Meg Groom

University of Cambridge - Darwin College

I am a fourth-year PhD student in Physics at Darwin College, University of Cambridge. As part of the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, I am developing an optical technique to better monitor degradation in Lithium-ion batteries.

I was elected Darwin’s Environmental and Ethical Affairs Officer in 2020 and have since been involved in numerous sustainability initiatives at Cambridge, both at the college and university level. I am currently Project Manager (Sustainability) at Darwin, focusing on community engagement and decarbonisation.

In 2023, I received the National SOS-UK Green Impact Student Leadership Award and Vice-Chancellor’s Student Award for Social Impact, for my breadth of sustainability work and my leadership of the Project Second Life re-use scheme.

Top 3 Learnings

1. Telling a story which celebrates inspiring team members is an important part of a successful project.
2. The greatest impact is achieved in collaboration, so it is important to build good working-relationships.
3. My most rewarding projects were ones that were community oriented.