About Us
Get to know the MIT Office of Sustainability
About Us
About Us - Introduction 2
Our mission
is to transform MIT into a powerful model—one that generates just, equitable, applicable, and scalable solutions for responding to the unprecedented challenges of a changing planet.
To achieve our mission, we seek to advance a collaborative process that engages and elevates a diverse set of voices to foster operational excellence, education, research and innovation on our campus.
Creating a next generation sustainable campus
The MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) was established in 2013 under the Executive Vice President and Treasurer's Office to integrate sustainability across all levels of our campus by engaging the collective brainpower of our students, staff, faculty, alumni, and partners. We have set out to ensure that sustainability is a critical part of MIT’s standard operating procedures and is fully integrated into the working, research, teaching, social and cultural spheres of our campus.
The MITOS team. Read more about the team here. Photo taken in our office space in E38. Learn more about the test bed features of this space here.
How we work
The MITOS Strategy is organized into four areas of responsibility. While our work is based on campus, we are connected to the larger mission of MIT – to serve the nation and world. We have set out to have an an impact across scales, from the individual to the globe.
Areas of Responsibility:
Sustainable Campus Systems: Reimagining systems on campus to advance the well-being and resilience of people and the environment
Campus as an Urban Living Laboratory: Utilizing the campus and its urban surroundings as a test bed for innovation and knowledge generation through research and education
Collaborative Partnerships: Harnessing the collective intelligence of networks and communities to solve shared problems
Leadership and Capacity Building: Engaging and empowering faculty, students, and staff in shaping, applying, and continuously improving the sustainability of MIT and beyond
Read about our Scales of Impact framework.
Our core values
Applied Innovation: Pursue creative strategies with tangible and scalable impacts
Community Mobilization: Generate opportunities to mobilize and engage MIT’s educational enterprise around climate and sustainability efforts.
Civic Responsibility: Contribute to the mission of MIT by serving our campus, community, and the world
Inclusive design: Foster a culture where people from diverse backgrounds and departments feel they are valued and their voices are essential, heard, and respected.
Systems Thinking: View all stakeholders, resources and challenges as interrelated and mutually dependent.
Our methods
Apply system-thinking to campus design, management, growth and renewal
Redefine the campus as an experimental laboratory for applied innovation and learning
Connect people, ideas and systems in ways that spark transformative and lasting change
Position higher education as a critical partner in delivering scalable impact from the individual to the global level
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
The Office of Sustainability is part of the Campus Services and Stewardship Committee for Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, established in 2018, along with representatives from the Department of Facilities; the Environment, Health, and Safety Office; and the Office of Campus Planning. The committee meets regularly to discuss and develop initiatives to promote diversity, inclusion, and belonging and to provide resources that advance community knowledge and awareness in this area.
Examples of the goals and activities that are in planning or underway include:
Reviewing internal practices to ensure they are inclusive and relevant to a diverse culture (for example, in hiring and procurement);
Addressing local recruitment challenges to attract and retain a diverse workforce; and
Finding opportunities for staff engagement, so that every staff member feels they belong in and connect with the greater MIT community.
To accomplish this work, the CSS DEI Committee is in touch with the Institute Community and Equity Office and will work to align with MIT’s Strategic Action Plan for Belonging, Achievement, and Composition. The committee also meets with peers within and outside of MIT to learn from tried-and-tested methods of building diversity.
For more details and a listing of committee members and efforts, please visit http://web.mit.edu/facilities/about/css-dei.html
Our space on campus
The third floor of Building E38 is home to MITOS, the Environmental Solutions Initiative, and the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab. In this space, sustainably sourced and low-VOC materials and finishes are being tested by occupants each day. Though E38 has countless green building features—the third floor alone has nearly one dozen unique features and finishes including floor tiles, solar shades, countertops, and millwork—some of the materials on the third floor are being used for the first time on campus in order to test their viability as sustainable alternatives for additional spaces around campus. Learn more about these features and their impact.
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Scales of Impact
The challenges of sustainability are both local and global. Creating transformative solutions requires deep collaboration among community leaders and members on campus, city and global scales.
It starts with you on campus.
We start with you to find solutions at the campus level to serve both the institution's needs as well as to incubate new and big ideas.
MITOS Staff
Meet our team
Drawing from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, we work together to connect people, ideas and systems across the MIT community in ways that spark transformative and lasting change.
Julie Newman
Director
Julie joined MIT as the Institute’s first Director of Sustainability to found the Office of Sustainability and build a platform both unique to MIT yet with the intention of advancing the field at large. With this in mind, Julie launched MIT’s sustainability platform grounded in a methodology to leverage the role of the campus to solve for sustainability and a changing climate across multiple scales - at the levels of the individual, the campus, the city, the state, the country and the globe.
Julie is a pioneer in the field of campus sustainability and has worked for twenty-five years at a combination of public and private, and rural and urban campuses alike. In her work she has demonstrated that the actions and infrastructure of our campuses are integral to advancing and fulfilling the educational mission of Higher Education. She brings a systems thinking perspective to all of her work and seeks to build bridges between operational and academic partners alike to inform both her understanding of the challenges at hand and to develop solutions. Her prior research which she now applies, focused on the intersection between decision-making processes and organizational behavior in institutionalizing sustainability into higher education.
Prior to MIT, Julie was the founding Director of the Office of Sustainability for Yale University where she also held a lecturer appointment with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Julie came to Yale from the University of New Hampshire, Office of Sustainability Programs (OSP) where she assisted with the development of the program since its inception. As the field of campus sustainability took route, Julie was determined to bring the northeast pioneers together with the understanding that as colleagues we do our best work when we challenge each other’s thinking. With this in mind, Julie co-founded the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium, to advance education and action for sustainable development on university campuses in the northeast and maritime region.
Julie is also a Lecturer in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) at MIT. She lectures and consults for universities both nationally and internationally, participates on a variety of boards and advisory committees and has contributed to a series of edited books and peer reviewed journals. Julie holds a BS in Natural Resource Policy and Management from the University of Michigan; an MS in Environmental Policy and Biology from Tufts University; and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies from the University of New Hampshire.
Recent projects
In addition to leading the office, Julie is responsible for the oversight and implementation of the Campus Impact Goals called for by MIT’s Fast Forward Climate action plan. Julie chairs the Carbon Footprint Working Group as well as a Net Zero 2026 faculty working group. Looking ahead, Julie will be working with an internal team to determine how MIT will decarbonize the campus by 2050.
Journal Articles
Verhoef L.A. et al. (2020) Towards a Learning System for University Campuses as Living Labs for Sustainability. In: Leal Filho W. et al. (eds) Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham
Finnveden, Göran, Julie Newman, and Leendert A. Verhoef. 2019. "Sustainable Development and Higher Education: Acting with a Purpose" Sustainability 11, no. 14: 3831.
Newman, J. (2018). Calling for a Next-Generation Sustainability Framework at MIT. In: Amini, M., Boroojeni, K., Iyengar, S., Pardalos, P., Blaabjerg, F., Madni, A. (eds) Sustainable Interdependent Networks. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 145.
Washington-Ottombre, C., Washington, G., Newman, J. (2018) Campus sustainability in the US: Environmental management and social change since 1970. Journal of Cleaner Production. v. 196, 564-575.
Weber, S., Newman, J. (2017). Ecoregional analysis applied to campus sustainability performance. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Newman, J. (2012). An organizational change management framework for sustainability. Greener Management International. Galea , C. [Ed.]. pp. 65-75(11).
Newman, J ; Rauch, J. (2009). Institutionalizing a greenhouse gas commitment at Yale. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. Vol. 10 Issue: 4, 390 - 400.
Newman, J. (2009). Education for Sustainability – Designing an educational system for sustainability. Encyclopedia of Sustainability. Great Barrington, Massachusetts: Berkshire Publishing Group, LLC.
Newman, J.; Weber, S.; Bookhart, D. (2009) Institutionalizing campus-wide sustainability: A programmatic approach. Sustainability: Journal of Record. vo.2 no.3.
Newman, J.; Rauch, J. (2009). Defining sustainability metric targets in an institutional setting. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. v. 10. n.2., 107 – 116.
Newman, J.; Rauch, J. (2008). Zeroing in on sustainability. Sustainability: Journal of Record. vo. 1. no.6, 387-390.
Newman, J. (2008). Reconceptualizing a model for service learning in the context of a sustainable campus. Practical approaches to ethics for colleges and universities. New Directions for Higher Education. No. 142. , 17 – 24.
Book Chapters
Newman, J. and Weber, S. (2023). Accelerating Response to a Changing Climate: A Campus Strategy that Aligns Solutions Across Scales. In, Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education: An Agenda for Transformational Change.Purcell, W.M. & Haddock-Fraser, J. (Eds.). Bloomsbury Press, London, U.K. (due for publication February, 2023).
Newman. J. (2021). USA case study. In, Universities facing Climate Change and Sustainability. McCowan, T., Leal Filho, W & Brandli, L (Eds). Global University Leader Council, Hamburg.
Verhoef, L.A., Bossert, M., Newman, J. et al. (2020). Towards a Learning System for University Campuses as Living Labs for Sustainability. In: , et al. Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development. World Sustainability Series.
Newman, J. (2010). Sustainability education. Siever, B. (Ed.). The Spirit of Sustainability Encyclopedia [pp.148-150]. Great Barrington, Massachusetts: Berkshire Publishing Group, LLC.
Newman, J. (2007). The impacts of cell phones and laptops in a sustainable world. Kleiman, S. (Ed). Displacing Place: Mobile Communication in the 21 st Century. [pp.77-83] New York, New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Newman, J. (2006). The role of a campus sustainability professional in facilitating institutional reform. 147 Tips for Teaching Sustainability [pp.99-102]. Timpson, W. [Ed]. Madison, Wisconsin: Attwood Publishing.
Newman, J., Abrams, E. (2005). Organizational structure and rational choice: Unveiling the obstacles to integrating sustainability into decision-making in an institution of higher education. Leal Filho, W.(Ed) Handbook of Sustainability Research. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang Scientific Publishing.
Edited Volumes
Finnveden, G., Verheof, L, Newman. J. [Ed]. (December 2019). Sustainable Development and Higher Education Institutions: Acting with Purpose. Special Issue of Sustainability. MDPI.
Leal Filho,W, Brandli, L, Castro, Newman, J. (Ed). (January 2017). Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education. Springer. Switzerland.
Newman, J. (Ed.). (June 2011). Green Education: An A-to-Z Guide. (vol.7). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Newman, J. (Ed). (June, 2011). Green Ethics and Philosophy: An A-to-Z Guide (vol. 8). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Newman, J. Fernandez, L. (2007). Strategies for Institutionalizing Sustainability in Higher Education – Report on the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium 3rd Annual Conference. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Report n.10. New Haven, CT: FES.
Books
Newman, J. (2009). Reaching Beyond Compliance: The Challenges of Achieving Campus Sustainability. Germany: VDM Publishing.
Conference Proceedings & Professional Reports
Newman, J. (2005, April). Strategies for integrating sustainability into higher education: A case analysis of Yale University. United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development – The role of higher education institutions. Graz, Austria.
Newman, J. (2002, August). What keeps universities from fully embracing sustainability principles?: A presentation of a conceptual framework for research. Conference proceedings of the National Association of Environmental Education.
Newman, J. (2001, October). Consumer choice, sustainability, and a constructivist pedagogy. Conference proceedings of the National Association of Environmental Education.
Informational Articles and Instructional Materials
Newman, J. (2003, November). Is eating a moral act?: An exploration from agrarianism to consumerism. The Center for the Humanities Newsletter. No. 2
Newman, J. ; Diezel, J. (2001, January) Continuing connections through the curriculum and community. Connections Newsletter. Vol.16. No.1
Rebecca Fowler
Senior Administrative Assistant
Rebecca is responsible for providing administrative support to the Director and all project managers in the Office of Sustainability. She is the office manager, human resources administrator, accountant, and event planner. She works closely with the Director on managing priorities and team wellbeing.
Rebecca is a co-chair for the MIT Working Green Committee, a group that promotes sustainability among staff members on campus, and manages and runs Choose to Reuse. Rebecca has a M.Sc. In Environmental Social Science from the University of Kent and a B.A. In Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Recent Projects: Choose to Reuse
Collaborate with me on: Sustainable events and purchasing
Brian Goldberg
Assistant Director
Brian joined the Office of Sustainability to help develop and demonstrate solutions for how the campus can become resilient and adapted to a changing climate. Brian is also responsible for helping MIT design waste out of our systems by testing and scaling solutions that impact supply chains, campus consumption and waste system behaviors and processes.
Brian explores and advances solutions by leveraging the campus as a test bed. Collaborations among MIT research groups, faculty, students and operational experts are used to collectively pilot test, develop, demonstrate and operationalize data-driven solutions.
Prior to MIT, Brian worked for 15 years addressing urban planning, climate change and sustainable development challenges across Africa, Asia, and the US at national, regional, city, and community scales with employers including AECOM Design and Planning, United Nations (Asia-Pacific) and James Corner Field Operations (New York City). Locally, Brian serves on his town’s Greenway Committee and the Open Space and Rec Plan Committee. Brian has a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Environment and a B.A. from Union College (NY).
Recent projects: Brian is responsible for co-leading implementation of Fast Forward MIT initiatives including the Resiliency and Adaptation Roadmap, Waste Impact Goals, and Scope 3 Accounting. Recent resiliency activities include MIT Flood Risk Dashboard and MIT Flood Risk Analysis.
Collaborate with me on: Climate resiliency and adaptation planning, designing out waste, Scope 3 reduction planning
Susy Jones
Senior Sustainability Project Manager
Susy joined the team to help implement the strategic framework for the Office during its launch in 2013, convening staff, students, and faculty from across the Institute around topics ranging from low-carbon commuting to organizational change. She is currently working to advance sustainable and accessible food systems and environmental justice on campus.
Susy revels in collaborating on dynamic programming, such as the Living Climate Futures Symposium, and building unique and impactful community partnerships, such as the Launchpad at the MIT students center, which incubates small and diverse local food businesses. As a representative of MIT, she also chairs the City of Cambridge’s Recycling Advisory Committee.
Prior to MIT, she worked to advance energy efficiency in schools and public buildings in the Northeast and helped manage a landmark nutrition education program in 70 public schools in Philadelphia. Outside of MIT, you can find her exploring new food spots in Boston or taking in the beauty of the Arnold Arboretum. Susy has an M.A. in Urban & Environmental Planning & Policy from Tufts University and a B.A. in English from Bryn Mawr College.
Recent projects: Progress toward a sustainable campus food system
Collaborate with me on: Food systems, environmental and climate justice, community partnerships, creating a culture of belonging in the sustainability field, experiential learning around farming and gardening
Steven Lanou
Sustainability Project Manager
Steve helped establish the Office of Sustainability in 2013. Prior to this, Steve was leading campus sustainability efforts as Deputy Director within the MIT Environmental Programs Office.
With a focus on climate and energy work, Steve works to develop, promote, and coordinate programs to advance the Institute’s commitment to sustainable practices, while integrating campus-focused research and learning opportunities with MIT’s faculty, students, and the broader community. Steve serves on several advisory and working committees serving the Institute, the Cities of Cambridge and Boston, and his hometown of Winchester.
Before joining MIT, Steve worked in a variety of environmental research and planning capacities in management consulting, technical consulting, and non-profit policy research, including the World Resources Institute, United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, and Arthur Andersen.
Steve is an environmental planner by training with over 20 years experience in environmental policy development and program implementation. He holds a Bachelors degree in international economic development from Brown University, and a Masters degree in environmental policy and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Recent projects: Implementing MIT’s net-zero emissions by 2026 climate action plans, developing MIT’s greenhouse gas inventory, enhancing our DataPool visualizations
Collaborate with me on: Net-zero and zero emissions planning, greenhouse gas mitigation, renewable energy and carbon credit procurement strategy, data and decision-making, community collaborations
Ellie McLane
Sustainability Project Manager
Ellie joined the office to advance school and department level climate action called for by MIT’s Fast Forward: Plan for Climate Action for the Decade. In her role, she engages in a collaborative solution design process with students, staff and faculty across MIT Departments, Labs, and Centers.
With a strong emphasis on data, Ellie leads the design and implementation of related data management, strategic planning, and analyses needed to develop the departmental level Sustainability and Climate Action plans.
Prior to MIT, Ellie worked as a geologist and project manager for the global sustainability consultancy ERM, where she focused on characterizing and remediating complex contaminated sites. Ellie currently serves as chair of her local Wetlands Protection Committee. She holds a M.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University and a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Physics and Earth Systems Science from the University of Michigan.
Recent projects: Fast Forward MIT Campus Commitments
Collaborate with me on: Climate and sustainability action planning, climate mitigation, climate resiliency
Nicole Morell
Sustainability Communication Specialist
Nicole joined the office with a goal of engaging the campus community in sustainability efforts across MIT. In her role, she works closely with MITOS project managers and staff across the Institute to communicate programs, initiatives, and news in support of MIT’s work in responding to the challenges of a changing planet.
With a focus on digital media, Nicole uses a wide range of communication channels to engage and inform the MIT community of the important work of MITOS.
Nicole first joined MIT in 2014 working in communications and marketing in the MIT Alumni Association. There she focused on engaging alumni through social media and sharing stories of their work and volunteerism throughout the globe, reporting on topics from sustainable sanitation systems to commercial crew spacecraft. Outside of MIT, she serves on her local city council. She has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Rhode Island.
Recent projects: MIT accelerates efforts on path to carbon reduction goals, Charting the landscape at MIT, Office of Sustainability 2021 Report
Collaborate with me on: Climate communications through video, articles, outreach, and events
Dawn Quirk
Sustainability Project Manager
Dawn joined the office to enhance MIT’s culture of reuse, strengthen and amplify MIT’s efforts to design waste out of MIT’s procurement systems and institutional operations, and facilitate the highest and best use of recyclable materials. Launching from a strong foundation of MIT waste studies and successful design-out-waste practices, she accomplishes her work by partnering across MIT to identify opportunities for improvement, co-creating solutions, and on long-term planning to meet MIT’s waste impact climate commitments.
Dawn previously worked on waste reduction initiatives and planning with the City of Cambridge, Tufts University, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Air and Waste. Her work at MassDEP on waste ban compliance and policy incentives through monetary and technical assistance grants sparked an interest in policy work, which led her to earn an MPA at Northeastern University. She keeps current on recycling markets and legislation by serving on the board of the Northeast Resources Recovery Association.
Recent projects: Dawn served on the Boston Green Ribbon Commission’s Technical Advisory Group for Waste for the creation of the Carbon Free Boston report. At Northeastern University, Dawn wrote a three-piece analysis on the implications of legislating recycling in a non-waste ban state: Research Brief, Policy Brief, Recommendation.
Collaborate with me on: reuse systems, food waste recycling and reduction, and scaling waste reduction solutions through policy and systems improvement.
Leela Velautham
Postdoctoral Associate
Leela is a post-doctoral researcher working jointly with MITOS and MIT’s Climate and Sustainability Consortium. Her research focuses on characterizing decarbonization pathways and net-zero targets and identifying common bottlenecks to achieving net-zero across both higher education and industry.
Leela’s work includes reviewing literature, conducting interviews with stakeholders, analyzing relevant sources of data and keeping up to date with various GHG accounting standards including Science Based Targets.
Prior to MIT, Leela graduated from UC Berkeley with a Ph.D. in Education in Maths, Science and technology, where she worked with Prof. Michael Ranney on a variety of projects that involved changing acceptance, beliefs, and emotions regarding climate change. During her Ph.D. she was also a UCOP Carbon Neutrality Graduate Student Fellow and worked at UC Berkeley’s Office of Sustainability on a variety of initiatives including managing the 2018-2021 campus greenhouse gas emissions inventory and helping to design and launch a business air travel mitigation pilot program for the campus. She has a combined Bachelors and Masters degree in chemistry from the University of Oxford (UK).
MITOS Students
Student Sustainability Researchers
Our students develop meaningful work to advance a sustainable campus at MIT and to build their professional experience in institutional transformation. We hire both undergraduate and graduate students to help shape the future of sustainability at MIT and beyond.
Meet our current student researchers!
Manasa Acharya
Environmental Justice Researcher
Manasa is working as an Environmental Justice Researcher at MIT's Office of Sustainability this summer. She recently graduated with a Master's in Urban Planning from Harvard University, with a concentration in Sustainable Transportation and Infrastructure. She has previously worked with governments, donors, non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and grassroots actors on issues across sustainable development, digital service delivery, education, and urban planning. Manasa is passionate about leveraging her multidisciplinary background in systems thinking, human-centred design, and governance transformation to address issues of sustainable infrastructure development and social equity.
Katerina Boukin
Climate Action Researcher
Katya is a PhD student at the “Concrete Sustainability Hub” at the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her passion lies in structural resiliency of the city scape to flood related natural disasters. Joining MIT office of sustainability in September of 2020 as a climate resiliency modeler and simulator, she is working on developing an improved method to assess, predict and mitigate storm and flood induced hazards. Her research project matches her work at MITOS, combining the projects she is using MIT campus as a test bed in her research work, trying to assess and mitigate natural disaster hazards as well as impacts of climate change on the severity of damages.
Cheng-Hsin Chan
Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Planning
Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Planning Researcher Cheng is currently a candidate at MIT pursuing a Master of Science in Architecture and Urbanism (SMArchS Urbanism). With four years of experience as an architectural project manager, Cheng has a strong design background and has collaborated with various professional groups on several design projects. At MIT, Cheng focuses on design research in urbanism and sustainability through data science and visualization. Currently, Cheng is developing tools and methods to support department-level planning and action on resiliency and adaptation at MITOS.
Ippolyti Dellatolas
Climate Action Sustainability Researcher
Ippolyti is a graduate student in the MIT Mechanical Engineering department whose research aims at understanding and preventing the uneven flow that occurs when rain infiltrates hydrophobic soils vertically. Such uneven flow impedes water retention, optimal filtering of chemicals and can trigger catastrophic landslides. Outside of the lab, she is involved in environmental initiatives across the MIT campus, through the MIT Water Club, GSC Sustain and the MIT Office of Sustainability. Having joined MITOS in summer 2021, Ippolyti performs energy modeling and cost-benefit analyses to provide recommendations for emissions reduction in lab spaces at MIT.
Jie Fan
Climate Change Data Analyst
Jie is a candidate pursuing the Master of Science in Architecture Studies and Urbanism program at MIT. Her current focus lies in the realm of urban data, where we can push the boundaries of urban development by leveraging data insights to create spaces that resonate with people. Algorithms such as machine learning and artificial intelligence can be adapted to explore urban patterns and envision a future that prioritizes inclusivity and sustainability. Meanwhile, this topic extends beyond technology, encompassing perspectives of anthropology and sociology. She joined MITOS in the summer of 2023, supporting the data analysis of Scope 3.
Nathan Kim
Design out Waste Researcher
Nathan Kim is a current MIT undergraduate sophomore interested in studying mechanical engineering, business/entrepreneurship, and design. He is working at the Design out Waste Researcher this summer. At MIT, he is involved in the UA Sustainability Committee, Waste Watchers Dorm Lead, and Ring Committee. Outside of school, he enjoys finding new restaurants with friends, taking pictures, and going on nature adventures (hiking, boat rides, beach trips, etc).
Njeri
Carbon Offset Researcher
Njeri is a senior majoring in Management Science at the MIT Sloan School. She is interested in topics around climate change and sanitation. Currently, she is looking into the dynamics of carbon offset markets and how they can mitigate climate change in the short term.
Scales of Impact
The challenges of sustainability are both local and global. Creating transformative solutions requires deep collaboration among community leaders and members on campus, city and global scales.
It starts with you on campus.
We start with you to find solutions at the campus level to serve both the institution's needs as well as to incubate new and big ideas.
Subscribe to the MITOS Digest
Faculty Fellows
MITOS Faculty Fellows
Our team works collaboratively with several faculty and researchers at MIT. Their work directly supports the many campus sustainability projects we focus on.
Jeremy Gregory
Faculty Fellow
Jeremy Gregory is a research scientist in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Executive Director of the Concrete Sustainability Hub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He studies the economic and environmental implications of engineering and system design decisions, particularly in the area of materials production and recovery systems.
Gregory's research topics include product and firm environmental footprinting, manufacturing and life cycle cost analysis, and characterization of sustainable material systems. Jeremy has applied these methods, often with industry partners, to a range of different products and industries including pavements, buildings, automobiles, electronics, consumer goods, and waste treatment and recovery. He received his PhD and MS from MIT and BS from Montana State University-Bozeman, all in mechanical engineering.
As a MITOS Faculty Fellow, Gregory is leading an effort to quantify MIT’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, which encompasses activities including MIT’s purchased goods and services, capital equipment, building construction, business travel, employee commuting, and waste. He is also involved in efforts to quantify the potential for emissions reductions from actions such as improving building energy efficiency through machine learning algorithms, reducing contamination in the recycling stream through behavioral science-informed interventions, and lowering air travel emissions through carbon offsets.
Miho Mazereeuw
Faculty Fellow
Miho Mazereeuw is an architect and landscape, associate professor of architecture and urbanism, and director of the Urban Risk Lab. Much of her work and research focuses on disaster resilience.
Via SA+P: In the Urban Risk Lab multi-disciplinary groups of researchers work to innovate on technologies, materials, processes, and systems to reduce risk. Operating on several scales, the Lab develops methods to embed risk reduction and preparedness into the design of the regions, cities and urban spaces to increase the resilience of local communities.
Miho Mazereeuw taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and the University of Toronto prior to joining the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an Arthur W. Wheelwright Fellow, she is completing her forthcoming book entitled Preemptive Design: Disaster and Urban Development along the Pacific Ring of Fire featuring case studies on infrastructure design, multifunctional public space and innovative planning strategies in earthquake prone regions. Her design work on disaster prevention has been exhibited globally. As the director of the Urban Risk Lab at MIT, Mazereeuw is collaborating on a number of projects with institutions and organizations in the field of disaster reconstruction/prevention and is currently working in Haiti, India, Japan and Chile.
Mazereeuw was formerly an Associate at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and has also worked in the offices of Shigeru Ban and Dan Kiley. Mazereeuw completed a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Sculpture and Environmental Science at Wesleyan University and her Master in Architecture and in Landscape Architecture with Distinction at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was awarded the Janet Darling Webel Prize and the Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship.
associate professor of architecture and urbanism, director of the Urban Risk Lab, and . Working on a large, territorial scale with an interest in public spaces and the urban experience, Mazereeuw is known for her work in disaster resilience.
In the Urban Risk Lab multi-disciplinary groups of researchers work to innovate on technologies, materials, processes, and systems to reduce risk. Operating on several scales, the Lab develops methods to embed risk reduction and preparedness into the design of the regions, cities and urban spaces to increase the resilience of local communities.
Miho Mazereeuw taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and the University of Toronto prior to joining the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an Arthur W. Wheelwright Fellow, she is completing her forthcoming book entitled Preemptive Design: Disaster and Urban Development along the Pacific Ring of Fire featuring case studies on infrastructure design, multifunctional public space and innovative planning strategies in earthquake prone regions. Her design work on disaster prevention has been exhibited globally. As the director of the Urban Risk Lab at MIT, Mazereeuw is collaborating on a number of projects with institutions and organizations in the field of disaster reconstruction/prevention and is currently working in Haiti, India, Japan and Chile.
Mazereeuw was formerly an Associate at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and has also worked in the offices of Shigeru Ban and Dan Kiley. Mazereeuw completed a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Sculpture and Environmental Science at Wesleyan University and her Master in Architecture and in Landscape Architecture with Distinction at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was awarded the Janet Darling Webel Prize and the Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship.
Kenneth Strzepek
Faculty Fellow
Kenneth Strzepek has spent 30 years as a researcher and practitioner at the nexus of engineering, environmental and economics systems, primarily related to water resource planning and management, river basin planning, and modeling of agricultural, environmental, and water resources systems. His work includes applications of operations research, engineering economics, micro-economics and environmental economics to a broad range applications: from project scale to national and global investment policy studies.
Strzepek has worked for a range of national governments as well as the United Nations, the World Bank, the USAID. He is Professor Emeritus of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and recently a Visiting Professor of Economics and Affiliated Professor in College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute as well as an International Fellow at the Center for Environmental Economics and Policy for Africa and Examiner in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has been an contributing author to the Second IPCC assessement, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the World Water Vision, and the UN World Water Development Report. He is currently the USAID Scientific Liaison Office on Water and Climate Change to the CGIAR. Prof. Strzepek has a PhD in Water Resources Systems Analysis from MIT, an MA in Economics from the University of Colorado and is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Economics at the University of Hamburg, Germany.
Jobs
Join our dynamic team
Join our team of creative individuals working towards a more sustainable MIT. As our role on campus continues to grow and evolve, we'll post both full-time and student researcher positions to meet our goals.
Full-time Staff Positions
The MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) is not currently hiring for any full time staff positions.
Student Positions
Academic Year 2023-2024
See below for descriptions.
Student Positions
MITOS is currently seeking applicants for Academic Year part time student researcher positions.
Student Researcher Information
MITOS Student Sustainability Researchers
We are now accepting applications for fall for academic year positions.
General Job description:
Join a dynamic, collaborative office that is developing MIT’s next generation vision of campus sustainability. Read below for descriptions of each position and an overview of the details and qualifications.
Details (for all positions):
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Hours: Part-Time: 8-10 hours/week -- Sept to May; Full Time: 35-40 hours/week --June 6 to August 12
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Pay Range: $17-$20/hour
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Open to: Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students: Current MIT students only.
Qualifications (for all positions):
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Strong interest in sustainability issues as they relate to urban and/or campus sustainability as well as a desire to impact the future of MIT and sustainability in higher education and beyond
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Support for MIT’s commitment to the values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within the climate and sustainability field
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Ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures/backgrounds and serve the needs of diverse populations
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Excellent written, visual and oral communication skills, including presentation of complex data
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Strong quantitative data collection, management, and analysis, including proficiency in Excel
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Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
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Self-motivation and an eagerness to learn
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Demonstrated coursework in energy, materials, land, water, food systems, and/or building-related topics within the Departments of Architecture, Urban Studies and Planning, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or similar
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Experience working on and integrating racial, economic, and climate justice initiatives
To apply:
Fill in this form with your details and attach a resume and cover letter.
Send questions to mitosjobs@mit.edu.
See below for any current openings and descriptions of each position and associated qualifications.
Climate Communications - Training
The Climate Communications Sustainability Researcher – Trainings will support development and implementation of online sustainability trainings for the MIT community. These self-paced trainings will be available on the MITOS website and help to educate the MIT community on MIT’s climate action plan and the sustainability work going on at the Institute and how they can support it.
This position is a great fit for someone interested in education and communication strategies for large audiences. This is an opportunity for self-driven work guided by the climate action plan and will reflect a passion for social, scientific, and environmental change.
This position works directly with the MITOS Communications Specialist. The ideal candidate will have experience with Drupal and content creation and an interest in video and social media as well as strong written and interpersonal skills.
Duties will include:
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Development and implementation of online training materials;
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Creation of original written content;
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Website and content management;
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Provide additional support to Office of Sustainability communications projects as needed.
Climate Communications - Social Media
The Climate Communications Sustainability Researcher – Social Media position will develop video, photo, and written content to help communicate the campus-level efforts and progress outlined in Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade. This content, to be shared on Instagram, LinkedIn, and other channels, will use the various mediums to help the MIT community and broader audiences to better understand the work that MIT is doing to reach the goals outlined in the climate action plan and ways in which they can support it.
This position is a great fit for a creative storyteller and prolific social media poster who can turn complex ideas and topics into accessible content for a diverse audience. This is an opportunity for self-driven work guided by the climate action plan and will reflect a passion for social, scientific, and environmental change.
This position works directly with the MITOS Communications Specialist. The ideal candidate will have experience with various social media channels, Canva/Photoshop or similar, and video editing platforms, as well as strong written and interpersonal skills.
Duties will include:
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Creation of social media content including short videos, photos, infographics, and supporting written content; posting of original content to MITOS social media channels;
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Execution and ideation in support of the climate action plan communication strategies;
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Provide additional support to Office of Sustainability communications projects as needed
Sustainable Food and Dining
The Sustainable Food & Dining Researcher will work closely with the Office of Sustainability and MIT Dining, as well as related staff, student groups, faculty, and others to coordinate projects and events that advance a sustainable, accessible, and healthy food system. This position will work and think creatively at the intersection of food, climate change, culture, and justice - building on MIT’s Fast Forward climate action, efforts to advance plant-forward menus, and collaborate with local food system partners. Specific projects include:
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Supporting the implementation of a new local, plant-forward protein project in collaboration with campus and community food partners;
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Developing and implementing student and community engagement strategies that support food, climate, and waste-reduction goals;
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Coordinating and strategizing on a surplus food recovery program;
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Collecting, tracking, and analyzing food and waste-related data related to climate action.
Qualifications
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Interest in food systems and waste reduction
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Experience communicating ideas/actions to students or peers
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Experience coordinating with others to advance project goals
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Experience with data collection, organization and analysis to determine key findings
Climate Change Visualizations
Climate Change Visualizations Researcher (Fall 2023 role with potential to continue in Spring 2024)
MIT’s Office of Sustainability (MITOS) is currently seeking a Climate Change Visualizations Student Researcher to help visualize what an adapted and resilient MIT campus could look like. These visualizations will help communicate the aims of MIT’s emerging Resiliency and Adaptation Roadmap as called for by Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade. Since 2016, MIT has engaged MIT research scientists, faculty, staff, students and the City of Cambridge in understanding and modeling anticipated impacts to the campus from a changing climate (i.e. flood and heat risks).
Now, we need to help the MIT community understand what impacts from a changing climate might look like across multiple scales including individual daily life at MIT, campus landscape and campus buildings throughout the year. This student position would lead development of 3-5 visualizations that catalyze thinking about how the campus buildings, landscapes and daily experience can adapt to a changing climate. The visualizations would illustrate a 2030 or 2040 campus that integrates many of the implementation plans for current Fast Forward MIT initiatives.
The student will work as part of a team, directly with the Urban Risk Lab and Office of Sustainability.
Qualifications for this position
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Strong interest in applied practice in climate action planning and planning career path
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Hand or computer drawing and visualization skillsets
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Strong interest in visual communication representing complex ideas
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Experience with developing interactive digital interfaces
Campus Heat Risk Analyst
Campus Heat Risk Analyst (Fall 2023 role with potential to continue in Spring 2024)
MIT’s climate action plan (https://climate.mit.edu/climateaction/fastforward) commits the Institute to develop a Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Roadmap that enables MIT to fulfill its mission in the face of a changing climate.
The MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) and the Urban Risk Lab (URL) are working together on a project to monitor, map and visualize outdoor campus heat risk. This project seeks to 1) establish a baseline understanding of how higher outdoor temperatures impact campus spaces and 2) inform our collective understanding of design and effectiveness of heat relief and heat reduction strategies. Heat sensors were deployed in June 2023 in 10 campus locations, providing continual data flows about surface and ambient temperatures.
We are seeking a Campus Heat Risk Analyst to process, map and visualize data from the summer 2023 heat sensor deployment. Specific tasks would include:
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Analyze and map data by summarizing key findings and identifying priority hotspots
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Visualize and present analysis in ways that can engage the MIT community to understand emerging heat risk health and safety considerations; and to inform Institute adaptation and preparedness
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Consider how to align MIT campus findings with City of Cambridge heat risk findings and recommendations (i.e. Cambridge Heat Dashboard, City of Cambridge Cool Factor, etc.)
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Conceptualize ways to communicate findings to the MIT community through the MIT Climate Resiliency Dashboard
This collaboration activates MIT’s campus as a test bed, focusing on immediate impact to the MIT community and developing insights into interventions that can be applied to other urban areas facing extreme heat. The outcomes of this effort will inform the development of the MIT Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Roadmap, an initiative of MIT’s Fast Forward Climate Action Plan.
The position provides an opportunity to build a student’s skills in a variety of technical and non-technical areas, including research, project management, writing, data organization, and data visualization. This position will be co-supervised by the Office of Sustainability and the Urban Risk Lab. This position may have the option to be continued through the spring semester.
Qualifications:
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Familiarity with urban heat issues, urban heat island effect
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Familiarity with environmental data collection and analysis
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Problem-solving, design and creativity skills
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Optional: data visualization and web development skills
Contact Us
Contact us
We look forward to hearing from you. Send us your comments, questions, and ideas for creating a more sustainable MIT.
General Office Contact:
Email: sustainableMIT@mit.edu
Phone: (617) 715-4060
Office Location:
Building E38, 3rd Floor, Suite 346
292 Main Street
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02142
Mailing Address:
Office of Sustainability
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E38-346
Cambridge, MA 02139
Newsletter:
The MITOS Digest is a monthly newsletter focused on solving global challenges of sustainability at the local level. Each issue features sustainability news and research from campus and beyond along with events, case studies, data visualizations, and more. Subscribe