James Lewis, Director of Intercoastal Consulting, is a certified practicing civil engineer with over 15 years of experience specialising in coastal engineering throughout Australasia and across the Pacific. He has a broad knowledge of coastal protection design, integrated coastal management and surf amenity. James’s skills extend outside the office where he has led large-scale metocean deployments, analysing the data captured in the field to calibrate numerical models used to inform coastal design.
He has focussed the last 10 years of his career on working in Small Island Developing States (SIDs) in climate change adaptation, concerned primarily with developing climate-resilient coastal protection. James aspires to see the design phase through to implementation; having supported procurement, and contracting and undertaken construction supervision on large projects in remote locations. He aims to provide value and support through the complete project lifecycle including the social, financial and institutional aspects of these projects, endeavoring to understand the administrative, governmental and funding mechanisms specific to each country and community and their relation to the delivery of a successful project.
Using his knowledge of coastal engineering, the ocean and the environment, James’ primary endeavor is to assist coastal communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
I have over 20 years experience in the field of environmental science; specifically focusing on impact assessments of developments in the areas of infrastructure and energy. My expertise although specifically in the area of geology has expanded to cover community development as the study of EIA now encompasses both environmental and social factors of affected communities. My strength in conducting EIA is based on my great understanding of natural processes through the study of geology which allows me to suggest timely mitigation measures to minimize identified impacts of the project on the environment. My working experiences in the petroleum industry gave me great understanding of their operational procedures and likely impacts of fume and leakages on the environment, especially the groundwater lens. My clients range from national (i.e. Tonga) ministries and corporations to regional and international agencies