Yesterday, on World Environment Day (5th June), the Society for the Environment presented the prestigious Environmental Professional of the Year 2018 award to Anglian Water CHP (Combined Heat and Power) Manager and Chartered Environmentalist, Graham Powell.
The agenda for the ‘Society for the Environment Awards and Lectures on World Environment Day’ included the presentation of a number of honours and an expert line up of topical talks. The grand finale saw the announcement of the Environmental Professional of the Year 2018, which was presented to Graham Powell CEnv, CHP Manager at Anglian Water and member of the Institute of Water.
Immediately after the presentation, Graham expressed that he was “delighted to receive the honour” and was “in shock” when his name was announced.
Graham has lead and mentored projects aimed at issues to promote the fundamentals of; Reduce, Refurbish, Re-use, and Innovation to create awareness and culture change. Amongst other achievements, he has developed a strategy to improve CHP efficiency, which is a UK first strategy. This now forms part of the company’s renewable energy investment strategy and results will be shared across the industry.
In response to the announcement, Chair of the Society’s Honorary Fellow Panel and award presenter on the evening, Professor Carolyn Roberts CEnv, said; “Every year we meet amazing people in the environmental professions – people who do great things to improve the world we live in, to make it more sustainable. Our 2018 winner, Graham Powell CEnv of Anglian Water, is an outstanding example of an amazing person who works across the boundaries to manage water, waste, energy and carbon emissions concurrently. That’s what we need to secure genuine environmental improvements.”
The annual award can be won by a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) or a Registered Environmental Technician (REnvTech) – of which there are over 7,300 – from any sector, discipline or Constituent Body. The nominations for the award were of a “very high standard”, said Professor Roberts. With this in mind, awards were also presented to the runner up and highly commended finalists:
- James Peacock CEnv – Runner up
- Gemma Williams REnvTech – Highly commended finalist
- David Hampton CEnv – Highly commended finalist
- Mark Gallagher CEnv – Highly commended finalist.
The evening, which was hosted by Arup, London, also saw the presentation of three new Honorary Fellows of the Society for the Environment (HonFSE). The deserving new Honorary Fellows are:
- Professor Paul Leinster CBE HonFSE CEnv, Professor of Environmental Assessment at Cranfield University
- Dr Emyr Roberts HonFSE, the first CEO of Natural Resources Wales
- Dr Mark Fletcher HonFSE, Global Water Leader at Arup.
They join a revered group of individuals who have been recognised for their outstanding environmental work and/or their contributions to the Society.
Dougal Driver CEnv, Chair of the expert led Society for the Environment Awards and Lectures event, said; “It is fantastic to see such an array of inspiring and talented Chartered Environmentalists and Registered Environmental Technicians vying for the Environmental Professional of the Year 2018 award.
“Announcing the worthy winner at our World Environment Day celebration evening along with our esteemed new Honorary Fellows was very fitting. The awards really brought the importance of the global day for the environment to life through exceptionally talented people who, day to day, are making a difference to the world in which we live.”
A quintet of expert speakers completed the event with insightful and challenging talks around marine litter, natural capital and the global theme for World Environment Day 2018, plastic. The highly engaging speakers included:
- Professor Ian Boyd, Chief Scientific Advisor at Defra
- Stephanie McGibbon CEnv, Director of Environment at Arup
- Dr Costas Velis, marine litter expert at the University of Leeds
Plus, two of the newly awarded HonFSEs, Dr Emyr Roberts and Professor Paul Leinster CBE CEnv.
