Hamilton Environmental Services
Steve Hamilton (Dr.)
AssocDipAppBiol, BAppSc(AppBiol), MAppSc (RMIT), PhD (University of Melbourne), Vegetation Quality Assessment Certified (DSE/DEPI)
Steve is an ecologist specialising in flora and fauna inventory, auditing, monitoring and surveying, as well as soil typing, analysis and mapping. He has 11 years consulting experience, associated with a range of ecological evaluations and monitoring processes across all of Victoria, and southern and western New South Wales, which includes assessing and mapping vegetation condition, vegetation type, targeted threatened species surveys, habitat quality assessment (in Victoria, Habitat Hectares assessment and ‘Net Loss and Gain’ evaluations), across the range of terrestrial, riparian and wetland ecosystems.
He has vast experience in the assessment of native vegetation and species, and habitat loss assessment, for irrigation, residential, infrastructure and mining (including sand, rock and ore extraction) developments, and the successful negotiation of the appropriate legislative, regulatory and statutory frameworks across the three levels of Government to provide suitable outcomes for clients across both States to allow developments to proceed. In Victoria, this involves the production of Net Loss Reports, Vegetation Offset Management Plans and Work Plans, and in NSW, reporting for potential native vegetation/habitat losses and threatened species threats in Development Applications (DAs), and in more detailed situations where Director General Requirements are specified, Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) or Reviews of Environmental Factors (REFs).
Beyond statutory requirements and reporting, Steve is often called upon to provide technical reporting into particular issues, such as research/survey investigations into vegetation-soil-fauna management issues in natural areas or for development proposals, such as weed management surveys and strategies, kangaroo survey and management, potential mining pollution impacts, sustainability of timber resources, soil mapping and land capability assessment, ecosystem restoration, or revegetation design.
Prior to consulting, Steve spent 20 years as a senior teaching/research academic, and has more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and many technical reports, most focussing on the impacts of disturbance on the ecology and floristics of woodlands and grasslands.