ICF Honorary Fellowship Awarded to Dr Sophie Churchill
The Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) is delighted to announce that Dr Sophie Churchill, Chief Executive of the National Forest Company, has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for outstanding services to the forestry Industry.
The award of Honorary Fellow is not made lightly. The last award was given in 2010 and only 11 other members hold this prestigious title. Dr Churchill is also only the second woman to have achieved this.
As the Chief Executive of the National Forest Company, Dr Churchill was charged with creating a new forest across 200 square miles of the Midlands. Since 2006 she has overseen the continuing creation and management of the forest, including ensuring its economic and social benefits. She was awarded an OBE for services to the environment in 2011.
Dr Churchill also chairs TREE AID, a charity established with foresters’ support in response to the famine in Ethiopia in 1987. TREE AID combats poverty and desertification through community-led forestry.
Dr Churchill was also Chief Executive of RegenWM, the West Midlands Centre of Excellence for Regeneration and a foster carer of a teenager with learning disabilities. Her PhD was based on the lives of adults with learning disabilities in institutional settings. She has three adult children and lives in an ex mining village in The National Forest.
ICF Executive Director, Shireen Chambers, on confirming the decision of the Institute’s Council said, “We are delighted that Dr Churchill has accepted this award and we look forward to her continued support for forestry and working more closely with the Institute”.
Dr Churchill will be officially presented with the award at the ICF National Conference in Glasgow in April 2013.
