“Our labs and offices at Imperial are quite energy intensive, and it’s my job to understand how we can reduce our energy consumption to reach Imperial’s Net Zero target by 2040.”
I have always been interested in Sustainability which led me to do an MSc in Chemistry, with a focus on future battery technology in my final year project. Following university, I worked as an Analytical Chemist for four years, with a focus on Chromatography for the Health Care business, which is when I first considered the need for sustainable practices in laboratory spaces. I led the My Green Lab certification for our lab spaces, tackling reduction of energy use and recycling of plastics. It was a fantastic experience bringing people together and making positive changes. And that is exactly why I was drawn to the position of Sustainability Initiatives Coordinator at Imperial.
My job is about the resource management section of Imperial’s Sustainability Strategy, and what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint. Our labs and offices at Imperial are quite energy intensive, and it’s my job to understand how we can reduce our energy consumption to reach Imperial’s Net Zero target by 2040. This involves engaging with lab, and office users, to understand current behaviours, and where savings can be made through adjustments in usage. For example, warming up our Ultra-Low Temperature Freezers from -80C to –70C, saves approximately a whole home’s worth of energy every day.
The two main initiatives I’m working on at the moment are the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), and Green Impact which has just been launched as part of Sustainability Fortnight. LEAF is aimed at labs, to help them reduce their energy and resource impact, and Green Impact is LEAF for our office spaces, and is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to get involved. I’ve found Imperial staff to be very proactive and engaged with our goals.
In the past, outside of work you would have found me spending most of my time training with my local rowing club in Marlow, which culminated in competing at Henley Royal Regatta in 2022. These days I love long weekend walks along the river or trekking up a mountain. For more relaxing activities, I love building LEGO at home, with Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Hogwarts Castle my most recent projects. Having built them, I sell them on to allow more people to enjoy LEGO building in a sustainable fashion!
At the moment, a lot of my time is spent planning for my wedding in April 2025 where we are considering all things sustainable (although I will not be asking any of our guests to sign-up to LEAF or Green Impact!).