The 2026 SocEnv Awards ceremony seen the announcement of highly deserving Environmental Professional of the Year and Rising Star winners.
Four new Honorary Fellows of the Society were also named, in an inspirational celebration of the environmental professional community, held on the eve of World Environment Day.
Society for the Environment (SocEnv) recently held its annual awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the environmental professional community at Arup in London on Thursday 4th June.
During the event we announced the 2026 SocEnv Awards winners, presented the Honorary Fellow awards and heard from the 2025 Environmental Professional of the Year winner Chartered Environmentalist Robbie Epsom on embedding sustainability into the economy.
More than 8,500 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 record breaking number of excellent nominations this year for the 2026 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 14 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 2026 finalists are:
Environmental Professional of the Year:
- Geraldine Badura CEnv – Construction Sustainability Lead, Gatwick Airport. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Lewis Chenery CEnv – Environment & Sustainability Director, Southern Renewals Enterprise (via Atkins Realis). Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Suzanne Dolan CEnv – Founder, D-Carbon Alliance. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Stephen Elderkin CEnv – Director of Environmental Sustainability, National Highways. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Sarah Horrocks CEnv – Head of Air Quality & Emissions, AtkinsRealis. Registered via Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES)
- Penny Lewns CEnv – Associate Director, AtkinsRéalis. Registered via Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)
- Dr Richard Manton CEnv – Director of Sustainability, University of Galway. Registered via Engineers Ireland
- Crawford Wright CEnv – Head of Architecture and Design, Department For Education. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
2026 Rising Star:
- Frank Adiga CEnv – Independent Environmental Consultant / PhD Researcher UCL. Registered via Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Tsz Kai Lam CEnv – Senior Sustainable Development Officer, Swire Properties. Registered via Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
- Robert Modler CEnv – Principal Consultant, Strategy & Governance Lead, Cundall. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Abigail Sheppard REnvP – Nature Advisory Consultant, WSP. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Rhythima Shinde CEnv – Principal Sustainability Advisor, KLH Sustainability. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
- Francesca Wilkinson CEnv – Senior Sustainability and Environmental Manager, Willmott Dixon. Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
After much deliberation within the judging panel, we are delighted to announce the highly deserving and exceptional awards winners of the prestigious 2026 SocEnv Awards.
This year’s awards winners are:
2026 Rising Star:
Abigail Sheppard REnvP
Highly Commended Finalists: Tsz Kai Lam CEnv & Rhythima Shinde CEnv
Abigail works at the intersection of environmental science, nature finance, and corporate risk. As a Nature Advisory Consultant at WSP, she supports organisations navigating this emerging field to translate nature-related risks into practical, decision-ready insights for strategy and governance, with a particular focus on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). She has also been involved in the development of WSP’s proprietary NatureVista tool.
In the last year, she has co-developed the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) Nature Accelerator and completed secondments with nature finance start-up Great Yellow, where she wrote a blended finance plan to support one of the UK’s largest chalk stream restoration projects. Abigail also supports the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum (UKBBF), including delivery of the 2025 UKBBF Summit, which brought together senior leaders across business, finance, and government.
Abigail, speaking about her win said “Thank you, I didn’t prepare anything to be honest as I was not expecting this. I feel like a very small fish in a very big pond. So thank you to everyone here for being such an inspiration.”
2026 Environmental Professional of the Year:
Dr Richard Manton CEnv
Highly Commended Finalists: Geraldine Badura CEnv & Suzanne Dolan CEnv
Richard is the Director of Sustainability at the University of Galway, ranked #1 university in Ireland and #3 in the EU for sustainable development (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025). Richard is the first person to hold this position, and he developed an ambitious sustainability strategy for a carbon neutral, nature positive and healthy campus.
Richard is the current Chairperson of the Engineers Ireland West Region for 2025-2026, organising a six-part CPD series and a programme of site visits on the topic of ‘Sustainability in the West of Ireland’. Richard led and was fully responsible for Engineers Ireland becoming licensed to award the Chartered Environmentalist title – the first organisation based outside the UK to do so. Richard is passionate about sustainable transport and earlier this year he published a book ‘Greenways of Ireland: 25 traffic-free walking and cycling routes’.
Speaking about his win, Richard said “This is an absolutely massive honour. I’d really like to thank the judging panel and everyone in SocEnv. I’d also like to thank my own professional body, Engineers Ireland, and of course my colleagues at the University of Galway.
Given the global and geopolitical nature of the climate and biodiversity crisis, international collaboration on environmental education, competence and action is incredibly important. It’s great to see organisations like the Society for the Environment taking this up.”
Four New Honorary Fellowships presented in London
The hugely deserving new Honorary Fellows are:
- Alastair Taylor HonFSE CEnv
- Carolyn Roberts HonFSE CEnv
- Claire Wansbury HonFSE CEnv
- Mark Kibblewhite HonFSE CEnv
They join a revered group of individuals who have been recognised for their outstanding environmental work and/or their contributions to the Society.
Dr Emma Wilcox, Chief Executive of the Society for the Environment, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alastair Taylor, Carolyn Roberts, Claire Wansbury and Mark Kibblewhite as newly awarded recipients of our Honorary Fellowship. They have joined an esteemed list of professionals and public champions that have demonstrated true leadership when it comes to championing the environment and sustainability. We are proud to recognise them with this Fellowship and look forward to continuing our work to achieve our collective goals.”
A showcase of expertise
Focusing on this year’s World Environment Day theme of ‘climate action’ we had one of our 2025 Environmental Professional of the Year winners to deliver a speech, Chartered Environmentalist Robbie Epsom spoke about embedding sustainability into the economy covering fiction of finance, decarbonisation, the data economy and much more. This session delivered incredible insights and food for thought for everyone in the room and online. This session will be available to watch back on YouTube soon.
Watch the Awards event back:
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