One of the key skills required is the ability to

draw data from a number of sources, analyse

and interpret that data and extract the

required information to be able to apply it to a

model, process or method.

What does your job involve?

How do you make use of Quantitative

Methods in your everyday work?

Name: Paul Morgalla

Place of work: Atkins

Position: Scientist, Rivers and

Coastal Environments

Job Description:

Assess and understand flood risk challenges

faced by clients. Develop solutions to

mitigate that risk.

One of the main things we do for clients is help

them to understand the flood risk they are

susceptible to. Traditionally, our work mainly

focuses on flood risk from rivers or the coast

but more recently, we're dealing with surface

water flooding or any of the three in

combination.

We use a lot of models in this industry. These

are used to calculate things such as potential

storm flows in particular weather scenarios.

We also have numerous statistical models for

each type of flood defence which might be

used. These allow us to ascertain how the

defences will respond to various severities of

event. Data from these models can come from

a wide variety of sources. For example a digital

elevation model might use data from Lidar,

computer-aided design (CAD) drawings,

surveys of defences, an old photograph of a

drawing found in a cellar, cross sections, aerial

photography, Google street view, or archive

material. A key part of this data manipulation

requires understanding what not to use as well

as what to use – information is never perfect,

and it’s being able to use your experience and

use your skills to analyse that is important.

“The art and skill of what

we do at Atkins is being

able to turn hard raw data

into information which we

then communicate with the

client”

Critical infrastructure is often unavoidably

situated within flood risk areas. Much of the

country's energy supply, be it nuclear, wind,

oil, gas, are for a number of reasons frequently

located near the coast. We’ve been working

with some of our clients in assessing,

managing and informing them about flood risk

to critical infrastructure on the Humber and

the Thames estuary. Clients want to know the

risk associated with the location in which

they’re situated and which flood defences will

be appropriate. Operations need a long term

strategy to managing their assets, they want to

know, not only what the risk is now but in 10,

25, 50 years time. They can then integrate this

information into their future plans for their

sites.

Our clients are interested in the impact of

flood events; for example, on the operational

status of their buildings. Is it going to stop their

production or reduce it?

How long will they have to evacuate? What

time scales can be predicted for different sized

events? They will also be interested in the

impacts on the supporting infrastructure, for

example, railways, pylons and pipelines

feeding to/from the site into the national

network. An important element will also be

focused on people themselves, the employees

who work on the sites and what sort of

procedures need to be implemented to make

sure that people are safe and remain safe in

the event that these risks materialise.

Flood risk

imagery used

by Atkins

Flood visualisation imagery used by Atkins

To find out more about where Quantitative

Methods can take you, visit the following:

Quantile website:

www.quantile.info

RGS-IBG website:

www.rgs.org

Essential – I think it’s absolutely important that

people develop quantitative skills. Working in

an engineering consultancy you’re surrounded

by engineers, geographers and other

scientists, and having that sound base in

quantitative skills is essential for my job, and

essential for those who want to pursue a

career in the industry. What we generally look

for in the sector are people with all round

ability, who have those technical skills but

Strong quantitative skills are at the heart of

everything we do, even if you don’t have a

technical role. If you’re involved in project

management or a business management role

you will still need to understand and be able to

analyse financial and business information, all

of which requires the same skill sets. These are

exactly the sort of skill sets that a geographer

can bring to the table.

The quantitative skills that I use in my role can

require data from other people, but other

people also rely on the information I produce –

information created in one area of the process

is very often used and built upon in the next.

Do other people rely on your

Quantitative Methods skills?

How important are these skills within

environmental consultancy?

Why do Quantitative Methods

benefit geography graduates?

At Atkins we work in a project based

environment, in multi-skilled, multidisciplinary

teams where we’ll often work alongside

various parts of the organisation to deliver

particular solutions to the client. For example,

one of the hydrologists may undertake a

hydrological assessment, calculate the flows

coming down the catchment and into a river,

to provide a classic hydrograph of flow over

time. We’d then feed that information into a

hydraulic model to simulate how that water

would flow out of the river and over land into

towns and cities – that information may then

be passed on to one of our flood economists

who will evaluate the financial impact and

damages concerned with flooding in that

location. Those results will be used to develop

the economic case to determine the most

appropriate solution and determine the level

of available funding. The information will also

be given to the engineering team; the flood

levels of previous events can be used to

calculate the floor levels in new designs and

buildings to make sure they are raised out of

the flood plain, or to design an appropriate

flood wall for the risk you are protecting

against.

The Thames barrier flood defence, London

Source: Flickr; Davide Simonetti

“Strong quantitative

skills are at the heart

of everything we do”

also the ability to communicate with the

public. The ability to describe complex

scientific processes and methods in a non-

scientific, public-friendly way is a really, really

powerful skill to have.