Chand Environmental Consultants

Chand was established by Sadia Chand who has extensive working experience in southern Africa, with an international training background. She has her Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Cape Town, and her Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Toronto.

As the principle environmental specialist at Chand Environment, Sadia Chand has conducted and co-ordinated a variety of environmental evaluations for national, multi-national and international companies for development projects and initiatives around the African continent.

She has also initiated many public facilitation and communication exercises that have required extensive liaison with stakeholders. Sadia has engaged stakeholder interactions with due cognisance towards the sensitivity of proposals, and towards the local variations in culture and language.

Melanie van Breda (Dyssell) studied her Honours in Environmental and Geographical Science and Masters in City and Regional Planning at UCT. Prior to joining Chand Environmental Consultants in 2004, Melanie’s work experience as an environmental planner in both the public and private realm focused on a variety of aspects in the field including Strategic Environmental Assessments, Environmental Policy Documents, Growth Management Plans and Land-Use Planning exercises.

As a Principal Environmental Planning Specialist at Chand, Melanie has successfully project managed a number of environmental evaluations through the tendering, design, construction and operational phases. These include Basic Assessment Reports, Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment Reports and Environmental Management Plans. Furthermore, her work incorporates a significant focus on public participation and, as such, demands extensive and sensitive liaison with Interested and Affected members of the public to ensure that the process is open, fair and caters for various needs within the South African context.

In addition, Melanie is a Green Star South Africa (SA) Accredited Professional, as developed by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) in order to promote sustainable development. As such, Melanie can assist a project team with the integration of Green Star’s aims and processes throughout the design and construction phases of a project.

Ingrid Eggert is an Environmental Consultant at Chand Environmental Consultants. She completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Environmental Management at the University of South Africa. She has a varied work experience and prior to joining Chand in 2009, most notably, she was solely responsible for running the financial and administrative tasks for a company in the private sector. Earlier in her career, she obtained an ICA Higher Diploma in Culinary Arts from L’Institute Culinaire in Stellenbosch, and worked as a professional chef and private caterer for four years.

Ingrid has wide-ranging experience in applying the principles of Integrated Environmental Management and has been successfully undertaking and co-ordinating EIA and public participation processes in the Western Cape and nationally. Furthermore, she has facilitated and managed the construction phases of various projects throughout Southern Africa by compiling Environmental Management Programmes and ensuring contractor compliance through comprehensive, independent monitoring and auditing. This also includes undertaking environmental training and education on site.

She has also been involved in many operational phase projects, including gap analysis audits and ISO 14001 implementation and auditing. Ingrid’s previous job experience and her academic qualifications promote a well-rounded, practical approach to solving environmental issues.

Coleen Garnett joined the Chand in July 2005 and is responsible for the bookkeeping functions of the company. These include invoicing, payment of creditors, SARS returns, salaries and debt recovery and all other financial aspects. She has many years related experience and works for Chand in the afternoons.

Kim Diedericks performs the role of Project Administrator and Stakeholder Liaison Officer at Chand Environmental Consultants. She has a paralegal background and studied part-time to obtain a Project Management NQF qualification. Kim provides administrative and logistical support on various projects. As Stakeholder Liaison Officer she effectively liaises with Interested and Affected Parties and project team members on a daily basis. In addition to this, Kim is proficient in the preparation of documentation for public and authority review having extensive experience in the formatting, styling and compilation of reports.

Mellissa joined Chand in September 2008. She is responsible for managing the reception area and switchboard and provides administrative support to senior consultants. She assists with the facilitation and organisation of the public participation processes. Mellissa ensures that databases are updated and maintained and liaises with service providers.

Charlene is the general office assistant. She assists with facilitation of the public participation processes by preparing mailouts. Charlene liaises with service providers and efficiently manages the filling and archiving systems. She is also responsible for collecting post, banking and general office assistance.