Professor Yvonne Buckley has today been named Trinity’s first Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action.
The appointment comes after Provost Linda Doyle promised to create the position in last academic year’s provost elections.
In a press statement, Doyle said: “I’d like to warmly welcome Yvonne to her new role as we look forward to working together with the whole College community to enact real change.”
“Many staff and students are already making important contributions to Trinity’s sustainability, and Yvonne and her team will support and amplify their activities, as well as ensuring Trinity gets the most benefit from joined-up thinking around efforts across operations, teaching, research, and engagement with external organisations.”
Originally from Cork, Buckley is a professor of zoology who received her first-class undergraduate biology degree from Oxford and in 2002 completed her PhD at Imperial College London.
Since joining Trinity in 2014, her research has focussed on multidisciplinary work in the intersection of plant ecology and human society. Buckley has also been involved in environmental policy work, including when she gave a submission to the Joint Panel on the Climate Action Bill stressing the importance of the inclusion of carbon budgets.
In the press statement, Buckley said humanity was currently in a “decade of action” on climate change.
“[We] need to urgently make progress on the climate and biodiversity commitments which have already been made.”
“Trinity has been acting on sustainability for many years now, but it has been an ‘add-on’ rather than a key focus. This new position raises the profile of biodiversity and climate action within Trinity, across the university sector and – more broadly – represents an important step in the vision of a Climate First Trinity.”
She added: “We recognise the importance and value of involving as many people as possible from the Trinity community to tackle the challenges ahead and are excited to expand our contribution to the climate and biodiversity solutions we need if all sectors of society are to thrive in the decades ahead.”
In an interview with Sillicon Republic earlier this year, Doyle said the new role has been created in response to the climate crisis and the interest Trinity staff and students have taken in environmentalism.
The position “is not just going to be about the symbolism of that and the role model of that”, she said. “It’s also going to be about deeper, more practical actions on the ground.”
“A lot of staff and students in Trinity are not really happy with the steps that we’re taking to address things to do with biodiversity and climate change.”
“I think there’s a genuine realisation that more needs to be done, it needs to be taken more seriously and continuing as we are won’t work”, she added.
