SUNY Sustainability Fellows include area professors

ALBANY — Three Central New York college professors and one from the Southern Tier are among 11 of SUNY’s inaugural Sustainability Faculty Fellows. They include Jean Yang, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse; Augusta Williams, assistant professor of public health at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse; Jeremy Jiménez, associate professor of foundations and social advocacy at SUNY Cortland; and Neyda Gilman, associate librarian / assistant head of sustainability and STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) engagement at Binghamton University. The 11 fellows, representing 11 SUNY campuses, will assist other faculty in incorporating climate and sustainability topics into existing courses and develop new applied-learning opportunities. SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. on Sept. 23 announced SUNY’s inaugural Sustainability Faculty Fellows as part of New York Climate Week. “SUNY is proud to be a key partner in Governor Kathy Hochul’s plan to build a resilient and sustainable New York,” King contended in the SUNY announcement. “With climate change affecting all elements of our society, from extreme weather emergencies to the emerging clean energy field, our students will need to be knowledgeable about sustainability to thrive as citizens and in their careers. Today’s students are eager to participate in climate action, and SUNY is taking steps so that New Yorkers are prepared.” The Sustainability Faculty Fellows will advance climate literacy and knowledge of sustainability topics throughout the SUNY system. They’ll develop pedagogical resources and provide support for faculty as they develop and teach courses across a broad spectrum of disciplines and levels of study from microcredentials through doctoral programs, SUNY said. SUNY selected the group following an open call for nominations.

Jean Yang

Yang is a landscape designer, urban planner, and educator with a focus on design-driven, equity-focused, and benefits-based landscapes. “Congratulations to Jean Yang’s for her selection as a SUNY Sustainability Faculty Fellow. Professor Yang’s research reflects the critical role ESF plays in shaping a resilient and equitable future through design and environmental leadership,” ESF President Joanie Mahoney said in a Sept. 24 ESF announcement. “We are proud to have Professor Yang represent ESF at the table ensuring that sustainability education is rooted in both innovation and impact.”

Augusta Williams

Williams has a research interest in climate change, environmental health, and health benefits of sustainability and climate solutions. Williams, who joined Upstate in 2022, also serves as the assistant director of the Upstate Public Health Program and the assistant director of the Central NY Children’s Environmental Health Center. “Climate change has been deemed over the last decade by multiple international bodies to be the greatest public health threat of this century,” Williams said in a Nov. 17 Upstate Medical announcement. “No matter what area of public health you work in climate change will impact it in some way and it really has the potential to exacerbate existing health disparities. It’s so wide-reaching that we need many different professions, many different perspectives at the table to be ready to respond to this.”

Neyda Gilman

For Gilman, the fellowship is an extension of the work she does to advance the mission of the University Libraries. Through her involvement with the Sustainability Hub located in the Science Library, Gilman recognizes the importance of environmental literacy and the impact having these skills integrated with the curriculum. “At its core, this fellowship is a way to further integrate sustainability and climate information into courses across SUNY,” Gilman, librarian for sustainability, STEM engagement, and health sciences, said in an Oct. 7 Binghamton University announcement. “This program combines three things I find to be central to my identity and work: sustainability, education and community. Participating in this fellowship will allow me to use my skills and knowledge as a librarian to find, evaluate and share information that will be useful for faculty to integrate into their courses and beneficial to the students in those courses.”

Jeremy Jiménez

Jiménez, a faculty member in the Foundations and Social Advocacy Department in SUNY Cortland’s School of Education, earned his doctorate in international and comparative education from Stanford University in 2017. He previously taught high school social studies for more than a decade across the world, including Norway, Venezuela, and the U.S., per a Sept. 9 announcement on the SUNY Cortland website. Jiménez’s course topics explore race, class, gender and international issues in education and how they intersect with environmental justice. His current research focuses on how to prepare educators and schools for the transition toward life after fossil fuels, with special reverence for Indigenous conceptions of land stewardship.