Allison Hunter, Head of Technical Operations in Imperial College London’s Department of Life Sciences, has received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Lab Sustainability from the non-profit organisation My Green Lab.
The award was announced at the 2025 My Green Lab Summit, held this week under the theme “Rising to the Challenge.” The annual event brought together international experts to share innovative strategies for making scientific laboratories more environmentally sustainable.
“I was absolutely not expecting this award,” Hunter said. “It’s a very delightful surprise and deeply humbling to receive recognition from my peers for my sustainability work.”
James Connelly, CEO of My Green Lab, praised Hunter’s “unwavering commitment and exceptional contributions to advancing sustainability in laboratory environments,” noting that her leadership “has set a new standard for what can be achieved in this field and inspired a global movement.”
Driving Sustainability at Imperial
Since joining Imperial in 2015, Hunter has been central to the university’s lab sustainability efforts. She has delivered talks, seminars, and webinars locally and internationally, encouraging other institutions to adopt measurable green practices.
Her initiatives include spearheading Imperial’s push for accreditation under schemes such as My Green Lab and the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF). In recognition of her efforts, she has received several internal honours, including the President’s Award for Research Support Excellence (2018), the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Health and Safety (2020), and the President’s Award for Excellence in Sustainability (2025).
Professor Daniel M. Davis, Head of Life Sciences, said Hunter’s “tireless hard work and passion has made an enormous difference, both practically and to our mindset,” adding that he was “delighted her achievements have been recognised with this award.”
A Career of Firsts
Hunter’s commitment to sustainability began at King’s College London, where in 2008 she launched the university’s first lab sustainability project and introduced an innovative cold-storage energy initiative for biological samples.
Her influence has since extended well beyond Imperial. She has collaborated with My Green Lab to deliver sustainability workshops, advised a UK government study on lab cooling equipment, and lobbied the EU on professional refrigeration standards.
Hunter also leads Imperial’s Technicians’ Network and has long championed professional recognition for technical staff, promoting the Science Council Technician Commitment at both King’s and Imperial since 2012.
A Call to Action
“My goal is to embed sustainable thinking into every layer of our technical infrastructure,” Hunter said. “By aligning operational excellence with environmental responsibility what we buy, how we use it, and how we dispose of it sustainability and science can thrive together.”
Imperial’s Sustainability Hub is now rolling out laboratory efficiency programmes such as LEAF and My Green Lab certification to reduce carbon footprints across research spaces. This comes as major funders, including the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK, prepare to require accredited lab sustainability standards for grant applications by the end of 2025.
Hunter’s recognition underscores a growing movement within science: ensuring that groundbreaking research is matched by equally groundbreaking environmental responsibility.
