Leveraging Support From Champion-Leaders to Grow a Successful Green Labs Program

Christina Greever, My Green Lab
Ryan Weeks, Johns Hopkins University

Identifying internal institutional stakeholders to champion lab sustainability objectives can make all the difference in the success of a sustainability program. These allies can aid in rapid transformation of small pilot initiatives into fully supported programs when we find them in positions of leadership at our research institutions. For research faculty in academia and executives and managers in the biotech/pharmaceutical sector, motivations for embracing lab sustainability programs are diverse.

Through the eyes of My Green Lab, which has engaged hundreds of labs around the world in our programs, and Johns Hopkins University, with its newly established green labs program and success at bringing together a cohort of 15 labs to do Green Lab Certification together, we share stories of successful engagement with these leaders, what motivates them to leverage My Green Lab's programs to meet their institutional goals, and what has resonated most with these individuals in leadership positions. How do we engage those in power to take up the mantle of laboratory sustainability and spread it far within our organizations and beyond? Based on interviews with our colleagues, we share a breadth of perspectives, shedding light on leveraging tools and programs, and the power of knowing your audience, to drive sustainable science around the world.

This presentation will enable Green Labs professionals and other lab sustainability advocates to more easily communicate with those in leadership positions, find institutional allies, and work toward more sustainable labs in partnership.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the variety of motivating factors that drive institutional leadership to embrace sustainability initiatives;
• Develop a broader understanding of what motivates sustainability champions in leadership to engage with Green Labs initiatives;
• Identify key ways to communicate and promote lab sustainability programs for greater leadership engagement; and
• Learn how to be an effective sustainability champion in a leadership role.

Biographies:

Christina is the Sustainability Program Manager for the nonprofit organization My Green Lab where she supports the Green Lab Certification Program, manages the International Laboratory Freezer Challenge, and provides subject matter expertise to the team. She works with scientific teams all over the world to motivate behavior change for greater sustainability at the lab bench.

Ryan Weeks, PhD, is the Green Labs Specialist at Johns Hopkins University. He leads the growing Green Lab program to support all JHU research campuses toward the goals of reducing resource use, minimizing lab waste, and fostering sustainable lab practices. He uses his research background to advocate that sustainable science leads to better science.

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