Each year, we celebrate staff and students' contribution to our Faculty of Engineering & Design's research community. This year, Marcelle McManus, Professor of Energy and Environmental Engineering, received the award for Inclusion Champion. She tells us what this means to her.
'Being nominated for and winning Inclusion Champion in the FED Research Culture Awards earlier this year was one of the biggest honours I've ever had. Championing equality and diversity is phenomenally important; but having an inclusive culture is the thing that I think makes people want to come to work and enables people to feel valued.
'As part of my research in sustainability I also know that inclusivity is the only way we are ever going to make the changes we need to make to stave off the worst impacts of climate change and ecosystem damage. But sometimes this feels a very hard thing to do. It's sometimes hard to truly know what makes other people feel valued or uncomfortable. And sometimes things have to break in order to create the culture that enables this to happen and that can be hard to do. I certainly don't have this right. But getting this award makes me think that perhaps I'm on the right path. And if we all get on the right path then surely we'll be making the right changes along the way. This award gives me the confidence and boost to continue.
'Thank you FED team for the recognition and let's continue on the road to a truly inclusive research environment.'
The winner
Marcelle is a Professor of Energy and Environmental Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She also holds the roles of
- Director of Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems
- Co-Director (Academic Research) of Green Industrial Futures Centre for Doctoral Training (GIF CDT)
- Research Co-Director of Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC)
The award
The Inclusion Champion promotes and celebrates inclusion, challenges discrimination and encourages a research culture where equality, diversity and belonging are prioritised. They actively promote a research environment where difference is respected, encouraged and valued.
