Newly Enhanced CU-Boulder Green Labs Program Structure: increasing scientist engagement with the help of passionate graduate students hired to lead inside their own departments

Kathryn Ramirez-Aguilar, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder

Engagement of scientists in conservation on university research campuses primarily relies on 'good will' on the part of the scientists rather than financial motivations. This stems from a lack of sustainability connections with federal grant dollars awarded to scientists and a disconnect on university (and government) research campuses between resources consumed (energy, water, floor space) and lab finances.

Since 2009, the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder) Green Labs Program has been building a network of engaged scientists largely based on 'good will' by enrolling lab members interested in the efficient use of resources to be volunteer 'Lab Eco-Leaders' representative for their CU-Boulder labs. As this network has grown, keeping up with requests from labs and demands of the program to maintain and grow engagement of Lab Eco-Leaders has become increasingly difficult because of time limitations on the part of the of the Green Labs Program manager and undergraduate student staff. As a result, in 2012, the idea was piloted of hiring graduates students staff to be 'Team Leads' within their own departments.

Since department or chair approval was required before offering these positions to graduate students, the positions established or increased social support for the program with the faculty leadership of those departments before the pilot even began. Four team leads were hired for the pilot in four different departments or buildings. Overall, the team leads have proven to be an important and critical enhancement to the CU-Boulder Green Labs Program structure. Critical because, as insiders, these graduate students are playing vital roles in promoting a culture of sustainability in their departments, through communication, collaboration with lab members and staff, leadership of the Lab Eco-Leaders, and identifying/implementing projects specific to their department's type of science. Already this idea has graduated from pilot status and has become a permanent part of the CU-Boulder Green Labs Program structure with permanent funding.

This presentation will include additional information about the role of the graduate student team leads, examples of the impact they have already had in their department, and our expectations for the future.

Biography:

Kathy Ramirez-Aguilar is the manager of the CU Green Labs Program at the Univ. of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder), a program she has been building & creating since 2009. She has a doctorate in Analytical Chemistry and 15 years of laboratory research experience within the fields of Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, & Organic Chemistry. Working as a research scientist, she saw a real need for a program to engage scientists in conservation. With the birth of her twin daughters & her hope for their future, grew her passion to promote change & create a program focused on resource conservation in labs which could serve as a model for other campuses to adopt.

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