14 September 2026

The Company of Biologists is delighted to announce the appointment of Dan Shanahan as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 14 September 2026.

Dan brings a wealth of publishing expertise and a proven track record of advancing open science initiatives that align closely with the Company’s mission to support biologists and inspire biology worldwide. With extensive experience across leading organisations in scholarly publishing, including Springer Nature, F1000, Cochrane and most recently as Publishing Director at PLOS, Dan has consistently championed innovation, accessibility and community engagement. His deep understanding of Open Access publishing and non-profit leadership, combined with his ability to navigate the evolving scholarly landscape, positions him ideally to guide the Company through its next phase of development.

16 June 2026

What are SDGs?

Adopted by the UN’s member states, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created to offer a guide of all the actions that should be taken in redesigning the world in a sustainable manner that will allow the climate to not surpass the 1.5ºC threshold by 2030 according to the Paris Agreement. While this threshold might already be surpassed, it has become even more crucial today to implement the Sustainable Development Goals across industries.
These goals are a mixture of environmental, social and economic goals that combined will ensure a sustainable future.
Since there are only four years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we have put together a guide on how to include them when organising an event. Don’t worry, it is easier than it sounds, and you might already do this without even realising.

20 March 2026

Since the circular economy was originally defined based on the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (3Rs) strategy, the concept has now expanded to include more Rs that minimise waste. Following up from the first part of our circular economy guide for events, we have analysed the additional circular economy concepts and how they can be adapted in the world of scientific conferences.

12 February 2026

More than 2.1 billion tonnes of waste are produced every year in the EU. Nowadays, we are living in a “take-make-consume-waste” linear economy where products are designed to have a limited lifespan and people are encouraged to replace them quickly.

However, in the light of climate change, there has been more investment to transition from the linear to a more sustainable circular economy. But what is circular economy and how does it differ from our economy from today?

10 December 2025

By Katherine Paine

We are delighted to present to you the third prize-winning essay by Katherine Paine (University of Edinburgh) from our essay competition, ‘Innovative ideas for the future of sustainable events’. We received a high number of thoughtful and innovative essays, and while it was a tough decision for our Sustainability Board to make, this essay stands out. Here is Katherine Paine’s innovative idea that could make the events of the future more sustainable:

21 July 2026

We are saying goodbye to Dr O. Claire Moulton this week, who is retiring from her role as CEO of The Company of Biologists. We’d like to take this opportunity to look back at Claire’s career and her impact on our company.

21 April 2026

by Jeroen Dobbelaere

Research funders have started to request lab sustainability measurements. Are they joining the sustainable wave or will it have an impact?

Research labs are the places where scientific questions are tested, ideas are born and discoveries are made. Although the current lab environment is very different from the romantic textbook view, most people use a vast number of resources to put in practice these principles.

9 March 2026

It is with great sadness that we learned of the tragic death of Prof Alan Wilson FRS on 4 March 2026. Alan was a celebrated biomechanist, working passionately to improve our understanding of locomotion in humans and animals. 

9 January 2026

We launched our Sustainability Initiative to encourage and support ideas that enable biologists to collaborate productively whilst minimising their impact on the environment. We are proud that our grants have supported hundreds of events so far, connecting biologists from all around the world with a lower impact on the environment.

One of the most sustainable actions you can take for your event is to organise it entirely remotely. In this blog, we interviewed Drenka Trivanovic, Organising Committee Chair of The Bone Marrow Adiposity Society (BMAS) 2025 Virtual Summer School, who remotely organised the event with support from our Fund for Innovations in Sustainable Conferencing. This event successfully brought people together while reducing CO₂ emissions and costs. Drenka shared her experience with us.

9 December 2025

As this year wraps up, The Company of Biologists celebrates 100 years of publishing. Looking back at all the biologists whose careers we have influenced and the science that we have helped advance, we cannot help but feel delighted at the impact we have made in the communities that we serve. As we reminisce about the past, one thing becomes clear: none of this would have been possible without our inspiring and motivated staff.