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Earlier this year, the IAQM launched a refreshed awards programme that built on its existing Ian McCrae Award and introduced four brand-new awards to recognise the outstanding people, projects and organisations driving improvements in air quality across the UK and beyond.

These awards celebrate the skill, innovation and commitment of our community — from early career practitioners to lifetime champions of cleaner air, and from research breakthroughs to practical projects that deliver measurable improvements. They are designed to shine a spotlight on the brilliant work being done across the profession and to create opportunities for winners to share their achievements with the wider IAQM community.

All five awards were handed out at this year’s Routes to Clean Air conference, and we would like to extend our thanks to those who took the time to put forward a nomination, and share our congratulations to the winners:

Ian McCrae Award

This award recognises an outstanding essay written by an early career professional answering a question put forward by the IAQM ECN Subcommittee. This year’s winner was Vanessa Nguyen from Tyréns Hilson Moran.

Vanessa’s winning essay was praised as emotive and compelling by the judges, and demonstrated a strong understanding of the ongoing public health risks and environmental consequences of air pollution in the UK. You can read her winning entry here.

Helen ApSimon Award

This award recognises an outstanding contribution to the IAQM by an early career professional. This year’s winner was Harry Joseph from AtkinsRéalis.

The judging panel were impressed by Harry’s presentation on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odour monitoring, which he volunteered to deliver during a site trip to a gasworks redevelopment earlier this year. The judges also appreciated Harry’s reflection on the skills he was able to strengthen during the development and delivery of the presentation, as well as feedback received from event attendees regarding the high quality of his input.

Mary Catterall Clean Air Award

This award recognises an organisation/group who have developed an innovative solution to bring about a positive change in air quality management and a move towards clean air in the UK. This year’s joint winners were AtkinsRéalis and Cognition Land + Water.

Their use of foam to mitigate odour emissions from a site in a complex urban environment represents an innovative approach to improving air quality during remediation projects. The judges felt that the work undertaken by AtkinsRéalis and Cognition on the Kings Road Park remediation project therefore merited recognition for demonstrating this innovative technique.

Robert Angus Smith Award

This award recognises an air quality professional who has advanced scientific understanding and knowledge of air quality both within the profession and beyond. This year’s winner was Daniel Francis from AtkinsRéalis.

The judges noted that Daniel’s work on ultrafine particles (UFPs) and black carbon (BC) has strengthened the UK’s evidence base on emerging pollutants and provides an important contribution to future discussions on monitoring, public health and policy development in the UK and internationally.

IAQM President’s Award

This award recognises individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of air quality and who have demonstrated leadership in championing cleaner air, including building awareness within the air quality industry and more broadly across society. The IAQM President chose to confer this award to Sadiq Khan.

The award recognises Sadiq’s outstanding commitment to improving air quality in London to protect public health through ambitious policies aimed at reducing congestion and vehicle emissions. This has had a significant impact on the lives of Londoners, particularly more vulnerable populations.