Nicolette von Reiche
I am the director and founder of Soundscape Consulting and an engineer by training with 12 years’ experience as a consultant in the environmental acoustics and air quality sciences. I earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP) in 2005, and in 2010 completed an honours degree, majoring in heat and mass transfer, fluid mechanics, numerical thermo-flow, and, tribology.
I started my career at Airshed Planning Professionals in 2006 as a consultant in atmospheric and air quality sciences where I gained expertise in all aspects associated with the assessment of air quality related impacts. I became a shareholder and principal consultant at Airshed in 2014.
While at Airshed, and in association with François Malherbe Acoustic Consulting, I became competent in noise impact assessment focusing on source and environmental noise monitoring, source inventories, propagation modelling and simulation, noise impact assessment and management. It is during this time that I discovered and developed a real interest in acoustics.
During my career as an environmental consultant I gained valuable experience throughout Africa, liaised with different spheres of government and completed projects in a wide range of industrial sectors. I lectured on air dispersion modelling, air quality management, and the South African National Environmental Management Air Quality Act quality act as part of short courses presented by the North-West University, University of Pretoria, and, National Association for Clean Air.
After relocating to Cape Town, I left Airshed in March 2018 and founded Soundscape Consulting which offers environmental noise and acoustic consulting services. I have over the past 18 years, through study, experience, and under the guidance of prominent individuals in the field of acoustics and air quality in South Africa, gained a unique set of skills.
In both private and professional life, I ascribe to a philosophy of self-improvement and the sharing of knowledge. This belief is perhaps most accurately described by Marie Curie.
“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. To that end, each of us must work for [their] own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”