Sustainability Leadership Awards 2025

Adriele Prina Mello

Assistant Professor

Simon Carroll

Chief Technical Officer

Cillian Gately

Research Assistant

Adriele has been a leader in driving Green Lab initiatives at TTMI. As a member of the Green Labs Committee, Adriele is leading the Cold Storage Project, which aims to reduce energy consumption and improve the efficiency of cold storage. As part of this initiative, he is implementing significant changes to cold storage rooms and measuring their impact on energy usage.

As Chief Technical Officer, Simon has played a pivotal role in advancing sustainability within the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering. He has successfully led efforts to achieve Green Lab Certification for nearly all the labs in the department, demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainable laboratory practices. Simon has also collaborated closely with the Health and Safety team to develop an effective system for recycling pipette tip boxes, reducing plastic waste across the department.

As part of Cillian’s work, he has taken the role of Green Lab Responsible Person at the NatPro Centre to drive the group in pursuing more sustainable practices. He drove the most recent My Green Lab recertification of the Centre, while he is an active Green Lab advocate at TCD and also taking part of national engagements at the Irish Green Labs.

Keith Alden

Research Operations Manager

Keith is the Operations Manager of TBSI, the largest research building on campus, which accounts for approximately a quarter of the college’s total electricity consumption. He has been a strong advocate for sustainability initiatives, playing a key role in improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact. One of Keith’s major contributions has been leading a -80°C Freezer Study and procuring a nitrogen generator for TBSI which will  reduce the carbon footprint associated with the transportation of liquid nitrogen to the institute.

Jess Leonard

Science Librarian

Jess is currently a D Ed candidate where she is examining how creative practices can help communities learn about climate change and manage climate anxiety. In her work as a librarian in TCD she has developed a series of talks, and workshops, on the geopolitics, ethics and global heating of GenAI for students and staff. In addition her work with the NGO Fibreshed supports a network of social enterprises to craft a regenerative Irish textile system based on local fibre, local dyes & local labour.

Dymphna Kenny

Project Manager

Trinity Development & Alumni

In 2024, Dymphna established a working group in TDA to assess how sustainable their practices were. The working group, driven by Dymphna, met with colleagues to audit existing practices, discuss more sustainable ways of working, and identify improvements.  Examples of what’s been achieved so far include the removal of Nespresso machine from the Alumni Lounge, introduction of plants in the office, clear signage for recycling, improved waste management, encouraging colleagues to participate in tree planting in Santry, the purchase of keep cups for staff, book swaps, a staff presentation from VOICE, and review of printing.  The team are now working on a Green Charter for the office. 

Tom Hegarty - Alumni

Freddie Fallon -UG 

William Reynolds - Alumni

Maryam Yabo - PG

Orla Fitzgerald - UG

Student interns were appointed in October 2023 ‘to provide a strong student voice in the development of a module on sustainable development for all students and a plan for its implementation’. Themes integrated into the module which were developed by students included: mining for cobalt in the Congo, climate migration further to sea-level rise in Kiribati, and advocating for restriction of disposable vapes. The students were an integral part of the development of the ESD module and the ‘beta testing process’. They were also involved in the roll-out of a full pilot of the staff initiative in May-July 2024

Cuisle Forde

Assistant Professor,

School of Medicine

Catherine Darker

Professor in Health Services

Lena Doherty

Faculty Administrator,

Faculty of Health Sciences

Cuisle created a Healthy Campus Online course that leads thinking in the international Healthy Campus network on systems-based health promotion. She drew together a network of collaborators across Ireland on a tiny budget to build best practice in Healthy Campus. She has also been recently appointed an ESD Fellow.

Catherine is the inaugural academic lead of the Healthy Trinity committee and a very long-standing supporter of health promotion in Trinity through many projects including the Healthy Trinity Online Tool. Most recently Catherine led the development of the HEA Healthy Campus tool a highly challenging collaborative project she completed in less than three months with almost no budget. Her ability to bring together networks of collaborators is exceptional.

Lena is a founder member of the Healthy Trinity Committee and acted as Committee co-ordinator for approx. ten years. She has contributed her intelligence, ideas, diligence and energy to Healthy Trinity and through her role and reputation in the Faculty of Health Science has enabled contributions from health science academics to Healthy Trinity.

Floating Wind Team

David Igoe, Dave McAuley, Rui Teixeira (staff)

Sean O'Connor, Jeremy Browne (UG students)

The floating offshore wind team are exploring the huge opportunity for the decarbonisation of Irelands electricity grid, by investigating innovative offshore platform design for renewable wind infrastructure as well as raising awareness amongst undergraduate engineers about the technology. So far, the team has secured funding from the ESB and have developed a model to demonstrate new and innovative ways in which to increase efficiency of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines.

Micheal Lynham

E3 Marketing Manager

Michael has been involved in developing, organising, and promoting E3’s Balanced Solutions For A Better World Online Webinar Series, which has already garnered over 1,000 registrations for its first four events. This series brings together leading experts to explore critical sustainability challenges, bridging science, policy, & practice. He also volunteers with The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, designing & delivering weekend sustainability training as part of the Skillnet Ireland initiative. Courses include: Route & Load Planning & Optimisation, to reduce carbon emissions in freight; and Sustainable Supply Chain Management, enabling professionals to integrate sustainability into logistics & operations.

Lauren Jones Brennan

Final Year Law Student

Lauren Jones Brennan is Ireland’s United Nations Youth Delegate where she represents young people from across Ireland, for integration of youth perspectives into global sustainability policy, as well as championing inclusive climate action.  Lauren has shaped sustainability discussions at major international forums, including the Summit of the Future, the UN General Assembly and COP29. She will further advance sustainability policy at key upcoming UN conferences, advocating for environmental justice, gender equality, and sustainable governance. Beyond policy, she delivers sustainability workshops for Green Schools, Concern, and GOAL, empowering young people to drive environmental change.

David Horan

Assistant Professor

TBS

David Horan has been involved in progressing sustainability across Trinity Business school and has conducted an audit of all modules to see where sustainability is being taught, identify gaps at a course and department level, and address ways in which sustainability can be more robustly integrated. David has also introduced a new module  “International Governance and Sustainable Business”, which has a comprehensive approach to addressing the SDGs. It has given students tools that go beyond academia, with the ability to analyse corporate progress on the SDGs and how to use those tools to identify and address other grand challenges. David has been a driving force of change for the better in TBS, and has pushed to integrate sustainability seamlessly throughout the entirety of the school.

Catherine Farrell

Senior Research Fellow

TBS

Catherine has developed a new module ‘The Business of Nature Positive’ for 4th year undergraduate students in Trinity Business School.  This is a truly interdisciplinary module, introducing business students to relevant business/nature concepts and pairing groups of students with businesses to help both students and businesses to understand the implications of EU and national nature laws.  This is a hugely impactful module and the feedback from students has been astonishing.  Her nominator said “I am deeply grateful that Catherine is educating our students about the crucial links between business and nature and could not recommend her highly enough for this award.”  Catherine also engages widely with businesses, with government departments, with nature advocacy groups and with the media through both her research and her teaching.

Luzimar Da Conceicao Pereira

Executive Officer,

Trinity Global

Luzimar is a leader and advocate for sustainability, social impact, and women’s empowerment through her role as the leader of The Women of Brazil Group, Ireland (Grupo Mulheres do Brasil , Irlanda). Since its founding in 2020, the Ireland Chapter has played a crucial role in supporting Brazilian immigrant women, fostering personal and professional development while positively impacting both Brazilian and Irish communities. One of Luzimar’s most impactful initiatives is the “Too Good to Keep” project, which is a sustainability-driven clothing exchange and donation program. Now in its 6th edition, the project has directly impacted over 500 people, over six events, the project has exchanged and donated approximately 10,200 clothing items. The initiative not only promotes sustainable fashion through clothing reuse but also provides essential support to Brazilian women who are victims of domestic violence, ensuring they receive necessary clothing for themselves and their children as they rebuild their lives in Ireland. 

Siobhán McQuaid

Associate Director,

Centre for Social Innovation

Siobhán was a founding member of Trinity Business School's Centre for Social Innovation. In her eight years in Trinity, she has led coordination of two transdisciplinary EU projects on nature-based solutions, the development of nature-based enterprises, and creation of a nature-positive economy.  Partnering with the School of Natural Sciences and more than 35 academic, public, private, and civil society partners, she has taken an embedded transdisciplinary approach in her work - integrating knowledge from multiple academic disciplines and non-academic stakeholder communities, to address complex social and environmental challenges. 

Christina Lysaght,

Executive Officer,

Trinity Research in Social Sciences

Rike Held

Event Support Officer,
Trinity Long Room Hub

Christina & Rike has been doing phenomenal work with the students & researchers in TRiSS and the Trinity Long Room Hubs well as pushing general College procedures to overthink/overhaul the current status quo and raise awareness around sustainability. Not only have they changed the office procedures leading to sustainable choices in the department but also set up a working group among event organisers in Trinity to work out a sustainable approach towards greener events.

Jonathan Hodgers

Teaching Fellow

Music

Jonathan is the designer and lecturer of Ireland’s first undergraduate module on music and climate change, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership in integrating eco-musicological inquiry into higher education. Running since 2022–23, this 5-ECTS module explores the intersections of music and climate action, addressing the industry’s environmental footprint, sustainable touring and festival practices, and artistic responses to climate change. His module equips students with both a critical understanding of sustainability in music and the tools to drive meaningful change in their future careers. He also took part in the ESD professional development module with a view to its adaptation by the School of Creative Arts and he was recently appointed an ESD Fellow, where he is helping to shape Trinity’s ESD Strategy and Implementation Plan.

Inmaculada Arnedillo-Sánchez

Associate Professor

School of Computer Science & Statistics

Inmaculada Arnedillo-Sánchez integrated a Green Computing/Sustainability requirement into all Software Engineering (SwEng) projects. By embedding sustainability directly into coursework, she has demonstrated that real-world application is an effective teaching tool.  Her approach has empowered students to recognize the critical role software engineering plays in sustainability, encouraging them to develop, analyse, and implement greener solutions. As a result, students have calculated the energy, cost, and carbon impact of their decisions and influenced their industry mentors to adopt more sustainable IT practices. Notably, projects like NiteOut with Amazon have even driven sustainability efforts within external businesses.  This initiative has fostered collaboration between academia and industry, engaging 309 students, over 50 IT mentors, 24 companies, and 15 demonstrators.

Amulya Ganti Sanagavaram

UG student – Economics, Social Studies & Business

Amulya Sanagavaram is a final year undergraduate in Trinity and has been active in developing TextiCycle - a campaign to reduce the amount of textile waste that goes to landfill or incineration and/or is dumped on developing countries.  The campaign is focused on the lack of transparency in the textile recycling supply chain and the need for explicit government policy on textile waste.  Amulya has been working on this with a PG student and two activists and they are conducting practical research to track garments deposited with the bring-schemes of major retailers. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community and has been a guest speaker at a number  of events.

C-FAARER Team

Prof Nessa O’Connor &

Dr Dharm Kapletia

The C-FAARER Team are a multidisciplinary team led by Dr Dharm Kapletia (Trinity Business School) and Prof Nessa O’Connor (School of Natural Sciences). They brought together ocean farmers, researchers, innovators and policy makers from across Ireland with the goal of creating a movement to champion environmentally regenerative and economically sustainable aquaculture and promotion of community-led regenerative seaweed farming. After 18 months of engagement, the Irish Seaweed Association was launched last month. As a spin-off initiative of C-FAARER, the Irish Seaweed Association, supports responsible aquaculture to strengthen coastal communities by encouraging the adoption of sustainable practices through research, education and partnership.

Nature Based Solutions EduWORLD Project Team

Dr Maria Gallo & Dr Conor Dowling

Dr Conor Dowling and Dr Maria Gallo lead the EU-funded Horizon Europe project,  Nature Based Solutions (NBS) EduWORLD. They  have developed a freely available teaching resource of 50 NBS teaching units, comprising full teaching notes, presentation slides, and links to additional resources for each unit.  Their work demonstrates a deep understanding of the critical role that NBS play in climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and urban resilience. Through their continued dedication to educational innovation, Conor and Maria have built a strong foundation for sustainability leaders.

James McLoughlin

Chief Technical Officer

Physics

James McLoughlin led on the LED lighting project and My Green Lab certification within the School of Physics (SOP). James led the creation of a website promoting LED upgrades with case studies, educational posters, and a switching calculator, empowering other areas to adopt energy-efficient lighting. This project was chosen to represent Trinity at the Uni Eco Green Challenges in Utrecht, earning international recognition and enabled transition of SNIAM building to LED lighting in 2024. This collaboration with Estates and Facilities has already led to significant reductions in CO2 emissions and cost savings.

Lir Theatre – Green Theatre Production for Peribanez

Em Kelleher, Alis Flattery, Jen Kelly, David Farrelly, Amelia Hauer

UG students, Em Kelleher, Alis Flattery, Jen Kelly, David Farrelly and Amelia Hauer worked on the second green theatre production Peribanez (the 17th century Golden-Age Spanish classic comedy drama). The team had to implement sustainable construction practices (with the majority of sets, scenes, costumes and props from repurposed sources and recycled afterwards), reducing waste in the rehearsal rooms, and working with LED lighting to create a natural colour.