Environmental investigator

Dana Moran investigated wind turbines as part of her work with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Name: Dana Moran
Age: 30
Job title: Environmental investigator
Working hours: 37 hours week, 40-45 hours/week in busy times
Employer: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment; universities; Crown Research Institutes; regional and central government; environmental and planning consultants
Pay: $40,000 to $70,000 a year
Qualifications needed: tertiary qualification, especially post-graduate degree in planning, science, resource use and/or environment
Career prospects: promotion to principal investigator, work in specialist consultancy or research organisation, senior policy analyst, self-employment

Describe your job.

I investigate major environmental issues and since I started here last year those investigations have been wind power and its effect on the landscape and communities, and looking at how New Zealand's transport system is currently being managed. Firstly, we do background research into the issue to get a good grasp on where to direct the research. That will involve looking at the internet, getting articles from journals, looking at Government policy and talking to people. Then we'll form a project outline and decide how we are going to frame it. We talk to a lot of people and visit different areas.

The research involves getting down to the nitty-gritty of reading consent decisions, hearing reports, international literature - you're gathering information, reading it and forming a view on how things might be done better. It involves the team and we have quite a few meetings about where we're taking the investigation, what other people to talk to and what areas we haven't covered. Then there's deciding how to structure the report, writing about all the issues, drawing conclusions and making recommendations, which might be that a central or local government agency should do something like formulate more policy or maybe develop a community information resource. And once the report has been published you go around and discuss it with stakeholders and others, and the reports usually get tabled in Parliament.

Investigations usually take about a year or so. Small investigations are called citizens' concerns and come when someone phones up and asks us to look at a particular issue in their area, like they think a council isn't managing a river properly.

Why did you choose the job?

I was doing my master's degree looking at environmental ethics and landscapes and my supervisor suggested I have a look at some of the PCE (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment) publications because they encapsulated issues really well. I read some reports and really liked the position the PCE came from. My background is planning. I have a Bachelor of Resource and Environmental Planning and a Master's in Planning. When I finished my master's, this job came up. I'd already talked to some of the people in the office and thought it would be so cool to work there. I really threw everything into the interview process because I think there were about 130 applicants. It followed on from what I wanted to do, which was to broaden out from planning into bigger picture environmental issues. And it aligned with my values. I really want to do well by the environment.

Why is the job important?

The PCE has an accountability role and it's looking to the future, which I don't think many government authorities are all that good at because of short election cycles. Environmental issues such as climate change are much longer term. If you don't have organisations like us looking to the future, you don't have anyone holding the politicians accountable for their decisions. And it's important to communicate messages such as ours to the wider public.

What's the best part of the job?

I like going out talking to heaps of knowledgeable people from wide backgrounds and discussing issues in depth. It opens your eyes and gives you a robust understanding of an issue. Although it's sometimes challenging I do like thinking through an issue and trying to write reports in a concise way so they communicate well.

What are your strengths?

I have a good analytical way of looking at things. Research skills - gathering a lot of information and being able to present it in a coherent way. My people skills are pretty good. You do need to be able to talk to lots of different people from different sectors. I am thinking about starting Toastmasters to improve my public speaking skills. And I have to improve my report-writing skills but we've been doing a lot of work on that with a report-writing workshop and business writing courses.

What's your job-hunting advice?

Any qualification that deals with sustainability issues - a post-graduate qualification - would be a good thing to have. And try to develop some research skills. If someone specifically wanted to work at PCE, contact the office because sometimes there are short term projects that may not be advertised. There might just be a slot that comes up, so putting your CV with people in the office is a good idea.