CCS Newsletter 4/11
Halloween’s gone and Bridgemas is coming…
Want to join a Plant-Based Formal? Come to Clare College on 14th November by signing up on this form by today!
The first session for the Climate Seminar Series is coming up later today! Register here to learn about the relationship between US Constitution Law and the Climate Crisis
Join our marine conservation talk this Wednesday 6pm at Queens’ Lecture Theatre in Emma to more about Love the Oceans and their work!
Join us on Thursday 6pm for a panel on Chile, Fast Fashion and Sustainability!
Sign-up here to give a Climate Tech Impulse Talk at our next Climate Tech Coffee Chat this term!
We also have a talk on sustainable fashion (with free food!) next Thursday and a panel on local conservation efforts next Friday!
Working in a lab? Cambridge Zero is hosting a Sustainable Labs competition! Scroll down to the bottom of this email for more information.
💜 from Haley and the rest of the CCS Committee
📅 Upcoming Events
November 4th, 5-7pm: Climate Law Seminar Series - The Challenges of Constitutional Law in the United States for Climate Lawmaking @ Pavilion Room, Hughes Hall Register for the event here!
In the first event in the Cambridge Seminar Series on Law and the Climate Crisis, Professor Richard Lazarus will discuss the links between U.S. constitutional law and climate change. Come to Hughes Hall to hear Professor Lazarus speak at 5pm on 4 November, the eve of the Presidential election, and stay for free drinks and networking afterwards.
November 6th, 6.30pm: Semi-Artificial Photosynthesis for Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Chemical Synthesis @ Old Library, Darwin College
Join for a talk by Professor Erwin Reisner on how synthetic biology and chemistry can contribute to the production of sustainable aviation fuels!
November 6th, 6pm: Marine Conservation Talk @ Queen's Lecture Theatre, Emmanuel College
Join us for an exciting Marine Conservation Talk featuring Love the Oceans, a groundbreaking non-profit on a mission to establish Jangamo as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) through evidence-based research and community-led initiatives. Known for its immersive expeditions that prepare students for careers in marine biology, Love the Oceans offers hands-on experience, career advice, and opportunities to collect dissertation data. Also joining the panel is a marine mammal researcher and the Head Curator for Mammals at the Natural History Museum, offering deep insights into marine conservation and biodiversity. Keep an eye on this space for more information - don’t miss this engaging discussion!
November 7th, 6pm: Chile, Fast Fashion and Sustainability @ Cynthia Beerbower Room, Newnham
We welcome panellists: Ian Berry (documentary maker and artist), Erika Larsen (British Embassy in Santiago Climate Change Officer), Barbara Pino (Academic and director of the Fashion System Observatory), Barbara Penafiel (Chilean Ministry of Environment), and Franklin Zepeda (CEO Ecofibra).
The Atacama Desert clothes deposit will be a focal point of the discussion in order to raise awareness about the direct detrimental implications of our society's destructive fast fashion usage. We look to discuss paths forward regarding the fast fashion crisis and general sustainability initiatives in Chile in order to hear from the perspective of different stakeholders about the current climate crisis and responses. The aim of the discussion will be to raise awareness about these topics to communicate global scale issues using a variety of expertise from the different panellists.
November 14th, 12pm: Total Ethics Fashion and the Climate Crisis @ Old Library, Darwin
Emma Håkansson, author and founder of Collective Fashion Justice, will be giving a talk about the environmental and ethical impact of the fashion industry, and what we can do about it. This is a hybrid event with Emma speaking online but it will be hosted physically in the Old Library at Darwin College, with food provided by vegan bites.
November 15th, 6-7.30pm: Local Conservation Panel
We are hosting a panel with people from Pesticides Free Cambridge, On the Verge Cambridge, Badgers Trust, and Friends of the Cam, to showcase the incredible work local conservation charities are doing in the area. Discover the diversity in conservation, ranging from protecting badgers to sustainable food production!
November 16th, 1pm: Climate Tech Coffee Chat @ Roost Brewery, Jesus College Fill in this form to register your interest in joining the event and/or in presenting a Climate Tech Impulse Talk!
We’re launching a monthly Climate Tech Coffee Chat this term! The next one is on Saturday 16th November at 1pm in the Roost Brewery of Jesus College. Come along, learn from our Climate Tech Impulse Talks, chat about different Climate Tech topics and connect with others in the field.
What to expect from the event and how to present a Climate Tech Impulse Talk?
Each session kicks off with 5-minute Climate Tech Impulse Talks from students and researchers from the Cambridge ecosystem on a Climate Tech topic. The talks can cover any type of research or simply a topic someone is passionate about and eager to share! Following the talks, we’ll transition into an open discussion format, giving you the chance to dive deeper into the talk topics, brainstorm new ideas, and chat over coffee. If you are interested in presenting a 5-Minute Climate Tech Impulse Talk about your research or technology development, please fill in this form.
What is Climate Tech and why come to the Coffee Chats?
Climate Tech (others call it green tech or clean tech) is the engineering and technology answer to the climate crisis. Climate Tech aims to leverage advancements in science, engineering, and technology across fields like biology, chemistry, physics, maths, and computer science to create innovative solutions for climate change prevention, mitigation, and adaptation. In our monthly Climate Tech Coffee Chats, we aim to build a community in Cambridge for students and researchers who are enthusiastic about their field and passionate about sustainability. If you would like to meet like-minded people and learn more about how the research and tech being developed in your field can help to fight the climate crisis, you should come along!
🧪 Sustainable Labs Competition
Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy are offering the chance to gain up to £2,000 of funding to implement your own sustainable laboratory solutions via a Sustainable Labs Competition.
Written applications for the first round are open until 9am GMT on Monday 11th November, suggesting a way to reduce the environmental impact of your lab’s current work and research and its potential for impact. Participants from laboratories across the University of Cambridge may form groups of any size to enter.
Applications will be shortlisted by a panel of expert judges after marking on:
Potential for impact (up to 20 points)
Innovation and creativity of your solution (up to 5 points)
Scalability of the potential solution’s impact across other labs, within the university and beyond (up to 5 points)
Potential return on investment with respect to cost vs. impact (up to 5 points)
Feasibility of implementation within your lab’s context (up to 5 points)
See full details, and competition terms here: https://www.zero.cam.ac.uk/who-we-are/blog/news/sustainable-labs-competition