(127g) Why Don’t You Go Figure It out: A Nudge Towards a Career in Sustainability Analysis

After a course in life cycle assessment (LCA), I wondered whether the high-temperature, high-pressure system Phil Savage, my graduate advisor, and I were using to synthesize chemicals in water offered environmental advantages compared to conventional chemical processes that used milder conditions but less benign solvents. Phil encouraged me to use LCA and “go figure it out”. That nudge and encouragement led to my first LCA paper. Ever since, I have been exploring sustainability-related questions relevant to the fuels, chemicals, water, and materials sectors using LCA as a grounding framework. I will present a broad overview and two case studies of my work in this field, which are all grounded in my training as a chemical engineer and the freedom and support Phil offered me as a student in his group.

The first case study I will describe is the development of new methods to assess biofuel land use change greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions can dominate biofuel LCA results and are one of the potential unintended consequences of increasing biofuel production. I will describe how my collaborations with agricultural economists, computer scientists, and soil scientists, led to advancements in estimating land use change and its impact on GHG emissions. The second case study entails working towards new frameworks and data sources for social LCA of minerals mining for lithium-ion battery components.

Overall, as I build my career, I continue to recall the nudge from Phil to push into new-to-me areas when there are important questions to address. Moreover, I strive to be the calm and confident anchor for students in my group as they take risks and encounter challenges just as Phil provided that grounding for me during my graduate school years.