Campus-Wide Engagement for Conservation in Labs

Kathy Ramirez-Aguilar, University of Colorado-Boulder

What is needed to have a campus-wide, engaged community in lab conservation? Our group considered which campus stakeholders need to be involved from scientists to EH&S (Environmental Health and Safety) to Facilities Management to Campus Leadership. We focused on suggestions of proven projects to start with when efforts on a campus are just beginning.   We are also focusing on providing suggestions for program structure, what constitutes engaged stakeholders, and ways to build a program and relationships.  

Learning Objectives

  • Learn of strategies to engage laboratory staff, safety personnel and facility management in sustainability.
  • How to develop programs that begin and grow from the user level.
  • View visual techniques and learn about real observations that lead to success with principle investigators and other senior lab managers.

Biography:

Kathy Ramirez-Aguilar, Ph.D., manages the CU Green Labs Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder, a program she has been building & creating since 2009. She has a doctorate in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Colorado-Boulder, a BS in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary, 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.

 

Note: I2SL did not edit or revise abstract or biography text. Abstracts and biographies are displayed as submitted by the author(s).