Green labs NL was started in 2021 by a few members of the Dutch Scientific Community who realized they shared a passion for making their science more sustainable. The group aim to build a wider community in The Netherlands to help
encourage individual scientists, lab groups and whole institutes to go greener when it comes to how we use our lab spaces, and the way we do science. The platform can aid by sharing resources and information, but also by bringing
other like-minded scientists together.
It is run by scientists, and is fully non-profit. There is no CEO, CSO, … It is kept alive by the scientific community!
The website is currently maintained by Ben Nicolet.
Do you have an idea that you would like to share? Do you have improvements for the site? Or anything else?
Our team of motivated scientists:
Estel Collado Camps
My name is Estel Collado Camps, and I’m a junior postdoc at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen. My PhD research focuses on the use of Cell-Penetrating Peptides to improve the uptake of targeting agents aimed at the molecular imaging and theranostics
of cancers and non-cancerous tumours.
Many researchers are passionate about making life better and healthier. For me, progress in health is not meaningful if it is not sustainable. This is why I got involved in the Green Lab movement. Better health can only be maintained
in a healthy environment. Jump in!
Florijn Dekkers
What inspires me most is the beauty of nature. I am a senior postdoc and part of the Green Labs Initiative at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology. Embedded in the DREAM3DLAB, my work focusses on developing advanced 3D imaging technologies to better understand and tackle the aggressive nature of cancer. Like many of us working in science, I feel a great urge to perform my work with a minimal impact on the environment and I am therefore excited to build a community that strives to create a world where science is green.
Hannah Johnson
Hey, my name is Hannah and I work as a lab manager and technician at the Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht. My team focuses on using advanced imaging techniques to Visualise the Unexpected!
The natural beauty of the world is a great love of mine so trying to maintain it by reducing my footprint on the planet is a constant goal in my private life. I often feel at odds with how this plays out at work however, so getting
involved with Green labs NL was a no brainer for me.
We want to save lives and be healthy, so lets make sure we have a healthy, beautiful planet to do it on!
Benoit Nicolet
Hey I’m Ben, Post Doc at Sanquin in Amsterdam. My research on post-transcriptional regulation in cells is at the intersection of wet-lab and bioinformatics.
I am passionate about fairness. The way we do research both in the wet- and dry-lab is currently not fair to our planet. That’s where I get my drive for a sustainable change, and decided to join the Green Labs NL. I approach things
in a realistic data-/evidence-based manner. Let’s make sure we chose wisely the best alternative, and communicate it well : ).
Lucia Giannini
Hi there! I am a medical doctor and PhD student at the department of Neurology of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. In my PhD project, I study pathological mechanisms underlying a specific form of dementia.
As an individual, I feel that we should care for the health of our planet as much as we care for our own health. As a doctor, I believe that we cannot take our health for granted if we keep living in an increasingly unhealthy planet.
The way forward is to take responsibility for the health of our planet – for ourselves, our communities and the entire natural world! That’s why I strive, in my daily life and in my work as a researcher, to act sustainably and to
advocate for sustainable change. With Green Labs NL, I hope to reach out to a growing network of sustainability-minded scientists, to share thoughts, facilitate change and get inspired by innovative ideas to make science greener
and greener.
Gabriela Dankova
I am a PhD student at the Department of Genetic Identification at the Erasmus MC, University Medical Center in Rotterdam and in my project I study how our appearance is encoded in our DNA.
I was always hugely in love with nature. That was one of the reasons why I decided to study biology and became a researcher. However, performing lab-based research comes with a lot of energy use and waste production, which can be detrimental
to our natural world. Therefore, I feel a need to make my work more environmentally-friendly and I am very excited about the growing number of activities promoting more sustainable research, such as Green Labs NL. I believe that
by working together we can really make a difference!
Marit de Kort
Hi there! My name is Marit and I am a PhD student at the NKI in Amsterdam. In my research I try to better understand how dynamics of transcription is regulated, by imaging single cells and observing transcriptional bursts of my favorite
gene.
Outside of work I spend quite some time worrying about the future of our planet and actively try to minimize my carbon footprint. This is in stark contrast to my lab work, where I create a lot of waste and use a lot of resources and
energy. I think it’s really important that we, scientists, collectively start working on the issue of sustainability in our labs and I’m excited to contribute by getting involved with Green Labs NL and helping to organize the 2022
SuRE symposium.
Rolf Slaats
Hello, I am Rolf and I currently work as a Post Doc at the University of Twente. My scientific focus is on the development of stem cell-based in vitro models to study cardiac diseases and toxicities, so I am mostly working in “wet” labs culturing cells. It is in these labs that I realized how big our footprint on the environment is as scientists, since we consume large amounts of disposable plastics and electricity. This motivated me to focus my energy on reducing our impact on the planet as much as I can whilst still performing science. At Green Labs NL, we can make a difference by educating the scientific community in how to be scientifically successful and sustainable at the same time. I am proud to be a part of that movement.