Environmental Sustainability Showcase

This Showcase is free to attend and will take place in person. It is open to UoM staff and students.

Join the Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health (FBMH) for our first Environmental Sustainability (ES) Showcase event.

The event will be hosted by Dr Maggy Fostier (UoM), Associate Dean for Environmental Sustainability, FBMH, and will showcase the Faculty's current work on Environmental Sustainability.

We will be joined by keynote speaker Martin Farley (UCL), a Sustainable Research Adviser at UCL and the Director for Green Lab Associates, who will discuss Environmental Sustainability in the laboratory and the measures we can take to be more sustainable in our research and teaching & learning activities.

The afternoon will also include fun activities and competitions for both lab and non-lab audience, some of which you can enter prior to the showcase (details below), and presentations from Environmental Sustainability project students.

We look forward to seeing you there for what will be a truly inspiring event!

The event will take place in person, Michael Smith Building, Lecture Theatre and foyer, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road

Should you have any specific requirements, accessibility needs or other specific requests or queries, please contact [email protected].

• Welcome: Dr Maggy Fostier, Associate Dean for Environmental Sustainability, FBMH
• Keynote: Martin Farley, a Sustainable Research Adviser at UCL and the Director for Green Lab Associates, followed by Q&A session
• Activities in the foyer and the quad
• Presentations by project students
• Competitions and Prizes

• The Best Repurposed Plastic Idea Competition: Do you reuse plastic items that are no longer needed/useable for their original purpose? What is the best or most creative way you have repurposed a plastic item? Take a photo (or a video) of the repurposed plastic item and share it for a show and tell by uploading it to our qualtrics survey.

We will look at everyone’s ideas together during the event and let the audience vote for the best one. The prizes will include Beeswax wraps and shopping vouchers worth £30 for the 1st place winner, £20 for the 2nd place winner, and £10 for 3rd place winner.

• Fill in the tip-boxes competition: How quickly can you fill in a tip box? During the showcase we will see who can fill in the tip boxes the fastest. If you use the manually refillable tip-boxes in your lab, this is your chance to practice before the event!

• An idea board: We will have a board where you will be invited to share your ideas for Environmental Sustainability, as well as what you’d like to see or read about in our Faculty ES newsletter. So share your ideas with us on the day.

Dr Maggy Fostier is the Senior Lecturer in Developmental Genetics at The University of Manchester, and the first appointed Associate Dean for Environmental Sustainability (ES), Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH). She has a passion for ES, and leads ES in the Faculty, including Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) Programme - a UK wide accreditation system for laboratories, and 6R programme- UoM tool which she founded with Dr Ruth Grady to manage plastic sustainably at home and on campus, or in the labs.

As an influential member of the University’s community, Maggy works closely with colleagues and students to promote a culture of sustainability and to develop new strategies for reducing the institution's environmental footprint. Through her research, teaching, and leadership, Maggy is making a significant impact on the field of environmental sustainability, and inspiring others to join her in the fight for a more sustainable future.

Martin Farley is a Sustainable Research Adviser at UCL, and the Director for Green Lab Associates. He is a leading expert in the field of sustainability, and the developer of the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) Programme - the leading global standard in sustainable laboratory operations.

Martin was raised between the US and France, and his passion for environmental sustainability led him to become Europe’s first full-time sustainable laboratory specialist at the University of Edinburgh. Following this, he moved to London where he founded the Green Lab Associates, and also established the sustainable labs program at King's College London. This led him to be recognised with the Green Gown - Sustainability Professional award. He then became the Sustainable Research Adviser at UCL and developed the LEAF Programme which is implemented in multiple institutions across the UK, including The University of Manchester.

Martin currently consults for a variety of institutions and shares his ideas and knowledge in the field of Environmental Sustainability. His recent publications include 'How green is your science? The race to make laboratories sustainable,’ published in Nature Reviews on 30 June 2022. His passion and dedication to creating a more sustainable future make him a respected and influential figure in the sustainability community.

Host or Publisher Social Responsibility and Public Engagement Team, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester