Matthew Howse – EUO / Engineer

Matthew is a graduate Environmental Engineer from Monash University and has a passion for sustainability. Minimisation and management of energy use is of extreme importance to him and the community as a whole. His engineering degree has given him a good basis of knowledge in civil and chemical engineering, energy use and production, analysis and report writing. In 2016 Matthew worked for Monash University in the Planning team of the Buildings and Property Division. In this role he worked with the Mechanical Asset Engineer to oversee the planning stages for the installation and upgrades of mechanical assets within buildings across all Monash campuses. The mapping skills he learnt through his studies enabled him to further develop his work with North East Ecology, a small consultancy specialising in ecological assessment. Matthew worked with North East Ecology for field assessments on a casual basis for about 8 years. Within his field work was included vegetation identification, mapping, Habitat Hectare assessment; also providing GIS and IT support. Since completing his studies Matthew has spent some time focusing on a variety of hobbies, primarily vegetable growing, which has been a showcase of both his creativity and project management skills. His creativity evolved whilst coming up with a logical, accessible and effective layout of his garden; deciding what to grow and how much to grow; and how to set up an efficient watering system. It then progressed to a point of continual improvement, whereby noticing small opportunities for change can lead to better time and water efficiency, improved soil health and better plant and vegetable quality.