Ella Feathers, a senior at Carolina, wears many hats in the sustainability space at Carolina. She has served on the Carolina Sustainability Council and currently co-chairs the UNC Student Government Department of Environmental Affairs. She also works as a science communicator for the Data Driven EnviroLab, led by Angel Hsu. In her episode, Ella talks about recognizing burnout, carrying a mindset of progress and  showing up in the sustainability space.  Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolina is the University’s comprehensive initiative to advance and amplify all sustainability a ..read more

On Earth Day 2024, Chief Sustainability Officer Mike Piehler gives an update on the University's sustainability initiative, Sustainable Carolina. He walks through Carolina's Climate Action Plan, Water Plan and progress made from 2020 - 2024. This audio comes from a video, shared on the UNC Institute for the Environment's YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/HpjasYF_IaM?feature=shared Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolina is the University’s comprehensive initiative to advance and amplify all sustainability activities, including reducing the University’s environmental footprint through thre ..read more

Between his day job and his passion projects, Will Freund gets the best of both worlds. As the community engagement specialist for Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, he leads programs for adults, teens and our youngest North Carolinians. And every April when Morehead's Science Expo rolls around, he runs the show. Freund has a natural curiosity for the world around, and it's contagious to those around him. His debut documentary explores perceptions surrounding climate change; his second gets personal, as he travels with his father to Blue Glacier in Olympic National Park.  Launched ..read more

Julie Jacobson Vann made her way down to North Carolina to pursue her passion — and Ph.D. — in public health. She grew up in Wisconsin knowing the importance of water quality and recycling. So when she began her career at the UNC School of Nursing, it only made sense that she would incorporate environmental health and sustainability into the courses she taught. Most recently, her interest, advocacy and volunteerism led her to be named the sustainability liaison at the UNC School of Nursing. Join us for this episode to learn about the greening of health care and why it's important we teach the ..read more

In this episode, Assistant Professor and Voit Gilmore Fellow Amanda DelVecchia talks about her lab's work in understanding greenhouse gas flux — the natural release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — in rivers and streams.  Then Drew Coleman, chair of the UNC Environment, Energy and Ecology (E3P) program talks about balancing Earth's ecosystems. Specifically, he talks about his partnership with the NC Collaboratory exploring how mining companies can be more sustainable in their extraction processes.  Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolina is the University’s comprehensi ..read more

In the third of four bonus episodes, we bring you a conversation about water and air quality from two centers based out of UNC Institute for the Environment.  First, Megan Lane talks about the work the Center for Public Engagement with Science is doing, especially as it has to do with water quality. Then Sarav Arunachalam, director of the Center for Environmental Modeling for Policy Development, talks about a case study his team conducted on the adoption of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks and what that could do to improve air quality. Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolina is ..read more

In the second of four summer bonus episodes, we talk with Xuewei Wang of Data Driven EnviroLab and Noah Kittner of Gillings School of Global Public Health. The Data-Driven EnviroLab us using both large data sets and citizen science to analyze the impacts of urban heat islands within different communities. Kittner has also worked with the Data-Driven EnviroLab to think about ways to help emerging sustainability-related technologies available to households of varying socioeconomic statuses. _____ Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolina is the University’s comprehensive initiative to adva ..read more

This is the first of our four summer bonus episodes. In this episode we hear from experts at the Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems (CoFiRES) and the Environmental Finance Center (EFC). With two different lenses, they talk about infrastructure, the environment and affordability of public services. Most of us don’t think about everything that has to happen before we flip on a light switch to turn on a light, or how we access water from the tap, but after listening to this episode, you may find yourself thinking more about these things! Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolin ..read more

John Richardson isn't sure his career path existed when he was in college. Inspired by his parents, who coupled environmental stewardship with municipal service in their careers,  Richardson earned a master's degree in urban and regional planning. Since 2007, he's been the Town of Chapel Hill's go-to person for sustainability. In the 16 years since he's been with the town, he's nurtured a robust relationship with UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, students and staff. In the past few years, his team has transformed to a team of one to an office of three. UNC-Chapel Hill Chief Sustainability Office ..read more

When Melanie Elliott graduated from Carolina, she had no idea she'd be playing a big role in one of the University's greatest challenges: achieving carbon neutrality by 2040. In this episode, she talks about tracking campus emissions, understanding the latest trends in the energy transition, and working with students to pass on knowledge (and excitement) about sustainability. Launched in fall 2020, Sustainable Carolina is the University’s comprehensive initiative to advance and amplify all sustainability activities, including reducing the University’s environmental footprint through three goa ..read more