Port and Coastal Solutions is a small consultancy specialising in coastal and marine environments.

Our aim is to consistently provide technical excellence and high quality, tailor-made deliverables which exceed our client’s expectations. We work closely with our clients to ensure we understand their requirements, stay up to date with relevant technologies and use our existing knowledge and experience gained from previous projects. We have offices in south-east Queensland, Australia and Southampton, UK, providing services to Australia, the UK and globally.

 Port and Coastal Solutions About Us

Our team

 

Dr Andy Symonds | Director
BSc PhD CMarSci CSci MIMarEST

Andy is a Director at Port and Coastal Solutions with over 20 years of experience in coastal, estuarine and marine studies. He completed a PhD at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton studying hydrodynamics, waves and sediment transport. Throughout his career he has developed expertise in hydrodynamics, waves, sediment transport, dredging, morphological evolution, shoreline response and pollutant dispersion.

He has been involved in a wide range of port and coastal studies in Australia, the UK and elsewhere in the world. He was invited as a numerical modelling expert to attend the panel for the GBRMPA and AIMS led Dredge Synthesis Workshop. He was one of 19 technical experts invited to the panel to summarise the level of scientific knowledge regarding dredge impacts to the Great Barrier Reef.

Andy has recently had key roles in the delivery of the Queensland Maintenance Dredging Strategy and a number of studies for the Sustainable Sediment Management project at the Port of Hay Point. He is also currently undertaking a peer review of a Reef 2050 deliverable on sediments and dredging within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

 

 

Anna Symonds | Director
BSc MSc CMarSci CSci MIMarEST

Anna is a Director at Port and Coastal Solutions and a chartered marine scientist with over 17 years of consulting experience. She completed a master degree in Environmental and Coastal Engineering at the University of Southampton in the UK.  During her career she has worked for several enginerring and marine consultancy companies in the UK and Australia, before co-founding Port and Coastal Solutions in 2017.

During her career she has developed technical expertise in numerical modelling of coastal, estuarine and offshore environments, typically requiring the simulation of 2D and 3D hydrodynamics, waves, dispersion processes and sediment transport. She has specific expertise in modelling the advection and dispersion of conservative and non-conservative tracers. In addition, she has experience in bathymetric surveying and data collection and analysis techniques gained from working in the field and a sediment laboratory.

Anna is a highly experienced project manager who has most recently been involved in managing components of the Long Term Recycled Water Release Plan for the City of Gold Coast and assisted with delivering the numerical modelling report associated with maintenance dredging at the Port of Hay Point.

 

 

 

Dr Rachel White | Director
BSc PhD CMarSci CSci MIMarEST

Rachel is a Director at Port and Coastal Solutions and a chartered marine scientist with 18 years of experience in coastal and marine studies. Rachel graduated from her undergraduate degree with first class joint honours in Oceanography and Mathematics and went on to complete a PhD at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

Rachel has provided consultancy services for a wide range of projects with a specific focus on numerical modelling of hydrodynamics, waves, sediments and water quality in coastal and estuarine environments. Projects worked on include numerous port developments, managed realignments, coastal defence schemes and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. In these projects Rachel has taken on both technical roles as a hydrodynamic modeller and management roles as project and quality manager.

Rachel has been involved in a significant amount of stakeholder engagement and has provided specialist technical advice on thermal plume modelling to the Marine Maritime Organisation in the UK. Rachel is also a Chartered Marine Scientist and a Member of IMarEST.

 

 

 

Jack Shipton | Principal Consultant
BSc MSc (Hons)

Jack is a Principal Consultant with Port and Coastal Solutions with over 12 years of professional consultancy experience in the marine and water industry sectors. Jack completed an MSc degree in Environmental and Coastal Engineering after completing an undergraduate degree in Geography (BSc), both undertaken at the University of Southampton. Jack has worked within a number of consultants based in the UK and joined Port and Coastal Solutions in 2023.

He has extensive experience within ‘Delft3D’ and ‘MIKE by DHI’ software suites and has expertise in modelling hydrodynamics, waves, sediments, and water quality in both estuarine and coastal waters.

Jack has worked across a large variety of project types including offshore wind applications, port developments, thermal plume or water quality dispersion studies, water industry marine compliance assessments, and the design and scheme testing of managed realignments. Jack has experience of delivering these studies as a project manager and as a technical specialist.

Claire Conning | Consultant
BSc MSc (Hons)

Claire is a consultant at Port and Coastal Solutions with a background in oceanography and experience in the maritime industry. Claire graduated with First Class Honours Masters degree in Oceanography at the University of Southampton where she earned several academic awards for her results.

She has significant consulting experience in the maritime industry having worked as a navigation risk specialist in the offshore renewables and marine infrastructure sectors. During her career, she has supported and managed a variety of projects including offshore wind applications, marine infrastructure developments within ports and harbours, and coastal management schemes.

Claire has extensive experience in data management and analysis, including geospatial analysis. She has worked on various numerical modelling projects and has a comprehensive understanding of hydrodynamics, waves and sediments in coastal and estuarine environments.