International Women’s Day – UOG Women Making Waves in Sustainability
8th March 2022
Each year the 8th March marks International Women’s Day – a chance to celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality.
At the University of Gloucestershire, we have some really inspiring women (students, staff and graduates) who are making waves in sustainability and showing that gender is not a barrier to creating real change.
First, a few of our current and recent students…
Imogen Reeves and Courtney Brodrick – received the 2021 National LDA Design Bursary Award
Taking part in the 2021 LDA Design Competition, they designed imaginative responses to the climate and nature crises by making places where people live more resilient and innovative. Find out more about their work.
Harriet Lewis and Holly McCann – received Highly Commended at the 2021 Earth Island Solutions Awards
Graphic Design students, Harriet and Holly were responded to a live industry brief: ‘Sustainable Futures and the Ageing Community’, challenging them to think about how to deliver social good for communities through design, while also identifying and supporting one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Find out more about their work.
Elizabeth Rimmer – South West winner of the 2021 National Women in Property Award
For this prestigious award, Elizabeth’s entry comprised two design projects, including a sustainable public space design of St James Square in Cheltenham, pictured below.
PhD students at UOG are also making waves in sustainability…
Philippa Simmonds – won 1st prize at the UKRI’s 2021 research storytelling event
A research student with the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) based at the University, Phillipa is a social scientist whose work is focused around livestock farming in relation to climate change. Having achieved this award, Philippa’s inspiring story has since been made into a video – have a watch below!
Women graduates and staff are achieving great things too…
It’s fantastic to have many women graduates from UOG now undertaking innovative work in sustainability, and we also have many inspirational women employed at the University who are having significant impacts on the sustainability agenda. There are many more than we’ve listed here, but here’s just a few we wanted to celebrate today!
Amy Spencer – Quality and Standards Officer at the UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
Since graduating in 2008, Amy went on to work at QAA. Inspired by her experience at UOG, Amy is now working in an innovative team to improve sustainability communication across the Higher Education sector, producing guidelines on embedding sustainability in the curriculum.
Professor Julie Ingram – Professor of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture at UOG
Julie specialises in agricultural knowledge exchange, sustainable agriculture and innovation systems and processes. She works on many important sustainability topics in farming and agriculture, including a fascinating project she leads to investigate the impacts of plastics on soil health, along with co-workers Professor Jane Mills and Dr Charlotte Chivers.
Professor Jane Mills – Associate Professor in Agri-Environmental Behaviours at UOG
Jane is currently leading a project for profitable and sustainable crop production in Europe through SoilCare. Through this work, Jane is aiming to identify and evaluate promising soil-improving cropping systems and techniques that increase the profitability and sustainability of agriculture across Europe.
Professor Janet Dwyer – Professor of Rural Policy at UOG
Janet is internationally-recognised for her expertise in the fields of sustainable rural development, and agricultural and environmental policy at UK and EU levels. With over 30 years’ experience in applied research, Janet also sits on a variety of government-sponsored and NGO advisory groups and has led many projects with businesses and institutions, including Defra and the European Commission.
We’ve shared with you just a few of the UOG women change-makers in sustainability, but there are many more that we could have listed, and no doubt many of you reading this blog who will go on to create change as well.
Thank you for reading – enjoy celebrating International Women’s Day!