Senior Environmentalists Urged to Nominate Graduate Green Shoots of Talent

Environmental leaders are being encouraged to nominate their graduate staff who have made a real difference to their organisation for a leading industry award.

IEMA is calling to CEOs, Managers and Team Leaders from environmental industry organisations for entries into its 2010 Graduate of the Year Award because of the sector's unrivalled interest in the emergence and nurturing of green skills.

IEMA's Graduate of the Year Award, sponsored by Land Securities, recognises the environmental talent and organisational achievements of practitioners that have graduated from an environmentally-related course within the past three years.

It is awarded annually as part of IEMA's dedication, as the respected voice of the environmental profession, to promote the skills and value of young and recently-trained practitioners.

Being shortlisted or even winning the Award provides a unique career opportunity for the individual Graduate but helps the recipient's organisation demonstrate the high calibre of its staff, their projects and the quality of its training and mentoring. Jonathan Nobbs, Professional Development Manager at IEMA, explains how involvement in this award can benefit the whole organisation; "For an environmental organisation to have its Graduate staff shortlisted for this award shows that it not only focuses on employing the most capable practitioners but that the projects its staff devote themselves to are also excellent."

"The value of such a profile when tendering for contracts or carrying out any work with clients is surely beyond price in a sector such as ours that is continually growing." said Nobbs.

As Graduates cannot enter via their own application (all candidates must be nominated by their employer or by clients/customers of the organisation) and with less than six weeks to go before the entry deadline for the Award, IEMA is calling for business entries by Friday 10th September.

The winner of the IEMA Graduate of the Year Award 2010 will receive their a £2000 cash prize and one year's free IEMA membership at a ceremony during IEMA's Environment and Business: The challenge and the opportunity Conference on 1st November at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in influential Westminster. The nominating Manager/CEO will also be invited to attend, where they can network with some leading names from the environment and business arenas.