Mission accomplished! 🌿 After cycling from London via Cambridge, Ana Conesa, Coordinator of LongTREC, and Doctoral Candidates Fabio Zanarello (CRG) and Nadja Nolte (NIB) have arrived by bike at the Norwich Research Park, home of the Earlham Institute and the LongTREC Summer School.
🛠️ Ready for the unexpected
The ride from Cambridge to Norwich came with a small incident on the road, a flat tyre, but being prepared to handle unexpected issues makes it much easier to keep moving forward. A quick fix, a smile, and the team was ready to continue.
🌍 It’s not about everyone cycling
Not everyone can or wants to cycle for two or three days, and that is not the point. #LongCyclingForScience is about raising awareness of the carbon footprint of international travel and inviting every researcher to ask, before each trip: “How much am I impacting the planet with this trip?” and “What can I do to reduce that impact?”
♻️ Small actions, real impact
Often it starts with small things: packing lighter, carrying a reusable water bottle, or choosing a more sustainable means of transport even if it takes a little longer. Sometimes, just starting to think differently is already a meaningful step.
This commitment starts at the top: Ana Conesa (LongTREC Coordinator) is committed to sustainability and brings that commitment to the whole LongTREC consortium. #LongCyclingForScience is one way to raise awareness, but there are many others. For a bioinformatics network like LongTREC, initiatives such as Green DiSC, the first open-access certification scheme offering research groups, computing teams and institutions a roadmap to tackle the environmental impacts of their computing, are a great place to start.
Incredible commitment, a fantastic team and breathtaking landscapes. And now… a well-deserved rest. Thank you, Nadja, Fabio and Ana, for inspiring us! 👏
