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Amanda Lewis
Land Use Planning Officer
Department of Primary Industries
Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
"The practical skills and field work from studying has also greatly assisted my transition from studying to working in this job."
I started my Arts/Science degree in 1997, with an intention to go into some sort of environmental/natural resource management field. I majored in Geography and Biology. I studied a broad range of subjects, soils, landscape and human geographies to zoology, botany and conservation biology. Having completed my undergraduate degree, I went on to do Science Honours with the Geography department. I left University in 2001 and was accepted into the Department of Natural Resource and Environment Graduate Program (now Department of Primary Industries and Department of Sustainability and Environment).
I am a Land Use Planning Officer working with the Statutory Planning team, and I assess planning permits and planned developments, sent to us by local governments, for their environmental impact. I regularly go out on site to check for erosion, salinity or water quality problems or potential issues. I also need to be able to identify some vegetation types and species. My recommendations are recorded as planning permit conditions that influence the land use. I regularly work with local council planners, developers, and community members, among others. I have spent 12 months working in Bendigo, and I am now based in Melbourne.
In my job, I have to consider a broad range of issues about land management, and my exposure to a wide variety of subjects at Uni have provided me with a lot of technical information to draw on in the field. They have also given me the skills to be able to find and use information when I need to. The practical skills and field work from studying has also greatly assisted my transition from studying to working in this job. I am also studying the Statutory Planning system, as my exposure to this before this job was very limited. I have been able to draw on learning techniques and methods from undergrad studies to aid in this process.
Planning is not really the first job you think of with environmental studies, however, I have found it to be really great and heaps of fun, so far, with the combination of indoor and outdoor work. I have been able to see a lot of Victoria and have my management the recommendations implemented on the ground. The employment opportunities in this field include State Government level planning assessments, local government town planning or environmental planning plus many more.
Working in the Department of Primary Industries, my career choices are endless with a wide exposure to a mix of different programs, (weeds and pests, agriculture, horticulture, community education, salinity etc) and people in the Department.
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