Sustainability Director Aurora Winslade Moving to the University of Hawaii

UCSC Sustainability Director Aurora Winslade, who founded the Sustainability Office in 2007, is moving to the University of Hawaii to work as sustainability director. She graduated from UCSC with highest honors and the Chancellor's Award for a self-designed B.A. in, “Agriculture, Ecology, and Political Economy.” As a student she helped the University of California establish its first system-wide green building and renewable energy policy, now the “University of California Policy on Sustainable Practices" and co-founded the statewide Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) in 2003, for which she was awarded 1st place in the Oikos International Award for Student Entrepreneurship in Higher Education. She also co-founded several groups at UCSC including the Campus Sustainability Council (CSC), the Committee in Sustainability and Stewardship (CSS), and Students for Organic Solutions (SOS).

She participated in the founding of the national youth coalition Energy Action and she is a former leader of the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC). She has served on the advisory board for the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program, she is a Fellow of Humanity in Action, and a Strauss Foundation Scholar.

In 2004 Aurora was hired as a staff Sustainability Coordinator in Student Affairs, funded by student fees, to advise the Student Environmental Center, CSC, and ESLP. In 2007, she was hired by the campus administration to manage the Campus Sustainability Assessment and, later, to found the Campus Sustainability Office.

Aurora specializes in institutional change for sustainability in higher education with a particular emphasis on the development of change agent and interpersonal skills. She has extensive training in non-violent communication and participatory facilitation techniques. She is the proud mother of Thor Sylvan, who inspires her to continue striving to help build a vibrant, thriving, and sustainable society.

The director of the Campus Sustainability Office (established 2007) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) supports the many projects led by staff and student leaders, helps to manage the Sustainability and Climate Action Plans, engages in development activities, and advises the campus administration on policies and practices that support ecological, human, and economic health and viability.

The Sustainability Office staff and students wish her all the best in her new position at the University of Hawaii!