Landloch Staff

Dr Rob Loch, B.Agr.Sc., B.A., Ph.D., CPSS
Principal Consultant, Director

Rob has over 30 years experience in the research and application of land management, soil conservation, and land rehabilitation, both nationally and internationally. His experience encompasses dryland and irrigated agriculture, feedlots, forest management, effluent disposal, and minesites. He has particular expertise in the measurement and modelling of soil erosion and sediment movement, in the management of soil profile productivity, and in soil remediation. His achievements include development of new methods for assessing erodibility of Australian soils, for measuring sediment properties, and for assessing soil properties that determine infiltration rates of rainfall. His current research interests include:

• the erodibility of rocky materials;
• the identification and management of dispersive mine spoils;
• methods for assessment of gully stability/stabilisation.

His work has been distinctive for its emphasis on the need to consider erosion processes, particularly in identifying causes of instability and potential methods for site stabilisation.

He has published over 100 technical articles, including over 50 in refereed scientific journals. He is an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Southern Queensland.

Evan Howard, B. Eng. (Environmental)
Senior Environmental Consultant, Director

Evan is based in Landloch’s Perth office, and has particular interests in soil and spoil characteristics, computer modelling of erosion, land stability assessments, water use efficiency and wastewater reuse.

He has experience in characterisation of soils and spoil materials for a wide range of sites across Australia. He has been responsible for the collection and analysis of erodibility data using both laboratory-based and field-based methods.

Evan has been involved in the field of water use efficiency for irrigated agriculture and has performed water balance studies on a wide range of distribution and irrigation systems. He has worked with the latest technologies used to measure all facets of water balances, including flow meters, weather stations, water storage depth sensors, storage evaporation measurement devices, and soil water infiltration and deep drainage sensors.

He also has experience in modelling soil, water, and solute balances from numerous soil/vegetation systems under a range of management conditions. Previously, Evan has been involved in research into urban water reuse options including grey water recycling and sustainable effluent disposal systems. Evan is also a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor.

Tim Loch, Cert. III (Horticulture)

Technical Services Manager

Tim Loch is responsible for equipment construction, including construction of runoff and erosion measurement and sediment control products, rainfall simulators and ancillaries, and flumes. He is responsible for installation and maintenance of field equipment.

His work includes field and laboratory erosion assessments (flume and rainfall simulator measurements, plot construction, sample analysis). He has been involved in rainfall simulator studies on minesites in South Africa and New Caledonia, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory; in agricultural and manufacturing areas in Queensland; and a range of other field measurements on sites in Queensland and New South Wales.

Tim operates Landloch’s dozer-mounted seeder, and has qualifications in weed spraying and chainsaw operation.

He is also involved in Landloch’s soil sampling activities, and Ecosystem Function Analysis (EFA) monitoring.

Helen Squires, B.Sc. (Soil Science), M.Env.Mgt (GIS), CPESC
Environmental Consultant

Helen has specialist skills in land management assessment, soil and landscape surveying, and mapping and statistical analysis of environmental data using a variety of GIS software. Her experience includes soil, vegetation, and water surveying, land quality assessments for development proposals and agronomic property plans, and the development of land assessment and rehabilitation plans. She is currently involved research projects investigating erosion and landform design issues for the turf and mining industries, and the use of flocculants in mitigating impacts associated with off-site sediment movement that will benefit both the council involved and the construction industry.

Helen is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment (CPESC), and has experience in development of erosion and sediment control plans.

Peter Berghofer, B.App.Sci. (Conservation Mgmt/Rural and Regional Business Mgmt), Cert. III (Horticulture)
Technical Officer

Peter is based in our Perth office and manages the day to day operations of the laboratory. He is involved in running rainfall simulations and flume studies both in the lab and in the field. He also carries out a range of laboratory-based soil assessments. Peter has had training in Ecosystem Function Analysis (EFA) and soil fertility in Australian landscapes. He also holds qualifications in chainsaw operation, weed spraying, and fire management.

Col Schiller, B.App.Sci. (Horticultural Technology), Dip. Irrigation, CPESC
Rehabilitation Specialist

Col has over 25 years experience in broad acre and horticultural cropping, with experience in managing nutritional and chemical trials to assess the effectiveness of a range of fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides.  He has experience and qualifications in irrigation design and installation, and has worked extensively with establishment of recreational areas such as ovals and golf courses.  His land rehabilitation skills include the selection, propagation and establishment of plant species in a wide range of contexts, including native vegetation establishment, and use of vegetation for specific tasks such as sediment and erosion control, combined with expertise in soil amendment and site preparation.  Col coordinates Landloch’s supply of Vetiver grass to a variety of clients, including building sites, road construction sites, and wetland developments.

He has particular expertise in the application of flocculants to irrigation or storm water runoff and in developing sediment capture systems for storm water runoff from disturbed sites.  He has been involved in the development of Landloch’s Ecodoser and De-siltation Units that have been used on construction sites with dispersive soils in southern QLD.

Col is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment (CPESC), and has experience in development of erosion and sediment control plans, gully/creek stabilisation methods, and rehabilitation strategies for clients in the linear infrastructure, coal seam gas, construction, and mining industries.