Sustainability and Environmental Action SIG at OHBM 2023

Authors: Winson Yang, Irene Faiman, Peer Herholz, Nick Souter, Nikhil Bhagwat & Polona Kalc on behalf of the SEA-SIG
Lead Reviewer: Simon Steinkamp

SEA-SIG initiatives at the OHBM 2023 annual meeting.

OHBM's Sustainability and Environmental Action Special Interest Group (SEA-SIG) is a growing group of neuroimaging scientists endeavouring to reduce the environmental impact of (neuroimaging) research and promoting sustainable practices in our community.
We are active in three main areas:

The Annual Meeting Working Group advises OHBM on reducing the carbon footprint of the Annual Meeting. By assessing the environmental impact of the conference every year, we work toward more sustainable meeting models.

The Neuroimaging Research Pipelines Working Group brings together developers with a green future in mind. We're working on tools and ways for tracking and optimising energy costs of computational processes.

The Education and Outreach Working Group provides educational resources and disseminates them through community events. Our aim is to spark interest in sustainability-related topics in current and future neuroscientists.

OHBM 2023 SEA-SIG Symposium

Symposia provide a great platform for raising awareness about the environmental impacts of neuroimaging related activities while actively engaging with the OHBM public. This year’s symposium, entitled Actionable Neuroimaging-Focused Steps for Curbing Climate Change, intended to raise awareness on the impact of aviation on the OHBM community's carbon footprint. Furthermore, it offered practical recommendations for reducing the energy consumption of computing, and provided novel insights into brain correlates of environmentally-friendly behaviours in order to promote their engagement.
One characteristic of our symposia is the environmental consciousness of the presenters. Two of our four speakers provided recorded talks to avoid long-haul flights.

Our first in-person presenter, Heejung Jung, MSc., (Dartmouth College) discussed strategies for reducing the carbon impact of OHBM Annual Meetings. She focused on the role of air travel, concluding that hybrid events or geographical hubs appear to be the most sustainable options. The talk sparked an engaging and constructive discussion. One concern was that the Annual Meeting has a “poster-focused character”, so that alternative meeting formats would disproportionately impact early career researchers, who would have a more difficult time presenting their research and networking. While nothing can beat the networking opportunities of an in-person meeting, geographical hub gatherings or individual video chat-rooms of a hybrid event present more sustainable alternatives. Our latests paper on reducing the climate costs of OHBM thoroughly addresses these and similar concerns, and provides many solutions for successful sustainable meetings forms.

The second speaker, Dr. Stephanie Preston (University of Michigan), explored the link between brain evolution and sustainability issues. She showed how emotion-guided decision-making processes undermine environmentally-friendly behaviour, as people seek immediate gratification, discount the future, and focus on themselves. However, she suggests that by revising social norms, highlighting the joys of a balanced lifestyle, exposing people to nature, and considering future generations, behaviours can shift towards being more environmentally conscious.

Conservation philanthropy is an important part of preserving the planet, not only for future human generations, but also for other animals and plants. Dr. Nik Sawe (Stanford University) investigated the neural bases of conservation philanthropy, specifically, how neuroimaging can be used to predict the success of conservation messaging. He conducted a fMRI experiment where participants were shown images from National Geographic’s social media feed and were asked to make a donation towards conservation of the animal in represented in the picture. He demonstrated that activity in brain circuits associated with anticipatory affect and valuation (the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex) predicts individual engagement and donations for wildlife preservation.

Finally, Dr. Nick Souter (University of Sussex) presented how to measure the carbon footprint of MRI analysis steps and pipelines, and shared tips for greener neuroimaging computing. For those who missed the talk, check out the preprint providing ten actionable recommendations for neuroimaging researchers to reduce the carbon footprint of their research computing. You can also see one of these recommendations summarised in this brief video! 

Year after year, we observe a growing interest in our work from members of the OHBM community. After our first two symposia with about 50 participants, our third symposium engaged more than 70 attendees interested in environmental responsibility in neuroimaging. This year's limited hybrid meeting option substantially limited the opportunity to engage with the speakers who were not present in-person. Therefore, we will continue to advocate for a hybrid format for future meetings. 

SEA-SIG Socials: Picnic
Topics and concerns related to sustainability in science can also be discussed informally during our social events. Even the most dispiriting issues become more palatable with a delicious plant-based meal in the company of like-minded people. Our picnics at the Annual Meetings are gradually turning into a tradition. This year, 30 SEA-SIG supporters were brainstorming on neuroimaging and sustainability over plant-based bowls from Liv Salades. We were pleasantly surprised by the large interest as we almost ran out of food! Unfortunately, we had to keep the event brief because of the tight conference schedule. However, we will repeat a similar short but sweet community gathering online in October (this time with virtual food for thought) for all of those who could not join us in person. Stay tuned for more information.

Local Transport Passes
Montréal is famous for its excellent sustainable public transport options, which we wanted to endorse and render them more accessible for attendees with limited travel budgets. We proposed a pilot program of distributing local transport passes for commuting in the city. The transport pass included 7 days of unlimited bus and metro travel in Montréal as well as access to the airport shuttle. Together with the Student and Postdoc SIG and the OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, we sponsored three hundred passes which were freely distributed to trainees and students at the conference with priority to attendees from Low and Lower-Middle Income Countries. This initiative promoted the use of sustainable modes of transport (public busses and metro vs taxis or carshares), while supporting attendees from low and middle income countries. The proposed program was successful beyond our expectations! You can see the survey results we launched for this program below. All transport passes were handed out and the feedback we received gave us confirmation that we are well on our way of our sustainability mission – merging environmentally responsible transport and increasing accessibility and inclusivity of the Annual Meetings.

“Some of the feedback:
● “Member of SP SIG, thanks so much for this great initiative :)”
● Fantastic initiative! You should do this again next year!
● I used the metro/bus for all of my travel within Montreal (other than on foot) and was so appreciative of the metro pass!! This is a phenomenal offering, especially for trainees, and I hope it is available at future meetings!!”

If you’re interested in supporting or joining us, please get in touch with us on the SEA-SIG channels: https://mattermost.ohbm-environment.org/home/channels/town-square. Follow us on Twitter: @OhbmEnvironment or email us to join our mailing list: ohbm.sea.sig@gmail.com
Let’s work together towards a greener HBM and world!