New Climate Crisis projects awarded Grand Challenges Small Grants funding

The new Climate Crisis Grand Challenge (GCCC) at UCL has awarded twenty-one small grants, each of up to £10,000, to research-informed, cross-disciplinary projects which seek to propagate new ways of approaching the significant challenges presented by the climate crisis. These projects will foster grass-roots cooperation between different parts of UCL, drawing from the university’s diversity to gain novel insights and impacts within the research community – as well as wider society.

Professor Lisa Vanhala and Professor Mark Maslin, Pro-Vice-Provosts for the UCL Grand Challenges Theme of Climate Crisis, expressed their excitement about the new projects:

After reviewing the more than 80 applications received for the first Grand Challenge of the Climate Crisis funding call the selection panel was impressed by the high number of exceptional applications. We are pleased to award 21 ambitious and creative projects across the full spectrum of action related to climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building. These will deliver much-needed knowledge, tools and skills to help meet the scale of the challenge - and they’ll do this while fostering strong institutional collaborations across faculties. We will be announcing additional funding opportunities and events following this call, but these initial projects are a fantastic way to significantly scale up UCL’s cross-disciplinary climate crisis excellence to create real world impact”

With over eighty applications received, comprising collaborations from all faculties as well as UCL departments (for example, the Students' Union) the review panel awarded total funding of around £200k to the following projects:

Assessing Climate Impacts on Biodiversity: a cross-disciplinary working group to improve scientific inference based on imperfect data
£9,960
Dr Tadhg Carroll, Faculty of Life Sciences
Dr Richard Chandler, Mathematical and Physical Sciences

The Chemical Atlas: Extraction, the Climate Crisis, Planetary Health
£10,000
Prof Andrew Barry, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences    
Dr Olwenn Martin, Faculty of Arts & Humanities

Sustainable Stand Up at UCL: Communicating climate change issues in ways that are loving, impactful, and funny.
£8,300
Dr Izzy Bishop, Faculty of Life Sciences    
Ms Tannis Davidson, VP Faculties

Sustainable Futures: Developing an online induction course for UCL students
£5,000
Mr John Dubber, Students Union
Dr Nicole Blum, IOE - Faculty of Education and Society

A new UCL-Uganda-Kenya collaboration to understand and prepare for climate-sensitive disease epidemics
£9806
Dr Rory Gibb, Faculty of Life Sciences
Professor Nigel Field, Population Health Sciences

Making unequal health impacts visible in climate litigation
£10,000
Professor Audrey Prost, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
Dr Isra Black, Faculty of Laws

RECAST: REframing ClimAte Emergency as Social JusTice
£9999
Dr Lakshmi Rajendran, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
Professor Audrey Prost, Faculty of Population Health Sciences

Shaping UK Climate Policy through a UCL 'Green Corporate and Financial Reform Hub'
£9680
Dr Fergus Green, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
Dr Pedro Schilling de Carvalho, Faculty of Laws

Climate Change and Chronic Diseases: highly-resolved disease-specific pilot study.
£10,000
Professor Sanjay Sisodiya, Faculty of Brain Sciences    
Professor Anna Mavrogianni, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

Students’ perspectives on Higher Education in a climate impacted world
£10,000
Dr Lisa Fridkin, IOE - Faculty of Education and Society
Dr Olwenn Martin, Faculty of Arts & Humanities

Estimating the effects and interactions of extreme heat and pesticides on child health in Ecuador: An ecological and cohort study
£9,400
Dr Rolando Leiva-Granados, Faculty of Population Health Sciences    
Professor Sanjay Sisodiya, Faculty of Brain Sciences

Barriers to International Climate Justice for Children
£10,000
Professor Veronika Fikfak, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences   
Professor Colm O'Cinneide, Faculty of Laws
Dr Naomi Lott, Faculty of Laws

Pocket Gardens for Resilient Schools: Green Space Adaptation to Combat Urban Heat Islands impacts on children in Islington
£8,835.05     
Dr Joana Cruz, Population Health Sciences
Dr Kimon Krenz, The Bartlett

Displaceability and the climate crisis: addressing the connections
£9,995.77     
Dr Thaisa Comelli, Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences,
Professor Barbara Lipietz, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

Connecting Ocean Academics with Sensing Technology Academics in London (COASTAL)
£9,225     
Dr Helen Czerski, Faculty of Engineering Sciences
Professor Chris Brierley, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences

Can we go outside now?: The impact of climate unpredictability on children's play and wellbeing in central London Justice in Critical Mineral Futures
£9,380
Dr Marie-Annick Moreau, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
Dr Lakshmi Priya Rajendran, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

Justice in Critical Mineral Futures
£10,000
Dr Harshavardhan Jatkar, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
Dr Gerald Arhin, Faculty of Engineering Sciences

Disability-Inclusive Solutions for the Climate Crisis: Leveraging Urban, Infrastructure and Assistive Technology Research
£9,823     
Mr Iain McKinnon, Faculty of Engineering Sciences
Dr Liza Griffin, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

Addressing the knowledge gaps in Enhanced Rock Weathering for carbon sequestration
£7,735     
Dr Anastasia Basharina-Freshville, Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Dr Davide Motta, Faculty of Engineering Sciences

Young People’s Understanding of the Health Impacts of Climate Change
£9,500     
Mrs. Dima Khazem, IOE - Faculty of Education and Society
Dr Mike Rowson, Faculty of Population Health Sciences

Displaced by Drought and Deshielo: Evaluating the Escalation and Experiences of Venezuelan Climate Refugeeism
£10,000     
Dr Rebecca Irons, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
Dr Johanna Amaya-Panche, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences