Santa Fe College plans to hire an energy and sustainability manager for its northwest campus, according to a SF job posting.
The hiring of a new energy and sustainability manager is an addition to other sustainability initiatives on Santa Fe’s campus, including the REAL lab, which is a teaching tool showcasing solar energy with solar panels.
“It is gratifying to see that the college really respects the importance of sustainability,” said Stefanie Waschull, a member of the Sustainable Santa Fe Committee.
She said the committee advocated for a sustainability manager as part of its zero-waste initiative. The zero-waste initiative will involve recycling, reducing and reusing waste.
Waschull said the goal is to have Santa Fe achieve zero waste by 2030. The initiative will formally launch after the sustainability manager is hired.
“It's not like hiring a sustainability manager is going to stop global warming, but it at least helps the college do our part to ameliorate the things that we might be doing that are contributing to the problem,” she said.
According to the job posting, the new energy and sustainability manager will be paid about $63,000 annually. The new manager will develop programs that reduce waste and conserve energy as well as oversee the installation of energy-efficient equipment.
Waschull said she doesn’t know how many people have applied so far.
Brian Neiman, a 27-year-old Santa Fe wildlife ecology and conservation sciences sophomore, is a member of Santa Fe’s Sustainability Committee. He said the sustainability manager would be a great bridge between faculty and students as awareness surrounding the impacts of climate change and the importance of conservation grows.
“I think everyone will be proud to be part of a campus which has more solar panels, greenhouses that are available to them and all kinds of cool initiatives,” he said. “But it just seems like a lot of students don't really know about that. I think Santa Fe should do more to flaunt their initiatives.”
The energy and sustainability manager will communicate outcomes of campus and community-wide sustainability initiatives and be a “campus liaison,” according to the job posting. The manager will also be a co-chair of the Sustainability Committee.
Jade Woodling, the education manager at Santa Fe’s Teaching Zoo and another member of the Sustainability Committee, said she is excited about the new position.
“Having a hired, full-time position that can help make some of our sustainability goals come to fruition and move things along is really exciting,” Woodling said.
Most academic departments in larger universities and colleges, including UF, have sustainability positions, said Manisha Ranade, a Santa Fe professor and adviser for the Santa Fe Conservation and Sustainability Club.
“We are one of the top community colleges in the U.S., and we want to show our leadership,” Ranade said. “After all, we are all going through so many of these climate crises right now.”
Contact Timothy Wang at twang@alligator.org. Follow him on X @timothyw_g
Timothy Wang is a junior journalism student and the Fall 2024 Santa Fe College Reporter. He was the University Administration reporter for Summer 2024. His hobbies include gaming or reading manga.
