Faculty of Brain Sciences celebrates 2022 Sustainability Award winners

The annual Sustainability Awards recognise students, staff and researchers who have been making change possible at UCL and beyond.

This year, Professor Sanjay Sisodiya (Queen Square Institute of Neurology) won the Sustainability Research Award 2022 for his research on how climate change affects neurological conditions, particularly epilepsy. Professor Sisodiya established a global consortium, called Epilepsy Climate Change (EpiCC), of neurologists, scientists, nurses, representatives from industry and charities to foster research, raise awareness and share knowledge. He also established the UCL NeuroClimate Consortium, a cross-Faculty initiative at UCL, including climatologists, neuroscientists, neurologists, pharmacists and architects, that aims to develop and undertake research on climate change impacts across neurological diseases.

The Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Green Team won a special award for their sustainability plan, which – from their ‘Powered by Plants’ initiative to their zero flying pledge – has inspired other departments and faculties across the university. The team were also celebrated for developing UCL’s first Faculty Sustainability Committee.

The Faculty also performed extremely well in UCL’s Green Impact and LEAF programmes, designed to make offices and labs more sustainable, achieving the following awards:

Green Impact Office Awards – Silver: 

• Ear Institute Team

Green Impact Office Awards – Gold: 

• Dementia Research Centre (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology)
• Division of Psychiatry
• Institute of Ophthalmology
• Institute of Ophthalmology Library
• Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
• Queen Square Library
• UCL Language & Speech Science Library
• UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Admin

LEAF Awards for Sustainable Laboratories – Bronze:

• Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre
• Institute of Ophthalmology BSU

LEAF Awards for Sustainable Laboratories – Silver:

• Ear Institute Labs
• MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases
• Neuroinflammation
• Imaging Neurosciences
• Clinical and Movement Neurosciences

LEAF Awards for Sustainable Laboratories – Gold:

• Neurodegenerative Disease
• Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy
• UK DRI at UCL
• Neuromuscular Diseases
• Institute of Ophthalmology labs
• Psychology and Language Sciences LEAF Lab

To honour all of the winners, Sustainable UCL donated 315 trees to the UCL Grove, sequestering 18,900kg of carbon *(one tree can consume approximately 60kg of CO2 from the atmosphere). Sustainable UCL also handed out award certificates printed on seeded paper, inviting all recipients to grow wild flowers from their certificates.

Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences, said: "Congratulations to everyone within the Faculty for their commitment to supporting sustainability across all that we do. It is fantastic to see the hard work of our staff and students recognised by this year’s UCL Sustainability Awards, and I’m delighted that our Faculty is leading the way in creating change and building a sustainable future."

Related

• Sustainability in the Faculty of Brain Sciences
• UCL Sustainability Awards 2022