Employee Spotlight: Garrett Heidrick

Garrett Heidrick

Lead verifier for carbon offset projects and for company or corporate inventories

#FutureInYourHands – This motto properly describes how TÜV SÜD empowers its employees. It’s best to hear from TÜV SÜD executives and staff members what their personal experiences are working for TÜV SÜD.

Can you describe your role within the company?

I work for Ruby Canyon Environmental, which was recently acquired by TÜV SÜD. I am a lead verifier for carbon offset projects under the Climate Action Reserve, American Carbon Registry, and Alberta TIER Program. I am also a lead verifier for company/corporate inventories under The Climate Registry, Carbon Disclosure Project, and ISO Standards.

How did you choose this career path?
If you plan on getting a higher education, look for programs that offer some form of carbon accounting or greenhouse gas inventories as a class or a certificate. If you can find a class that covers real carbon offset projects, that would be a bonus. My Masters program at Northern Arizona University (Climate Science and Solutions) offered both of these, where we covered real offset projects, read their documents, and tried to gain a better understanding of how they work. We also had classes on carbon accounting, which has proved incredibly important in my day-to-day work. 

What do you enjoy most about your job and working at TÜV SÜD?
I've only been an employee of TUV SUD for a short time, so I can't really comment on how I enjoy working at TUV SUD in too much detail, but so far it hasn't changed much from what I experienced at RCE. What I can say about my job though, is that I love travel and I love getting to work in different industries, with different clients. It helps to keep things fresh. I also enjoy the flexibility in my schedule and working with a broad range of clients. I also get to travel a lot to go see the projects that I am verifying. 

Are there challenges you've faced in your career that have taught you important lessons?
Yes, dealing with difficult clients and tight timelines. I've learned how to better understand clients' needs and gained a better "professional voice" when dealing with difficult clients. I've also learned how to manage 20+ projects and how to keep each individual project on schedule. 

What do you think the industry will look like 10 years from now?
The carbon market is always changing. It changes based on who is in power at the local, state, and governmental agencies. However, much of the driving force is in the voluntary market, which is based on what consumers/businesses want. So, it's difficult to say what it will look like in 10 years. I would imagine voluntary credits will continue to rise as more and more companies look to reduce their emissions, and compliance projects will become stricter or may disappear entirely due to regulations making these project types of mandatory. 

When not working, how do you spend your spare time?
When I'm not working, I really enjoy playing video games with my friends from college. It's a really easy way for us to keep connected. I also enjoy spending time outside with my fiancé and dog; paddle boarding, mountain biking, hiking, camping, fishing, etc. My fiancé and I also love to play board/card games; cribbage, 3-13, Wingspan, Azul, Sequence, Ticket to Ride, really anything. 

Meet Our Other Employees

Angélica Yuridia Villegas Macedo | Ana Karen de la Cruz Granado | Kelli Miller | Phillip Cunningham

Learn More About Ruby Canyon Environmental's, a TÜV SÜD company, Culture