TWO people who have contributed to the welfare of their environment have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday’s Honours.

Dr Rosemary Irwin, chairman of trustees at Gilbert White’s House and the Oates Collection, has been awarded an MBE for services to education and to the community of Selborne.

And Dr Joan Webber has picked up an OBE for her dedicated work in the science of tree health.

In the decade Dr Irwin has been chairman of trustees, the museum has been transformed, with new galleries, improved facilities, and a bigger programme of activities.

The museum recently re-opened after a major £3m refurbishment, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other donors. This will enable it to operate on a sound financial and operating basis for many years to come.

“She is one in a million and I can’t think of anyone else who could have made this rebirth of Hampshire’s hidden jewel come about,” said museum director Judith Bowles.

“She has led the team with great determination, drive and humour. We are so pleased for her.”

An example of the way Dr Irwin has led from the front has been the walk she organised from Selborne to Oxford, and back, following Gilbert’s regular route to the university city, which raised more than £30,000 for the project.

“It is a huge – and quite unexpected – pleasure to get this award,” said Dr Irwin. “And it should be seen as a big thank you to all the people who have worked so hard to achieve so much at the museum in the last few years.”

Dr Webber has worked at Forestry Commission Research Station near Alice Holt Forest since 1989 and is the agency’s principal pathologist.

She has led work on Dutch elm disease and is the UK’s leading expert in phytophthora, and is recognised as a leading expert in chalara - or ash die back - and advises on the risks from recently arrived pests and pathogens on the health of trees.

Much of her work has been in collaboration with scientists in the UK and overseas, including from Taiwan, New Zealand, the United States and Japan.

Dr Webber also appeared recently on the BBC’s Countryfile Diaries programme, and it is her ability to explain complex tree health issues to the public which has also drawn praise.

Dr Webber said: “I am delighted to have been recognised for my work. It is vitally important that we understand the increasing threats to the health of our trees. By working hard to identify those threats, and pass on that knowledge, we can make trees more resilient and secure their health for future generations.”

In 2014, Dr Webber received the Institute of Chartered Foresters’ medal to mark professional excellence in forest pathology, and in 2016 she earned the Peter Savill Award in recognition of her significant contribution to the British Forest Industry.