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UC - Santa Barbara Bren School Campus Climate Neutral (CCN) II Team
BRENT MILLER	MARIE-CLAIRE MUNNELLY		AUBREY SPILDE
Graduate CCN Team at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
ORAN YOUNG		DURWOOD ZAELKE		DAN WORTH
Faculty Sponsor & NAELS Team

BREN CAMPUS CLIMATE NEUTRAL (CCN) PROJECT II

Avoiding serious climate change will require deep cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from all sources. Universities can provide both practical and moral leadership in this area by taking steps to aggressively reduce their GHG emissions while educating students about climate change.

The goal of the Bren School's Campus Climate Neutral (CCN) project is to find ways to reduce UCSB's net emissions of GHGs to zero through a combination of reductions and offests and, in the process, to put the university in a position to play an effective role as a leader in the broader effort to come to terms with the problem of climate change. Specifically, the CCN project will (1) document current emissions of GHGs at UCSB, (2) explore the pros and cons of alternative approaches to reducing UCSB's net emissions, and (3) take steps to set the university on a path to become a leader in this area.

This project is part of a larger, national Campus Climate Neutral (CCN) effort spearheaded by its client - the National Associations of Environmental Law Societies - to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference in the Earth's climate system.

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Brent Miller

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About Brent:

Brent Miller is specializing in Corporate Environmental Management with an emphasis on renewable energy. His Bren School Group Project, Campus Climate Neutral II (CCNII), focuses on implementing the recommendations provided by CCN I. Brent is currently a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at Bren, a Graduate Students Association representative, and is an active member of the UCSB chapter of Engineers Without Borders. After graduating from Bren, Brent is interested in working for the development and proliferation of renewable energy. Outside of school, Brent enjoys surfing, intramural basketball, and singing and playing guitar with Brengrass.

About Campus Climate Neutral Bren Project:

Coming Soon!

 

BREN CCN: BRENT MILLER | MARIE - CLAIRE MUNNELLY | AUBREY SPILDE | ORAN YOUNG
NAELS: DURWOOD ZAELKE | DAN WORTH
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"Why are public universities hesitant to adopt new policies when it actually saves them money?
What are the causes of this institutional inertia?
Universities are breeding grounds for future leaders, teachers, and professionals.
Awareness of climate change and remedial solutions can be carried from the university into our communities, showing that reducing GHG’s is not only feasible, but also cost-efficient.."

About Marie-Claire:

Marie-Claire is a second year Master’s student at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB. In addition to being part of Campus Climate Neutral 2, Marie-Claire is the student representative for the UCOP Climate Change working group that is determining how the UC system can reduce GHG emissions. Marie-Claire is also spearheading a sustainable lab project that is assessing laboratory energy use and practices, creating a lab manual on what can be done to improve energy efficiency and behavior. As president of the Bren Sustainability Committee and project leader of the Engineers without Borders Mali Biofuel team, Marie-Claire promotes sustainable practices and local involvement. This past summer she was an intern at the NGO The Climate Institute where she evaluated renewable energy projects taking place in small developing islands. She also interned for the United Nations Environmental Program to evaluate renewable energy policy in developing countries. Upon completing her masters, Marie-Claire hopes to work for an organization focusing on renewable energy projects in developing countries while increasing national awareness of energy efficiency opportunities. Marie-Claire has a BA in geography and English from James Madison University. Marie-Claire’s interests include traveling, running, yoga, photography, and natural medicine.

About Campus Climate Neutral Bren Project:

With a GHG inventory already complete (thanks to CCN1), our group hopes to identify barriers to implementing GHG reducing policies in the public university system. Why are public universities hesitant to adopt new policies when it actually saves them money? What are the causes of this institutional inertia? Universities are breeding grounds for future leaders, teachers, and professionals. Awareness of climate change and remedial solutions can be carried from the university into our communities, showing that reducing GHG’s is not only feasible, but also cost-efficient. Our theoretical case study will include analysis of leadership styles, budget constraints, and other external influences that will be applied to UCSB, attempting to understand why UCSB and other public universities are not making a commitment to reducing GHG’s .

BREN CCN: BRENT MILLER | MARIE - CLAIRE MUNNELLY | AUBREY SPILDE | ORAN YOUNG
NAELS: DURWOOD ZAELKE | DAN WORTH
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Aubrey Spilde

"As UCSB graduate students, we have the opportunity to determine what influences whether or not such action takes place at a university. This information can help us take the right steps to build the momentum toward climate neutrality."

About Aubrey:

Aubrey Spilde is master’s student at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara, where her focus is on climate change policy and corporate social responsibility. Over the summer she worked for the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Oslo, Norway, where she researched the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and the SO2 and NOX emissions trading systems. She also worked with the University of Tromsø in Tromsø, Norway, updating a report on ecolabeling in fisheries. Prior to attending the Bren School, Aubrey worked as a Community Service Learning Coordinator at Wareham (MA) Middle School where she developed and secured funding for service-learning projects related to recycling. Aubrey has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and music from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

 

About Campus Climate Neutral Bren Project:

Universities are increasingly recognizing, and ideally lessening, their impact on the climate. The momentum to take action is growing. As UCSB graduate students, we have the opportunity to determine what influences whether or not such action takes place at a university. This information can help us take the right steps to build the momentum toward climate neutrality.

 

BREN CCN: BRENT MILLER | MARIE - CLAIRE MUNNELLY | AUBREY SPILDE | ORAN YOUNG
NAELS: DURWOOD ZAELKE | DAN WORTH
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"...CCN is a brilliant mix of analysis and action. This project shows what a group of bright and committed students can do to move a large organization toward the path of social responsibility."

bout Professor Young: Oran Young is a founder and Co-Director of the GSD Program. The author of recent books, including Governance in World Affairs and The Institutional Dimensions of Environmental Change: Fit, Interplay, and Scale, he is a leading figure in the global environmental change research community. [webpage]

 

 

BREN CCN: BRENT MILLER | MARIE - CLAIRE MUNNELLY | AUBREY SPILDE | ORAN YOUNG
NAELS: DURWOOD ZAELKE | DAN WORTH
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Dan Worth

Executive Director, NAELS
"CCN recognizes that it is the graduate students of today that will envision, plan, and drive the next Industrial Revolution that we will need to aviod the more serious consequences of global warming!"

About Dan: Dan Worth is the Executive Director of the National Association of Environmental Law Societies ("NAELS"), a coalition of environmental law student groups that seeks to mobilize the university community in support of public interest environmental solutions. Dan also currently serves on the Steering Committee for the Energy Action Network, a coalition of student and youth groups working on climate and energy issues. Prior to joining NAELS, Dan served as the Harvard Law School Environmental Fellow, where he coordinated the Environmental Working Group - a team of Harvard Law School administrators, professors, alumni, and students working to develop a comprehensive environmental law program. While at Harvard, Dan volunteered for the Law Offices of Matthew F. Pawa, P.C., where he conducted research on the recent tort-based global warming cases. Dan graduated cum laude from Boston University School of Law and has clerked for Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund in the organization's D.C. and Juneau, Alaska offices.

About Campus Climate Neutral Bren Project: CCN recognizes that it is the graduate students of today that will envision, plan, and drive the next Industrial Revolution that we will need to aviod the more serious consequences of global warming! Only by educating, training, inspiring, and mobilizing this next generation can we hope to tackle the enormous challenge in front of us. The Bren CCN graduate team and Santa Barbara Climate Neutral Task Force are leading the way to a carbon-constrained future.