5 June 2026
ISEP practitioner member Abigail Sheppard has claimed the 2026 SocEnv Rising Star Award.
The WSP consultant was nine ISEP members amongst the 14 nominations for the two prestigious 'Society for the Environment' annual awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the environmental professional community held at the Arup offices in London.
Speaking about her win, Abigail 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.”
Three other ISEP members also received 'Highly Commended' awards across the two categories.
Winner: Dr Richard Manton CEnv
Highly Commended: Suzanne Dolan MISEP CEnv and Geraldine Badura FISEP CEnv
The SocEnv Environmental Professional of the Year award highlights the best work of Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) and Registered Environmental Technician (REnvTech) registrants.
Winner: Abigail Sheppard PISEP REnvP
Highly Commended: Tsz Kai Lam CEnv and Rhythima Shinde MISEP CEnv
The SocEnv Rising Star awards shines a light on professionals who have really hit the ground running in their early environmental careers.
The finalists were selected from an array of excellent nominations, received for environmental professionals working in digital, environmental management, energy, water supply, transport, waste, engineering, and much more.
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.
Geraldine Badura FISEP, CEnv
Construction Sustainability Lead, Gatwick Airport
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
Lewis Chenery MISEP, CEnv
Environment & Sustainability Director, Southern Renewals Enterprise (via Atkins Realis)
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
Suzanne Dolan MISEP, CEnv
Founder, D-Carbon Alliance
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
Stephen Elderkin MISEP, 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, FISEP CEnv
Head of Architecture and Design, Department For Education
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
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 Limited
Registered via Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
Robert Modler MISEP, CEnv
Principal Consultant, Strategy & Governance Lead, Cundall
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
Abigail Sheppard PISEP, REnvP
Nature Advisory Consultant, WSP
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
Rhythima Shinde MISEP, CEnv
Principal Sustainability Advisor, KLH Sustainability
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
Francesca Wilkinson MISEP, CEnv
Senior Sustainability and Environmental Manager, Willmott Dixon
Registered via Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)
The SocEnv Awards are designed to recognise those outstanding individuals who have innovated, inspired, and have gone beyond what’s expected in their recent work to protect, preserve, or enhance the environment.
Elsewhere on the evening, ISEP members Maghna Das MISEP and Peter Egan FISEP were elected as vice-chairs of the SocEnv and the two new Board members appointed were ISEP Fellows Becky Toal FISEP and Gill Mulroe FISEP.
While ISEP Professional Standards Manager, Chris Weston, has been elected to the Society’s Registration Authority (RA), which sets the competency standards for Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) and other registrations, as well as ensuring that the 27 professional bodies that are licensed to award these are operating to consistently high standards.
