Our Mission

Professional services

Our mission is to provide our customers with highly professional Environmental, Engineering, and Survey services, and to build an industry-recognized, outstanding reputation for delivering a practical, solutions-oriented, safety-focused approach to problem-solving.

Our Focus

Taking Charge

The focus of Strum Consulting is on taking charge to help clients achieve their goals and objectives. This means vision, leadership and technical competency in everything we do to ensure that the Strum brand becomes synonymous with the highest levels of performance in the industry. These core values are the foundation of the Strum brand. More than just a set of words, they reflect the energy and spirit of a company that has a solid foundation to lead change as business evolves. They also articulate a code of behaviour that guides us through that change. We refer to this as simply “Taking Charge”!

Keys to Our Success

1. Close Communication

One of the pillars of Strum’s success has been to effectively communicate to clients throughout the entire process. We believe an informed client is more content, experiences fewer surprises and is therefore happier overall.

2. Quick Focus

Strum has maintained its ability to focus quickly on key issues of the client even throughout its growth by building a multi-disciplinary team committed to a high work standard ensuring the availability of skills required.

3. Practical Solutions

Strum realized early on that client solutions need not only to be based on scientific facts, but they also must be practical. It became our mission and upon which we’ve built a reputation for our solutions-oriented approach that clients have come to appreciate.

Our logo’s three triangles are a play on ancient symbols representing earth, air, and water. This connects the roots of our company to the fundamental requirements of our clients.

Leadership

Meet our leadership team

Strum Consulting is made up of a multidisciplinary team of professionals committed to providing our clients with results-driven solutions to their environmental problems. Our highly motivated staff members enjoy challenges and are committed to continuous learning. They enjoy an atmosphere that promotes individual growth and career satisfaction.

We are an employee-owned company, and we are committed to a high work standard and believe our employees’ performance depends on our performance as an employer. We offer a wide range of incentives and encouragement to ensure the satisfaction of our employees, which in turn, ensures the satisfaction of our clients.

Shawn Duncan
Shawn DuncanPresident

Shawn Duncan is the President of Strum Consulting based in Bedford Nova Scotia. Shawn has also worked for both provincial and federal government departments, as well as having senior environmental experience in the private sector for the oil and gas industry. He has worked professionally in the environmental field throughout Canada and internationally for over 30 years. His areas of specialization include project planning and management, environmental impact assessment, infrastructure planning and construction, public consultation, and regulatory support.

Bruce Strum
Bruce StrumFounder, Senior Hydrogeologist

Bruce Strum has extensive experience across Atlantic Canada with groundwater assessment for the purposes of potable groundwater supply development, assessment and treatment of water quality issues, and review of factors that contribute to degradation of groundwater resources at large commercial and residential sites. Working on community scale groundwater well field developments from the mid-1980s through 2000s, Bruce conducted extensive bedrock based well field delineation and development at a number of large Nova Scotian towns, including Amherst (John Black and Tyndall Road aquifers), as well as having undertaken extensive rehabilitation of high yield screened wells in unconsolidated sediments at Parrsboro, NS. He has been involved in a number of additional groundwater supply projects developing wells in unconsolidated aquifers, using large diameter high yield wells and coordinated the water supply development of the Franey River at Ingonish, securing adequate water quality from deep glacio-fluvial deposits for a golf course. Bruce has been involved with numerous projects on First Nations communities such as Potlotek and Millbrook, NS and in addition to water supply, has assessed and remediated hundreds of small and medium sized groundwater aquifers contaminated with oil, gasoline, and other contaminants in Atlantic Canada.

Chris Boudreau
Chris BoudreauVP Engineering

Chris Boudreau joined Strum Consulting as the Manager of our Engineering group in 2013.  He currently acts as Senior Project Manager and Design Engineer on various projects.  Prior to joining Strum, Mr. Boudreau held management and design positions with WSP (formerly Terrain Group), which included Atlantic Engineering Practice Manager, Manager of Project Management Division, Manager of Edmonton Branch, Partner, Project Manager, and Senior Design Engineer.  His project experience includes a variety of civil projects including residential subdivision design, commercial / institutional site designs, and highway design.

Randy McIntyre
Randy McIntyreVP Site Assessment and Remediation

Randy McIntyre is an experienced project manager with 19 years of experience with spill response and environmental remediation. At Strum, Randy is the Team Lead for the Remediation and Emergency Response Group, which responds to over 100 chemical spills every year.  Randy specializes in the coordination of field programs including initial investigation and containment, impact delineation and characterization, remedial action planning and remediation, and long-term monitoring and site management.  Randy has experience with a myriad of organic and inorganic chemicals in soils and groundwater and has been involved with many leading-edge remedial techniques including vent and sparge projects, bio slurping, and others.

Randy oversees all aspects of assessment and remediation projects including staff resource coordination, evaluating clean-up costs; tracking contractor costs and activities, and ensuring that sampling of water and soils is completed to effectively document site conditions.  Randy has extensive experience developing remedial tenders and letting contractor tenders.  He has developed Strum’s in-house contractor monitoring protocol and has experience with remedial projects in Newfoundland (Canadian Tire), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Randy has worked at air force bases (Greenwood and Shearwater), has conducted and coordinated various assessments of soils, groundwater, and hazardous materials at a former radar station and men’s military barracks, and is involved in assessment and remedial action plan development.

Melanie Smith
Melanie SmithVP, Environmental Assessment & Approvals

Melanie has over 20 years of professional practice in environmental assessments, permitting and project management.  She was a key member with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, where she led a team of professionals, assembling project teams and completing federal environmental and impact assessments to support Ministers in decision making.  Prior to that Melanie was an Inspector Specialist with Nova Scotia Environment and then subsequently an Environmental Analyst and Project Lead, where she led the development, management, and implementation of the Risk-Based Audit Project to help modernize inspection services.  Melanie worked with Strum at the start of her impressive career as an Environmental Specialist and Project Manager where she coordinated and managed all aspects of environmental assessments, including a number of renewable energy projects.

Jim Slade
Jim SladeVice President, Newfoundland & Labrador

Jim Slade 30 + year veteran in the environmental consulting industry and is also a Partner at Strum.  Jim’s local and industry knowledge has been instrumental in our success in Newfoundland and Labrador. In these roles, he has gained extensive experience in providing senior-level standing offer agreement management as well as project management and technical support on key federal and private standing offer agreements and strategic projects involving the development of project work plans, team building, project controls, site assessments, remedial plans, and QA/QC for ESAs and HHERAs in a range of site settings for federal, provincial and private context.  He has extensive knowledge of Government policy and regulatory requirements and has conducted training for environmental regulators and industry. Jim has carried out numerous Phase I/II/III ESAs and remediation programs on both small and large-scale projects incorporating remedial measures, risk assessment, and risk management, where appropriate, and was responsible for project design, project management, client, regulator, and stakeholder interaction for Federal & Provincial projects.  Recently Jim was the project manager and technical expert for an Environmental Site Assessment, Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment, and Remediation for a former military radar site in Hopedale, Labrador.  In this capacity, Jim oversaw an 8-year large-scale site assessment and remediation project which included the management of over 20 project professionals and remediation contractors as well as public consultations, risk communication, and community meetings.

Peter Nash
Peter NashDirector, Finance & Administration

Peter Nash is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 25 years experience in public accounting and private enterprises. He has been working with Strum since 2004 and is currently the Director of Finance and Administration. Peter is involved in all facets of administration, financial reporting and oversees the IT infrastructure. He also coordinates the integration of new businesses into the Strum group.

Blake Beaton
Blake BeatonGroup Manager, Surveying

Blake Beaton is a Senior Project Manager with over 26 years of experience in the Survey Industry.  A Licensed Nova Scotia Land Surveyor and Professional Engineer with experience in Legal, Topographic, Construction, and High Precision Engineering Surveying, he has been responsible for various Legal survey projects covering Northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.  Mr. Beaton has extensive knowledge of subdivision and land use by-laws and is experienced in all phases of survey project work from detailed title research, boundary calculations, and supervision of multiple survey field crews, drafting, and both written and verbal correspondence with the involved public.

Edwin Hiscott
Edwin HiscottSenior Environmental Engineer

Edwin Hiscott is a Senior Environmental Engineer with 14 years of experience working on contaminated sites projects in the environmental consulting industry. This experience includes completion of Phase I/II/III Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), environmental monitoring, Remedial Action Plan development and implementation, Risk Assessments and Risk Management Plan development, and obtaining regulatory closure for hundreds of contaminated residential, commercial, and industrial properties throughout Atlantic Canada. Mr. Hiscott also has significant experience with the assessment and management of sulphide-bearing materials, landfills, and mining sites. Mr. Hiscott is a registered Professional Engineer in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador, and is also a registered Environmental Site Professional in those Provinces.

Jeff Faulkner
Jeff FaulknerSenior Environmental Geoscientist

Jeff Faulkner is a Geologist who has held positions in the environmental consulting industry since 2007. He has completed numerous environmental projects throughout Atlantic Canada, including Phased Environmental Site Assessments, subsurface investigations, remediation projects relating to properties impacted with petroleum hydrocarbons and other contaminants, spill emergency response, and petroleum storage tank recovery programs. He has also been involved in hundreds of Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Assessments and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Evaluations related projects, for commercial and residential sites throughout Atlantic Canada. As Senior Project Manager with Strum, Jeff has been responsible for the management of HAZMAT and IAQ related projects, including Regulated Materials Surveys and Inventorying, building demolitions or renovations, asbestos abatement supervision, and mould assessments IAQ monitoring/investigations.

Rob McKinnon
Rob McKinnonGroup Manager, Civil Engineering

Rob McKinnon is a Civil Engineer who has held positions in the Engineering Consulting industry since 2009. He has worked on a variety of projects in Atlantic Canada, including design of municipal water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure, sanitary lift station designs, subdivision developments, wind farm developments and municipal well design.

Rob has worked for a variety of clients in the public and private sectors including wind power developers, federal, provincial, and municipal governments, local landowners, private building owners, municipal developers, and the insurance industry. He has provided consultancy services to clients with respect to roadway design, site development, water, wastewater, sewer, and storm sewer systems.

Rob has a great deal of practical construction experience having worked as a construction engineer on various projects involving road upgrades, water, sewer, and storm service upgrades, and the construction of an elevated steel water tower. Since joining the Strum in 2012, Rob has worked on the detailed design of wind turbine access roads, subdivision developments, lot grading and site services designs, several structural building assessments, municipal supply well assessments and technical report writing.

Nic Strum
Nic StrumGroup Manager, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering

Nic Strum is a Professional Engineer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.  Since his employment began with Strum, Nic has been involved in project management, engineering design, field program coordination, project reporting, and regulatory compliance. Nic’s area of expertise is focused on Solid Waste Management, including the design of solid waste transfer stations, waste audits, long-term monitoring, and regulatory permitting for several large Solid Waste and Waste to Energy Facilities. Nic has successfully procured approvals for a variety of industrial, commercial, and solid waste clients. This has led Nic to work on technical feasibility studies of anaerobic digesters, district steam heating system design, and industrial permitting with a focus on reduction, re-use, and recycling. Before working with Strum, Nic conducted research and development of wind turbines pertaining to noise and vibration reduction and performance improvement.

Join the team that says “yes” to every challenge. Careers at Strum