Breaking Ground: From Tasmania to the Pit – Carrie Heaven's Geotechnical Engineering Journey

Geovert’s Breaking Ground series spotlights the experiences of women working across mining and construction. This article was taken from an interview between Geovert’s Hannah Thomas and Carrie Heaven, a leading geotechnical engineer.

When Carrie Heaven's grade nine teacher demonstrated his geological skills by hammering a geo pick between his splayed fingers on a desk, she knew she wanted to work in mining. That dramatic classroom moment in Tasmania would set her on a path that took her from driving 150-tonne haul trucks to preventing catastrophic slope failures - all while navigating the complexities of being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

The Unconventional Path to Engineering

Carrie's journey began with a career counsellor's discouraging advice:

"Engineering is more for boys. It's probably not for you. Maybe science would be something you'd like better."

She enrolled in geology but quickly discovered it wasn't the right fit. "Geology is kind of all that grey in the middle, and I'm very, very black and white," she explains.

The turning point came when she noticed all the students in her favourite classes were studying engineering. Despite the earlier discouragement, she switched programs after her first semester and never looked back. "It was meant to be," she reflects, choosing geotechnical engineering specifically because she knew it could lead to mine work.

Early Lessons in Resilience

Carrie's first work experience at the Avery nickel mine on Tasmania's West Coast provided an unexpected but valuable lesson in industry volatility. When falling nickel prices forced the mine's closure during her placement, she witnessed firsthand how experienced underground workers predicted the shutdown while younger office staff remained optimistic.

"That was such a really early learning for me - don't discount these guys who work on the tools. They have seen some stuff, and they know what's happening."

This experience with redundancy, early in her career, built resilience that served her well through later industry downturns. "I've gone through another two or three redundancies, and when it started, everyone else my age is just losing the plot... I know what to do because I learnt that on my first ever work experience."

Earning Respect Through Direct Experience

Understanding the importance of operational experience, Heaven made an unconventional career move when facing redundancy: rather than accepting the payout, she negotiated to become a haul truck driver. This wasn't part of any formal program - it was her strategic decision to gain the hands-on experience required for a mine manager's certificate in Western Australia.

For over a year, she drove 150-tonne dump trucks - "sitting in the cab is the same height as sitting on the roof of a one-storey building" - and spent five months on the bomb crew, even earning her shotfirer's license.

"I was so in love with this shotfiring... I almost thought I'm not going back to engineering. I'm just going to blow things up!"

The experience provided invaluable insights into crew dynamics and management relationships. She observed how small details, like a supervisor wearing black jeans instead of the standard blue work pants, could undermine respect among workers. "Even that littlest thing, that's how it's seen, and that's how it's understood by the crews," she notes. This understanding shaped her leadership approach: "I always want to go to these sites, I wear the uniform, and I look the part."

Trusting Technical Instincts

Carrie's technical judgment was put to the ultimate test while working as a truck driver at a site without dedicated geotechnical support. She repeatedly submitted hazard cards about a potentially unstable wall, despite the shift boss's frustration. "Stop handing in these cards. We can't do anything about the wall," she was told.

When cracks were eventually discovered behind the wall, the technical team asked her to park her truck and assist with monitoring. Using basic tools - Excel spreadsheets and a printed photograph marked with a thick texter - she tracked the wall's movement. At 4pm one afternoon, a visual inspection convinced her the failure was imminent. She called the shift boss to evacuate equipment from the pit.

The mine manager, unaware of her engineering background, was furious that "a truck driver" had closed his pit. The wall collapsed at 5:15pm, just 15 minutes after her predicted time. "With the limited resources I was so proud of what I did, and it was so nice to have that crew... they were just like, oh, well done."

Adapting Communication Strategies

Carrie has learned to navigate gender dynamics through adaptive communication. When her male counterpart could directly instruct a shift boss to move equipment and receive immediate compliance, her identical instruction would meet resistance. She developed a different approach:

"I put on a slightly different voice and say, oh, what do you think would happen if we moved the digger over here? And the shift boss would say things like, oh, you know, I think I've had a good idea. I think we'll move the digger over there."

While initially frustrated by this dynamic, she embraced it as an effective leadership tool. "It still had the [same result]... You've got to get the best results, and so if that's how I can influence and try and teach and do whatever, well, that's how I do it."

The Value of Different Perspectives

Carrie's observations about gender differences in the workplace extend beyond communication styles. She notes that female haul truck drivers "take better care of the trucks and get better tonnages" due to their maintenance attention. While male drivers would tease her for frequently requesting truck inspections, her proactive approach prevented equipment failures.

She also discovered that crew members were more likely to ask her technical questions than her male counterparts.

"The males in the crew won't go and ask the male Geotech, but they will come and talk to me... Maybe I'm not as threatening. Maybe I'm warmer, maybe I'm not going to laugh at you when you ask a question that you think is stupid."

Industry Evolution and Challenges

Carrie acknowledges progress in women's participation while noting ongoing challenges. She observed a problematic period where women were promoted to meet diversity targets without adequate preparation, sometimes leading to failures that reinforced negative stereotypes. "If those women then didn't succeed, it was, well, they were the first women we put there. They didn't succeed. And now that just kind of proves women aren't good at that."

Her solution emphasises sustainable change:

"We need to hire the right women in the right positions to make sure they succeed and to support them when they get to those positions... retaining them is the harder bit."

Building Support Networks

Rather than relying solely on formal mentorship programs, Carrie built a diverse support network including engineering classmates, family members, and eventually a senior industry mentor whose complementary skills provided valuable career guidance.

"Finding a person who was higher up and had all that experience was more important than finding a female who was in the industry."

Geovert’s Hannah Thomas echoes the challenge of finding experienced female role models, noting that involvement in women-oriented technical committees has been crucial for identifying senior women in the industry.

The Path Forward

When asked what she would change about the mining industry, Carrie focuses on education rather than mandates. She advocates for training programs that help experienced leaders adapt to diverse workplaces: "These guys who have all the experience are also struggling because no one's teaching them... what you did and how you treated people 30 years ago is not how we do things now."

Her approach emphasises understanding over enforcement, recognising that sustainable change requires genuine acceptance rather than compliance. "If no one teaches them, well, we can't then get angry at them if they're not doing what we want them to."

Carrie's career demonstrates that excellence in mining requires technical competence, operational understanding, and adaptive leadership - qualities that transcend gender boundaries. Her journey from that inspired moment in a Tasmanian classroom to preventing mine disasters illustrates how determination, technical skill, and strategic thinking can overcome systemic barriers while contributing meaningfully to industry safety and success.

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Watch and listen to the interview in full below and others from our Breaking Ground series on the Geovert YouTube channel