Marcelle McManus, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Bath, has been named one of the UK’s key sustainability figures after being announced as a finalist in the Net Zero 50 Awards.
The awards highlight the people in the UK most influential in helping the country toward achieving its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. This week, the final 100 people longlisted for the award have been made public, with online voting now open.
Others on the longlist include Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson, mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Ed Miliband MP, secretary of state for energy.
Understanding overall impact of processes and technologies
Based in Bath’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prof McManus researches energy and sustainability, with a focus on lifecycle assessment (LCA), the process of understanding the overall impact of processes and technologies. She is director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, a member of the Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change, and a Research Co-Director in the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC).
Marcelle McManus, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Bath.
She said: “It is such an honour to be on this list. It is also really a testament to the numerous people I work with here at the University of Bath and beyond, all of whom are part of various teams working alongside me to make a real difference to industry, education and to our future.
“Critical to the success of sustainability is having buy-in, and to do this people have to be front and centre. This is the focus of the work I do with the Centre for People-led Net Zero - where we are working with several industrial clusters and organisations to get to net zero. My focus is always ensuring that work we do helps us meet our targets, but not at the cost of other things.
“This is why we work to create and understand circular systems, where in future there will be no waste, and take a whole-systems approach, using tools such as life cycle assessment to help identify where we can make improvements to novel and existing systems. It is at this interface where we can really make positive change to local communities and create longer term global sustainability.”
Deserved accolade
Professor Tim Ibell, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design, added: “What a tremendously fitting and deserved accolade for Professor Marcelle McManus to be selected to be on the Net Zero 50 Long List.
“Marcelle’s expertise, coupled with her innate energy to enact change, help to offer our world a fighting chance to reach net zero timeously, with social justice at its core. We can’t change the laws of physics, but we can change our behaviours and actions. Marcelle’s research shows the way, so it is wonderful to see her being recognised in this way.”
The voting for the final Net Zero 50 is open now and until 17 November, at the digileaders website. Public votes will be combined with judges scores to decide the Net Zero 50 and an overall winner, who will be announced on Friday 28 November at the House of Lords.
IDRIC was recognised earlier this month for the impact of its decarbonisation research, being named Research Institute of the Year at the 2025 Edie Net Zero Awards.
Find out more about how the University of Bath’s research into sustainability is making a difference in our Research with Impact profile.