Environment submissions database

IoZ research and impact activities continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; our research on the relationships between biodiversity loss and zoonotic disease emergence assumed new importance, as did our global conservation challenges concerning Wildlife Health and Co-Existence of People and Wildlife. We faced significant challenges as a small institution with a strong emphasis on international field research, embedded in a conservation NGO experiencing major financial pressures from mandatory zoo closures. Nevertheless, the IoZ’s small size makes us agile with a strong sense of community, and allowed us to respond nimbly and collectively. Although international travel restrictions curtailed our normal research activities, which was a particular concern for our long-term studies, we were able to continue many field programmes due to the resilience of our local networks and partnerships. The datasets generated will be a unique resource for assessing pandemic impacts on the natural world. Furthermore, the IoZ was buffered against the financial stresses experienced by our parent organisation, ZSL, due to our Research England Special Funding, and no IoZ staff were furloughed. Staff and students smoothly transitioned to working from home in mid-March, with support including DSE e-learning and workstation assessments, the provision of additional office equipment, and tailored guidance on ‘managing teams remotely’, ‘supporting colleagues in managing stress and anxiety at home’, and ‘supporting parents to help navigate working from home’. Daily virtual IoZ coffee breaks were introduced along with weekly e-mail communications to share tips and resources, spotlight the IoZ mentoring programme, and provide reminders about mental health and wellbeing. Monthly staff/student and EDI meetings continued online, along with research talks and journal clubs. In early April 2020, a wellbeing survey was conducted to assess the impacts of home working and identify where further support was needed. Staff were allowed to reduce their working hours if necessary to ensure a healthy work-life balance. Home-schooling resources were compiled and shared by the IoZ Parents Group. PDR completion was made optional. PhD students were supported by their supervisors to review research plans and log disruptions, and where possible come up with mitigation strategies, while working closely with University and DTP partners to ensure financial security through funded extensions. Laboratories and animal facilities were made COVID-secure and essential work continued on a rota basis. A system was established to review and approve applications for essential fieldwork, and in May a small number of staff and students returned to the workplace, prioritised according to work needs and wellbeing. Although support for media and public engagement activities was reduced due to staff furloughs in ZSL, and external events rescheduled, we continued to communicate our science, especially in relation to the public understanding of COVID-19 and how we might avoid future pandemics. This included numerous staff appearances on major national and international news outlets, including a BBC Horizon Coronavirus special and China’s prime-time English language talk show (audience: 230 million). As a wider strategic response to COVID-19, we developed a collaborative proposition (with UCL and RVC) for a National Institute for Biodiversity and Public Health.

UCL researchers have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 challenge, from developing testing and tracking systems to leading on projects such as the UCL-Ventura breathing aid, deployed worldwide to treat patients during the first wave. In March, clinical academic staff were released to provide front-line NHS support. Governance was restructured into a Gold / Silver / Bronze structure to facilitate campus closure and to rapidly co-ordinate planning for 2020-21. Following risk assessments, ongoing infrastructure projects continued with a limited pause, but new projects within the capital programme were suspended. Acutely aware of the effect of the pandemic on staff careers, particularly of those with caring responsibilities, UCL sought to mitigate negative effects within processes such as academic promotions. We allowed staff to outline the effect of pastoral issues on their contributions in the period, so they were taken account of by promotion panels. Furloughed staff were paid in full with UCL contributing the difference. Emergency funds for research students were provided. Sabbaticals were retained. Funding was rapidly deployed to develop wellbeing initiatives including the ‘remote not distant’ hub and for trauma and mental health support for frontline clinical care staff. An 18-month Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan was developed that included access to digital health CBT programmes. UCL extended carers leave from five days a year to unlimited time off with full pay and allowed flexible working for caring reasons. Non-essential research was temporarily suspended during lockdown with lab closures and resources diverted to essential COVID-19 research. Those unable to undertake their ordinary work were offered internal opportunities to volunteer their skills elsewhere. Contracts were extended that would ordinarily have terminated. Staff were furloughed, if necessary, where they had caring responsibilities or where labs were closed, and staff were allowed to work from abroad. In UoA2, where the UoA Lead was a member of NERVTAG and SAGE, additional REF support had to be sourced. Support for PIs researching COVID-19 was coordinated centrally, notably external funding applications and funding allocation; this enabled us to map and support over 100 projects. Between January - July, UCL staff made >500 major media appearances related to COVID-19, detailed on our ‘In The Media’ webpages. In line with our support of the Open Research agenda, UCL’s Open Science network lists all UCL contributed published content related to COVID-19 (1003 research outputs during the REF publication period). UCL raised over £1m to accelerate the university’s response to the pandemic through donations from supporters and alumni. UCL academics play key roles in three nationally funded studies (£3.8m) to improve understanding of the links between COVID-19 and ethnicity. UCL were provided £10.8m under the UKRI COVID-19 Extension Allocation to mitigate the impact on UKRI-funded projects, ensuring that grant outcomes continue to be met and preventing disadvantages to protected groups. By June 2020, UCL had been competitively awarded the largest COVID-19 research funding of any UK university. Despite inevitable disruption, the crisis has demonstrated UCL’s resilience and world leading expertise in facilitating global recovery from COVID-19.