Business View Caribbean - January 2015 53
approvals from the Environmental Management Au-
thority in Trinidad and Tobago, though it also conducts
data collection surveys – including regulatory monitor-
ing – to manage the environmental impact of client
activities.
Additionally, several supplemental services (including
oceanographic modeling and air emissions modeling)
are provided that comprise the full continuum from
project design, data collection and analysis through
reporting.
In fact, co-founders Frank Teelucksingh and Nazeer
Gopaul (both physical oceanographers) were col-
leagues at Trinidad & Tobago’s Institute of Marine Af-
fairs when they identified a need for environmental in-
put alongside increased marine construction activities
and oil and gas activities in the country’s burgeoning
energy sector.
No local expertise existed at the time, which neces-
sitated the import of appropriate services and knowl-
edge via international sources, most typically from
England and the United States.
“We saw this niche and we were local,” Teelucksingh
said. “We started the office with myself and Nazeer
in in a small apartment, and we grew from there until
now, when we have more than 30 employees and are
a full-fledged environmental impact assessment firm.”
The growth, however, wasn’t quite as rapid as a single
sentence makes it seem.
“It took a while,” he said. “For the first few months we
couldn’t find any work, because people don’t hire two
young consultants without some sort of formal experi-
ence. We were well-known for our scientific work, but
we weren’t known for our consultancy and people re-
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