If you want to do your bit for the environment, you need more than good intentions, says Barney Calman. You'll also need some serious qualifications NICOLA Stopps doesn't look like most people's idea of an environmentalist.

Dressed in a smart grey suit with her blonde hair cut into an efficient bob, she's a far cry from the stereotypical scruffy eco- warrior. Nor is she alone in defying preconceptions. These days, she says, you're more likely to find environmentalists in the boardrooms of multinationals, conversing with high-powered businessmen, than chaining themselves to trees.

From being a fringe movement of right-on activists, environmental workers are now very much part of the mainstream - with qualifications to match.

The demand for highly-qualified graduates has grown so rapidly that there is now a skills shortage in the environmental sector, with employers jumping through hoops to attract the brightest new talent.

There are now around 1,000 environmental consultancies - small companies of experts who advise businesses and local councils on how to be greener.

They employ more than 10,000 people and last year they collectively turned over more than Pounds 1 billion.

A smaller, but ever growing number, are contracted exclusively by single private sector companies as in-house environmental managers. This is the role 30-year-old Stopps performs for courier giant DHL. Then there are the jobs within local authority environment departments - dealing with everything from surveying to recycling.

"The idea many people have of dreadlocked tree huggers just isn't the case any more," Stopps says. "Anyone working in an environmental consultancy or in environmental management will often have a postgraduate level education. The salaries reflect that, too."

Stopps studied social and physical geography at Exeter University and gained an MSc in environmental management at the University of East Anglia, graduating in 1998.

Importantly, she does her best to live the green life herself. Among other things, she drives an electric hybrid motor car, and she is planning to build an eco-friendly house with her partner Joseph, 29, who runs a record company.

The house will employ heat exchangers, which use poles buried in the ground to warm the house, and a wind turbine on the roof. "I'd be a total hypocrite if I didn't practise what I preached," she says.

"I try out everything I talk about."

Stopps describes her role with DHL as "finding practical ways to minimise the impact the company has on the environment". She divides her time between researching new eco-technologies, talking to its 50- strong team of environmental specialists - each has specific expertise, from energy and fuel to vehicles and property - and meeting company bosses.

"People might think it's odd to find an environmentalist working for a company like DHL, but I disagree," she says.

"Multinationals are responsible for damaging the environment but they also have the resources to provide solutions. I'm passionate about the environment and I believe working from within to make changes is more effective than standing outside waving a banner.

" It's very varied work. One day I'll be selling a new initiative to the board, the next I'll be standing in the rain overseeing a new fuel tank installation. Persuading people to remember to turn off the lights is relatively easy. But some changes, like vehicle modifications, involve a large investment.

"There is a potential for people to think we're just interfering. Often we ask them to change something they've done for much of their working life.

But luckily most are receptive. There is a much greater awareness now of why there is a need for change. All big businesses are aware of the ethical pound.

"It's no good being an idealist in this line of work. I'd like to think I've got quite a pragmatic approach. With every solution there will always be pros and cons. You can't just say "stop using petrol" to a courier company - instead we look at ways to modify vehicles to make sure they have low emissions and are more fuel efficient. And simple things, like telling drivers to accelerate slowly and not break hard, can cut fuel bills by up to 35 per cent. It's a matter of finding a balance and making compromises."

In the future Stopps believes advances in technology will make being green ever easier. "It's an incredibly exciting time, in terms of new technology.

We're currently very interested in biogastoliquid fuels, created using the fumes emitted from rubbish in landfill sites. It could feasibly be a major source of fuel in the near future. It sounds like science fiction but will soon be a real possibility."

THE daughter of two teachers, Stopps claims it was her upbringing in Abergavenny, South Wales, close to the wilds of the Brecon Beacons, that inspired her passion for nature.

"I've always been fascinated by the environment. And, from an early age, I've been aware that, slowly, we are destroying it. Climate change is an inevitable fact. We're already experiencing warmer, wetter winters, and drier summers. Extreme weather events like tropical storms and hurricane seasons are worsening and sea levels will continue to rise, affecting low-lying coastal areas. But I wasn't interested in green activism. Instead I wanted to find practical, sustainable solutions."