Florijn Dekkers
Co-founder
After a decade as a biomedical scientist, Florijn has dedicated all her activities to shaping the future of science and healthcare, combining science, activism, and creativity. Florijn co-founded the Green Labs NL Foundation to accelerate the green transition in the scientific landscape in the Netherlands and beyond. She also works as Scientific Coordinator for Circular Safe Hospitals (Institute 4 a Circular Society – EWUU Alliance) and contributes to educational innovation in the Planetary Health Integration Team (UMC Utrecht).
Joep Sprangers
Chair
Hi! My name is Joep, I am a sustainability coordinator on laboratories at UMC Utrecht. I finished my PhD in 2024, studing a family of proteins that is important for stem cell maintenance in many organs, and how their deregulation contributes to cancer development. I used a 3D-culture system called organoids for my research and have been working in the cell culture lab for many years. I have a background in Biology and have always been interested in nature, wildlife and its conservation. During my PhD, it became clear how big the footprint of scientists is, just because of our work in the lab. I became aware of the worldwide greenlabs movement and joined it myself by starting a Green Team in our department in 2022. I joined GreenlabsNL in 2023 to keep on working on lab sustainability and contribute to the growing greenlabs community in the Netherlands. I believe that with relatively simple greenlabs actions we can make a lot of impact and that together we can continue making science greener in the Netherlands.
Marit de Kort
Treasurer
Hi there! My name is Marit and I am a policy officer at the Biomedical Master’s programmes at UMC Utrecht. In my private life I actively try to minimise my carbon footprint. This was in stark contrast to my lab work as a PhD student, where I created a lot of waste and used a lot of resources every day. I think it’s really important that we, scientists, take responsibility and collectively start working on the issue of sustainability in our labs and to educate future science professionals about how to mitigate a negative footprint of science and work towards a healthier planet and people.
Mandy Erkelens
Secretary
Hello, my name is Mandy and I am a postdoc at the LUMC at the department of Human Genetics. The great diversity and beauty of all life forms motivates me to reduce my carbon footprint. Teaching first year’s students who were shocked about the amount of plastics (and they were right, of course!), made me think about our current habits in the lab. This stark contrast between my personal life and my work in the lab was a big inspiration to start a Green Team and make our research practices more sustainable. By joining Green Labs NL I hope to contribute to a growing community of sustainable labs!
Aram de Haas
Vice-Chair
Hi, I’m Aram, Sustainability Coordinator for the laboratories at Amsterdam UMC. I began here in 2019 as a Ph.D. student working on cancer vaccine development. As I became increasingly aware of the interconnected crises threatening our biosphere, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the social inequalities they create, I felt a strong responsibility to act. To me, sustainability is not just about reducing environmental harm; it is about climate justice and creating a fair and equitable future for all life on Earth.
That’s why I’ve worked to make both science and Amsterdam UMC more sustainable. With our Green Team MCBI, we’ve achieved meaningful milestones: launching Amsterdam UMC’s first-ever Freezer Challenge, implementing the LEAF laboratory sustainability program, and driving hospital-wide energy-saving initiatives.
In my current role, I focus on embedding sustainability within our research and diagnostics labs, using both top-down strategies and grassroots efforts. I’m also involved in researching the broader ecological and social impacts of laboratory practices. For me, it’s about blending lab work with sustainability to make a real and just difference.
Gabriela Dankova
I work at Naturalis Biodiversity Center within a project applying genomic tools for biodiversity monitoring. I was always hugely in love with nature. That was one of the reasons why I decided to study biology and became a researcher. However, performing lab-based research comes with a lot of energy use and waste production, which can be detrimental to our natural world. Therefore, I feel a need to make my work more environmentally-friendly and I am very excited about the growing number of activities promoting more sustainable research, such as Green Labs NL. I believe that by working together we can really make a difference!
Rolf Slaats
Hello, I am Rolf and I currently work as a Post Doc at the University of Twente. My scientific focus is on the development of stem cell-based in vitro models to study cardiac diseases and toxicities, so I am mostly working in “wet” labs culturing cells. It is in these labs that I realized how big our footprint on the environment is as scientists, since we consume large amounts of disposable plastics and electricity. This motivated me to focus my energy on reducing our impact on the planet as much as I can whilst still performing science. At Green Labs NL, we can make a difference by educating the scientific community in how to be scientifically successful and sustainable at the same time. I am proud to be a part of that movement.
Thomas Freese
I am passionate about creating a sustainable future through Green Chemistry. During my PhD under Nobel Laureate Ben L. Feringa, I focused on developing sustainable processes for hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production, alongside transforming biomass like lignocellulose into valuable, renewable chemicals that can replace fossil fuels in everyday products.
Inspired to make a real-world impact, I co-founded a chemical manufacturing start-up where, as CEO and CTO, I’m embedding sustainable practices into the production of biobased industrial chemicals. I also founded the Green Labs team at the University of Groningen, promoting greener lab practices across disciplines. Through Beyond Benign and the Green Chemistry Commitment, I am helping to enhance education dedicated to sustainability in science.
Boaz Chemtob
Hi, I’m Boaz, the Sustainability Officer for the Faculty of Geoscience at Utrecht University. With a background firmly rooted in environmental sciences and sustainability, my passion for protecting nature and enhancing people’s lives has guided my career. I’ve gained experience working in diverse environments as my journey began at the Ministry of Environment within the Director General’s office, where I contributed to sustainable initiatives. Subsequently, I transitioned to the private sector, focusing on promoting sustainable tourism. Currently, I am dedicated to advancing sustainability within university operations and laboratory facilities.
In my daily work, I prioritise collaboration, actively engaging with individuals at all levels of the organisation to understand their challenges and concerns. Together, we work on solutions. This collaborative approach brings me immense satisfaction. I’ve had the privilege of partnering with Green Labs NL to champion the vital field of green labs in the Netherlands.
Yusuf Bilgehan Arik
Hi, I’m Yusuf. I have worked in both academia and industry developing lab-on-a-chip devices, and along the way, I’ve seen how much disposable waste and energy scientific research consumes. This got me interested in finding greener ways to do science, so I joined GreenLabsNL to work on reducing our carbon footprint while still pushing innovation and scientific discovery forward.
Green Labs NL alumni
Hannah Johnson
Princess Maxima Center
Benoit Nicolet
Sanquin
Estel Collado Camps
Radboudumc
Lucia Giannini
Erasmus MC
Laura Meulenbroeks
Amsterdam UMC
Mariana Pelicano de Almeida
Erasmus MC
Jey McCaughey
Utrecht University
Marleen Kristen
Mariela-Angeliki Tsatiri
Utrecht University
