Clean & Green Singapore Day 2024 & Inaugural Iceberg Series

NUS UTown, 3 November 2024

Dr Marcel Ignatius participated as a panelist in the inaugural Iceberg Series, organised by NUS University Campus Infrastructure (UCI) in conjunction with Clean & Green Singapore Day 2024. Held at NUS University Town, the event brought together researchers, policymakers, and students to engage in substantive conversations on environmental sustainability. Dr Ignatius joined the panel discussion titled "Campus as a Real-World Living Laboratory to Tackle Climate Change", alongside NUS Vice-President of Campus Infrastructure Mr Koh Yan Leng, Climate and Ecosystem Scientist Mr Steve Teo from the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, and student representative Nadya Heryanto from NUS SAVE. The session was moderated by Dr Sean Shin from NUS Business School.

As co-principal investigator of the CoolNUS-BEAM initiative, Dr Ignatius presented evidence-based findings on the impact of campus greening efforts, highlighting a significant increase in tree canopy coverage on the Kent Ridge campus — from 36% in 2019 to 60% in 2024. This growth, achieved through sustained and strategically planned tree-planting efforts, demonstrates how university campuses can serve as living laboratories for climate action. The findings underscore the role of shade and evapotranspiration in mitigating urban heat, contributing to NUS' broader commitment under its Campus Sustainability Roadmap 2030 to build a Campus in a Tropical Rainforest.