Engineer in the field of waste management, working on the SENT landfill. I continued and expanded on my internship project and developed new projects both on the landfill activities and also to participate in project development discussions around waste recovery and management in Hong Kong.
In early 2022, I joined PT. (Ltd in Indonesia) Veolia Services Indonesia’s PET recycling plant in Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia.
My role as Project Manager is two fold: providing technical support on the PET transformation process on topics such as wastewater and energy optimisation and; working with the informal waste collection sector in Indonesia.
Caption: On-site at PT Veolia Services Indonesia (April 2022)
Although my field of work has shifted away from the Geosciences sector, I am proud to be working for a company at the forefront of the ecological transformation and am never too far from my geological roots.
Living now in one of the world’s most geologically complex regions bordered by tectonically active zones and characterised by intense seismicity and volcanism I am never too far from my love for adventure and geology.
Caption: On top of active volcano Gunung Welirang (April 2022)
Although my professional experience is still young, I hope to pursue my activities and duties in the waste management sector in Asia and maintain the application of the balance between office and field work duality.
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