NCSU Establishes Office of Sustainability, Sustainability Website
North Carolina State University has hired Tracy Dixon as its first Sustainability Director and has established a University Sustainability Office. Dixon is tasked with leading, coordinating, communicating and expanding NCSU's sustainable efforts. Dixon holds a joint Masters degree in Natural Resources and Public Administration from NCSU where her research focused on measuring regional sustainability. The new Sustainability Office will serve as a go-to resource for campus sustainability information. The office will also work closely with the Campus Environmental Sustainability Team, a group of faculty, staff, and students, to create and implement a campus wide sustainability strategic plan. In related news, NCSU has launched its new sustainability website. The site is intended to be a centralized sustainability resource and a communication tool, allowing students, faculty, and staff to provide content, suggestions and feedback. The new website features a community events calendar, campus sustainability news, and sustainability initiatives taking place on campus.
Pratt Announces Green Faculty Stipend Program
The Pratt Institute (NY) has announced a Faculty Stipend Program to encourage and support Pratt's educational community in creating innovative ways to bring environmental awareness to students. The program consists of three types of stipends that support faculty in their attempts to integrate sustainability into existing courses, workshops and lectures, and academic initiatives. The program is offered through Pratt's Center for Sustainable Design Studies (CSDS), created and funded by the FIPSE grant awarded to Pratt last year, "Greener by Design".
Saint Michael's College Names First Sustainability Coordinator
Saint Michael's College (VT) has hired Heather J. Ellis as the College's first Sustainability Coordinator. The new coordinator is tasked with developing and managing campus sustainability programs, and she plans to work towards a culture of sustainability on campus as well. Ellis graduated in 2007 from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Environmental Conservation.
Smith College Hires Sustainability Director
Smith College (MA) has hired Dano Weisbord as Sustainability Director, a new position tasked with integrating sustainability principles and practices into campus operations. Weisbord's responsibilities will include directing the development and implementation of the College’s sustainability plan, goals and standards; working with college departments and programs to develop a culture of sustainability; and researching and recommending environmentally sustainable technologies and practices. Weisbord will begin in August.
Indiana U Announces Student Sustainability Internship Program
The Indiana University Sustainability Task Force has appointed 18 undergraduate interns and graduate fellows to its second Summer Program in Sustainability. Under the mentorship of IU faculty and staff, students will work on a broad array of academic and operational issues related to sustainability. Building upon the work done by their predecessors last summer and through the past academic year, the students will engage in research and lay the groundwork for new initiatives aimed at further improvement of sustainability on the Bloomington campus. In addition to their individual projects, the undergraduate interns and graduate fellows will participate in an academic seminar focused on sustainability. Building on the last summer's program, the seminar is designed to build a cohesive cohort of interns and fellows as well as a learning community of individuals interested in issues related to sustainability.
Lewis & Clark College Holds Green Curriculum Workshop
A group of Lewis and Clark College (OR) faculty recently participated in a curriculum workshop designed to teach participants how to infuse the concepts of environmentalism into their teaching and research. Represented departments included Biology, Geology, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, Computer Science, History, Sociology, Philosophy, Athlectics, and the College Chapel.
UW Oshkosh Holds Sustainability Across the Curriculum Workshop
The University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh held a workshop aimed at teaching faculty to infuse sustainability into their curriculum. The Winnebago Sustainability Project workshop, which is based off of the model taught in AASHE's Sustainability Across the Curriculum Leadership Workshops, was attended by 10 UW Oshkosh faculty. It was created as a result of the UW Oshkosh Sustainability Plan goal to link the University's formal mission with informal teaching opportunities to develop understanding, attitudes, and habits that promote sustainability.
Presidio School of Mgmt Appoints 4 Faculty in Sustainable Mgmt
The Presidio School of Management (CA) has appointed Hunter Lovins, Gil Friend, Jay Ogilvy, and Sissel Waage as faculty in the new Executive Program teaching team. They will work with senior-level professionals on the practical applications of sustainable business frameworks, tools and metrics, and their courses will teach participants how to apply sustainability principles to achieve greater profitability and integrated bottom line results.
Kansas State U Hires Director of Sustainability
Kansas State University recently appointed Ben Champion as the first ever Director of Sustainability to develop a university-wide approach for addressing sustainability at K-State. Champion will provide leadership and oversight to existing initiatives such as campus recycling and construction of green buildings on campus, and he will also identify opportunities for new initiatives, help develop curriculum, facilitate interdisciplinary research, work with students, and engage the broader community in areas where K-State can be a leader in terms of sustainability.
Stanford U Hires Manager of Sustainable Programs
Stanford University (CA) recently hired Fahmida Ahmed as the new Manager of Sustainable Programs in the University's Office of Sustainability and Energy Management. Ahmed will support the office's executive director in implementing and improving sustainability programs throughout the University. In addition, she will assist in the development and implementation of a campus greenhouse gas reduction plan and will manage the office's communications and community relations programs and, overall, assist in efforts to achieve long-range sustainability goals. Ahmed has served as sustainability specialist at the University of California-Berkeley since 2006, managing the California Climate Action Partnership and other campus sustainability programs.
U New England Hires Sustainability Coordinator
The University of New England (ME) recently hired Alethea Cariddi as the new Sustainability Coordinator. Cariddi will develop and implement a comprehensive plan of sustainability initiatives on UNE’s Portland and Biddeford campuses. She will serve on UNE’s Environmental Council and advocate for organizational awareness of and participation in sustainability projects.
U Penn Appoints Environmental Sustainability Coordinator
The University of Pennsylvania recently appointed Daniel Garofalo as the University's first Environmental Sustainability Coordinator. Garofalo will be responsible for developing Penn’s long-range sustainability strategy by addressing energy conservation, waste management, green buildings, transportation and planning.
City College of NY Hires Dir. of Sustainable Technologies Institute
The City College of New York has hired Dr. Sanjoy Banerjee as the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Technologies and as faculty of The Grove School of Engineering as Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering. The Institute for Sustainable Energy Technologies is the successor to the Clean Fuels Institute, which had been studying the economic and environmental impacts of alternative energy sources. Professor Banerjee’s vision calls for the Institute to develop sustainable energy technology to generate electricity from renewable, but intermittent, sources as well as existing nighttime overcapacity, store it efficiently and deliver it on demand.
Dartmouth College Hires New Sustainability Manager
Dartmouth College (NH) recently hired Kathy Fallon Lambert as the new Sustainability Manager. Lambert, who is scheduled to take office in August 2008, will help the College develop a strategy to integrate sustainability principles and practices into Dartmouth's operations and culture. The new Manager hopes to develop and build more student environmental programs, including expanding Dartmouth's student orientation programs to include information about sustainable living.
Cornell U Hires Sustainability Professor
Cornell University (NY) recently hired Jefferson Tester Ph.D. as the first Croll Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems in the College of Engineering. Tester is expected to play a leadership role in the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future, which is bringing together experts in education and research from across campus to work toward common sustainability goals.
Colorado State U Hires VP for Energy & the Environment
Colorado State University Research Foundation has hired Ron Sega as the Vice President for Energy, Environment, and Applied Research. Sega will also serve as CSU President Larry Edward Penley's special advisor on energy and the environment and the chairman of the advisory committee on Sustainability and the Environment.
Central Carolina CC Hires Green Building Program Coordinator
Central Carolina Community College (SC) recently hired Laura Lauffer as the College's first Green Building Program Coordinator. Lauffer has been brought on board to recruit highly qualified instructors, expand course offerings and apprenticeships for those who want careers in green construction and renewable energy, promote job creation, and increase the number of seminars on green building offered for consumers and homeowners.
Wright State U Hires Director of Sustainability
Wright State University (OH) recently hired Huntting W. Brown as the first Director of Sustainability. Brown's responsibilities include exploring collaborations with other organizations throughout the Miami Valley and, with faculty, staff, and student involvement, explore potential new initiatives. With degrees in anthropology-sociology, zoology and law, Brown has focused his life’s work on environmental issues. Following jobs with the State of Florida’s Department of Natural Resources and with utility companies operating in the mid-west, Brown brought his diverse background to Wright State’s Center for Groundwater Management in 1989.
U Chicago Hires Sustainability Project Manager
The University of Chicago (IL) Sustainability Council has hired Eric Heineman to fill the newly created project manager position for the Council. Responsibilities of the position will include increasing communication among campus organizations and units to streamline collaboration on sustainability projects. The Council and University administrators hope to eventually make Heineman’s six-month position a permanent addition to sustainability efforts on campus.
Macalester College Hires Sustainability Manager
Macalester College (MN) has hired Suzanne Savanick Hansen as its first Sustainability Manager. Hansen's responsibilities include coordinating sustainability efforts and making connections on campus, and she hopes to create a sustainability website. The new manager has already begun her duties by co-teaching a senior level Environmental Studies seminar that will complete a greenhouse gas inventory for the College.
U System Maryland Appoints Vice Chancellor of Env. Sustainability
The University System of Maryland recently appointed the president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Don Boesch, as the Vice Chancellor of Environmental Sustainability. Boesch will remain president of UMCES while devoting efforts to overseeing a system-wide sustainability initiative to develop policies, practices, and programs. The Vice Chancellor is charged with helping to coordinate a system-wide effort to institute sustainable practices that reduce the University's impact on the environment.
Dalhousie U Hires Sustainability Office Director
Dalhousie University (NS) recently hired Rochelle Owen as the Director of the Office of Sustainability. Her first tasks will be to develop a strategic plan for the office and to help draft a university-wide sustainability policy. Other duties include supporting, implementing, maintaining, and communicating campus-wide sustainability programs. Owens plans to focus on water use, electricity use, and eliminating paper coffee cups. She also plans to create a sustainability advisory board for the campus that will include faculty, students, and staff.
UC Berkeley Hires Director of Sustainability
The University of California, Berkeley recently hired Lisa McNeilly as the campus's first Director of Sustainability. McNeilly is charged with creating and managing a campus Office of Sustainability and supporting the efforts of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability, the Cal Climate Action Partnership, the Berkeley Environmental Alumni Network, and the Berkeley Green Campus Program. The position will report to the Vice Chancellor for Administration.
UI Chicago Hires Interim Assoc. Chancellor for Sustainability
The University of Illinois at Chicago recently hired Cynthia Klein-Banai as the interim Associate Chancellor for Sustainability. Klein-Banai plans to consider student fees to support green projects, to set up a campus-wide committee that will work to initiate sustainability programs into many areas of campus life, and to complete a transportation survey on how people get to and around campus. She has also applied for a grant to expand UIC's recycling program.
U Washington to Offer Professorships in Sustainability
The University of Washington plans to offer professorships in sustainability. Pending the approval of the Board of Regents, the first two professorships will be held by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake of an environmentally conscious architecture firm. Kieran and Timberlake will teach six related courses exploring designs and methods for reducing environmental impacts of construction. Funding for the professorships comes from Mithun and The Russell Family Foundation.
SUNY-ESF Hires Director of Renewable Energy Systems
The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry hired Michael Kelleher as the Director of Renewable Energy Systems. In this new position, Kelleher will focus on finding and adopting technologies to help the College save energy and produce energy from sustainable and renewable sources. Kelleher also serves as co-director of the SUNY Center for Sustainable and Renewable Energy and is a member of the ESF Campus Climate Change Committee.
Duke Hires Coordinator of Student Environmental Initiatives
Duke University (NC) has appointed Charlotte R. Clark to the newly created Coordinator of Student Environmental Initiatives position. Clark will work with the Nicholas School's Director of Undergraduate Studies and Duke's VP of Student Affairs to develop a strategic, university-wide plan to boost environmental awareness and encourage greater participation in environmental initiatives. Her main goals include promoting environmental literacy, promoting best practices for environmental management on campus, and increasing student engagement with each other and with faculty and staff around environmental topics and activities.
U Arkansas Hires Sustainability Coordinator
Nick Brown has been appointed as the Executive Assistant for Sustainability in the Facilities Management Department at the University of Arkansas. As the first person in this newly-created position, Brown will be responsible for sustainability efforts across the U of A campus with an emphasis on Facilities Management, and will report to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities. Brown has a significant amount of experience in the environmental field, and holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from Cornell University.
Portland State Announces Major Hiring Initiative in Sustainability
Portland State University (OR) has announced plans to hire up to 10 faculty specializing in sustainability. The hires will be in a variety of disciplines, and are intended to deepen Portland State's commitment to sustainability. Funding for the new positions comes from a recent state appropriation of $2 million to Portland State for faculty recruitment and retention.
UCSF Names Sustainability Manager
John Pihl has been named as the University of Califorina, San Francisco's first Sustainability Manager, a new position within Capital Programs & Facilities Management. Prior to joining the University, Pihl worked for Kaiser Permanente, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Hewlett-Packard in various positions related to sustainability. Pihl is a licensed architect and a LEED accredited professional.
