Dr Heather Barrett-Mold, a Vice President and former Chair of the IES, has been awarded an OBE for services to Horticulture, Sustainable Development and Environmental Conservation. Heather has been an IES member since 1978, and first became a Council member in 2004. She took on the role of Honorary Treasurer and Vice Chair in 2009 before holding the post of Chair from 2012 to 2015.

Heather has worked in further and higher education for over 45 years. She has held a number of different positions in the sector, including Principal and Chief Executive of Pershore Group of Colleges. Primarily an ecologist, Heather has always had an interest in the environment and conservation, and contributed to the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 as an expert in biodiversity. She is also a past President of the Institute of Horticulture and now works as a consultant for a variety of organisations.

Others were also recognised for their services to the environment this year, including Professor Michael Depledge, Chair of Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter Medical School, and gave the 2012 Burntwood Lecture, who was made an OBE. Amanda Nobbs, Chair of the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, was also awarded an OBE, and Sarah Church, a Director of Defra, was made a CE.