Biomedical research has a significant environmental footprint. Our group are committed to conducting research as sustainably as possible to try and reduce this.
Environmental Sustainability Leadership
The Exeter Centre for Hyperinsulinism Genetics has a designated Environmental Sustainability Lead, Dr Jessica Hopkinson, who coordinates sustainability activity across the Centre. She led the Centre’s participation in the My Green Labs Freezer Challenge and the achievement of LEAF Gold laboratory accreditation, and works with colleagues to align the Centre’s activities with University of Exeter sustainability strategies and promote continuous environmental improvement.
External Frameworks and Accreditations
LEAF Initiative
Our laboratories are enrolled in the LEAF initiative, a sustainability accreditation scheme for laboratory spaces. The RILD laboratory has held Gold accreditation, the highest possible award, since September 2023. In November 2025 GOLD accreditation was renewed for a further two years. This work has been led by Dr Jessica Hopkinson.
My Green Lab
Ambassadors: Members of the team, including Sabrina Wright and Sarah Flanagan, are My Green Lab Ambassadors having successfully completed the Smart science training Videos and Ambassador Assessment.
Freezer Challenge: In 2025, Dr Jessica Hopkinson also led the gold LEAF-accredited RILD laboratory’s submission for the My Green Labs Freezer Challenge. The collective efforts of our researchers meant that we achieved 1st place within the University and 11th place internationally out of ~4,000 laboratories, for our lab size category, helping us save 623kWh/day from our actions.
Green DiSC
We are a member of Green DiSC; a certification scheme focused on sustainable computing in laboratories and have recently submitted our bronze application.
Securing Funding to Improve Sustainability Practices
In her departmental role, Jessica has successfully secured funding through the University of Exeter, Advancing Sustainability Initiative Awards, totalling over £6000. This funding has enabled plastic recycling, the purchase of a defrosting vacuum to help with the maintenance and defrosting of freezers and funding to secure a new -20 C freezer and racking system to replace an old freezer which ran at -30 C.
Open Research and Data Sharing
Our commitment to environmental sustainable research practices is further demonstrated through open research practices, sharing data and resources to reduce unnecessary duplication of experiments (see Collaboration and Outreach). By conducting collaborative and transparent research, the team helps to lower the overall environmental impact of scientific work
Further Initiatives
Our group continues to implement additional measures to embed sustainability into everyday practices. These include emailing patient reports instead of sending them by post and providing home capillary blood collection kits, which reduce the need for patients to travel to hospitals. These steps support environmental goals while also offering clear benefits for both patients and clinicians.
