Professional Overview

Maria Scolaro is the Associate Director - Operations and Environment at CSS, bringing decades of experience in multidisciplinary environmental consulting, project planning and team leadership. Her technical background spans complex environmental impact assessments, human health and ecology studies, and the orchestration of large, specialist project teams for major infrastructure, government and private clients. Having spent many years working at the interface between planners, engineers, ecologists and regulators, Maria has a sharp eye for where communication breaks down—and how to design processes and roles so that projects run smoothly, risks are managed early, and technical specialists are free to do their best work. 

What truly drives Maria is the human side of technically demanding work. She is passionate about bringing groups together to collaborate positively, tailoring her style to different personalities rather than assuming a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Colleagues know her as a calm, emotionally intelligent operator who can read a room, surface the unspoken issues and help teams realign around a common goal. She believes good management is as much about listening and engagement as it is about process, and she is deliberate about making difficult decisions transparent, inclusive and well-explained, so people feel part of the journey rather than subject to it. 

Outside the office, Maria’s commitment to stewardship and community plays out through hands-on environmental work in her local area. After completing a horticulture qualification, she founded and now leads a community group that partners with council to revegetate street verges with native flora, restoring biodiversity and bringing birdlife and pollinators back into urban streets. The initiative has already earned local awards and, more importantly to Maria, has brought neighbours together around a shared, tangible improvement to their environment. Whether she’s guiding a multidisciplinary project team or a Saturday working bee, Maria brings the same values to the table: simplicity over bureaucracy, personal responsibility over blame, and the belief that when people feel genuinely engaged, they will deliver their best. 

Skills include:

Leadership, business and project management
Understanding business and project drivers and desired outcomes.

Business and project objectives
Successful achievement of business and project objectives. Initiated and led successful cultural change.

Business and project improvement
Driving business and project improvements utilising technologies, process and procedural reviews and continuous improvements.

Relationship management
Proactive development and maintenance of client and team relationships. Engagement and empowering the workforce to deliver interdisciplinary interfacing and team cohesion to achieve clearly defined business and project objectives and performance outcomes.

Communication
Strong ability to deliver key messages across the stakeholder base. Strategic thinking – clear ability to understand and articulate the bigger picture, set the strategic direction and implement action.

Qualifications and Memberships

• Master of Environmental Science (Environmental Toxicology & Management), University of Technology, Sydney

• Bachelor of Science (Chemistry Major), University of Sydney

• Certificate in Technical Writing

• Member, Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand