Meet the Honorary Fellow: Sarah Ward

Sarah Ward (HonFCIWEM) is one of four new CIWEM Honorary Fellows. Below we learn more about Ward and find out her answer to the question: how do you feel about becoming an Honorary Fellow and how will this shape your work going forward?

Sarah Ward (she, her/they, them) is Westcountry Rivers Trust co-creation specialist based in the Exeter area. Sarah is a chartered environmentalist, co-author of Alternative Water Supply Systems, founder of RainShare and co-founder of the WEM Pride network.

Sarah's career has encompassed industry and academia and in 2020 Sarah joined the charity Westcountry Rivers Trust to focus on action for the environment and the co-creation of water resilient communities.

Sarah is also an experienced presenter, published author, science communicator and WEF Inaugural Water Leadership Institute graduate, with over twenty years’ experience in the water and environment sector – from geography, hydrology and hydrometry through engineering to social science, aiming to integrate perspectives using a complex systems lens.

"I’m incredibly honoured and humbled to accept an Honorary Fellowship from CIWEM. Growing up in Cornwall I was lucky to have a childhood splashing about in rivers and the sea (no doubt in all sorts of dubious water qualities…).

"I feel everyone should have access to some kind of water environment for their health and wellbeing. As a result water’s in my blood (metaphorically as well as literally!) and that gives me an immense feeling of connection to and need to protect the natural world. I think that’s missing for a lot of people for a variety of reasons and perhaps that’s why the planet is in the state it is today.

“Working in the water and environment sector for over two decades (and being a CIWEM member for over half that time) means I’ve been really lucky to have met so many inspiring and passionate people. They’ve shared their time, knowledge, experience and perspectives with me.

"Through this Honorary Fellowship I can bring these together with my personal knowledge, experience and perspectives and give something back to CIWEM’s Diversity & Inclusion work, WEM Pride activities, articles for The Environment magazine and hopefully more through CIWEM’s policy work in the future.

"Like nature, peoplekind is diverse but in that lies our strength – we just need to learn to make visible the invisible and embrace everything and everyone to adapt and create change together.”

Our Honorary Fellow programme recognises people who are not normally members of CIWEM, or necessarily working directly in the water and environmental management field, that have made an incredible contribution to shape the future of the water and environment profession as well as that of CIWEM itself.

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