A FORMER president of the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) has been given a prestigious honour for her outstanding contribution to arboriculture and forestry.

Sharon Durdant-Hollamby was recently awarded an Honorary College Fellowship by Myerscough College. 

President of the ICF from 2021 to 2023, Sharon is a chartered arboriculturist and fellow of the Arboricultural Association, with a wealth of experience in local government and contracting. She has been the director of Sharon Hosegood Associates, an arboricultural consultancy, since 2015 and specialises in trees in relation to planning and construction, tree hazard management, and tree radar.

Accepting this honour, Sharon addressed the students of Myerscough College, saying: “Look forward to a brilliant career. There has never been a more important time to work with trees; tackling the biodiversity, climate and nature deficit crises and meeting peoples innate need for nature.

"Expect to be curious, scientifically rigorous, compassionate, an advocate, a creative problem solver and a visionary. 

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"Sometimes you will be a lone voice in a team who have other priorities, and you will need to champion trees. At other times you will work with a team to push forward emerging technologies, new social science and community engagement.

"Trees are silent witnesses to changing times. Be part of the profession that continues to push things forward to the next level to ensure the health of trees, society and the planet.”