Our geoscience services cover a broad array of technical areas, drawing on skills associated with a range of disciplines including physical geography, geology, hydrology, meterology, soil science, oceanography and geomatics.

Water presents a source of risk from direct geological hazards such as flooding, tidal surges, snow fall and ice. It’s the driving force behind landslides, erosion and pollution. Water scarcity is an increasingly significant geopolitical issue. Even on a local Western European scale, drought can have a huge impact on business and communities. With changing climates, built-in resilience and adaptability is key to a successful future, as is a multi-disciplinary and “catchment based” approach. Water is also a key medium for transport, a source of sustainable energy, a focus of industrial heritage and creates the opportunity for exciting waterside development and regeneration.  Our breadth of water-related services responds to that and is, therefore, large and complex. We integrate that with our other key skills including planning, landscape, ecology, GIS and fisheries.

Soils and other sediments are a key resource for our future food security and a key foundation for many ecosystem services. Managing soils and preventing erosion prevents our agricultural opportunities from being limited and preserves water quality, habitats and valued landforms.  We also need to recognise, share and protect our geological/geomorphological features of interest for the long term.

To protect this fundamental natural capital, there’s extensive legislation, policy and guidance that is becoming increasingly integrated with a wider understanding of the inter-relationships between physical, biological and chemical processes and human ambition.

Sector and client examples include: