NRI Professor Wins Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. John Sinclair wins the International Association for Impact Assessment 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. John Sinclair sitting in a boat on a river, looking out at the nature surrounding him.
On February 7th, Dr. John Sinclair from the Natural Resources Institute at the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources was announced as the winner of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award. This award will be presented to Dr. Sinclair at IAIA’s annual conference event in Bologna, Italy during May of this year.
The IAIA Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to long-term supporters and members of IAIA for major contributions to the field of impact assessment.
Spanning more than 30 years, Dr. Sinclair has been recognized by his colleagues as a champion of impact assessment, working tirelessly to expand and strengthen both its theoretical foundations and practical implementation. He is driven by his passion for furthering what he refers to as “the sustainability project”, where he considers impact assessment one of the most fundamental tools for ensuring sustainability considerations to inform planning and decision making, while simultaneously promoting democratic participation and facilitating social and transformative learning.
Dr. Sinclair’s academic work prominently focuses on learning and public participation in impact assessment, which has led to: over 140 peer-reviewed journal publications and refereed book chapters and reports, 85 conference presentations, dozens of reports for government agencies and environmental organizations, and the training and supervision of over 100 graduate students.
Dr. Sinclair joined the IAIA public participation section in the early 2000’s, and since 2017 has served as section co-chair. This area of work has led to a recently published book, Handbook of Public Participation in Impact Assessment (2024). The book was written with an international group of authors, many of whom are IAIA members.
Leading to research projects in Canada and internationally, Dr. Sinclair’s academic output has led to work in India, Thailand, and Kenya. His current group of 11 Master’s students includes work in: India, examining approaches to community-based strategic assessment; Colombia, considering the local implementation of essential elements for meaningful public participation, and Canada, exploring national carbon offsets in impact assessment.
One recent PhD graduate extended their work on community-based approaches and an incorporation of next generation IA elements in two live assessments of water development projects in Kenya.
Many of Dr. Sinclair’s graduate students have gone on to careers in the impact assessment field with all levels of settler governments, Indigenous governments and governance organizations, consulting firms, and environmental organizations. One of his Master’s students went on to found Narratives Inc., recognized with the 2024 IAIA Corporate Initiative Award for developing a harmonized impact assessment model in partnership with Niiwin Wendaanimok, an Indigenous construction and environmental monitoring firm.
Dr. Sinclair’s colleagues are continually impressed by his tireless dedication to his life’s work, both inside and outside the academy. His achievements have made significant contributions to the understanding and promotion of best practices for impact assessment.
Congratulations, Dr. John Sinclair!