An environmental professor praised Keele for its commitment to sustainability as she was awarded an honorary degree this month.

For 40 years Professor Jacqueline McGlade has been working in sustainable development and science policy, and is a leading expert on earth observations, community science, ecosystem dynamics and informatics.

She is a professor at the Institute for Global Prosperity and Engineering, University College London; Gresham College Professor of the Environment; and also a professor at Maasai Mara University, Kenya.

Professor McGlade has published more than 200 research publications and produced award-winning films and radio series on sustainability.

Professor McGlade said: “This is a tremendous honour, but coming from Keele gives this degree extra weight as a sustainability-led university, as it’s recognition for working in the same field. I truly appreciate what the University is doing and is committed to doing and I really like the idea that my name is associated with Keele.

“Due to the nice size of the University, it feels like every student graduating is an ambassador for sustainability. Whether a student has studied sustainability formally or informally, they have been equipped with this knowledge, and critical thinking skills, so when they make decisions in the future they will have this long-term view, and bear the responsibility of being an ambassador in the world”.