Women of Meridian

Luckily for Meridian, its head of renewable development has plenty of experience operating in challenging environments. Rebecca Knott describes it as a “passion leap”.

"There are a lot of options once you qualify as an electrician. You can be a technician, an engineer, you can go anywhere really. I’m not closing any doors – but at the moment I’m just focussing on getting better at what I do.”

For Emily Adams, a Product Development Engineer whose work taps into technologies that can help Kiwis play their part in lowering the nation’s carbon footprint, setting out on a path that would lead to a career at the cutting edge of sustainable energy generation with Meridian took a fair bit of courage.

“I love the energy sector. I love the complexity of it, I love the asset side of it, the people are great and it is really interesting."

These days, Meridian’s corporate sales lead Sharalene Shortland is open with her boss about her next career step. Sharalene is genuine when it comes to the pursuit of another promotion, however, accepting it would come with a caveat.

Meridian’s new head of health and safety, Kat Jensen, knew she wasn’t the perfect candidate for the job when she bit the bullet and put her name forward. 

Part of Meridian’s Renewable Construction team, Caroline is focused on helping New Zealand meet its 2050 decarbonisation target by increasing the supply of renewable energy to the nation’s grid.

After getting prepared to study for career in journalism, life for Rachel, Meridian’s Head of Customer Care & Delivery, took a different path.

A pioneer for women in an area of the industry that was once a male-only preserve, Meridian’s well-travelled Head of Maintenance Services has now settled in a happy place, leading the trades teams across the company’s portfolio of hydro stations and wind farms.

A champion of the industry’s Girls with Hi-Vis® initiative, the veteran Canterbury-based project manager is keen to ensure as many Kiwi kids as possible have a chance to see the nation’s renewable energy generation assets at work.

Each workday morning, electrical apprentice Fiona Glennie makes her way to Pearl Harbour wharf on the shores of Lake Manapōuri to board the Mararoa for a 45-minute cruise to Manapōuri Hydro Power Station.