Carbon Neutrality Team

The Carbon Neutrality Initiative Team works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus by collaborating in the design and implementation of a variety of programs and projects. Our current areas of focus include:

• Decarbonization & Electrification & the Cool Campus Challenge - Cole Seither will be assisting the campus in our efforts to complete an Decarbonization & Electrification (D&E) plan. His work will include
  communicating to the campus community existing electrification efforts, organizing town halls to update the campus community on the D&E's progress, conducting research around decarbonization efforts, and advancing existing conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy initiatives.
  • Cool Campus Challenge - Every few years, the UC Office of the President leads a friendly competition to reduce UC's carbon footprint and create a culture of sustainability across the campuses. The next challenge launched in Winter 2023 quarter. www.CoolCampusChallange.org 
• Climate Resilience - Mikaela Mansilla will be focused on advancing Climate Resilience within the UCSC
  campus community. She will examine the plethora of connection points to inclusive sustainability. This could include community outreach and engagement to raise awareness about environmental inclusivity, identifying best practices in inclusive environmental justice, conducting a needs assessment to develop a suite of recommendations and next steps for climate and community resilience.
• Green Labs - Noah Sherod will work to advance our decarbonization & electrification effort by investigating our largest energy, water, and waste spaces - laboratories. He will be a part of the Green Labs Team and work to identify major inefficient equipment like fridges, freezers, incubators, and autoclaves. He will work with departments, administration, and the Sustainability Office to identify funding sources for equipment upgrades.

• If you would like a CNI Fellow to come to your class, club, or community group to talk about UCSC's energy use, emissions, and plans for reaching carbon neutrality, request a presentation here.