Under the recommendation of the Indiana University Task Force on Campus Sustainability, the Office of Sustainability was established to develop a framework and coordinate the implementation of IU’s plan for sustainability. In March 2009, Bill Brown was hired as the Director of the Office of Sustainability under joint direction of the Office of the Provost and Office of the Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. The Office of Sustainability is overseen by the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board (CSAB).

The Task Force on Campus Sustainability, established in 2007, was charged with assessing the current status of sustainability on the Bloomington campus, identifying key areas of concern, and establishing a framework for a long-term sustainability plan. The vision of the Task Force was to create a sustainability initiative that would bring Indiana University into a growing national and international movement to address global-scale environmental issues in the academic arena.

The Task Force developed a sustainability internship program, which included 20 undergraduate and graduate student interns who worked on a broad array of sustainability-related projects. Over the three years of the program, the group laid plans for a speaker series on sustainability issues, created connections to national and international sustainability organizations, promoted student involvement in sustainability programs through its “Volunteers in Sustainability” effort, and developed a new website devoted to campus sustainability.

The original Task Force has now transitioned into the Campus Sustainability Advisory Board, an advisory board for the Office of Sustainability.

Bill Brown, LEED AP
Director of Sustainability

Bill Brown, Director of Sustainability for Indiana University, is responsible for catalyzing sustainability initiatives in academic programs and campus operations. Bill has been a leader in the national green architecture movement, including service with the founding steering group of the AIA National Committee on the Environment. He participated in the Greening of the White House in 1993 and later founded Sustainable Evansville to bring those design principles home to Indiana. He currently serves as the Chair of the Indiana Chapter of the US Green Building Council and Secretary of the American Institute of Architects Indiana Chapter. He is a recipient of two national AIA Presidential Awards, one US Green Building Council national award and he was honored with an Award of Outstanding Achievement by the Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning Alumni Board in 2006.

Emilie Rex
Assistant Director of Sustainability

Emilie Rex began working with IUOS as the coordinator for the Summer Internship Program in Sustainability in March of 2009. The Office promoted Emilie as the assistant director primarily to facilitate: (1) long-term alignment of the internship program with the strategic goals of the Sustainability Advisory Board, (2) communication with regional offices of sustainability for information sharing, and (3) collaboration with students, staff, and community organizations to create educational programming and events promoting sustainability at IUB. Emilie earned a B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan. She then joined Teach For America and served for two years as an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher in Edcouch-Elsa, TX. She continued teaching for a third year in Monterrey, Mexico. Emilie then returned to her hometown of Bloomington to pursue a Master's of Public Affairs at IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She graduated in May 2009 with a degree in policy analysis with a focus on sustainable development.

Elisabeth Gawthrop
Projects Coordinator

Elisabeth graduated in May 2011 from IU's BS in Environmental Science program. She started working for the Office of Sustainability as the Academic Programs and Research Clearinghouse intern during the 2010-2011 school year. She also worked with the Office as the Coordinator for Volunteers in Sustainability, a student organization at IU. In her current role as Projects Coordinator, Elisabeth assists in the development of long-term goals and projects, such as improved alumni relations and social media networking, produces and distributes newsletters and other communications, and provides administrative support to the Director and Assistant Director.

Meredith Dowling
No Waste Coordinator

Since January of 2011, Meredith has been coordinating waste minimization initiatives for the No Waste program and supporting the Resource Use and Recycling Working Group. She is s SPEA graduate student pursuing an MS in Environmental Science and a Master of Public Affairs. Meredith holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College, with minors in Geology and Gender Studies. Before becoming a graduate student at IU, she served as the Assistant Sustainability Coordinator for Oberlin College and as a program manager in the nonprofit conservation field. She currently serves on the Bloomington Environmental Commission.

IUOS also supports student interns throughout the academic year and summer.

How you can contribute | Back to Top

The Bloomington Sustainability Fund was established to support Bloomington sustainability initiatives pursued by the Office of Sustainability. Initiatives include programming and academic internships aimed at increasing awareness of sustainability and enriching the experience of students and our greater community.

If you would like to support the Office of Sustainability, send your gift to:

Bloomington Sustainability Fund

c/o Indiana University Foundation
P.O. Box 500
Bloomington, IN 47402