As a PhD student, this would be my first international conference, an exciting chance to meet fellow researchers in my field – feminism and gender studies – and discuss topics we care about. My booking confirmation showed the figures: the outbound flight would release 178kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the return another 168kg. Equally, refraining from international travel for a symposium might also steer attention to more local dialogue. Recent research published in the Journal of Cleaner Production has shown no direct correlation between flying and academic publication output. Academia is not isolated from the realities of an unstable world, and the effects of conference habits make this glaringly apparent.

Source: The Guardian June 11, 2019 06:00 UTC