Earlier this year, the LMB was thrilled to appoint Poppy Marriott to the newly established role of Scientific Services and Sustainability Manager. In this role she oversees logistical considerations to make sure research can continue without interruptions and identifies how the LMB can implement new green strategies to minimise environmental impact without affecting scientific efficiency.
Poppy oversees the LMB’s Stores, Domestic Services, and Media and Glasswash facilities. She ensures they are able to continue to provide their excellent services, which include parcel shipment and delivery, cleaning and waste management, and media preparation and sterilising glassware. Central provision of these core facilities frees up a huge amount of time for scientists to dedicate to their research.
As part of her management of Scientific Services, Poppy also serves as the first point of contact for alterations to laboratory spaces. This can range from providing extra bench space or installing services for new equipment, to larger undertakings such as altering whole lab areas in response to changes in containment level guidelines for biological materials, as dictated by the government regulator Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Her scientific background means she is well placed to understand the requirements of researchers and translate this to a detailed plan which the LMB’s Estates and Facilities Department can implement.
Poppy has long been a champion of sustainability at the LMB, and has been an active member of the LMB Green Committee for many years. She works with scientists to establish how they can consider sustainability initiatives within their research. This includes reducing plastic use by switching to reusable lab wares, turning up freezers from -80°C to -70°C, and considering greener ways to travel. She has recently launched an initiative to look at laboratory waste, focusing on increasing recycling and reducing volumes of clinical waste which has a fivefold larger carbon footprint than landfill disposal.
She also works closely with the Estates and Facilities Department on larger structural adaptions throughout the LMB’s buildings to reduce the LMB’s impact on the environment. Recently, this has included investigating the installation of solar panels, and completely redesigning the building’s steam supply to drastically reduce energy usage and run off renewable electricity rather than gas. Poppy also works closely with other organisations across the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and beyond to share the changes the LMB is making and learn from their sustainability goals.
Poppy’s career began with an undergraduate degree followed by a Ph.D. on plant genetics with a focus on improving biofuels. She was undecided on remaining in academia, so took a position as a lab manager at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, where she was involved in research but also took on managing the lab. Discovering a passion for the latter, she then moved to a start-up company, where she was able to manage several logistical aspects of the lab, including health and safety, media prep, lab alterations and equipment maintenance. She joined the LMB in May 2019 as manager for the Lab Services Workshop where she oversaw their work on equipment repair and maintenance, gas supply and local exhaust ventilation.
Further references
Building and Facilities
Adam Fowle appointed Head of Mechanical Workshop
Keren Turton appointed as Tissue Culture Facility Manager