Led by a forensic mycologist.
NSJ EnviroSciences is an independent environmental consultancy, led by David Lark, Principal Mycologist and Indoor Environmental Professional. We identify the biology of water-damaged buildings and interpret what it means for the people living and working in them. The laboratory analysis is a tool we use; the work is the judgment that surrounds it.
One conviction
For more than two decades, David has worked on a single idea: in a water-damaged building, it is rarely the amount of mould that decides who becomes unwell — it is how the people inside respond to it. Two households can share the same exposure and fare completely differently.
That difference is not random. Around a quarter of the population carry a genetic predisposition that leaves them unable to clear the mould and other microbial biotoxins in their environment, so the same water-damaged room can be harmless to one person and disabling to the next.
Reading that difference — weighing the environment against the people in it — is what an environmental mycologist is for, and it is what NSJ has been built around since its formation in 2010.
The person behind the report
David is a forensic mycologist and Indoor Environmental Professional with over fifty years in microbiology and mycology, including building and leading a dedicated environmental laboratory. He is a published co-author on peer-reviewed research into how indoor exposure affects human health, and he prepares independent expert reports to the standard required for cross-examination in court and in AFCA disputes. That depth sits behind everything NSJ delivers — whether you hold a $549 screening kit or you are a solicitor briefing an expert witness.
“Expert independent advice to help get things back on track. David’s knowledge and experience has been so reassuring... if you need someone highly experienced who can give you the right advice, I would highly recommend David and his team.”
— Dr Allison Johns, BSci(Hons), MBBS, MPH, MHM, FRACMA
What we actually assess
We assess the indoor environment and the exposure of its occupants — not mould alone. Where it matters, that means the wider biological picture: bacteria (including Actinobacteria and endotoxin), allergens such as dust-mite residue, and the moisture that drives them all. We read the building as a system, and the people in it as the reason for reading it. What we do not do is judge how the building was constructed — whether it was built or repaired to standard is the engineer's remit, not ours. Our lane is the environment inside, and what it means for health.
Accreditations, qualifications & memberships
David is admitted to the professional membership of several relevant industry bodies and is closely engaged in Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) research, including daily consultation with medical practitioners, indoor environmental professionals, remediators and molecular scientists. He co-authored an extensive submission to the Australian Parliament's Inquiry into Biotoxin-Related Illness with Dr Ritchie Shoemaker, regarded as the world's leading authority on CIRS.
Qualifications & training
- McCrone Research Institute — Basic & Advanced IAQ Fungal Spore Identification Courses
- CBS Utrecht (now the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute) — Prof. Robert Samson's Food & Indoor Fungal Culture Identification Course (2009)
- CBS — Medical Mycology Course under Prof. Sybren de Hoog, covering over 600 pathogenic mould and yeast species (2014)
- Presented at six CIRS events; research published nationally and internationally
Certifications
- Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC)
- Certified Microbial Consultant (CMC)
- Approved Training Provider (ATP)
Awarded by the American Council for Accredited Certifications (ACAC).
Affiliated laboratories
Detection, identification and quantitation of Actinobacteria and other bacterial species using Next-Generation Sequencing, plus endotoxin and allergen analysis. Biotoxin analysis is provided by the Institute for Bioanalytics and Agro-Metabolomics Mycotoxin Laboratory in Tulln, Austria, for the detection and quantitation of over 700 mycotoxins and their metabolites.
A respected national and international provider, NSJ has worked with clients across Australia for over a decade and has undertaken consultancies internationally, including in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Ibiza, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, Finland, Austria, Northern America and New Zealand.
Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ), Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA), International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), Australian Microbiology Society (AMS), American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and the International Mycological Association (IMA).
What you're actually getting
Independent
Plain-English
Evidence-grade
Whole-environment
Australia-wide
Talk to the scientist
Most people find us partway through something stressful — an illness without an explanation, a dispute that will not resolve, a remediation they are not sure worked. A short conversation with the person who will actually read your result is often the quickest way to understand what you are dealing with.