Facilities is welcoming two new lab decarbonization fellows to work on innovative projects to optimize equipment use and resources. The fellowship, funded by UCOP sustainability, is a collaboration among multiple UC Sustainable working groups and UCSF stakeholders.
UC Berkeley students Satvika Iyer and Sofia Garcia are joining forces with Facilities to produce a system-wide webpage with best-practice summaries for critical lab equipment, including ULT freezers, autoclaves, fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, and more.
“The fellows are leveraging UCSF’s advanced lab equipment support program, including developments in ULT freezer support, autoclave efficiency, and other lab equipment support, to provide UC-systemwide researchers with simple approaches to optimize lab equipment procurement, operations, and maintenance,” Facilities Conservation Program Manager Eli Perszyk said.
Meet Satvika Iyer
Iyer currently studies energy engineering and environmental economics, a path that has helped her develop tools for understanding sustainable development and action.
“I am so excited to be working at the intersection of science and policy because I've seen firsthand how sometimes our science is there, and data-driven regulations are not. We need to build between both priorities in order to actually create effective, institutional change,” Iyer said.
Iyer first became involved in sustainability at Milpitas High School, where she created a pilot menu of culturally relevant, plant-based dishes that met USDA food standards and were popular with students. Iyer went on to publish the menu items with Friends of the Earth and joined their first plant-based youth steering committee to campaign for legislation to fund plant-based pilot programs in schools across the U.S.
“I'm drawn to sustainable development in food, energy, and water systems, because building for basic rights often leads to addressing larger inefficiencies in our global systems,” Iyer said.
Now, at UCSF, Iyer is focused on presenting ways sustainable lab equipment can enhance lab safety and ensure the longevity of lab research. For example, Iyer is developing an energy-savings calculator that researchers can use to assess how different product choices affect UC emissions over the long term.
“We hope to provide solutions in the lab that researchers will appreciate in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and longevity of their tools, but also, in a larger perspective, help our UC campuses reduce emissions,” Iyer said.
Meet Sofia Garcia
Garcia is a third-year student at UC Berkeley, studying environmental science and physics, with a minor in conservation and resource studies.
“A lot of my concentration within the major is clean energy systems, which I was exposed to by working with Grid Alternatives in Oakland, which is a nonprofit solar energy company where they raise awareness of energy equity issues in disadvantaged and marginalized communities, and they help implement renewable energy sources for these low-income communities,” Garcia said.
Lately, Garcia has been focusing on environmental modeling and suitability analysis, learning how data can inform environmental decisions.
“We use energy in almost every single action we do every single day, and it can get used up and disregarded so easily," Garcia said.
"People don't really understand how important it is to our lives and how there are ways to save energy,” Garcia said. “It's not endless, even though it kind of feels endless.”
Garcia plans to make this data more visible by developing a searchable database of lab equipment, enabling researchers and faculty across the UC system to compare the energy savings of different products and learn best practices that increase equipment efficiency and resilience.
“This is a perfect way of seeing where we can implement higher energy efficiency standards for lab equipment.”
Ultimately, Garcia hopes this project will help make researchers and faculty at UCSF feel more supported and empowered to make the best choices for their labs.
“I think that's really important to be aware of the steps you're taking while you're researching because if the goal or purpose of your research is to better society, you can't really damage society in the process,” Garcia said.
