Our Staff

Sarah Carson 
Director, Campus Sustainability Office

Sarah is the Director of the Campus Sustainability Office with a vision for Cornell as a carbon-neutral living laboratory for sustainability innovation. Sarah has spent her career in the field of environmental compliance and sustainability in higher education. Her educational background is in environmental science and policy. As part of her current role, she leads Cornell’s renewable electricity supply projects, and is active in NY state energy policy related to renewable energy generation. Fun fact: Sarah's first job included driving a garbage truck to pick up recycling!

• Contact Sarah: sc142@cornell.edu | 607.254.2818 | Renewable Energy Development | Cornell's Solar Farms

Robert "Bert" R. Bland
Associate Vice President, Energy & Sustainability

Bert leads the teams that operate the Ithaca campus district energy system and produce the Climate Action Plan for a carbon neutral campus by 2035.  He also manages energy and sustainability plans for the new Cornell Tech campus in Manhattan. He began his career as an environmental/energy engineer in the oil industry and then pursued research in the conversion of waste biomass to fuel ethanol. Bert is a Cornell grad; BS & MS Cornell engineering ’74 and ’80; Cornell MBA ’96. Fun fact: Bert owns an electric bike and is a competitive sprinter!

Contact Bert: rrb2@cornell.edu | Energy Conservation | Campus Energy Systems

Inger Aaberg
Project Coordinator, Energy & Sustainability

Inger is a project coordinator for the Energy & Sustainability department and supports a broad range of projects. Most of her time is used on the Earth Source Heat Project, which plays an essential role in Cornell’s Climate Action Plan for a carbon neutral campus. She will also support other energy related living lab projects and keep track of the university’s Renewable Energy Credits pool. Inger’s previous experience is within sustainability, climate action and project management on infrastructure construction projects in Norway. Fun fact: If there weren’t any health-related downsides, Inger would have eaten pizza every day.

Contact Inger: ia283@cornell.edu| 607.255.3956 

Kimberly Anderson 
Assistant Director

Kim leads sustainability education and engagement programs for the Cornell community, including climate literacy, behavior change, and volunteer programs for students and employees. Kim manages strategic sustainability projects, coordinates Sustainable Cornell Council teams, and advises student sustainability organizations and project teams. Connect with her for support with living laboratory projects and ideas, business or systems-level sustainability projects, and engagement needs. Fun fact: Kim has lived in / managed 18 residential communities at Cornell!

Contact Kim: kab94@cornell.edu | 607.255.6591 | Student Programs | Think Big, Live Green |  Green / Sustainability Teams

Careen M. Arsenault
Sustainability Administrator

Careen supports the Associate Vice President, budget, HR, event support, and other administrative functions of the Energy & Sustainability department, of which the Campus Sustainability is a part of. Careen assists with the management of the Green Office & Green Lab program. Fun fact: Careen used to be a volunteer EMT for her local community!

Contact Careen: cma18@cornell.edu | 607.254.8722 | Green Office & Lab | Event Logistics

Lisa Kilgore
Sustainability Coordinator

Lisa leads reporting on sustainability including STARS and the  Princeton Review. Lisa is the webmaster and supports other strategic tasks that support the sustainability mission. Lisa provides core support for communication outreach including listserv management, social media, and more. Fun fact: Lisa’s favorite movie is Ishtar!

Contact Lisa: lkh9@cornell.edu | 607.255.6375 |STARS | Sustainability Reporting 

Meredith Rutherford

Sustainability Manager
mr2368@cornell.edu 

Meredith manages an array of campus sustainability initiatives with a focus of bringing innovation to life through operations and collaboration. Throughout her career, Meredith has spearheaded and supported initiatives that promote social and environmental sustainability, including a variety of agroecology initiatives. As part of her role, she will work with campus partners to develop the living laboratory initiative, and support projects and working groups to optimize sustainability in campus operations. With experience in leveraging the power of nature for wellness, you can find Meredith supporting our Health Promoting Campus initiatives as well. Fun fact: Meredith was a forestry volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Ghana! 

Mohammed AlRizqi, PhD Candidate

Sustainability Leader for Student Engagement
ma867@cornell.edu 

Mohammed joins the team to boost student engagement on campus. In his role, Mohammed will serve as a liaison between student organizations at CSO, working closely with staff and students to develop outreach and impact strategies. Fun fact: Mohammed studied aluminum alloy corrosion at North Carolina State University.

Leo Chen '26

STARS Coordinator
lyc32@cornell.edu 

Leo coordinates with all university divisions and departments to conduct organizational research and report data on campus sustainability initiatives for Cornell's annual STARS Report. Fun fact: Leo has a toy poodle named Nutty, and he loves him. 

Karim Dergal '25

Sustainability Coordinator for Campus Operations & STARS
ked95@cornell.edu

Karim's role within the office is focused on software, where he helps the Campus Sustainability Office with computing projects, such as website development, coding projects, and data visualization. Fun fact: Karim's first language is Spanish, but he also speaks English and Portuguese.

Yoyo Lu '25

Sustainability Coordinator for Campus Operations & Stars 
yl3397@cornell.edu

Yoyo will develop recommendations for project managers, assist with campus initiatives, and explore various operation-related projects. Fun fact: Yoyo is allergic to cats, but he loves them anyways!

Emily Pape '26

Sustainability Coordinator for Campus Events
eap268@cornell.edu

Emily is working with vendors and university departments to make campus events more sustainable by reducing single-use waste and food waste. Fun fact: I’m German, but I haven’t been there…yet!

Our Mission

The mission of the Campus Sustainability Office is to equip, empower, and engage our diverse campus partners in creating a more sustainable Cornell.  Our focus on collaboration and empowerment enables a small team of staff to support 1,000s of projects each year. Our scope of work includes coordination of projects large and small, including overseeing the Climate Action Plan, Campus Sustainability Plan, engagement programs, campus operational initiatives, sustainability governance committees and implementation of a living laboratory for sustainability.

Our Values

Our office is part of a values-based organizational framework in Facilities & Campus Services that strives to uphold and embody the following core values:

• Truth: We say what we mean and do what we say

• Respect: We treat people as we want to be treated

• Excellence: We strive to be the best

• Teamwork: Together we achieve more

• Integrity: We do the right thing

In addition, the Campus Sustainability Office has adopted three more values that guide our work:

• Service: To others, the planet, and a sustainable future

• Joy: For the opportunity to create a better present and future

• Generosity: We share in abundance our knowledge, support, and collaboration

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

We are a values-based team committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, embracing diversity, and treating each other with respect.  Our organizational values represent our expectations of how we work together to serve the University community and create a climate in which all staff can thrive and grow. As members of the Facilities & Campus Services Team, we are committed to the following statement of responsibility.

Sustainability Framework

People. Prosperity. Planet. Purpose. These four impact areas comprise Cornell's "quadruple bottom line" sustainability framework.

Cornell has embraced a sustainability framework that incorporates the three key areas of environment, economy, and equity (which we call planet, prosperity, and people), and adds a fourth area of consideration which helps us examine how we can best contribute to a more sustainable world as an educational institution - our purpose. This Quadruple Bottom Line Sustainability Framework is both an "ethos" for how we consider sustainability as part of our campus education and operations, but also a tool for decision making that can be used by anyone on campus.

We are working to integrate this decision-making framework across all University systems.  This will help individuals examine the real costs of our choices, and make better decisions for today and the health of our planet and people for the future. This "sustainability framework" can help every unit make better decisions about the benefits and costs of a project, purchase, or process.

Learn more about our framework