Episode 26: Changing the Climate for Women - Bonny Bentzin

Bonny Bentzin, Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer at UCLA

Guests:

Bonny Bentzin
Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer, UCLA

Host: Sarah Barr
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Welcome to the Campus Energy and Sustainability Podcasts’ first short-episode series! Each month, we’ll release a half-hour episode based on a pertinent theme in the sustainability sphere, collecting a variety of opinions and viewpoints on important issues throughout the series. Our first theme is “Changing the Climate for Women,” and will focus on women’s experiences in sustainability, energy and facilities. Short series will be hosted by Kaia Findlay, podcast manager, and special guest hosts.

What if, to get ahead at work, you were told that you not only had to work hard and show up to your desk on time, but that you also had to wear pastels and not stand in doorways?

This is some of the strange advice Bonny Bentzin, deputy chief of sustainability at UCLA, has received as a woman working in her field. In this episode, Bonny discusses her experiences and her observations of gender at play in the workplace with host Sarah Barr. Their conversation sheds light on the challenges and triumphs women experience in teamwork, communication and leadership.

Production Team:

• Kaia Findlay

• Dave Karlsgodt

Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

https://otter.ai/s/HZlVUvuFQnKSdlkB_cFGGw

You can find a text-only version of the transcript here:

Episode 26: Changing the Climate for Women - Bonny Bentzin - Transcript

Episode 24: Sustainable Food Systems at UNC-Chapel Hill

Laura Mindlin, Claire Lorch, and Scott Myers of UNC-Chapel Hill

Guests:

Claire Lorch
Garden Manager and Education Coordinator, Carolina Campus Community Garden

Laura Mindlin
Coordinator, Edible Campus UNC

Scott Myers
Director of Auxiliary Services, UNC-Chapel Hill

Host: Kaia Findlay
Podcast and Communications Manager, Campus Energy and Sustainability Podcast

Feeding a campus is no small task. Tackling sustainability in that campus’ food system -- a system that encompasses the growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption and disposal of food -- isn’t either.

In this episode, the Campus Energy and Sustainability Podcast’s new manager, Kaia Findlay, explores what makes food systems sustainable at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with three interviewees, each working with a different food-related organization on campus: Laura Mindlin, coordinator for Edible Campus UNC; Claire Lorch, garden manager and education coordinator for the Carolina Campus Community Garden; and Scott Myers, director of auxiliary services for UNC. The interviewees discuss the role their organization plays in the food system on campus and their efforts in sustainability, and as a group they reveal how the campus has addressed a variety of food-related issues and challenges.

Resources:

• Edible Campus UNC

  • Website: ncbg.unc.edu/ediblecampus 

  • Email: ediblecampusunc@gmail.com

  • Social media: @ediblecampusunc

  • Interactive Map: go.unc.edu/ediblecampus

• Carolina Campus Community Garden

  • Website: https://ncbg.unc.edu/outreach/cccg/

  • Claire Lorch contact: clorch@email.unc.edu

• Real Food Challenge: https://www.realfoodchallenge.org/

Production Team:

• Kaia Findlay

• Dave Karlsgodt

Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

https://otter.ai/s/uxK404BeQkWHpr6z7l0yMA

You can find a text-only version of the transcript here:

Episode 24: Sustainable Food Systems at UNC-Chapel Hill - Transcript

Episode 23: Social Justice and Sustainability - with Mary Annaïse Heglar

Mary Annaïse Heglar, director of publications at the National Resources Defense Council, & Nick McCreary, sustainability coordinator at Indiana State University

Guest: Mary Annaïse Heglar
Director of Publications, National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Guest Host: Nicholas McCreary
Sustainability Coordinator, Indiana State University

Turn off lights when you’re not using them. Take shorter showers. Bike to work. These three actions are all recommendations for people trying to make sustainable decisions. But why not also volunteer for a human rights organizations, or go to a protest?

In this episode, guest host Nicholas McCreary, sustainability coordinator for Indiana State University, talks with Mary Annaïse Heglar, director of publications at the National Resources Defense Council, about why it’s important to move sustainability conversations beyond recycling and conserving water and into the realm of social justice. They discuss the similarities between the roots of climate change and racial injustice, climate change disproportionately impacts minority communities and how the climate movement can move forward by embracing a climate justice approach.

We hope this episode will challenge you to think about why climate issues exist and deeper your understanding of the social pillar of sustainability.

Resources:

• Mary Annaïse Heglar on Medium, Twitter: https://medium.com/@maryheglar // https://twitter.com/MaryHeglar

• National Resources Defense Council: https://www.nrdc.org/

• Book and Reading Recommendations by Mary Annaïse Heglar

  • Letters from a Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King, Jr. - https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

  • Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler

  • If Beale Street Could Talk, by James Baldwin

Production Team:

• Kaia Findlay

• Dave Karlsgodt

Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

https://otter.ai/s/jMnA33IfR0SRxTdlLD57yA

You can find a text-only version of the transcript here:

Episode 23: Social Justice and Sustainability - Transcript

Episode 22: Renewable Fuels Drive Education and an Artistic Revolution in Jackson County

Timm Muth, Director of the Jackson County Green Energy Park

Guests:

Timm Muth
Director, Jackson County Green Energy Park
Dillsboro, North Carolina

Host: Sarah Barr
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

In this episode, we’ll travel to rural Dillsboro, North Carolina nestled in the southern Appalachian Mountains, where a small county landfill and a passionate engineer are transforming the community’s perspective on waste. They’re using methane to power the Jackson County Green Energy Park, an arts facility offering glassblowing, metalworking, and ceramics classes and studio spaces. From reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to revitalizing heritage arts and stimulating tourism, to offering educational opportunities for children, college students, and even retirees, the Jackson County Green Energy Park is truly a centerpiece of its community. Join myself and guest Timm Muth this episode as we explore a variety of ways small communities and college campuses can make the most their waste resources, simultaneously achieving environmental, educational, and social equity goals.

Cole Johnson blowing glass.

Brock Martin metalworking.

Judy McManus glassblowing.

Resources:

• Timm Muth: tmuth@jacksonnc.org

• Jackson County Green Energy Park: https://www.jcgep.org/

• University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Biogas Systems: https://uwosh.edu/biogas/

• EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP): https://www.epa.gov/lmop

Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

https://otter.ai/s/lF5E6n6MRk660vqx4NPOWA

You can find a text-only version of the transcript here:

Episode 22: Renewable Fuels Drive Education and an Artistic Revolution in Jackson County - Transcript

Episode 21: Institutionalizing Sustainability for Real Change - Live at CHESC 2019

(top) Jillian Buckholz, Mackenzie Crigger
(bottom) Nurit Katz, Joseph Fullerton

Guests:

Jillian Buckholz
Director of Sustainability
California State University — East Bay
Mackenzie Crigger
Energy Conservation and Sustainability Manager
Chapman University
Nurit Katz
Chief Sustainability Officer
University of California — Los Angeles
Joseph Fullerton
Energy and Sustainability Manager
San Mateo County Community College District

Host: Dave Karlsgodt
Principal, Fovea, LLC

Production Assistant: Kaia Findlay
Intern, Campus Energy and Sustainability Podcast

In this episode, you'll hear a live recording of a panel discussion at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference, which took place earlier this summer at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  It was great to be back at this conference again. Regular listens may remember Episode 13 which we recorded at CHESC in 2018. While that episode focused on Aggressive Climate Action,  this year, we focused on the idea of institutionalizing sustainability. We tried to deconstruct some of the tactics, traits and tricks that our panelists, who are all rock star sustainability professionals, use to move beyond running pilot projects and underfunded awareness campaigns to leveraging the full power of the world-class institutions that they work within.

Resources:

• California Higher Education Sustainability Conference: https://chesc.org/

• Sustainability at CSU-East Bay: http://www.csueastbay.edu/sustainability/

• Sustainability at UCLA: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/

• Sustainability at SMCCCD: https://sites.google.com/my.smccd.edu/smcccdsustainability/home

• Sustainability at Chapman University: https://www.chapman.edu/campus-services/sustainability/index.aspx

• Second Nature Climate Leadership Commitments (mentioned by Jillian Buckholz): https://secondnature.org/signatory-handbook/the-commitments/

Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

https://otter.ai/s/y_3Mlsk3Shu_agxOooiEIg

You can find a text-only version of the transcript here:

Episode 21: Institutionalizing Sustainability for Real Change - Live at CHESC 2019 - Transcript