title: Reconsidering alternative transportation systems to reach academic conferences and to convey an example to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
abstract: Scientists are typically responsible for greater greenhouse gas emissions than the general population. These 'extra' emissions are largely due to frequent travel, often by airplane, to professional and academic meetings. In the following commentary, we explore how employing mixed modes of transportation, particularly by prioritizing train travel, can significantly reduce the environmental costs associated with attending conferences. Estimating travel distances for attendants to recent meetings, we demonstrate that the proposed strategy has the potential to decrease emissions, even when considering exotic, remote (and potentially enticing) locations. Our suggestions are easy to implement, can be combined with previous proposals for reducing emissions, and provide an opportunity for scientists to convey an important message to the general public. This message is not confined to our particular example and we hope that it will encourage ecologists, sociologists and other scientists, historians and philosophers to pursue additional creative behavioural solutions in order to reduce our impact on an increasingly stressed ecosphere.
authors.affiliation: Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, University of Cagliari, Viale S. Ignazio da Laconi, 11-13, 09123, Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fois
authors.affiliation: Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, University of Cagliari, Viale S. Ignazio da Laconi, 11-13, 09123, Cagliari, Italy. albacuena@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alba
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2750-6274
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cuena-Lombraña
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fristoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biology, 'Sapienza' University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fenu
authors.affiliation: Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, University of Cagliari, Viale S. Ignazio da Laconi, 11-13, 09123, Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bacchetta
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis; D017752:Greenhouse Effect / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases
keywords: Academic conference planning; GHG emissions; Researchers’ behavioural change; Sustainability; Transportation