The A4E UTC16 Meeting is a monthly, international 1h event taking place at 16:00 UTC. Recordings of this years meetings are now available on the A4E Youtube channel! You can catch up via the links listed below.
The UTC16 Meeting is open to anybody interested in the topics of sustainability and astronomy. Reminders and access links are sent via the A4E Newsletter and in our slack workspace.
A4E UTC16 Meeting in January 2026:
The ArXiv sustainability section & Greenhouse gas emissions of the DESI collaboration
In the first part, Dr. Mandeep Gill gave a short presentation on the new sustainability section on ArXiv. The main presentation was given by Dr. Martine Lokken on greenhouse gas emissions of the DESI collaboration.
Abstract: In 2024, the DESI sustainability committee was tasked with performing a comprehensive assessment of DESI emissions and providing recommendations for their reduction. In this talk, I will present our key findings as well as the status of current efforts to implement the recommended changes. In particular, our evaluation brought to light the heavy carbon impacts of our collaboration meetings, motivating ongoing work to explore lower-emission meeting formats. I will then open the floor for discussion and advice-sharing from others pursuing similar initiatives.
Bio: Dr. Martine Lokken is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (Institute for High-Energy Physics) in Barcelona. Her research focuses on large-scale structure and she is active in observational cosmology experiments like ACT and DESI. Her previous sustainability work has included positions on the Canadian Astronomical Society’s sustainability committee and the DESI sustainability committee, and she now serves as the sustainability advisor to the DESI meetings committee.
AA4E UTC16 Meeting in February 2026:
CTAO and Sustainability
Abstract: In this talk, I will briefly introduce the fascinating domain of Very High Energy (VHE) ground-based astronomy. I will then present several sustainability‑oriented initiatives currently being developed for the CTAO project, highlighting both their potential impact and the challenges we are encountering in their implementation. Then, I will discuss the bidirectional relationship between large astronomical infrastructures and the environment: how our facilities affect their surroundings, and how environmental conditions shape our operations, offering some broader reflections on our role and responsibilities as a scientific community. I will conclude with a few proposal to reinforce collaboration and interaction among our different scientific facilities.
Bio: Paolo G. Calisse is currently Sustainability and On-Sky Operations Planning Lead at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, a next-generation very high energy astronomical facility under construction in La Palma (Canary Islands) and near Paranal (Chile). Throughout his career, he has been involved in a wide range of ground-based, balloon-borne, and aircraft-based projects around the world, including Antarctica, Australia, Chile, the UK, the US, and many other countries. While environmental awareness has always been part of his personal values, his commitment to sustainability has grown significantly in recent years through many discussions with his son. These conversations led him to reflect more deeply on the dramatic state of our planet and motivated him to focus his professional efforts more explicitly on this topic.
Thank you for your interest! Organizers of the UTC16 Meeting: Laurane Fréour, Fatemeh Zahra Majidi, Maura Pilia, Vasu Shaw, Sarah Wagner, on behalf of the A4E team
