Webinar: Leading Campus Decarbonization Efforts
January 23, 2025 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST
Join this engaging session featuring a dynamic panel of experts from diverse higher education institutions—spanning private and public, large and small campuses—who are driving innovative decarbonization initiatives. Panelists will share practical insights on the strategies they’ve implemented, the challenges they’ve navigated, and the creative solutions they’ve employed to achieve significant carbon reductions. Topics will include financing mechanisms, available technologies, and specific case studies from institutions like Swarthmore College, Tufts University, and the University of Oregon. This webinar is ideal for professionals seeking to understand and implement impactful campus decarbonization projects.
The session will also introduce participants to the Campus Decarbonization Academy, a comprehensive six-month, cohort-based program designed to empower higher education institutions in advancing their decarbonization efforts. Developed by AASHE in partnership with APPA, I2SL, NACUBO, SCUP, and Second Nature, the Academy equips sustainability, energy, lab, facilities, finance, and planning professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to lead effective campus decarbonization initiatives. Participants gain actionable guidance on renewable energy adoption, electrification, stakeholder engagement, and accessing funding sources like IRA and state resources, ensuring they are well-prepared to overcome key challenges and drive impactful change.
Tailored to institutions at various stages of their sustainability journey, the Academy fosters collaboration and innovation, providing participants with access to expert-led sessions, peer learning opportunities, and practical resources. Real-world case studies and cutting-edge strategies offer actionable insights to accelerate progress toward carbon neutrality. By connecting participants to a network of sustainability leaders, the Academy helps campuses lead the charge in creating a sustainable and equitable future for all.
Register for the Webinar Today
Presenters
Moderator: Aurora Winslade, Director of Sustainability, Edison International Aurora has twenty years of experience in higher education and private sector sustainability and clean energy work. Aurora serves as the Director of Sustainability for Edison International. Aurora serves as the main advisor and lead for the Campus Decarbonization Academy.Edison International and its subsidiaries, Southern California Edison and Trio, lead the clean energy transformation through a focus on clean energy, efficient electrification and advising the world’s largest organizations to navigate the energy transition. She provides leadership for the company’s sustainability strategy and helps advance one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, SCE, towards a clean energy future. She is a lead author of Edison International’s recent paper, Reaching Net Zero: Accelerating California’s Clean Energy Transition. Aurora was previously the Director of Stanford University’s Office of Sustainability (2021-2023) and served as Swarthmore College’s Director of Sustainability from 2015-2021, where she launched and co-led the Swarthmore’s “To-Zero by Thirty-Five” energy infrastructure project, a plan to eliminate nearly all of the college’s Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions through an electrified, renewably-powered geo-exchange system. Prior to that, she founded new sustainability programs at the University of California Santa Cruz (2004-2012) and the University of Hawaii (2012-2014) and led Hawaii Energy’s Market Transformation Program (2014-2015). She was also a core part of Bard College’s Sustainable MBA teaching faculty from 2017-2023 as the instructor for Leading Organizational Change and has continued to teach internationally as a co-founder of Bard’s global certificate in Sustainability and Social Enterprise. She has a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. |
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Steve Mital, Director of Sustainability, Utilities, and Energy, University of Oregon Steve Mital is the founding director of the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Office. He was part of the three-person team that developed the Oregon Model for Sustainable Development, a landmark campus energy policy that required all new buildings to harvest 100% of their energy needs from existing building stock. He co-led the UO’s thermal transition study in 2023 and presented its recommendations to decarbonize campus heating to the UO board of trustees. In 2024, Steve was appointed director of the UO’s central power station. Steve is also an active leader of local institutions. He spent eight years (2013-21) as one of five Commissioners elected to govern the Eugene Water and Electric Board. In 2021, he was elected to Lane Community College’s Board of Trustees. Steve holds two masters degrees from the University of Oregon. |
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Lilian Asperin, Partner, WRNS Studio Lilian Asperin is a partner at WRNS Studio, where she helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. Recently completed and current projects include the Salk Institute for Biological Studies Joan and Irwin Jacobs Science and Technology Center, College of the Desert Palm Springs Development Project, and UC Merced Field Education and Research Center. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she regularly leads Program offerings within the Pacific Region and serves as a Director of the Board. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian has also served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society. |
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Dano Weisbord (he/him), Chief Sustainability Officer, Tufts Dano is Tuft’s first CSO and in this role furthers the institution’s commitment to be a leader in sustainability and climate matters. He is also the Executive Director for Campus Planning. In this combined role, he works across the university to bridge campus operations with education, co-curricular, and research activities. Dano came to Tufts from Smith College where he held the position of Associate Vice President for Campus Planning and Sustainability. Dano was responsible for projects at Smith including the electrification and decarbonization of a thermal and electric district energy system. Over fourteen years at Smith, Dano served as Director of the Center for the Environment, Ecological Design and Sustainability and established the sustainability and campus planning functions. Previously, Dano advised on corporate environmental responsibility strategy for ActionAid International and at CLF Ventures in Boston MA, where clients included international mining, energy and real-estate companies, and organized a regional wind-power industry alliance. He was a director of the Global Association of Corporate Sustainability Officers in London, and lead author on Sustainable Endowments Institute’s Greening the Bottom Line. Dano has a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design. |