My environmental awareness grew considerably during 2016-2017, a year I spent in North America (UBC, Vancouver, BC and UMaine, Orono, ME) for my Masters degree. I was shocked to see how much worse the situation there is, compared to Europe (I lived in France and Denmark).

When I came back home, I was still startled by our way of life in general and I started questioning things that I was accustomed to, like taking the car to go in the mountains. Now, I’m trying to use my bicycle as much as possible, taking it on the train when it’s feasible, and avoid cars as much as I can. As a seasoned traveller, I also told myself that I should totally stop flying.

However, as a PhD student I’m told to go to congresses abroad, by plane of course. I was waiting for an initiative like yours. I think that for my future positions (post-doc) I will tell my employer that I’m not willing to go to congresses or conferences too far away that require flying!