Established in 2005, the Office of Sustainability’s mission is to advance sustainability within the Yale community by acting as a catalyst for information exchange and facilitating capacity building, innovation, streamlined operations, and preparation of tomorrow’s sustainability leaders.
Office of Sustainability
Meet Our Staff
Ginger Chapman
Director
Current Responsibilities: Ginger is the Director of the Office of Sustainability, providing leadership and management to ensure the integration of sustainable principles and practices across the university. Her expertise in building planning, design, and construction provide the focus of her responsibilities including university design standards (such as healthy materials, embodied carbon, water use, efficient space use, and energy efficiency among others) and on- and off- campus decarbonization efforts to achieve climate neutrality.
Academic/Professional Credentials and Appointments: Master of Architecture, Yale University School of Architecture; Member American Institute of Architects; LEED AP BD+C
Ask Me About: Buildings, Planning, Design Standards, Stormwater, Water Use, Climate Action, GHG emissions inventories and protocols, Carbon Offsets, LEED.
Melissa Goodall
Deputy Director
Current Responsibilities: Melissa Goodall has been with Yale Sustainability since 2009. She is responsible for strategic projects and outreach to support Yale’s sustainability leadership, including a set of programs to connect Yale’s teaching and research to global challenges and partnering with alumni through Yale Blue-Green. She also oversees a program to develop and implement sustainability action plans for Yale’s professional schools, residential colleges, and other high-impact departments.
Academic/Professional Credentials and Appointments: Melissa is on the Board is and is the co-chair of the Advisory Council of the International Sustainable Campus Network, and is on the Steering Committee of the Sustainability Initiative of the International Alliance of Research Universities. She is also an Advisor to the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative and an External Advisor to the Center for Governance and Sustainability at UMass Boston. She earned her PhD and MS degrees from Antioch University and her BFA from New York University.
Ask Me About: Global governance, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Climate policy, Strategic planning, sustainable food systems, biodiversity, data-driven decision-making
Amber Garrard
Senior Manager
Current Responsibilities: Amber oversees Yale’s sustainability initiatives focused on health, equity, and resilience. She serves as the liaison to local health care institutions and leads multiple strategic initiatives bridging efforts across the university and beyond. Prior to her current role she directed communications and outreach for the Office of Sustainability.
Academic/Professional Credentials and Appointments: Amber received an M.A. in Sustainable Development from the SIT Graduate Institute and holds a B.A. from the University of Portland.
Ask Me About: Nature & Health, Local & Regional Resilience Planning, Health, Well-Being and Sustainability
Lindsay Crum
Senior Manager, Data Analysis & Program Management
Current Responsibilities: Lindsay oversees and manages the process of collecting and presenting campus sustainability metrics, which includes annual progress on the University’s sustainability goals; our annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory with The Climate Registry; our bi-annual sustainability survey; and our bi-annual submission to AASHE STARS. Her portfolio also includes sustainable materials management initiatives and Sustainability Action Planning for Yale Athletics, the Libraries, and Procurement. Lindsay is actively involved in the Ivy Plus Sustainability Consortium.
Academic/Professional Credentials and Appointments: Master of Environmental Management, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; LEED AP BD+C; Executive Co-Chair, Ivy Plus Sustainability Consortium
Ask Me About: Reuse, Recycling, Upcycling, Composting, Procurement, Sustainability metrics, GHG emissions inventories and protocols, LEED.
Sarah Jane Compton
Senior Administrative Assistant 2
Current Responsibilities: Sarah Jane is the Senior Administrative Assistant of the Office of Sustainability. She provides comprehensive program support to the Office of Sustainability, including event management, procurement, and financial operations.
Academic/Professional Credentials and Appointments: B.S. Environmental Studies, University of Vermont
Ask Me About: Sustainability Leaders, Green Certifications, general questions about the Office
Scot Bearss
Sustainability Outreach Manager
Current Responsibilities: Scot has been at Yale since 2015 when he began his degree program at the Divinity School. Since then he has held a number of positions at Yale but found his passion led him to a career in sustainability. He is in charge of visibility for the Office of Sustainability, including digital outreach, communications with champions across the University, developing action plans, and planning large-scale events.
Ashley Jankowski
Sustainability Fellow
Current Responsibilities: Ashley oversees the implementation of 14 Sustainability Action Plans at each of Yale’s residential colleges and guides the projects and initiatives of each college’s Sustainability Liaison. Ashley manages Bulldog Sustainability, a student-athlete team that engages Yale’s varsity and club athletes around sustainable behavior change within Yale Athletics.
Mairead Brennan
Biodiversity Fellow
Current Responsibilities: Mairéad coordinates with Yale Facilities and faculty members to develop a high-level Biodiversity Plan for campus. The plan will identify priorities for vegetation, fauna, research, education, and carbon sequestration, and provide information to support standards for landscape design and management.
Academic/Professional Credentials and Appointments: B.S. Environmental Studies
Ask Me About: The Biodiversity Plan, designed experiments, coordinating between Facilities and Faculty, GIS mapping
Nivanthi Karunaratne
Professional School Sustainability Fellow
Current Responsibilities: Nivanthi oversees student Fellows at each of Yale’s 11 Professional Schools, developing cross-campus collaborations between students and staff to ensure progress towards Yale’s Sustainability Plan 2025. Her responsibilities include event programming, increasing the visibility of the Office’s efforts, and improving sustainability literacy throughout Yale.