With a background in wildlife biology and ecology, Star Scott spent nearly a decade as a Research Professional in conservation-driven research at the University of Georgia prior to joining the Office of Research Safety.  During this time, she developed and advocated for a Green Labs program at UGA.  In 2016, the program was created with Star as the Green Labs Program Coordinator. She is a deep believer in the interconnectivity of all living things and is dedicated to making the research enterprise more sustainable & more equitable. Her current focuses include: resource conservation, landfill diversion, creating and promoting equitable systems, environmental and social justice, sustainable procurement, & building stronger teams through meaningful communication and psychological safety.  

Star serves on the national Board of Directors for the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) , is a founding vice president of the Georgia chapter of I2SL, and is a Higher Education Association's Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) fellow and liasion on behalf of the Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA). She is also an active participant in the  I2SL Laboratory Waste Landfill Diversion Working Group, the I2SL  University Alliance Group, the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) Environmental and Sustainability Community of Practice, and the Bringing Efficiency to Research (BETR) Grants Working Group.  

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Anvi Rao, 2024 Green Labs Freezer Challenge Intern, 2025 Green Labs Student Staff

In the spring of 2024, I interned with UGA Green Labs through the Office of Sustainability. My primary focus was on reducing energy consumption in research labs by encouraging participation in the International Laboratory Freezer Challenge. I worked to optimize laboratory freezer efficiency on campus by offering consultations to researchers and advocating for best practices in cold storage management. Currently, I am working on implementing proper lab glass and lab plastic recycling across campus through my role as Green Labs Student Staff. 

In the future, I plan to attend medical school with the ultimate goal of becoming a physician. I intend to continue research throughout my career and hope to integrate sustainability into medical research to promote a greener approach within healthcare. 

During the fall semester of 2022, I worked through the Office of Sustainability for the UGA Green Labs Program. With the goal of building program awareness, I conducted target research, studied website analytics, and created our communication plan. Through the guidance of Star Scott, I developed and executed the necessary strategies for website updates and management, social media activation, and digital and print graphic design. 

Upon graduation, I continued working directly for the Green Labs program as a Communications Consultant, providing further guidance with website restructuring and design. With a degree in Advertising, I plan to use everything I’ve learned through my coursework, the Office of Sustainability, and the Green Labs program to intersect the importance of sustainability within my career in digital marketing and advertising. 

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She is a member of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories  (I2SL)  Laboratory Waste Landfill Diversion Working Group, the I2SL  University Alliance Group, the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) Environmental and Sustainability Community of Practice, and the Bringing Efficiency to Research (BETR) Grants Working Group.  Star is the CSHEMA  representative for The Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC), as well as the co-vice president and a founding member of the Georgia Chapter of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories.

In the spring of 2022, I worked under an Office of Sustainability grant recipient in conjunction with the UGA Green Labs program to study the minimization and diversion of waste in UGA research labs. I performed waste audits for four research laboratories in UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center to survey sustainability and efficiency methods to decrease waste and implement a circular economy approach.

I am currently an OoS intern for UGA Green Labs studying energy efficiency within UGA’s Center for Molecular Medicine. I’m working to implement the energy-saving initiatives of shutting the sash, benchtop timers, and educating researchers on the safety of increasing the temperatures of their ultra-low freezers.

I am extremely passionate about ensuring all products are recycled or repurposed and I love educating and helping others to do the same. After graduation, I hope to work within the energy sector, as renewable energy and landfill gas are passions of mine.

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I developed and built the UGA Green Labs website as the Green Labs Communications Intern. Through user research, web design, and content creation we were able to create this informative website that houses resources to keep labs on campus green and make information accessible to lab researchers and coordinators. 

I currently provide Administrative Support on the Business Services Team at Boston Consulting Group and am a proud UGA Alumni. Go Dawgs! 

When I'm not outdoors, I love working on freelance web development projects such as website portfolios or ecommerce sites.

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I served as the first OoS Green Labs intern and was the only undergraduate who contributed to the Green Labs Task Force Report, along with a dozen UGA professionals. This report explored the feasibility and impact of lab sustainability efforts at UGA. 

I also obtained a campus sustainability grant to pilot the Green Labs program’s first initiatives as Principal Student Investigator. I was so fortunate to work with (the amazing) Star Scott as well as many of the initial researchers who supported and drove interest in lab sustainability as the program was beginning to hatch.

Since graduation I've been working in the water industry doing consulting primarily for municipal utilities and am now in the process of creating my own small consulting business, Cyano Consulting, LLC, which is geared mainly towards utilities and the water industry.

 www.cyanoconsulting.com

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