Meet Dr Richard Manton CEnv | 2026 Environmental Professional of the Year

2026 Environmental Professional of the Year: Dr Richard Manton CEnv

I’ve always been interested in how science and engineering can be used for the public good. As part of my degree in civil engineering, I had the opportunity to visit Zambia to research sustainable construction technologies. Soon after graduating, I spent some time volunteering in Haiti (post-earthquake relief) and Germany (renovation of an historic Jewish graveyard). I went on to do a PhD on sustainable transport engineering, focusing on walking and cycling. Including stints in Berkeley and Munich, I stayed in the university for another couple of years as a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in sustainable transport and energy. 

Environmental Professional Journey

In 2017, I left academia to become the first Policy Officer at Engineers Ireland, the professional body of 30,000 engineers. This was a fantastic opportunity to shape the policy and advocacy platform of a large and influential body. Through meetings with politicians, parliamentary committees, media work and reports, I advocated climate action, infrastructural investment, building safety and innovation. I later became the Registrar at Engineers Ireland, responsible for academic quality and professional competence standards in engineering in Ireland with specific responsibilities in accreditation, registration, professional titles, regulation and risk. I was also a Non-Executive Director at Bus Éireann, Ireland’s national bus company (3,000 staff, 100 million passenger journeys per year). I established and chaired the Board Sustainability Committee and oversaw the company’s first sustainability strategy.

After seven enjoyable years at Engineers Ireland, an opportunity arose to return to Galway as the first Director of Sustainability at the University of Galway (20,000 students, 3,000 staff). 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). I am very proud that the University is ranked #1 in Ireland and in the top 5 in the EU for performance on the Sustainable Development Goals. We recently launched a new five-year sustainability strategy, which commits the university to a carbon-neutral, nature-positive and healthy campus.

Throughout this time, I’ve had an interesting experience with the Society for the Environment and the Chartered Environmentalist title. Since becoming a Chartered Engineer in 2018, I’ve sought to strengthen environmental competence in engineering in Ireland, including through reforms to accreditation and professional titles. When I learned of the CEnv title, I led Engineers Ireland’s application to become licensed to award the title – the first organisation based outside the UK to do so. Engineers Ireland awarded its first Chartered Environmentalist title in 2025 and I was very proud to receive the title myself later that year. I now promote the CEnv title (including as Chairperson of the West Region 25/26) and I am a trained assessor and interviewer.