Daisy Atkin

Although I have firmly adopted Devon as my home, I actually grew up in the Netherlands and Switzerland. I am fluent in Dutch and terrible at French, apart from specialist cheese names. I graduated from the University of Exeter in 2013 with a degree in Geography, having spent 3 years colouring in maps and standing knee-deep in paleolithic bogs – whilst occasionally doing some academic work too.

Coming from a geography background, working in a predominantly engineering environment is not something I ever thought would happen. However it turns out that there are very few careers which combine the niche interests of maps, trains and kerb types, so here we are. Over the years I’ve worked on many different projects across a variety of sectors, with each one presenting something new. I am particularly passionate about the role which good highways design plays in developing a sense of place – definitely influenced by my upbringing in the Netherlands!

I am passionate about the role of Women in Engineering and use my outreach work as a STEM ambassador to encourage young women and girls to consider engineering as a career option. I do like to keep in touch with my geography roots though, and I head up the development and use of our Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It’s not just pretty maps you know…

I am most at home in the outdoors and feel incredibly lucky to have two gorgeous coastlines and two beautiful moors within (metaphorical) arm’s reach. I love being out hiking, cycling on the quiet back lanes or tackling off-road trails on my mountain bike. I’m equally at home in and on the water, and spend a lot of my time either swimming in one of the many rivers or the sea, or kayaking to the pub on a Friday night. Not paddleboarding though. That didn’t end well.

When I’m not up a Tor or in a river, I’m usually to be found in my kitchen surrounded by cake ingredients and keep the rest of the office well fed with plenty of sweet treats. Away from baking, I am a stickler for the Oxford comma, and am also full of completely useless facts (which are quite useful during pub quizzes). I drink more tea than is good for me and still haven’t finished knitting that jumper I started three years ago.