The research and teaching conducted in university laboratories often has an outsized impact on a campus’ carbon footprint, due to the energy-intensive nature of lab air quality requirements, as well as the emissions associated with the building and operations. Water-intensive processes and hard-to-recycle wastes also challenge lab sustainability managers. To improve energy and water efficiency, decrease emissions, and reduce waste in labs, it’s essential to engage scientists in the green lab effort. The key is to empower students, researchers, building managers, purchasers, campus planners, and other leaders to support sustainable initiatives within their labs, buildings, and systemic change across the research enterprise.

During this webinar, attendees will learn how a green lab program can reduce resource use, emissions, and waste and promote sustainable science. Kathryn Ramirez-Aguilar of CU Boulder, who is one of the foremost leaders of the green labs movement, will challenge attendees to rethink the way research is conducted—and funded—to better drive the changes needed to promote energy efficiency, resource management, in waste reduction in individual labs and throughout the research community. This presentation will provide an overview of what a green lab program is and how to implement one at your university, as well as some of the best practices for working with principal investigators on promoting sustainable scientific research in academic institutions. It will also highlight resources from the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) that campus sustainability managers and staff can use to promote sustainable science, bring efficiency to research grants, and get involved in the work of the I2SL Laboratory Waste Landfill Diversion Working Group, University Alliance Group, and Circular Economy for Labs Community of Practice.

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Presenters

Kathryn Ramirez-Aguilar, Green Labs Program Manager, University of Colorado Boulder Kathy has a doctorate in chemistry and 15 years of laboratory research experience in chemistry and biochemistry. She left the lab bench driven into action by the large environmental footprint of scientific research and its contributions to climate change. Kathy created and has managed the CU Green Labs Program at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) since 2009. She is also a board member for the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), chair of the I2SL University Alliance Group (UAG), and through the I2SL UAG leads the Bringing Efficiency to Research Grants effort working to connect efficiency expectations and sustainability to U.S. research funding.

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