Member Article

Mary Dhonau awarded Honorary Degree from the UWE

Mary Dhonau OBE HonRICS, chief executive of the Know Your Flood Risk campaign, has today been presented with an Honorary Degree of Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of West England (UWE) at a ceremony held in Bristol Cathedral. The Honorary Degrees Committee from the university selected Mary in recognition of the contributions she has made in the field of flood risk management across the country, for the past 15 years.

Mary, who has been flooded herself on many occasions, has extensive experience in supporting and advising the victims of flooding during their recovery. She has championed promotion of individual flood protection and resilience and is a passionate advocate of empowering communities to recognise and take responsibility for minimising their collective flood risk.

Professor Lindsey McEwen, Professor of Environmental Management in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at UWE, was one of the nominators of Mary at the university. Professor McEwen said: “I direct the Centre for Floods, Communities and Resilience, and also have significant experience in community engagement related to flooding. In these roles, I have observed Mary’s unstinting passion for raising flood risk awareness, in supporting communities before, during and after a flood event occurs, and in promoting flood preparedness. She regularly represents the ‘voice of the flooded’ and it is her enduring drive towards supporting these communities that led me to nominate Mary for the Honorary Degree, which she greatly deserves.”

As well as Chief Executive of the ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ campaign, Mary is the Chair of the Flood Protection Group for the Property Care Association and a member of the Regional Flood and Coastal committee for Anglian Northern. She also runs a consultancy (MD Associates) specialising in raising awareness of flood risk, how to militate against it and recover from it.

Mary, who has become affectionately known by many as ‘Mary Queen of Floods’ said: “To receive an honorary doctorate from the University of West England is just marvellous. Since suffering the appalling consequences of being flooded myself, and on more than one occasion, I have made it my personal mission in life to raise the awareness of flood risk. It is something I am hugely passionate about and so to be recognised by the UWE in this way in tribute to my work is very humbling.”

Mary was awarded an OBE for services to the environment in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2009. In December 2014, she was then awarded Honorary RICS (HonRICS) status, in recognition of her high profile in standing-up for the public’s interest regarding flooding. Mary was also given the ’Voice of the Customer ’award and the CII Public Interest Awards 2015

The Know Your Flood Risk Campaign’s mission is to raise awareness of the risk of flooding from all sources. It is a one of the UK’s leading online sources for helping people find out the flood risk related to their current or future homes.

For more information, visit knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk, marydhonau.co.uk or follow the Know Your Flood Risk campaign on Twitter or Facebook.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Landmark Information Group .