MWH Global in Melbourne, Australia, is celebrating the election of Jane La Nauze, environmental engineer, and Greg Holland, process engineer, to the Australian Water Association’s Young Water Professionals Committee (AWA YWP).
As members of the AWA they were eligible to be nominated for a two year term to serve on Victoria’s AWA YWP Committee. Elections were held in June, and Jane and Greg recently heard they were successful.
“I am thrilled and honored to have been nominated,” Jane La Nauze said. “Since graduating five years ago I have been working as a planning engineer in the water industry. During this time I have enjoyed attending and participating in AWA events. Hence I wanted the opportunity to give back to the organisation that has, and is, assisting my professional development.”
As members of the YWP committee, Jane and Greg will be responsible for assisting the AWA Victoria Branch to organize and lead technical events, regional tours and dinners. They will also represent the Victorian water industry in the formulating responses to issues affecting its future, so helping ensure members have an effective and responsive organisation.
“I believe the AWA YWP’s group has the opportunity to inspire and develop our young water professionals. As a committee member I hope to help encourage young professionals to use their skills to give back to the local and wider community,” said Jane La Nauze. “I bring to the Committee my passion for enhancing the community we live in and I am interested in developing events to achieve this. My role as the Australian National Young Professionals Community Coordinator for MWH already ensures the business maintains its on-going commitment to the local community and now I want to encourage more people to consider making a similar commitment.”
Jane and Greg are both active young professionals in the MWH office in Melbourne. Jane is MWH Victoria’s Young Professionals Group Coordinator and responsible for overseeing and, with the assistance of the committee, organising professional development activities, technical field trips, and network opportunities for young MWH professionals.
Greg has been a member of MWH Victoria’s Young Professionals Group for the past two years and has also recently joined Victoria’s WaterAid Fundraising Committee, which aims to increase awareness and raise much needed funds to support WaterAid initiatives in south-east Asia and the Pacific region.
In 2013 Greg successfully reinstated WaterAid’s annual Walk for Water fundraiser across all MWH offices in Australia. Over five days, staff members walked 10,000 steps a day which is the average distance people walk every day for water in the developing world.
