the UW Sustainability blog
This past year was unforgettable for many reasons. The challenges facing all of us certainly impacted UW Sustainability, but I am proud of what we were able to accomplish in 2020 and excited as I look forward to 2021. We are eager to continue the university’s progress on sustainability with new opportunities and goals ahead.
This year UW Sustainability is celebrating 10 years of working to advance sustainability at the UW!
Our mission began in 2008 when we were formed as the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office, a small team of two staff and two students under the leadership of then-Senior Vice President V'Ella Warren and then-Associate Vice President Ruth Johnston (who is now helping lead UW Bothell as the Vice Chancellor of Planning & Administration). Today, we;re known as UW Sustainability, and I have had the privilege of working with passionate staff and students
Congratulations to the UW Sustainability students who graduated this year - Veronica Guenther, CSF Outreach Coordinator; Caroline Beightol, Green Certification Intern; Cole Lausch, EcoReps Coordinator; and Jennifer Watts, Graphic Design Intern. They all added to the ever-changing mosaic of our office, which has relied on the energy and interest of students since we were established in 2008. Students are the life force of sustainability action at UW and we are grateful to have worked with so many talented students over the years who are now changing the world one day at a time.
As we near the end of the spring quarter, I wanted to share a recent interview I did for the Washington Higher Education Sustainability Coalition (WAHESC) newsletter. For many, the WAHESC network is a great place to meet other students, faculty and staff working on advancing sustainability in higher ed in our state.
It was an honor to participate in UW’s “Future of Ice” Speaker Series earlier this month. Mt. Baker Ski Area hosted a weekend of talks with expert speakers from our region, and I was thrilled to spend an afternoon overlooking the beautiful powdery slopes while discussing some fundamental issues surrounding the current perceptions of climate change and how we talk about it.
As we look towards spring, I'd like to pause and reflect on this time of transition for UW Sustainability. Our long-time Associate Vice President, Ruth Johnston, has moved on to her new role as Vice Chancellor of Planning & Administration for UW Bothell. I feel fortunate to have worked for Ruth since starting at the UW and know with confidence that sustainability at the university would not be where it is today without her vision and leadership.
Welcome to the first edition of my new quarterly blog series, Claudia's Corner!