William Nicholls — Judge

William Nicholls is a project manager and research consultant with over 20 years of experience across Asia-Pacific, known for driving complex, high-stakes projects from concept to delivery. His technical grounding includes managing testing and commissioning of mission-critical systems for Hitachi Rail — a rigorous, systems-level approach to risk, quality, and delivery.

Alongside his infrastructure work, Nicholls leads Canopy Watch, an environmental advocacy and capacity-building program in Papua New Guinea, developing innovative forest-monitoring methods and deploying synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology to protect tropical ecosystems. He holds a Master's degree from SOAS, University of London, specialising in the trade of virtual water and environmental law.

That blend of hands-on project delivery, environmental science, and conservation leadership brings both rigorous technical judgment and direct, on-the-ground environmental impact experience to the evaluation of sustainability leadership.