A conversation with Kerstin Hermuth-Kleinschmidt about the importance of sustainability and how to start a sustainable lab
In this episode, Kerstin and Jo discuss sustainable research practices, including reducing energy consumption, minimizing plastic waste, and optimizing data management. They also discuss the importance of equity in global research and provide tips for researchers to make small changes in their daily practices to reduce their carbon footprint. Kerstin introduces the Ecomapping™ method as a tool for conducting environmental impact assessments in labs, and they both emphasize the need for conscious and considerate approaches to sustainability in research.
Hermuth-Kleinschmidt, NIUB Sustainability Consulting
Kerstin Hermuth-Kleinschmidt graduated in chemistry and holds a PhD in microbiology from the university of Freiburg. She worked for several years in sales and technical customer service in the life science industry, before she turned her attention to the topic of sustainability.
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As an independent consultant, speaker and author of publications on various aspects of sustainability, her focus is now on the implementation and monitoring of sustainability processes and the practical implementation of sustainability in scientific work and research. She offers workshops and lectures on specific aspects of sustainability in laboratory and research work and the context of life sciences companies as well as individual support. Since 2017, she has also been teaching at the Center for Applied Cultural Studies (ZAK) at KIT Karlsruhe as part of the "Sustainable Development" degree program. As a member of EGNATON since 2014, she has contributed to the development of EGNATON-CERT, a certification system for sustainable laboratory technologies, and is now part of the audit team.
Website: https://niub-nachhaltigkeitsberatung.de/en/
LinkedIn: /in/kerstin-hermuth-kleinschmidt/
What is your favorite animal and why? Cats - they are so independent
The Ecomapping™ method - a way to help laboratories to define their actions to a more sustainable lab: https://niub-nachhaltigkeitsberatung.de/en/2022/06/13/ecomapping-an-easy-way-to-make-your-lab-work-more-sustainable/
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.14.476337v1 https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/39/3/msac034/6526403
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