Sustainability at OSU

Brian Laird is the Program Facilitator for OSU's Student Sustainability Initiative.  His involvement with sustainability at OSU began in 2008 as an intern with the Environmental Affairs Taskforce at ASOSU and a volunteer for the SSI.  He then served as the Political Engagement Coordinator for the SSI during 09-10 school year.  Some of his favorite experiences with his work have been attending the 2009 Power Shift conference in Washington, D.C., helping organize the Power Shift West conference in Eugene, and attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a youth delegate in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Brian is a junior in Psychology and hopes to study environmental law at Lewis and Clark.

John MacLean is the Associate Director for Finance & Business Services in Facilities and Planning at Portland State University.  Prior to joining to PSU, as a construction accountant in 2001 he worked for the Housing Authority of Portland and HM Customs & Excise in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Facilities and Planning manages a $70M capital budget and a $15M operation budget, including campus utilities.  As state funding declines John's work has increasingly  become looking for innovative ways to do more in a sustainable fashion with fewer resources.  John has a B.S. in Accounting from Napier University in Edinburgh and is a Certified Management Accountant.  A native of Scotland, he has been in Portland since 1999 and finds Portland very similar to Scotland apart from it being too hot and dry.

Christopher Ramey, AIA, joined the University of Oregon as a Planning Associate in the University’s Planning Office in 1988, and became Director in 1992.  During his tenure with the office it has been responsible for over $600 million of construction projects representing over a million gross square feet of space. Currently, the office is overseeing about $100 million worth of work in various stages of design.

Bob Simonton is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Capital Programs with the Oregon University System.  He has been in the position for over 10 years.  Before starting this position he was a senior administrator at Penn State University, Hershey Medical Center and served PSU for nine years in positions related to facilities management and construction administration.

Simonton is responsible for directing the overall administration of the capital construction program, sustainability, and purchasing for Oregon’s seven public universities and carrying out existing and new policies, including the ambitious directives of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.

Peg Boulay is Co-Director of the Environmental Leadership Program at UO.  She is a wildlife ecologist with a broad background in natural resource research, management, planning, policy and conservation.  Her professional focus and interest is how scientific information is best collected, managed, synthesized, distilled and communicated to inform natural resource decisions.  Peg’s teaching background – undergraduate and graduate instruction, habitat workshops for landowners, nature guide training, and collaboration training for natural resource professionals – influences her teaching philosophy.  She believes that a varied and interactive approach fosters a high level of participation, interest, understanding and ability to apply information to practical situations.  Before joining UO, she spent 17 years as a professional wildlife biologist, primarily with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Though she has experience with a variety of taxa and issues, she has worked extensively with large carnivores and migratory birds.  She was also co-author, managing editor and implementation lead for the Oregon Conservation Strategy, a collaborative action plan for conserving Oregon’s fish, wildlife and habitats.

Kevin Kecskes, PSU's Associate Vice Provost for Engagement, and Director for Community-University Partnerships, is charged with helping campus and community constituents live the university motto: "Let Knowledge Serve the City."  Kevin was the Director of Service-Learning at Washington Campus Compact, and the Program Director of the Western Region Campus Compact Consortium from 1997-2002.  Kevin co-founded the Boston College International Volunteer Program and has spent a dozen years working, serving, and studying in the developing world, primarily in Latin America and Asia.  His recent publications focus on the nexus between cultural theory and community-campus partnerships, faculty and institutional development for civic engagement, student leadership development, ethics and community-based learning, values education, and service-learning impacts on community partners. 

Kevin edited Engaging Departments: Moving Faculty Culture from Private to Public, Individual to Collective Focus for the Common Good (2006, Anker Publications).  Kevin is affiliated faculty in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government, where he annually teaches courses on “civic leadership” in the Division of Public Administration and Policy.  He received his B.S. from Boston College, Ed.M. from Harvard University, and Ph.D. from PSU.

Karyn Kaplan is the Environmental Resource and Recycling Program Manager at the University of Oregon.  After graduating from the UO, Karyn travelled the world and worked in the ski industry.  Returning to Eugene for post-graduate work, Karyn found herself working in a student group, which resulted in the creation of the Campus Recycling Program in 1990.  Karyn built the Program from the ground up and now works to administer it, which includes: developing waste reduction opportunities, educational and operational programs, policies and projects to reduce the campus resource impact.  Karyn also works with Campus Operations on sustainability initiatives.  Supporting students to implement campus waste reduction and sustainable practices is a key component in her work.  Karyn also serves on a National College and University Recycling Board and has worked to develop national initiatives such as Recyclemania.  One of the unique features of the UO’s Recycling Program is that it is completely staffed by student employees, academic interns and volunteers.  Over 1000 students have worked in the Program over the years, bringing the UO prestigious recognition and notable environmental and economic benefits.

Andrea Norris came to OSU in 2004 as a transfer student, graduating with a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife in 2008. As a student she worked for the Associated Students of OSU, coordinating the student-lead campaign to purchase renewable energy for OSU, which earned OSU an EPA Green Power Leadership Award in 2008 and an EPA Green Power Community of Year Award for the City of Corvallis in 2010. In her senior year, she worked as the coordinator of the Student Sustainability Initiative, creating the first student worker positions and renovating and opening the new Student Sustainability Center.

After graduating in 2008, Andrea was recruited by OSU Campus Recycling and was hired as its first Outreach Coordinator, a position that has since expanded to include Surplus Property and Campus Freight. She coordinates marketing and outreach efforts for the programs, including events, presentations, trainings, informational materials, signage, audits, and collaboration.