New Full-time Environmental Sustainability Coordinator!

Hi everyone!

Many of you across campus may remember me, others may have recently heard from me, and still more may just be hearing from me for the first time now!  I am honored and thrilled to take on this new role devoted to sustainability on campus.

I have the pleasure of working for the Vice President of Administration and Finance, Lynne Schafer. She chairs the Climate Change Task Force, a group of faculty, staff, and students improving our campus and reducing our environmental impact. From transportation to energy, from waste to outreach, and even from research to education, they have been transforming the campus for the past 5 years. Returning to campus for the first time in a couple years last month, I have been overjoyed to discover all the new successes implemented, from composting to carpooling, topped off by green roofs.

You can find me on the 9th floor of the Administration Building in room 930. Feel free to contact me by email at tanvig1@umbc.edu and to call me at my extension, x53896.  My door is open to anyone with concerns, questions, ideas, and hopes for the sustainability on campus. 

There is already a growing movement on campus, with many amazing groups working on all aspects of environmental concern. I am here to help, and I would be happy to connect you with opportunities to turn your ideas into realities on campus, just like I had the chance to do as a student here only a few years ago. Or, if you already have something in the works, I would love to hear about it- I'm always excited to learn about the great ideas flourishing across campus.

Whether you are a student, staff, or faculty member, I hope that we can collaborate towards the common goal of making UMBC a clean, green, healthy, and innovative home for all of us to thrive!

Thank you all for the overwhelmingly warm welcome and I am so grateful to be working with the kind and caring community of UMBC. Below you will find Lynne's gracious introduction for me. 

Thanks,

Tanvi

I am very pleased to share that we have appointed Ms. Tanvi Gadhia as Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, a new position created to support the work of the Climate Change Task Force and its workgroups, and to further our efforts to reduce the impact of the UMBC campus on our environment.Effective November 19, Tanvi is on board and beginning to reach out to campus leaders. In the meantime, she will be contacting workgroup leaders, sustainability interns, and others to get acquainted and to discuss your priorities for the year and ideas for energizing our efforts.

Ms. Gadhia is a 2009 graduate of UMBC, with a BA in Environmental Studies.She is currently working on a MS degree in Environmental Science and Policy at Johns Hopkins University.Ms. Gadhia was very active while a UMBC undergraduate student, in leadership roles in the Students for Environmental Awareness, the Maryland Student Climate Coalition, and as president of the Geography and Environmental Studies Council of Majors.She played an active role in initiating and executing many campus sustainability advances including the environmental alternative service break and the community garden initiative. Her passion for environmental issues has continued since graduation, with positions in policy and education at the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, the Center for Food Safety, the Pickering Creek Audubon Center, the Oregon Ridge Nature Center, and the Union of Concerned Scientists food and environment program.

Please join me in welcoming Tanvi Gadhia back to UMBC in this new role.She can be reached at tanvig1@umbc.edu.

Lynne Schaefer, Vice President of Administration & Finance

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