Becoming a Chartered Environmentalist was an important milestone in my career and I am proud to have my competence as an environmental professional recognised by my peers.
Dr Richard Manton CEnv
University of Galway, Director of Sustainability
Dr Richard Manton CEnv | 2026 Environmental Professional of the Year winner
Richard won the 2026 Environmental Professional of the Year category in the SocEnv Awards. In this profile you’ll gain an insight into Richard’s career, thoughts on the CEnv registration, how the award has impacted his career and his inspirations for the future.
What does an average day look like in your career?
As Director of Sustainability at University of Galway, I am responsible for implementing an ambitious sustainability strategy at Ireland’s leading university for sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals. My workload is generally an interesting mix of strategy (e.g. meetings of our governance committees) and operations (e.g. engaging with our students and staff, reporting, practical sustainability initiatives).
What are the top three key knowledge areas that are crucial to your role?
- Stakeholder engagement and influencing
- Governance and accountability
- A broad understanding of many dimensions of sustainability
What part of your job do you find the most exciting?
Achieving measurable progress on sustainability. At times, the scale of the challenge on climate and biodiversity can be daunting. It is heartening to make and measure real progress. At University of Galway, we have halved our emissions over the last eight years, eliminated single-use cups and been ranked #1 in Ireland for progress on the SDGs.
How has achieving CEnv registration impacted your work?
Since becoming a Chartered Engineer in 2018, I’ve advocated (strengthening the recognition of) environmental competence in engineering in Ireland. This included embedding environmental criteria in Engineers Ireland accreditation and professional titles regulations and introducing the Chartered Environmentalist title to Ireland. Achieving the CEnv title was an important milestone in my own professional development, which strengthened my reputation as an environmental professional and enabled me to further my advocacy for environmental competence.
As an award winner, how has that recognition helped you?
It is a great privilege to win Environmental Professional of the Year 2026. I am very grateful to the judging panel and everyone at Society for the Environment. The award has already proven to be an excellent opportunity to further sustainability at University of Galway and to promote the Chartered Environmentalist title within Engineers Ireland. I have no doubt that the award will also be great for future career and advocacy opportunities.
Why would you encourage others in your sector to aspire to become a registered environmental professional?
Greenwashing and misinformation remain very common. We need qualified environmental professionals to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergency and act as environmental champions. Becoming a registered environmental professional is a quality mark – a statement from your peers that you’re playing your part and that you know what you’re doing!
Profile correct as of September 2026.
Richard Manton’s registration
Richard is registered as a CEnv via membership of Engineers Ireland.
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Chartered Environmentalist
The globally recognised gold standard for demonstrating your knowledge and commitment to high standards of practice and professionalism.
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