Alumni in sustainability and climate change

From research to industry, clever new tech and innovative solutions, Imperial alumni are at the heart of the efforts to tackle climate change, protect our oceans, and reduce waste.

How to tackle climate change

Uzoamaka Nwamarah

Through policy

"Renewable energy technologies for climate change mitigation and climate adaptation measures that were once novel and being piloted on small scales are now mainstream and competitive with high market penetration rates." Uzoamaka Nwamarah (MSc Environmental Technology 2005) is a sustainable development expert currently working as a Climate Change Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Discover Uzomaka's story

Tim Chapman

Through industry

"Infrastructure should be at the heart of transforming our societies into ones that can be happy, healthy, and prosperous whilst living in net zero carbon ways." Tim Chapman (MSc Soil Mechanics 1987) is Director at Arup for Net Zero Carbon for Infrastructure. He helped conceive and write the world's first standard for whole life management of carbon in infrastructure systems.

Discover Tim's story

Gabriele Messori

Through research

"It was a great experience for me to communicate something that’s theoretical to someone who is not a scientist. This can be a challenge, but it’s important." Dr Gabriele Messori (PhD Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics 2013) is a widely recognised researcher in predicting extreme weather, and winner of the 2021 Emerging Alumni Leader Award.

Discover Gabriele's story

Practical solutions

Single-use plastics, fast fashion and emissions are some of the biggest culprits when it comes to sustainability. These alumni-led startups are providing practical solutions to these issues, developing innovative new materials and processes to minimise waste and harmful byproducts.

Making waves: Alumni startups offering innovative solutions

Tyre Collective's device attached to a tyre on display

Tackling harmful emissions: The Tyre Collective

Every time a vehicle brakes, accelerates or turns a corner, the tyres wear down and tiny particles become airborne, producing half a million tonnes of tyre particles annually in Europe alone. Now a group of Design Engineering graduates have won the James Dyson Award for their device to capture microplastic particles as they are emitted.

Discover The Tyre Collective

Selection of products offered by The Shellworks

Creating sustainable packaging: The Shellworks

6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste has been created on earth to date, and The Shellworks are hoping to make single-use plastics a thing of the past. Their invention turns waste crustacean shells into biodegradable, compostable products which can be used as an alternative to plastic. This group of alumni won Imperial's Venture Catalyst Challenge in 2020.

Discover The Shellworks

Pair of Petit Pli trousers showing how much the sizes can expand

Challenging fast fashion: Petit Pli

Most children grow up to seven sizes in their first two years of life. Imperial alumni-led Petit Pli are tackling waste and promoting sustainability in the fashion industry with their unique specially engineered fabric that expands to grow with children, and in 2019 they received the H&M Foundation Global Change Award, dubbed the 'Nobel Prize of Fashion'.

Discover Petit Pli

Sustainability in agriculture

From sustainable growing technologies to investment and local research, Imperial alumni are combining their technical skills with a passion for the environment to address global food security.

Paul, Manuel, Julian

Paul van Driessche

Dr Paul van Driessche MBE

"The farmer buy-in for a climate-smart approach to agriculture is evident." Paul Van Driessche (PhD Environmental Policy 2018) is working to establish an agricultural research centre in the Maldives which will look at agricultural pollution, context-driven approaches to interventions, and enhanced food security.

Discover Paul's story

Manuel Pinuela

Dr Manuel Piñuela

"There are investors that want to invest in nature but don’t know what projects are high quality." Highly commended in the Alumni Entrepreneur Award for 2021, Manuel Piñuela (PhD Electrical and Electronics Engineering 2013) founded Cultivo to bring together benefits for landowners and investors, where capital is used to restore nature and boost the biodiversity of forests.

Discover Manuel's story

Julian Melchiorri

Julian Melchiorri

"Our aim is to create the most sustainable and affordable protein source to feed our future generations." Julian Melchiorri (MSc Innovation Design Engineering 2014) is the CEO and founder of Arborea, whose BioSolar Leaf technology enables them to grow organic, healthy food ingredients with the smallest environmental impact.

Discover Julian's story

Green energy

Whether it's battery technology, energy storage or innovative renewable energy sources, Imperial alumni are leading the green energy transition. 

Green energy

Diagram of a battery pack

Dr Greg Offer

"The not-so-humble battery holds the key to the development of electric vehicles - and to the energy revolution." Dr Greg Offer (MSci Chemistry 2001, PhD 2006) is a Reader in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial. Greg's research is based around fuel cell, battery and supercapacitator technology and their application, mostly in transport. He investigates the problems that emerge at the interface between the science and engineering.

Discover Greg's work

The Cheesecake Energy team

Cheesecake Energy

"We believe the benefits our technology can offer over current market-leading solutions like lithium-ion will help to accelerate decarbonisation in key sectors such as transport and heavy industry." Mike Simpson (PhD 2021) is the CEO and co-founder of Cheesecake Energy, whose breakthrough system eTanker uses thermal energy storage and compressed air to achieve costs that are 30-40% lower than that of the cheapest batteries currently available.

Discover Cheesecake Energy

Erusa Adizie

Erusa Adizie

"We all need to remember that energy transition is a journey that is going to be unique to every country – there will be no one size fits all." Erusa Adizie (MEng Electrical & Electronic Engineering 2008) is an Innovation Engineer for a renewable energy company, working on projects with the potential to reduce the emissions produced at power stations and improve the carbon produced from power generation activities.

Discover Erusa's story

Achieving net-zero carbon

Imperial alumni around the world are contributing ideas, funding, passion and technical expertise to the carbon-reduction efforts.

Achieving net-zero carbon

Florence Gschwend

Dr Florence Gschwend

“Decarbonising the world’s economy means more than ditching fossil fuels in favour of renewables like solar and wind energy.” Florence Gschwend (MRes Chemistry 2013, PhD Chemical Engineering 2017) is the co-founder of Chrysalix Technologies and the inventor of a new process - BioFlex - that uses ionic liquids as solvents to turn waste wood into valuable raw materials that can be made into new plastics, glues, bulk chemicals and fuels.

Discover Florence's story

Jeremiah Smith

Dr Jeremiah Smith

"The next global crisis will be climate so it’s critical for the world to transition to a low carbon economy to curb climate change." Dr Jeremiah Smith (MSc Computing, PhD 2015) is co-founder and Chief Product Officer of environmental startup CarbonChain, enabling companies in the commodities sector to measure the emissions in their supply chains and helping them to take action to reduce those emissions.

Discover Jeremiah's story

Biqing Yang

Our Imperial: Working towards net zero carbon

"Every single day since graduating my positive energy has been focused on the need to address climate change, particularly in China." In this Imperial magazine feature, three alumni discuss how they are working towards a zero carbon future through their different roles, including Biqing Yang (MSc Environmental Technology 2014), Energy Policy Officer at the British Embassy in Beijing.

Discover Biqing's story and others

Watch our alumni experts in action

Profile video of Dr George McGavin Play video

Alumni profile: Dr George McGavin

Dr George McGavin (PhD Entomology 1978) is an award-winning author and academic and a regular on television, including as a co-presenter of the BBC series Expedition, and has had several insect species named in his honour. In this short video he shares his love for insects and the natural world, and recalls his Imperial days. 

Profile video of Dr George McGavin

Alumni profile: Dr George McGavin

Dr George McGavin (PhD Entomology 1978) shares his love for insects and the natural world

Dr George McGavin (PhD Entomology 1978) is an award-winning author and academic and a regular on television, including as a co-presenter of the BBC series Expedition, and has had several insect species named in his honour. In this short video he shares his love for insects and the natural world, and recalls his Imperial days. 

Alumni panel event on ocean plastics

Ocean Plastics: Tackling the Global Challenge

Alumni experts discuss the issue of pollution by plastics, and the innovations that might help

Without immediate and sustained action, we could see the annual flow of plastic into the ocean nearly triple by 2040. In this panel discussion, alumni experts and award-winning students innovating in the sector talk about the issue of pollution by plastics, and the solutions and innovations across the world that might help.

Spotlight event with alumnus Peter Rawlinson

Alumni Spotlight: Peter Rawlinson

Meet Peter Rawlinson (Mechanical Engineering 1979), CEO of electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors

Imperial graduate Peter Rawlinson (Mechanical Engineering 1979), CEO & CTO of electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors joined us for a candid conversation on the environmental crisis and the challenges and opportunities of designing and building electric cars.

Alumni panel event on econmic recovery and sustainability

Economic recovery and sustainability

Alumni experts discuss the changes required to become 'net zero', and the impact of COVID-19

Sustainability is rising up the agenda of every business and government. But how will the COVID-19 pandemic change the long-term needs and priorities of businesses in the UK, especially in regards to zero-carbon and sustainability? Alumni experts discuss the changes required to become 'net zero', and the plans that have been developed to make this happen.

Share your story

Do you work in climate change or sustainability? We'd love to hear more about what you're doing. If you are interested in providing an alumni profile, please get in touch: alumni@imperial.ac.uk. You can also search for and connect with other alumni in the sector on Imperial Plexus.