“Sustainability work has become more difficult, but students bring life to that work. The younger generation is committed to the mission of sustainability, and I want to be a part of helping their ideas become a reality and be a student resource in the sustainability space.

Every year, I work hard to understand what sustainability projects are possible, to be a connective tissue so that I can facilitate collaborations and relationships between my office, other faculty and staff, and students. I am always working to build relationships with staff and faculty so when students have ideas that aren’t feasible, I can redirect them to other opportunities.

This also allows me to create cool experiences that enrich student learning and help them build professional skills. I know how valuable this is because before I started my position at the U, I had a mentor who helped me develop skills like learning how to write an email, organizing a team, etc. She helped me become a professional and that has allowed me to successfully do the sustainability work I care about. In my position, I am helping future generations be able to do the same thing.

I always worry with my outreach efforts that not enough people will know about the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund and that students won’t utilize the funding I have available. However, in this round of applications, we received 11 submissions, which is a historic number. Our outreach efforts are paying off.

We are expanding our ideas more into the health side of campus, which is a different way of envisioning sustainability. Being a sustainable hospital is different than being a sustainable office building. There is a lot of consider in that space and I am excited for the opportunity.

If students have a sustainability idea for campus or want to learn more about how they can be involved, they can email me to set up a meeting.”

— Emerson Andrews, Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund Program Manager, Sustainability Office