Recent News

Eve Brooks-Parkin was named the winner of the 2025 Ian McCrae Award at the Routes to Clean Air conference on the 20th October.

This annual award takes the form of an essay competition that is open to early careers members of the IAQM. It is presented in honour of the late Dr Ian McCrae who made significant contributions to the understanding of emissions from transport and their links with air quality.

This year, entrants were asked to submit an essay on the following topic:

“Considering the steady improvements in nitrogen dioxide concentrations over the last decade, what do you envision to be the key future challenges in air quality and how can we address them?”

Eve Brooks-Parkin, Graduate Environmental Consultant at Hilson Moran, produced a fantastic essay to receive the top score. There was tough competition from other entrants with consistently high scores across the board.

Eve’s winning essay highlights misconceptions around progress towards clean air, noting that there is still work to be done despite improvements in nitrogen dioxide concentrations. Eve emphasises the importance of addressing ultra-fine particles (UFPs) and ground-level ozone (GLO) levels, which have been neglected in policy and public awareness campaigns. The judges were extremely impressed by Eve’s proposed solutions as well as the high quality of her essay.

You can read Eve’s essay here (pdf).

Thank you to everyone who submitted an essay, and please do keep an eye out for next year’s topic for another chance to win this prestigious title.

The IAQM Early Careers Network (ECN) is a community of air quality professionals in the early stages of their careers. The network exists to develop members’ knowledge and skills in a supportive and accessible environment. You can find out more about the Early Careers Network and its Subcommittee on our dedicated webpage.