Climate change is the most challenging and wide-ranging issue confronting humankind today. Its effects on the environment and human health have been soundly acknowledged by the scientific and academic communities.
In December 2007, the Academic Senate Sustainability Task Force (later to be a committee) was created to identify faculty recommendations on how to improve sustainability at UCSF. The following year, Chancellor J. Michael Bishop created the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS), co-chaired by UCSF FAS Senior Vice Chancellor and UCSFH Chief Operating Officer and funded $485k for a sustainability manager, website, and work group projects.
In 2014, the committee changed its name to UCSF Advisory Committee on Sustainability (UACS) to more accurately represent the responsibility of the committee. Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellman, and more recently Chancellor Sam Hawgood charged the committee to:
- Approve strategies for UCSF to become a national leader in health and sustainability by 2025
- Support the implementation of UCOP’s Sustainable Practices Policies and socializing sustainability principles within the UCSF community
UCSF Advisory Committee on Sustainability
Erin Gore, Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Sheila Antrum, Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of UCSF Health are co-chairs representing the entire campus and health system respectively. Gail Lee, UCSF’s sustainability director, provides the UCSF Advisory Committee on Sustainability (UACS) staff support. UACS membership consists of representatives from across the UCSF community including the four schools, health system, and campus operations and administration. The membership is through a 2-year appointment cycle and is listed here for FY2023-2024.
2022-2024 Charge of the Committee
2022-2024 Appointment letter
Sustainability Steering Committee
The UCSF Sustainability Steering Committee(SSC) consists of content experts representing each of the 10 sections of the UC Sustainable Practices Policy and represents UCSF at each of their respective systemwide work groups. The systemwide workgroup members are tasked with ensuring their campus’ compliance with policy and determining policy updates that are aggressive yet achievable and vetted by their respective campus workgroup. The Co-chairs of the SSC are standing members of the UACS.
UCSF’s Sustainability Steering Committee consists of the content experts acting as work group chairs for each of the below work groups, generally aligned with the systemwide workgroups:
- Climate Change (includes Transportation)*
- Culture Shift (UCSF only)*
- Green Building*
- Procurement
- Sustainable Food*
- Green Labs*
- Toxics Reduction (UCSF only)*
- Water Conservation
- Zero Waste
- UC Health
- Sustainability & Wellbeing
Of the 11 work groups, six* are co-chaired, one representative from UCSF Health and one from the Campus. The remaining three workgroups are explicitly focused on Campus or Health or both. The work group co-chairs comprise the Sustainability Steering Committee (SSC) co-chaired by Dan Henroid, Director Food and Nutrition Services/Chief Sustainability Officer for UCSFHealth and Paul Landry, Director of Engineering and Utilities. The mostly volunteer work group members include representatives from the staff but may include faculty and students.
Work Groups
Climate Change Work Group
Co-Chairs: Anna Leviit (Anna.Levitt@ucsf.edu) and John Rosendo (John.Rosendo@ucsf.edu)
Members: Paul Franke, Gail Lee, Tyler Dewey Barak Albeg, Benjamin Levie, Joy Glasier, Elizabeth Lin
Mission: To promote, encourage and report efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and decarbonization in the campus built and leased environment through energy efficiency, transportation programs, and other sources of carbon emissions.
Culture Shift Work Group
Co-Chairs: Monica Mapa (Monica.Mapa@ucsf.edu) and Gail Lee (Gail.Lee@ucsf.edu)
Members: Sophia Labeko, Robert Hood, Elizabeth Lin, Katie Zheng
Mission: To inform, educate and engage the university community to behave in a resource-efficient and sustainable manner
Green Building Work Group
Co-Chairs: Michael Kennedy (Michael.Kennedy@ucsf.edu) and Ron Blaj (Ron.Blaj@ucsf.edu)
Members: Josh Winzeler, Nancy Arnold, Edward To, Kaite Zheng
Mission: To incorporate best practices in sustainable strategies for new construction and renovation of UCSF facilities
Procurement Work Group
Campus Chairs: Dean Shehu (Dean.Shehu@ucsf.edu) and Elizabeth Lin (Elizabeth.Lin@ucsf.edu)
Members: Andrew Clark, Gail Lee, Marliz Copado
Mission: To incorporate best and economically viable, environmentally preferable purchasing practices
Sustainable Food Work Group
Co-Chairs: Jen Dowd (Jennifer.Dowd@ucsf.edu) and Dan Henroid (Dan.Henroid@ucsf.edu)
Members: Ami Bhow, Anne Alexander, Tamara Villarina,
Mission: To provide healthy sustainably grown and local food to support a sustainable future
Sustainable Operations Work Group (Green Labs)
Co-chairs: Elizabeth Lin (Elizabeth.lin@Ucsf.edu) and Dean Shehu (Dean.Shehu@ucsf.edu)
Members: Solomon Degu, Tim Orozco, Silke Nock, John Rosendo, Eli Perszyk
Mission: To develop sustainable best practices in the maintenance and operation of UCSF and specifically laboratory facilities
Toxic Reduction Work Group
Co-Chairs: Jessica Trowbridge (Jessica.Trowbridge@ucsf.edu)
Members: Tim Orozco, Felipe Rubio, Gail Lee, Katie Zheng, Matthew Carlson
Mission: Beyond Compliance: Reducing use and choosing safer (currently unregulated) hazardous chemicals
Water Conservation Work Group
Chair: Eliahu Perszyk (Eliahu.Perszyk@ucsf.edu)
Members: Ana Alvarado-Lopez, Denetra Anderson, Patrick Borg, Robert Hood, Michael Jaffe, Gail Lee, Bruce Mace, Natalie Mendezona, Aaron Nevatt, James Palmer, John Rosendo, Andrew Sinclair, Morgan Vaisset- Fauvel, Greg Whisman, Katie Zheng
Mission: To incorporate best practices in water conservation and re-use at UCSF facilities.
Zero Waste Work Group
Chair: Daniel Chau (Daniel.Chau@ucsf.edu)
Members: Pablo Ortega, Katie Zheng
Mission: To incorporate best practices in recycling and waste management at UCSF facilities
UCSF Health Work Group (aka UCSFH Sustainability Committee):
Chairs: Sheila Antrum (Sheila.Antrum@ucsfmedctr.org)
Members: Dan Henroid, Gail Lee, Tony Davoren, James Bennan, Edwin Amaya, Seema Gandhi, Anna Levitt
Mission: To incorporate best and economically viable environmentally preferable purchasing, energy/water efficiency and waste reduction practices
Sustainability & Wellness Work Group
Chair: Kathleen Yumul (Kathleen.yumul@ucsf.edu)
For more information on the sustainability committee, or to join any of the groups, contact the applicable workgroup chair or sustainability@ucsf.edu.
