Staff

Biography, Education and Training

Ellen Vaughan is a LEED Accredited Professional and the assistant manager of sustainability for operational and strategic initiatives for the University of California, Santa Cruz. She studied business and forestry at Virginia Tech before receiving her Masters in Environmental Policy at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry. She has worked as a global warming field organizer for Greenpeace in Washington, DC, project coordinator for the Public Counsel of the Rockies in Aspen, CO, and the director of sustainability for the Syracuse Center for Excellence. Ellen found her true calling in higher education in Flagstaff, AZ where she worked as Northern Arizona University's sustainability manager for five years. She joined the UC Santa Cruz team in 2018 where she enjoys working on all the diverse components of sustainability, particularly decarbonization and electrification, behavior change, sustainable policy development and process improvement.