Emei-lee Kemp

Graduate Environmental Policy Analyst

I head over to customer service to grab the keys to the vehicle I booked out for the day. I then head back to my desk and pack my recreational river sampling gear and put on my PPE gear to head out for the day!

7.00 AM

I wake up and get ready for the day, which includes packing my lunch, having breakfast and getting out of my pj's! I generally plan out my outfit the night before and have a bag packed. I do this because I work in different areas of Infrastructure Operations throughout the week, and some days require outdoor clothing and the other days are office days! Today I’m working with the city waters compliance team.

A photo of river with trees on the banks.

8.00 AM

I live close to work so I leave home at this time and because parking is a nightmare and too expensive, I drive my car and park underneath Claudelands bridge on a free parking street and then walk over the bridge to get to work. Driving from home and then walking the rest of the way takes me around 20 minutes in total. One of my favourite parts of the day is this walk as it’s when I get myself in the right mindset for the working day and not to mention the river is beautiful!

8.30 AM

Once I arrive at work I use my swipe card to get into the municipal building and make my way up to the 5th level where the City Waters team is located. I get into the office and unpack at my desk and catch up with my work colleagues.

8.45 AM

I head over to customer service to grab the keys to the vehicle I booked out for the day. I then head back to my desk and pack my recreational river sampling gear and put on my PPE gear to head out for the day! This is my little car for the day. They are GPS tracked to keep us safe and from going over the speed limit.

9.00 AM

I go down to level-0 of Garden Place Carpark and find my car for the day and head out! My first stop is Malcolm Street. I fill two sample bottles at each location, one set goes to the lab at the end of the day for E. coli results and the other set of bottles I use to test the turbidity levels and dissolved oxygen.

Hamilton City Council Graduate - Young professional taking water sample from the river.

9.20 AM

I have arrived at the next location, Hamilton Gardens! After this site, I have a morning tea snack in the car before I head to my next location. Today was an apple and some shapes!

Hamilton City Council Car

9.40 AM

I spend the rest of the morning driving around to three more locations and taking water samples.

Hamilton City Council Graduate - Image of a bridge over the river

12.00 PM

I park the car and head up to the third floor to meet my work colleagues and then we head down to Kobe sushi for lunch together (Best part of the day).

Hamilton City Council Graduate - Sushi on the purple table.

12.40 PM

I head back down to my car and finish the rest of my river sampling for the day. One of my usual sites had a bunch of illegal dumping, when I get back to the office I will report this and ask for someone to go tidy it up!

Image of a small drainage canal.

2.00 PM

I’ve finished taking my last river sample for the day! Now it’s time to take these samples back to the lab which is located at the Pukete Wastewater Treatment Plant. When I drive up to the gate I have to announce who I am and why I’m here on the intercom and they let me through (High-level security here!). Due to COVID, I’m not allowed in the building, so I mask up and walk up the stairs and leave my sample bottles in a chilly bin on the trays the lovely lab ladies leave out front.

Pukete Wastewater Treatment Plant front view

2.20 PM

I leave the lab and head back to the office to finish off my water sampling there. I usually find a nice shady space to park up and do this sampling off-site, however, today I forgot my turbidity reading machine at the office so I’m heading back there to do it.

Hamilton City Council - Water samples on the lab table

3.00 PM

I’ve finished my sampling for the day, time to head up to level 3 for a hot drink! Level 3 is the staff area which has a fully equipped kitchen, supplies for hot drinks, couches and even a pool table!

Water samples on the table

3.05 PM

I take my hot drink to the lift and head back up to level 5 to start entering my river sampling data into Excel spreadsheets.

Hamilton City Council Graduate - Young professional standing inside the elevator.

3.45 PM

Finished entering my data for the day and now it’s time to catch up on emails, missed calls and any extra work I have missed. I’m currently working on developing a Criticality Framework for our critical assets here at Council, so I spent the rest of my day working on this.

Hamilton City Council Computers and desks

4.30 PM

Time to turn the computer off as I’m done for the day. Wooh! I say bye to my colleagues and scan out for the day and walk back over the bridge to my car.

5.00 PM

Some days after work I head to the gym to finish off my day.

Cityfitness signage

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