2025 SocEnv Awards Winners Announced in Liverpool!

Awards presented included the 2025 Environmental Professional of the Year. 

Society for the Environment (SocEnv) recently held its annual awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the environmental professional community at Liverpool John Moores University on Wednesday 4th June.  

During the event we announced the 2025 SocEnv Awards winners, presented the Honorary Fellow award and hosted a panel discussions on the World Environment Day theme and much more to over 100 people in-person and online.  

More than 8,000 environmental professionals meet the required standards to highlight their environmental and sustainability expertise as a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) or Registered Environmental Technician (REnvTech), but some warrant further recognition for going above and beyond and are commended via the SocEnv Awards.   

We had a a huge amount of incredible entries in the 2025 SocEnv Awards which is an incredible step forward and showcases the many outstanding environmental professionals working hard to protect, preserve or enhance the environment.  

Our 11 finalists who stood out to the judges for leading the way in their sectors, are truly an inspiration and should be incredibly proud of this achievement. Our 2025 finalists are:

Environmental Professional:

Will Arnold CEnv Head of Climate Action, The Institution of Structural Engineers. Registered via The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)

Robbie Epsom CEnv EMEA Head of Sustainability, CBRE Investment Management. Registered via Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES)

Lukas Howell CEnv Founder & Director, Hope Solutions. Registered via Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA)

Gill Mulroe CEnv Head of Operational Sustainability EMEA, ISS FM UK&I. Registered via Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)

Xiangyu Sheng CEnv Senior Director, Temple Group Ltd. Registered via Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES)

Morgan Taylor CEnv Director, Greengage. Registered via Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)

2025 Rising Star: 

Alexander Appadurai REnvP Environmental Sustainability Engineer, Tesla Engineering Ltd. Registered via Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA)

Chantelle Brandwood REnvP Director, Eco Action. Registered via Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA)

Sophie Hemmings CEnv Senior Sustainability Consultant, Arup. Registered via Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA)

Lam Tsz Kai CEnv Senior Sustainable Development Officer, Swire Properties Limited. Registered via Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)

Kelo Uchendu REnvP Graduate Net Zero Consultant, Mott MacDonald. Registered via Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA)

We are delighted to announce the highly deserving and exceptional awards winners of the prestigious 2025 SocEnv Awards. This year’s awards winners are: 

2025 Rising Star:

Chantelle Brandwood REnvP

Highly Commended Finalist: Kelo Uchendu REnvP

Chantelle, speaking about her win said “I’m incredibly proud to be recognised as a Rising Star, especially knowing how many brilliant people applied and are doing vital work across the sector. I feel lucky to be part of a profession that brings knowledge, purpose, and impact together, and through Eco Action, I am able to work with clients who genuinely care about driving change.

I’m grateful to SocEnv and IEMA for recognising and supporting early environmental career professionals like me, and I hope it’s a reminder to people that it’s never too late to step into a new field and try to make a difference.”

2025 Environmental Professional of the Year:

Robbie Epsom CEnv & Lukas Howell CEnv

Highly Commended Finalist: Will Arnold CEnv

Speaking about his win, Robbie said “It’s an honour to be acknowledged by the very body that supports and validates my professional journey. It reinforces the value of the rigorous path to chartership and the standards we uphold…While individual recognition is appreciated, any achievement in sustainability is fundamentally a collaborative effort. I’m indebted to my fellow nominees for their tireless work. And of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible support of my team. Collaboration is the very cornerstone of sustainability. We can only achieve a truly sustainable, just, and restorative economy by working together… Thank you again for this recognition, for the reinforcement and thank you for this motivational boost to keep pushing forward.”

Lukas said: “I’m genuinely thrilled to have won the prestigious ‘Environmental Professional of the Year’ accolade. As someone who took a slightly unusual route professionally – I dropped out of college and didn’t go to university – receiving recognition from SocEnv and my peers is something I am extremely proud of. My professional journey has been supported by the brilliant team at IEMA, as well as various other amazing people, including my team at Hope Solutions. Everyone who entered can be proud of their own achievements and I think the award could have gone to any of the finalists! I encourage everyone to keep up the leading work you are all doing and hope to see things in the profession continue to go from strength to strength.”

New Honorary Fellow presented

We are pleased to announce our newest Honorary Fellow, Chartered Environmentalist Adam Donnan CEnv, has worked at the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) since 2006, becoming their CEO in 2013, driving policy initiatives that have put environmental science and evidence at the heart of policy and forging relationships with numerous partner organisations including Natural England, Defra, the Environment Agency and the Office for Environmental Protection.

Adam is a long time and strong supporter of the Society and has been involved in numerous of its initiatives, he always encourages IES Members to apply for SocEnv recognition through the registers. For all these reasons and more, Adam is a deserving recipient of the Honorary Fellowship. 

Speaking about his honorary award, Adam said “It was a huge honour to accept the award of Honorary Fellow on Wednesday [4th June 2025]. It’s also deeply humbling to see my name alongside such a distinguished list of previous recipients, many of whom I regard as heroes of the environment sector, and people whose careers and values I’ve long tried to emulate.”

A showcase of expertise 

Focusing on this year’s World Environment Day theme of ‘Ending Plastic Pollution’, the panel had discussions on the policy level of ending plastic pollution, how environmental professionals can influence this and offered a lot of insight into global perspectives.

The panel featured leading experts including, Jane Gilbert CEnv, Jo Allatt CEnv, Sally Beken and Warren Percival CEnv. This well-informed panel discussion left all delegates with much to consider on this year’s World Environment Day theme. 

We wanted to showcase the great work being done in Liverpool, to give delegates an insight into the local sustainability initiatives, so we also had the incredible team from Mersey Rivers Trust deliver a presentation to some of our morning delegates on their work to conserve the Mersey Rivers. They discussed the projects they have worked on, what worked and what didn’t go so well.

With huge thanks to our event sponsors