Doctoral Students as Carbon Accountants: Calculating Carbon Costs of a PhD in Neuroscience

Abstract

PhD students are drivers of innovation in research; however, the carbon intensity of PhD work is often unclear, especially in specialised STEM disciplines. Over 250,000 doctoral students graduate annually across all academic disciplines; empowering this community to engage in carbon accounting could create a generational force for decarbonization in key areas of production and consumption in research communities. Here, we demonstrate how doctoral students and other researchers can measure the carbon footprint of their work, using one PhD student in a Drosophila neuroscience laboratory as a case study. We present a comprehensive life-cycle assessment of the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) generated by student research activities over the course of a year, including measurement of scope 1 emissions associated with Drosophila husbandry; calculation of time- and region-specific scope 2 emissions produced by widely used techniques including calcium imaging, electrophysiology, and optogenetics; and estimation of scope 3 emissions associated with procurement and research-related travel. We found that research-related travel and procurement of laboratory supplies were responsible for the majority of annual emissions, generating up to 1942 kg CO2e and 543 kg CO2e respectively, after accounting for radiative forcing. Using the National Energy Source Operator Carbon Intensity API to account for temporal and geographical variation in the carbon intensity of UK National Grid energy, we found that persistent laboratory energy consumption released 10.99 kg CO2e, with an additional 3.56 kg CO2e scope 2 and 3.6 kg CO2e scope 1 emissions underpinning direct research activities. We discuss the challenges of accurately carbon footprinting research across disciplines in the UK and beyond, highlighting the value of regionally precise open-source energy mix data, and the need for data openness within research supply chains. Finally, we propose a common framework for including carbon life cycle analyses in Carbon Appendices to PhD theses and other publications. We envision doctoral students carrying insights from Carbon Appendices forward into academia and industry to catalyse community-driven decarbonisation of the research sector.