Our wonderful team are our greatest asset. Not only experts in transport, engineering and placemaking but also committed to delivering better places for people through high-level-service client experiences.
We’re very proud to continue to celebrate the faces behind the fast-growing international consultancy that we are today in our monthly feature ‘PJA People’.
Next up in our series is Graduate Flood Risk and Drainage Engineer, James Greenwood, based in our Birmingham office:
Tell us what you do at PJA
I am a Graduate Flood Risk and Drainage Engineer with the Water Resources Team, and my role predominantly involves analysing flood risk through flood risk assessments, although I also get involved in forming surface water drainage strategies, undertaking sequential tests and other such GIS analysis.
What’s your career path so far?
I graduated from Lancaster University in 2024 having studied Geography. My studies were largely water-related and I was fortunate to be offered a role at PJA the day after my last exam, starting work in the Birmingham office in September 2024.
What do you enjoy when you’re not working?
When I’m not working I enjoy watching the F1. I also like travelling and exploring different places, and I’m currently working my way through visiting all the UK ‘cathedral cities’, national parks and landscapes. My hope is also to have driven piecemeal the entire length of the UK coast in the future. I am also usually involved in a range of personal creative projects in my downtime including aspects of photography and video editing.
Are you a dog or cat person?
Bit of an easy choice for me, mostly because my family has a German Shepherd named Max at home, but also because I am allergic to cats. Despite the stereotype, Max is more likely to roll over for a belly rub than actually fend off any intruders.
What are you currently reading or listening to?
Not much of a reader despite my family’s best efforts. Currently listening to a lot of Electric Light Orchestra at the moment and Level 42 before then, both of which I am lucky to be attending concerts of later this year.
Claim to fame?
Don’t really have one as such yet, although before I had my first driving lesson I had driven a train, flown a plane and steered a boat. The first as an impromptu moment at a heritage railway, the second in a tutor aircraft with Combined Cadet Force RAF Section on a taster day, and the third after being entrusted by a river guide to steer through the narrow marshes of Norfolk so he could chat (the guide had to come to my rescue a handful of times).
James Greenwood, Graduate Flood Risk and Drainage Engineer
James joined the PJA Graduate Development Programme in September 2024 in our Birmingham office as a part of the Water team. He graduated from Lancaster University with a BSc (Hons) in Geography with modules covering aspects of hydrology, hydrogeology and water governance. This included research on natural flood management including leaky dam installation in Dartmoor National Park, alongside undertaking a dissertation exploring correlations between soil moisture content along hillslopes utilising electromagnetic induction methods.
Get in touch with James: [email protected]
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