Meet Dr Ariel Edesess, Hill Dickinson’s ESG senior analyst. In this Q&A Ariel explores how ESG concerns impact work being pursued within the life sciences sector and explains a bit about her role with Hill Dickinson and the benefits it brings to our workplace community and clients.  

Tell us a little about your role at HD and what attracted you to it 

My role is to lead on all matters related to ESG (environmental, social and governance) at Hill Dickinson. In this role, I can focus full time on advancing our goals and strategies to reduce our own negative environmental impact and have a more positive social impact. This has also included really digging in, and exploring what it means to be a more ‘responsible business’, where we aim to grow the business while operating within planetary bounds. I was attracted to this position by the opportunity to ‘walk the walk’ when it came to taking action to mitigate climate change from the business level. I am enjoying the chance to spend my time focusing on this complex challenge and learning how to bring ideas into action in this environment. 

How do roles like yours benefit our workplace community and clients?  

First: I genuinely do hope that having someone in this role has benefited the wider community and clients! But what I really think is that having someone in this role demonstrates a genuine commitment to positive change and innovation, and a recognition of the evolving priorities of everyone from our current employees, to prospective employees and clients. The interconnected social and environmental challenges that we face can feel overwhelming, both at work and in our personal lives, and I hope that by having someone in this type of role can give a focus point to channel those overwhelming feelings into ideas and action. 

How do ESG concerns impact the life sciences sector? 

Our life sciences practice covers areas such as alternative proteins, medical devices and digital healthcare, all of which are a growing part of the fight for a more positive alternative future. For example, as we recognise the contribution that animal agriculture has had towards greenhouse gas emissions (estimates put the overall contribution to greenhouse gases from food and agriculture even higher than the total contribution from fossil fuels), sectors like alternative proteins or cell-based meat are taking on a much greater urgency. Also, the need to reduce plastics across all sectors has driven a lot of innovation around medical devices or packaging, and there has been a growing recognition that ‘smart devices’ or digital medicine can reduce emissions due to patient travel. Overall, it’s probably safe to assume that there will be a continually greater push to incorporate sustainability throughout each sector, and the life sciences sector is no exception.  

Name a person or organisation that inspires you 

This is such a difficult question to answer as I am constantly inspired! One of the many organisations that I continually turn to for information and inspiration is called Project Drawdown, which has all kinds of interesting publications and helpful resources, like their Climate Solutions at Work guides, that I find myself turning to often.  

Most recently, I’ve been reading a book called Earth for All, a publication from Club of Rome, which clearly lays out a road map for a better future and is kind of like a survival guide for humanity. Their description of what life could be like in a future where we take the giant leaps that we need to now is persuasive and feels achievable.