Winners

⭐ Linda Elvin ⭐

Linda works with a wide range of students, and she is always thinking how best to be inclusive and sensitive - this was particularly apparent with her intensive preparation for the Ukraine student visit, making sure that every last detail was thought of to make them feel welcome and comfortable.

Linda is always so warm and friendly, and the work that she put in with the Ukraine visit was incredible; this received lots of positive press, and it was in no small part down to the efforts Linda put in - her work is often in the background, but the positive difference it makes to both students and academic colleagues cannot be understated.

The work she did on the York-Kharkiv twinning project made a large positive difference to the lives of 8 Ukrainian PhD students/young scientists. The urgency and complexity of the project meant that Linda often had to put in extra hours of work. Without Linda's hard work on the project, the programme would not have been the success it was.

She recently helped on the recruitment panel for the Admin Manager despite having a heavy workload - this was very much appreciated as her expertise helped a lot in making the decisions. Her job is incredibly varied and works mostly independently, so having that strong initiative is such an asset to the role and to the department.

Core values exemplified:

1. We are inclusive and embrace our diversity.

2. We make a positive difference.

3. We Strive for environmental sustainability.

4. We are a friendly and helpful community.

5. We are curious and always learning.

⭐ Ciaran Ogilvie ⭐

Ciaran has gone above and beyond to help multiple colleagues with complex spreadsheets, including the Workload Allocation Model and the GTA spreadsheet. He is always happy and willing to help - not only is this lovely in contributing to our friendly and helpful community, but it also saves a LOT of workload for staff who aren't as skilled in that area.

Ciaran has overhauled our research metrics and reporting systems since starting, to make them much more user friendly and generally useful. He responds to requests very quickly and efficiently, and often goes way beyond what you asked for, providing much better ways of presenting/using research data than you thought were possible! His new systems have undoubtedly saved many others much time. Since his appointment Ciaran has made a world of difference in our research support, by applying a unique skill set that has proven to be helpful and useful in equal measures.

Ciaran has made a positive difference to the Cosy Club office (ENV/035) by bringing in houseplants and looking after them; this has made the space a much nicer place to work for everyone.

Core values exemplified:

2. We make a positive difference.

4. We are a friendly and helpful community.

5. We are curious and always learning.

⭐ Jess Roberts ⭐

Like any workplace, we often have illnesses and other circumstances that impact colleagues unexpectedly. These events require temporary cover. It has now happened on multiple occasions that Jess was the first person to volunteer and provide support, not only practical support, for example by covering a teaching session, but also by helping colleagues with personal issues (e.g. looking after pets, providing transport, etc.). Jess is a true friend and a most helpful colleague who cares about others and demonstrates this with her actions.

On top of that, Jess has been organising the open days in a fantastic way, and has often gone well above and beyond normal duties. We all owe Jess big thanks for this. The positive feedback we received, particularly around how friendly we were, is in no small part due to Jess's leadership. Jess is also a fantastic colleague, often stepping in to help when it is needed. Without great open and visit days student numbers would go down. Our livelihoods ultimately depend on successful student recruitment and Jess plays a major role in this.

Core values exemplified:

2. We make a positive difference.

4. We are a friendly and helpful community.

Nominees

Chris Malley

1. We are inclusive and embrace our diversity, 2. We make a positive difference, 3. We strive for environmental sustainability, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community, 5. We are curious and always learning

• Chris has is a very friendly guy, always approachable. Mentors his colleagues and does his best to teach them. Always willing to learn new information no matter who teaches it to him. His work in African, Asian and South American Countries have those countries in publishing many first-time NDC and other air quality related reports.

Colin Mclean

2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community

• Was willing to undertake additional teaching on an MSc module to ensure it ran smoothly above the suggested amount that he had signed up for (core value 2). 
• Colin has been a trusted, reliable and loyal member of staff who is always quietly supporting the department at so many levels. He's usually present during open and visit days, volunteering his services more than almost anybody else (perhaps rivalled by Paul Hudson). Colin has also stepped up to cover for colleagues during enforced absences. Through the years he's done most admin roles in the department, including Chair of BoS, Chair of Board of Examiners, and, currently, Chair of Ethics Committee. He's always been a save pair of hands and every job he does he does well, with positivity, commitment, professionalism and eye for detail. Colin has a long and sustained record of being friendly and helpful and thoroughly deserves this nomination.

Darpan Das

2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community

• Darpan was asked to undertake the organisation of a UG Year 3 module at very short notice and went on to arrange the team taught module quickly and professionally despite the challenging timeframe (4. we re a friendly and helpful community). He pulled together new additional workshop teaching activities, wrote the assessment profoma and organised the different facets with module colleagues and established links with research facilities to ensure the module provided an enriching student learning experience. (2. we make a positive difference).

Debs Sharpe

2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community

• I would like to nominate the Teaching Labs Technician, Debs Sharpe for a Making the Difference Award. The burden of semesterisation has fallen heavily on Debs who has had to cope with many changes to the nature and timetabling of the laboratory practical sessions and field trips that she supports.  Some practical sessions from previous years have been modified, some are entirely new.  Sessions that would normally be spread over three terms have been squeezed into a smaller period.  Debs has proactively sought to be involved from the early stages, with the teaching committee and the planning and organisation of taught laboratory sessions and field work.  There she has made valuable, and uniquely placed, inputs including flagging instances where sessions clashed, or where there were practical difficulties in turning around between back-to-back lab sessions or back-to-back field trips.  Debs has also been involved with the (re)design of the practical sessions themselves and has liaised with teaching staff on planning and specific equipment/chemical requirements.  Where teaching staff have been new, with little or no prior experience of delivering taught lab practicals, she has helped these staff prepare for and deliver their first practical sessions in the department.  During the delivery of the taught sessions themselves, Debs is on hand with her amiable, easy to approach, personality to help the students and make them feel welcome and supported.  She forges strong connections with the students that continue on to when they start their undergraduate dissertation projects and offers an unprecedented level of pastoral care to students struggling with personal issues. Somehow Debs manages all of this. All against a backdrop of increasing student numbers and the loss of the additional teaching labs support that the department benefitted from last year.  Debs’ experience and depth of knowledge about laboratory and field teaching is invaluable. I believe that her contributions to the success of the teaching practicals, fieldwork and the positive student experience this semester are firmly deserving of a Making the Difference Award.

Jon Hill

2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community, 5. We are curious and always learning

• Jon has always been a pleasure to work with. In his role as CBoE he has been friendly and helpful, coralling myself and others into managing new assessment requirements with a positive attitude. I would also describe him as curious and always learning - he has been fully supportive in the development of  a new assessment and marking criteria for one of my modules even though it is doing something quite different from what has previously been done. By being so supportive of this and trying to work with rather than against these new ideas he is making a positive difference for students and the dept as a whole. 

Karen Parkhill

1. We are inclusive and embrace our diversity, 2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community

• Having just completed her term as programme lead for HuGE I feel it is a great time to nominate Karen for the Making the Difference Award for all her dedication and achievements in making it the success it has become. Throughout my time back at DEG in my various roles as GTA, Assistant Lecturer and Lecturer, Karen has always been a phenomenal mentor and leader, and her tireless support and guidance has been invaluable. As such, she has made me a better lecturer and improved my ability further to be the best I can be both as an educator and colleague. Not only is she always my go to guru for all Departmental technical / policy knowledge, she's also the person I go to when I need to sound out a problem or difficult challenge I'm facing in my work. She's never failed to offer both her experience and wisdom, but also to take the time to help build my confidence in following my own instinct and ability. It's not only myself that Karen has supported, it's her whole teaching team. Throughout the restructure she has been both a guiding light and a backbone in ensuring HuGE came out of the process looking and functioning the best it could in order to offer our students the most rewarding experience. She carved out a pathway for the team to take, but at the same time kept the door wide open for our opinions and suggestions, allowing us to create a set of highly contemporary and innovative modules. She did her best to ensure we were clear on the milestones we needed to meet and represented the needs and position of the team at the higher levels of discussion. As a lecturer her dedication to her students is second to none, especially in her never ending dedication to ensuring equal accessibility for all. Again she's been a hugely valuable lead to us all, ensuring we embrace the necessary discussions and seek the necessary support to ensure all our students can grow and enjoy our courses in an equal and fair manner. I've hugely enjoyed and benefitted from working under Karen's guidance as programme lead for HuGE and am hugely grateful to her in being so pivotal in making it the success it has become. 

Katariina Nara Zanotti

1. We are inclusive and embrace our diversity, 2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community, 5. We are curious and always learning

• Kat has been excellent in leading the Student Support Team through the past academic year as Coordinator. She has demonstrated fantastic leadership skills in the preparation, execution and follow up for key points though out the year such as Spring and Summer CAP, exam boards and summer resits. Kat is always willing to help by answering questions with her extensive knowledge and takes the time to explain processes so the team really understand the reasons why they are done a certain way. Kat brings some humour and laughter to the office, which has been much appreciated during more difficult and busy periods. Kat is resilient, adaptable and always tries to look for the solution rather than becoming too overwhelmed by a problem. It's been great to work alongside Kat this past year and I've thoroughly appreciated her guidance and presence in the team. 

Paul Hudson

2. We make a positive difference, 4. We are a friendly and helpful community, 5. We are curious and always learning

• Paul is one of those good colleagues who is always one of the first to put his name forward to volunteer when asked. He has attended more POV and open days than any other colleague (perhaps only rivalled by Colin McClean). He has also covered for absent colleagues and has agreed to pick up extra assessment and teaching this year due to Xun's departure. In addition, he has managed to lead and submit a range of research proposals, some very big, including an EU COST bid with 50+ partners and a UKRI bid with 20+ partners.  The latter has now reached the final round and has a 40-50% chance to result in an award worth £2.7M. Having only been in our department for a little over two years, Paul has integrated extremely well. He has already built a large network of collaborators and leads one of our most successful SPIGs. Last year Paul happily took on the new responsibility of PGT coordinator when asked and now plays a key role in our successful PGT recruitment. He leads the EEEM MSc programme very well and cares deeply for his students. Paul is always a cheerful and positive presence who engages with our community in every way possible, often walking around the building in his trademark slippers. We all love Paul!