Submitted by Grainne Kennedy on Thu, 2017-08-31 10:36
One of the aims of the Environment and Energy section is to facilitate opportunities where staff and students can develop and share their knowledge, skills and experience to contribute to the University’s environmental sustainability aspirations. This summer, through our internship scheme, we have been able to contribute to this aim by bringing three enthusiastic students (pictured left to right; Flo, Kensuke and Ben) into our section to work on sustainability issues across the University. The work started by these students will be continued by the Environment and Energy section and we look forward to hearing about what solutions they come up with.
Ben Walton
Internship on biodiversity
Natural Sciences graduate, University of Cambridge
Project: I will be gathering existing information on wildlife across the University estate, collecting information on species, habitats and protected areas as well as potential threats to these areas. I hope that following this work I will be able to identify a series of quick wins for wildlife and make recommendations which will have positive impacts for biodiversity at the University.
What impact do I hope to have? Nature is not just important for nature’s sake; a greener and wilder campus will be a better place to live and work. I hope to help the University achieve its goal of having ‘no net negative impact on biodiversity’, by highlighting areas where the University can improve its impact on wildlife. I also hope to strengthen the relationship between the University and local conservation groups to encourage future collaboration. Ideally, I will also see some of my quick wins implemented on the estate, such as bird boxes, bat boxes and wildflower meadows.
Florence Best
Internship on sustainable food
Geography graduate, University of Cambridge
Project: I am working on a project to promote sustainable food in the University cafés and outlets. My job essentially involves finding innovative ways to encourage people to make sustainable choices when they’re grabbing lunch between lectures or at work. This project came about following the launch of the University’s first-ever Sustainable Food Policy earlier this year. The policy has been put in place in all University catering outlets. I am working closely with the University Catering Service to work out the best ways to market and merchandise more sustainable (and delicious) options!
What do I hope to achieve? I hope my work will champion the fantastic measures already put in by the University, and make people more aware of the effort that goes into making our food as environmentally-friendly as possible. However, my main goal is to make a real impact on the choices customers make, and encourage people to tuck in to amazing food that helps the planet.
Kensuke Kito
Internship on sustainable procurement
Undergraduate in Ecology, University of Tokyo (part of the IARU internship scheme)
Project: I am updating the Sustainable Procurement Guidelines that were produced by the Environment and Energy section three years ago. I have improved these guidelines by researching best practice at other universities and I have added more detail. There will be a wider range of items along with a prioritisation mechanism to help people make decisions about what type of item to buy.
What do I hope to achieve? I think sustainable procurement is an important way for people to remember that they can contribute to solving environmental problems by giving more careful consideration to what they buy. I hope that people using these guidelines will better understand the environmental impact of procurement and actively participate in buying more sustainable products.