Excitement was high as members of the UCSF community gathered for the Annual Sustainability Celebration hosted by the Office of Sustainability.
A focal point of the celebration is the Annual Sustainability Awards, sponsored by the UCSF Advisory Committee on Sustainability, which honor those who go above and beyond their role descriptions and take on the challenge of cleaning up the environment.
This year, UCSF recognized seven individuals and one team for making extraordinary contributions to sustainability across its campuses.
Chief Sustainability Officer Kira Stoll opened the event with reflections on the teams and individuals advancing sustainability across UCSF and highlighting how this work continues to expand across campuses, labs, and clinical care.
Chancellor Sam Hawgood, Sheila Antrum, RN MHSA, Senior Vice President and COO, UCSF Health and Erin Gore, Senior Vice Chancellor, Finance and Administration, were present to honor the awardee and spoke to the importance of their dedication to the environment.
“What we see in today’s awardees is that climate action is not theoretical. It takes shape in very concrete ways. Reducing waste. Improving building performance. Rethinking prescribing practices. Advancing sustainable food systems. Transitioning to low-emissions transportation,” Hawgood said in his remarks. “Collectively, these efforts are helping to build a culture of sustainability at UCSF, one where environmental stewardship strengthens patient care, education, and operations.”
““Across our multiple sites, sustainability is becoming part of how we deliver care. It is reflected in how we manage resources and operate our clinical environments. It requires teams who are willing to rethink processes and coordinate across roles and disciplines to drive meaningful change,” Antrum said in her remarks.
Sheila Antrum introduces several awardees and shares her appreciation for their efforts.
Attendees got to try out reusable containers from Dispatch Goods, who is partnering with UCSF Nutrition and Food Services to bring more sustainable dining options to UCSF. Guests also had the opportunity to adopt native plants from Sutro Stewards, a volunteer organization who work alongside UCSF forestry technicians to take care of the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve.
Chancellor Sam Hawgood admires the submissions from this year's Waste to Art challenge.
In addition to the award recipients, the celebration honored all offices, labs, clinics/units, and event planners who have completed the Sustainability Certification Program and the winners of the 2026 Waste to Art challenge.
The event captured a sense of inspiration and hope, as well as a renewed responsibility to consider how our daily work impacts the environment.
“Sustainability is increasingly embedded in this work. It shapes how we design, operate, and manage our physical environment and administer programs. Advancing decarbonization at scale requires this kind of systems-level focus. It means improving building performance, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and integrating sustainability into both long-term planning and project delivery,” Gore said in her remarks.
Erin Gore congratulates Mel Maxwell on his Sustainability Award.
Meet the Awardees
▶ Watch the awardee highlights video.
Pranay Narang, M.S., is a third-year medical student in the in the UC Berkeley–UCSF Joint Medical Program and UC Climate Action fellow. He helped develop a curriculum on climate-conscious clinical practices and approaches his research on health sustainability with a unique global and political perspective. Narang he has contributed to systemwide sustainability efforts focused on the environmental impact of healthcare delivery.
Laura Weil, CNM, NP, MPH, is a nurse practitioner, midwife, and associate professor for Obstetrics and Gynecology & Reproductive Services. She has stewarded numerous reforms to reduce waste in the Labor and Delivery unit, including switching to reusable gowns and improving protocols for catheter and blood pressure cuff use.
Hilary Ong, MD, FAAP, DCM, is an assistant clinical professor of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. She is advancing healthcare sustainability through practical, data-driven improvements in emergency care. She reduced unnecessary waste by redesigning pediatric laceration kits and identified lower-emission options in inhaler prescribing without compromising patient care.
Matthew Richardson, DPT, is the clinic supervisor for Outpatient Physical Therapy at UCSF Health Stanyan. As the Green Team lead at Stanyan, Richardson is a driving force behind sustainability and a consistent, trusted voice for change. Beyond his formal role, he has led impactful initiatives and brought teams together to embed sustainable practices across departments. His work reflects a deep commitment to improving both environmental outcomes and patient care.
Christy Carillo, food services manager, has made significant advancements in reusable dining initiatives and reducing single-use waste to shift UCSF’s dining culture away from disposables. Her work at Mt. Zion has had a visible and measurable impact, helping to reduce waste while improving the dining experience for patients and employees.
Ramneek Rai, DDS, is the director of health and safety at the UCSF School of Dentistry. She has advanced sustainability by integrating environmentally responsible practices into clinical training and operations. Her leadership has improved waste management, reduced resource use, and strengthened safety across clinics, helping embed sustainability into everyday clinical practice.
Mel Maxwell, executive director of Supply Chain Management Logistics, has embedded sustainability into core operations by working to electrify Supply Chain Management’s 14-vehicle fleet. This work is particularly complex. Under his leadership, Logistics has begun building delivery operations that reduce reliance on fossil fuels and improve local air quality while maintaining reliable service.
Finally, UCSF recognized the UCSF Health Interdepartmental Team whose hard work and collaboration have been critical to the continued operation of the Bayfront Medical Building, UCSF’s fully all-electric, LEED gold-certified surgery center. These individuals from across Energy Management, Facilities Operations, and Real Estate worked diligently as a team to bring this project to fruition, ensuring that sustainability goals were not only built into the design but achieved in practice.
This team includes:
Gabe Sandoval, Senior Controls and Commissioning Engineer
Jacob Huth, Energy Engineer
Gabriel Mailland, Chief Engineer
Aaron Mackie, Assistant Chief Engineer
Wesley Burns, Assistant Chief Engineer
Branden Tran, Stationary Engineer
Chris Shirar, Senior Chief Engineer
Patrick McGee, Director of Major Capital Projects
Juliet Pahed, Senior Project Manager
Green Certificate Recipients
Green Unit Platinum
PCMB Pharm Infusion Services
Green Lab Gold
Anatomy Learning Center, Yokoyama Lab and School of Dentistry Anatomy Lab
Green Office Gold
Tidelands Housing and Institute for Global Health Sciences and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, including: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, Department of ObGyn, Curry International Tuberculosis Center (Department of Medicine), Division of Prevention Sciences (Department of Medicine).
Waste to Art Winners
From left to right: Priyaka Suri, Leah Pimentel, Chancellor Hawgood, Lisa M. Thompson, Isabel Alves de Lima.
1st place: Birth and Rebirth: Black Maternal Mortality Explored Through the Quilting Tradition. Created by: Isabel Alves de Lima with Leah Pimentel, MBA and Charlene Blake, MD
2nd place: Video: Ecolectivos art competition with women from Santa Maria Xalapán Jalapa, Guatemala. Created by: Lisa M. Thompson, Professor, School of Nursing, UCSF. Video produced by Susana Aragon. Music de Anais Azul
3rd place: MOUTH OF THE EARTH. Created by: Priyanka Suri, UCSF School of Dentistry
