In her current role at WSP, Dr Snyman specialises in delivering integrated solutions to manage environmental impacts for the mining and industrial sector. “I work with transdisciplinary teams to support our clients with site assessments and remediation,” she explains. “I unpack their needs into solutions that work for them and for the environment, allocating the right disciplines to be responsible for the various project components and reassembling and integrating the technical complexity that is so often inherent in dealing with contaminated land challenges.”
Dr Snyman was born in the rural Eastern Cape, then moved to the Lowveld in Mpumalanga to complete school before going to Pretoria to study a BSc majoring in Microbiology & Biochemistry. This was followed by a BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, also at the University of Pretoria, and then a PhD in Microbiology at the University of KwaZulu Natal. “I am one of the lucky people that uses what I studied almost every day,” she says.
Dr Snyman’s career spans over 25 years of experience in the environmental sector across research and academia, as well as the private sector. She worked for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), The East Rand Water Care Company (ERWAT), and the Water Research Commission (WRC) before joining Golder Associates, now WSP.
“When I worked for the East Rand Water Care Company, I was seconded to the University of Pretoria to establish a Chair in Wastewater Management and develop the curricula for the honours and master’s programme,” she says. “Once these programmes were running, I wanted a new challenge and received two employment offers. Dr André van Niekerk, who was a Principal at Golder Associates at the time, was one of my mentors and I asked him to help me to decide between the two. He responded by asking me what my career objectives were and then arranged an interview for me with Golder in Africa’s leadership, who offered me a position.”
Dr Snyman - a registered professional natural scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat.) - drives change in the environmental sector not only in her day-to-day work at WSP, but through pursuits outside the office as well. She is a past President and Senior Fellow of the Water Institute of Southern Africa and a Fellow of the International Water Association. She is currently the vice-chair of the Network of Industrially Contaminated Land in Africa (NICOLA) and has published over 40 papers in scientific journals as well as presented at national and international conferences.
“I thrive on solving complex pollution problems at industrial facilities,” Dr Snyman says. “I love delighting my clients by offering integrated technical, legal and socially acceptable solutions.”
She also shares her passion and expertise with young people as an Honorary SANPARKS Ranger, supporting their national Junior Ranger project. “We expose children to our national parks and instil a love for nature by teaching them about conservation careers and projects,” she says.
