International Women's Day 2022 - Celebrating the women of BSEER | Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources

International Women's Day 2022 - Celebrating the women of BSEER

8 March 2022

For International Women's Day we asked some women from BSEER about how they got where they are today, what they鈥檙e most proud of and what advice they鈥檇 offer to other women working in a similar role, read about their experiences below.

Around the world听people are marking听. We are joining them by celebrating the contributions and achievements of women in our department.听

Melanie Moser

Staffing Administrator
Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources

Melanie is a staffing administrator who works across the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources.

鈥�My advice to women working in a similar role as mine in a university is listen to the people around you. Join HR networks, communities of practice, ask senior or junior members of your team for their experiences, you can learn from anyone.鈥�

Dr Abbie Chapman

Research Fellow, Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems
果冻影院 Institute for Sustainable Resources

Abbie is a biodiversity scientist currently working on the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems () project, which is听investigating the environmental and health impacts of dietary changes in South Africa, India, and the UK.

鈥�There鈥檚 always more time and more work but there鈥檚 only one you, so remember to look after yourself mentally and physically鈥� Some of the best scientists I鈥檝e met manage to maintain a healthy work-life balance but it听听takes being strict with yourself and others to treat time as the precious commodity that it is.鈥�

Emily Jennings

Centre Manager ERBE and Centres for Doctoral Training
果冻影院 Energy Institute

Emily is the Centre Manager for ERBE and LoLo CDT鈥檚, which are part of the Energy Institute, and focus on energy resilience of the build environment. She鈥檚 also a BSEER green champion.

鈥�I鈥檝e found that trying to see the benefit of the elements of your role that you don鈥檛 necessarily enjoy (e.g. finance-based tasks, having difficult conversations, managing conflict) as learning opportunities, instead of shying away from them, has made me much more confident.鈥�

Dr Katherine Curran

Associate Professor
果冻影院 Institute for Sustainable Heritage

Katherine is leading an ERC Starting Grant project called COMPLEX which explores the degradation of plastic-based museum artefacts

鈥�It鈥檚 a clich茅 but I am often struck by how often gifted women write off their achievements and see themselves as inadequate鈥 think we could all be kinder to ourselves and take time to reflect on how far we have come.鈥�

Dr Gesche Huebner

Lecturer in Sustainable and Healthy Built Environments
果冻影院 Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering and 果冻影院 Energy Institute

Gesche is a lecturer at IEDE and a researcher at the EI working on the link between mental health and climate change. She听is also an Equality, Diversion & Inclusion lead at BSEER.

鈥�Work does not own you and you don鈥檛 owe work 鈥� that is, when it comes to important decisions, base them on your circumstances, preferences, and wishes, not on what you think is good or appropriate for your workplace.鈥�

Dr Isabela Butnar

Senior Researcher in Bioenergy Systems
果冻影院 Institute for Sustainable Resources

Isabela joined 果冻影院 in 2016, she is a researcher currently investigating sustainable transition pathways to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

鈥�I think my main advice would be to trust yourselves that you can follow and deliver your dreams, even when it all feels overwhelming, and you feel you run out of brains at the end of the day. Learn to prioritise and don鈥檛 hesitate to delegate and empower others on the way.鈥�

Prof Maria Kamargianni

Professor of Transport Systems Innovation and Sustainability
Head of听

Maria is head of听, a research group which focuses on new mobility technologies for passenger and freight and their integration with the existing transport systems.

鈥�I am proud of several things about my work. Getting funding for doing research, publishing papers, supervising doctoral students, teaching, supporting my department, are all things that make me happy. However, the thing that makes me the most proud, is combining motherhood with a demanding schedule in academia; that I do not always achieve, but at least I try.鈥�

Joanna Payne

Teaching Programmes Administrator
The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources

Joanna Payne is a teaching administrator working across The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources. She is also a BSEER Green Champion.

鈥�be your own cheerleader. Remember to pat yourself on the back and not be your own worst critic, proactively use constructive feedback to learn and develop, take time to focus on your wellbeing (mentally and physically) to create a healthy work/life balance and crucially, learn when to say yes and when to say no. I find this applies to all aspects of life, not just work.鈥�

Sahar Nava

Doctoral Researcher听/听Senior PGTA
果冻影院 Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering

Sahar is a Doctoral Researcher and Senior Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, her research aims to explore a participatory approach to developing a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Analysis听framework for the appraisal of estate听regeneration schemes.

鈥�We have come so far, believe in yourself and don鈥檛 give up, things will get better."