DR JENNIFER GARDEN

That this House congratulates Dr Jennifer Garden of Edinburgh South on being awarded a £15,000 Fellowship at the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK and Ireland awards in Parliament; acknowledges that her research on finding sustainable alternatives for conventional polymers can play a vital role in tackling the growing environmental implications of single-use plastics; recognises that her research meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations, as she works towards developing new catalytic routes towards unique degradable polymers from CO2; notes that this award will put her closer to achieving her goal of becoming a global leader in sustainable polymerisation catalysis; further recognises that women now make up 43.2 per cent of the total science professional workforce in the UK and play a vital role in the science sector; believes that the For Women in Science UK and Ireland programme further enhances the position of women in science by awarding fellowships to outstanding female scientists; further acknowledges the urgent need to tackle plastic pollution as one of today’s great environmental challenges; and calls on the Government to utilise Dr Garden's innovative research in order to meet the UK's climate change reduction commitments.