Meet our summer intern, Allie Routledge

How did your placement come about?

As a rising senior in university and studying environmental engineering, I was keen on finding experience at an environmentally oriented company. A class that I’d taken this past year piqued my interest in consultancy as I found it manages to unite both technical and social aspects that are important in tackling environmental issues. I came across OPEX via word of mouth and came into contact with James Shannon whom I spoke with regarding internship opportunities within ERM. It seemed like a great fit and I was excited to pursue the opportunity.

What attracted you to ERM?

The energy sector plays a key and complex role in the transition towards sustainability, and it’s always been of interest to me when learning about climate change. Because of this, I decided to make my area of focus energy within my degree and have been interested in careers aiding in the energy transition. Whilst ERM works with across a multitude of industries, there is a large focus on the energy sector at both ERM and specifically at OPEX. Getting experience at a company dedicated to reducing the environmental footprint of carbon-intensive assets seemed like a perfect step to begin developing a career in the energy sector. Another huge attraction for me was ERM being a global company. Having moved around and grown up internationally, working in a global company with the aspiration of working abroad in the future was really appealing to me.

Tell us about your time with ERM.

I joined ERM in mid-June for an 8-week summer internship with OPEX. In my time here, Emissions Reduction Lead, Alison Taylor, tasked me with a project to assess the ways in which OPEX’s digital product emisisons.AI is impacting clients. She outlined the project in a way that would allow me to experience the type of work that consultants do. I was asked before beginning my internships what I’d hope to get out of my time at OPEX and while my main goal was to learn and gain experience in industry, I expressed my interest in consultancy. Ali then took that into consideration when planning the project I would take on at OPEX, which is a benefit of interning at a smaller company; they are genuinely interested in helping you learn and succeed. My time at ERM allowed me to gain experience relevant to a career in which a student studying environmental engineering is likely to pursue, something invaluable to a student soon to finish their degree. I also had the opportunity to sit in on several meetings within the day-to-day work at OPEX to gain an understanding of industry practices, the various roles existing within the company, client engagement and observe the progression of future applications of emissions.AI.

What sort of work did you do while at ERM?

While at ERM, I took on a project that aimed to understand the impacts that emissions.AI software is having on clients, identify key factors which influenced successful deployments and provide areas where OPEX can influence improvements. The research was exploratory and iterative as I strived to provide insights that those working so close to the product had not had the opportunity or distance from the product to consider. I conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis, including interviews with clients and had the opportunity, in my final week, to present my findings to the operations and business development teams at OPEX.

What did you like most about working for the company?

The office culture and the passion for what everyone does have to be the things I most enjoyed about being at OPEX. From my first day, everyone was happy to welcome me to the office and support me in any way they can. The small, open-plan office encourages the already existing team culture; everyone constantly asks each other questions and collaborates on projects. Though I was working closely with the operations team, I had plenty of opportunities to speak to and work with the business development team as well. Co-workers were keen to help me get up to speed quickly; they would go out of their way to add me to meetings, giving me the opportunity to learn about what they do and the different jobs within the company. It’s easy to tell that everyone cares about what they’re doing here at OPEX, they want to make a difference and do their job to the best of their ability. OPEX is truly made by the people that work here and I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from each and every person in the office.

What does the future hold for you?

I’m extremely interested in furthering my education, namely a Master of Environmental Law, and I look forward to developing a career in the environmental sector. When deciding to pursue a degree in environmental engineering, I did so with the overarching goal of using the opportunities I’ve been given, and plan on creating, to make a difference. So, I ultimately hope to develop a career that allows me to make a positive impact both environmentally and socially. While I don’t yet know what shape that will take, I’m excited to continue to work towards these goals and seize whatever opportunities arise.