Getalenteerde CML’ers ontvangen Stans Awards 2024
CML reikt elk jaar drie Stans Awards uit: de beste studentenscriptie, beste PhD paper en beste outreach van het afgelopen jaar. De medewerkers van het CML nomineerden studenten en collega's en de jury, bestaande uit Prof.dr.ing. Jan Willem Erisman en Prof.dr.ir Willie Peijnenburg, namen de uiteindelijke beslissing.
Beste studentenscriptie
Juliane Klaura was een van onze masterstudenten en won dit jaar de studentenprijs. Tijdens de prijsuitreiking liet ze ons kort kennismaken met haar scriptie "Animal Lives Embodied in Food Loss and Waste".
Abstract
Every year, 1.3 billion tonnes of food are lost and wasted globally. Reducing this food loss and waste (FLW) bears benefits for meeting food demand, achieving food security, and can make food systems more sustainable. Assessing current levels of FLW and exploring reduction pathways has thus been recognized as a relevant field of research and policy. Currently, this field emphasizes benefits of FLW reduction for the environment, people, and economy. While this means that the importance of reducing meat loss and waste is recognized based on its high embedded emissions and environmental risks, it also implies that animal welfare remains mostly unaddressed. The suffering and death that is inflicted on animals to produce food that is never eaten remains invisible. Bridging the gap between food waste accounting literature and animal welfare considerations, this thesis estimates animal lives embodied in meat loss and waste of six major meat-producing species along the food supply chain and explores the potential impact of reduction scenarios. It shows that close to 18 billion animal lives were embodied in losses and waste of global meat production and consumption in 2019. Wasted and lost animal lives could be reduced by 7.9 billion if minimal loss scenarios from different regions and supply chain stages were met, and by 4.2 or 8.8 billion if the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 was implemented to a minimal or full extent. Considering species-specific conscience and sentience, and previous recommendations, the analysis finds leverage points for change at the consumption stage of the supply chain in developed, high-income countries, in Industrialized Asia, judging by absolute, and in North America and Oceania judging by relative numbers, as well as in top countries of FLW and animal life loss. It further identifies trade-offs for animal welfare between reducing FLW of different meat types, especially chicken and beef, and reducing production-based losses while keeping emissions and resource use low and supporting food security.
Beste PhD paper
De winnaar van dit jaar is Laura Julia Zantis. Zij won de prijs voor het artikel 'Nano- and microplastics commonly cause adverse impacts on plants at environmentally relevant levels: A systematic review.'
Abstract
Over the last years there has been significant research on the presence and effects of plastics in terrestrial systems. Here we summarize current research findings on the effects of nano- and microplastics (NMPs) on terrestrial plants, with the aim to determine patterns of response and sensitive endpoints. We conducted a systematic review (based on 78 studies) on the effects of NMPs on germination, plant growth and biochemical biomarkers. This review highlights that the majority of studies to date have used pristine polystyrene or polyethylene particles, either in a hydroponic or pot-plant setup. Based on these studies we found that effects on plants are widespread. We noted similar responses between and within monocots and dicots to NMPs, except for consistent lower germination seen in dicots exposed to NMPs. During early development, germination and root growth are more strongly affected compared to shoot growth. NMPs induced similar adverse growth effects on plant biomass and length in the most tested plant species (lettuce, wheat, corn, and rice) irrespective of the polymer type and size used. Moreover, biomarker responses were consistent across species; chlorophyll levels were commonly negatively affected, while stress indicators (e.g., ROS or free radicals) and stress respondents (e.g., antioxidant enzymes) were consistently upregulated. In addition, effects were commonly observed at environmentally relevant levels. These findings provide clear evidence that NMPs have wide-ranging impacts on plant performance. However, as most studies have been conducted under highly controlled conditions and with pristine plastics, there is an urgent need to test under more environmentally realistic conditions to ensure the lab-based studies can be extrapolated to the field.
The publication can be found here.
Beste outreach 2023
Dit jaar won Oscar de prijs voor Beste outreach. Hij zette zijn eerste promotieonderzoek om in een bedrijfsgids voor verantwoorde toepassing van kooldioxideverwijdering (CDR).
Samenvatting van de publicatie
Urgent emissions reduction is a must. But achieving net zero by 2050 demands more – it requires additional carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere. Despite the advancements in carbon removals, many businesses are still unsure about the reasons to invest in CDR and are seeking direction on how traditional land-based and innovative technological approaches could fit into their climate action plans.
This business guide provides practical direction for sustainability professionals to develop effective CDR investment strategies. It outlines seven key principles for responsible CDR investments and a decision-making framework empowering companies to evaluate different CDR methods based on company-specific preferences. A complementary excel tool is provided to help companies tailor their own assessments.
Explore the guide to discover a range of promising CDR methods and learn how to proactively plan a diverse portfolio of both nature-based and technological methods, to maximize benefits and minimize risks.
A link to the publication can be found here.
Stans Award
Op initiatief van een van de studenten milieuwetenschappen, Dr. Constance Eikelenboom, een ecotoxicoloog die toen bijna met pensioen ging, wordt in 1986 de CML Students Award in het leven geroepen als motivatieprijs voor bijzondere publicaties. Omdat mevrouw Eikelenboom informeel bekend staat als 'Stans', wordt het al snel de Stans Award genoemd. De prijs wordt jaarlijks uitgereikt en is in de loop der jaren veranderd in drie prijzen, zoals we ze nu kennen: beste PhD paper, beste studentenscriptie en beste outreach van het afgelopen jaar.