Kathryn Sachs, a 2009 Master of Resources Law Studies graduate, is employed by the engineering company, URS, in their Asia Pacific branch.
She is currently based in Brisbane, Australia working on a project between ConocoPhillips and the Australia's leading energy provider, Origin Energy, to construct LNG (liquefied natural gas) facilities near the Port of Gladstone on Australia's east coast. When complete, the facility will help to market Australia's natural gas to larger export markets across the Pacific. Kathryn's focus is assuring that the project complies with all
federal, state, and local environmental laws that apply to it.
Her responsibilities include providing compliance management expertise, coordinating regular reviews of compliance reports and monitoring data, maintaining an up-to-date knowledge of relevant approvals processes and legislation and assessing their relevance to the project, and liaising with environmental, legal, tenure, and engineering professionals to monitor the status of approvals.
Demand from China and other emerging economies is driving a boom in the natural resources sector of the Australian economy and consequently, professionals with a high level of knowledge or expertise in the natural resources sector are in demand. Kathryn's background as an MRLS graduate, proved valuable in securing her position, and though the legislative requirements differ between the US and Australia, she credits her DU experience with helping her analyze legal requirements critically and apply the law to real-life scenarios in resource development.
Kathryn is thrilled to be able to use her education to work and live
abroad. She sees it as a valuable opportunity to step outside of the
framework of the US legal system and see how things are done elsewhere - and the surfing is pretty good too!
Lucy Daberkow, Associate Administrative Director, commented: " We could not be more proud of Kat's accomplishments! We've been following her career since her graduation from the MRLS program and knew that she was truly one of the brightest stars in our program."
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