A day in the life at Silwood Park: Karen Makuch
Karen Makuch is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Environmental Policy. She shares what a day is like for her on the leafy campus of Silwood Park.

Karen Makuch is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Environmental Policy. She shares what a day is like for her on the leafy campus of Silwood Park.

This year, Bridges turns five. The programme, which was established in 2021 with the aim of supporting first-year undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds within the Faculty of Natural Sciences, has grown considerably in this time.
Professor Vincent Savolainen took up the role of Associate Dean (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) within the Faculty of Natural Sciences in May of this year. Ahead of this, we spoke to him about his background, priorities and plans.

Ahead of World Mosquito Day on 20 August, Louise Marston, a Senior Research Technician in Imperial’s Crisanti Lab, explains how Target Malaria is opening up the world of malaria research and giving people a closer look at the science behind its gene drive technology through its interactive video game.
Catalina Estrada Montes is an Ecological Analyst and (Field) Facility Manager in the Department of Life Sciences. She shares what a day is like for her on the leafy campus of Silwood Park.

Professor Riccardo Sapienza started as the new Vice Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Natural Sciences in May 2026. Ahead of starting the position, he spoke about his motivations for taking on the role and the challenges he anticipates will come with it.

Marta Koch, PhD Researcher & Teaching Facilitator at Imperial College London CEP, reflects on leading two 2026 United Nations events with partners across the UN system which introduced her novel Climate Extreme Technology Infrastructure Readiness Framework and examined how emerging digital technologies, AI and climate data infrastructures are supporting sustainable development and resilience in climate-extreme settings.

As this year sees the centenary of the Silesian-born academic Klaus Roth’s birth, his niece Cléa Daridan shares a personal tribute. She remembers the UK’s first Fields Medalist not only for the excellence of his contribution to number theory but also for the man he was, having devoted his entire career to teaching Mathematics at Imperial College London and inspiring hundreds of students through his legacy. The Roth scholarship scheme, funded by the Department of Mathematics, was named after Klaus Friedrich Roth.
Michel Valette, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Centre for Environmental Policy and the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, and Gail Sucharitakul, Research Postgraduate at the Centre for Environmental Policy, provide their critical reflections from the 12th session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-12) held in Manchester in February 2026.

For Women at Imperial week, we spoke to Sofia Moliner, a PhD student looking at quantum algorithms in Financial applications. She answered questions on her academic career so far, her role models and what barriers to progression she thinks women in academia still face today. 