University of Massachusetts Lowell
EN-9: Staff Professional Development

Twice a year, before the fall and spring semesters, the UMass Lowell Climate Change Coalition will host an annual retreat for faculty from across the academic disciplines to come together share their work and brainstorm as to how they can grow and obtain grants. Create implementation plans for bringing climate change education into their own courses, with support from workshop facilitators and fellow participants.

Other professional development opportunities hosted across campus through a variety of organizations include:

September 25, 2018, Gina McCarthy “Environmental Protection, Health Equity and Impact: Investing for a Sustainable Future”

Gina McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common sense strategies to protect public health and the environment for more than 30 years. She served under President Barack Obama as the 13th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013–2017.

Gina is currently Professor of Practice of Public Health and Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard School of Public Health. She leads the development of the School’s strategy in climate science, health, and sustainability.
She also currently acts as an Operating Advisor at Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private equity firm in New York focused on the intersection of global sustainability, health and wellness.

The Lunchtime Lectures are co-sponsored by the Moses Greeley Parker Lecture Series and the UMass Lowell Office of Community Relations. Additional UMass Lowell Co-Sponsors include Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, Francis College of Engineering, Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, and the Climate Change Initiative.

May 3, 2018, "Which energy source has lower carbon emissions: renewable wood or fossil coal? Dynamic life cycle analysis of wood bioenergy" by Juliette Rooney-Varga, Associate Professor of Environmental Science.

Juliette N. Rooney-Varga directs the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell and is an Associate Professor of environmental science. Her research in microbial ecology and biogeochemistry has included marine algal blooms, climate change-carbon cycle feedbacks in Arctic peatlands, and anaerobic microbial community dynamics and performance in microbial fuel cells. Her recent work, funded by NASA and NSF, is focused on climate change education, communication, and decision support.

April 19, 2018, "The Sustainable Urban University" Panel Discussion.

The meaning of sustainability is evolving. Colleges and universities are at the forefront of efforts to preserve the earth’s resources for current and future generations. These include the pursuit of carbon neutrality, adoption of renewable energy technologies, green building strategies, and related initiatives. For the urban university, this process cannot be done in a vacuum. Universities must work together with their host, and surrounding, communities to find inclusive ways to collectively approach sustainability, resiliency, and climate mitigation.

Panelists :
Karen Cirillo, Lowell City Councilor;
Ger Mullally, Department of Sociology, University College Cork;
John O'Halloran, Deputy President and Registrar, University College Cork;
Ruairi O'Mahony, Director, Office of Sustainability, UMass Lowell;
John Saltmarsh, Professor of Higher Education, College of Education and Human Development, University of Massachusetts, Boston;

Moderated by: John Wooding, Climate Change Initiative, UMass Lowell

Staff can request external professional development opportunities through the Office of Sustainability, some examples of the past year:

- Sending a non-science educator to New England Aquarium's Climate Science for Educators Professional Development workshop
- Sending someone to UVM's Campus Sustainability Leadership Certificate course
- LEED Green Associate Prep Course
- LEED Exam Study Materials
- Covering LEED Exam Fees for Green Associate and AP Exams