Pac-12 Sustainability Conference

Chris Dickerson | Former Major League Outfielder and Co-Founder of Players for the Planet
A former Major League outfielder, Chris has been advocating for change since his early dugout days. He remembers first noticing the appalling amount of waste a team can produce over the course of an inning — and then multiplying that by the amount of waste produced by spectators in the stands. As a co-founder of Players for the Planet, Chris is dedicated to empowering over 150 fellow athletes to channel their influence into eco-consciousness in ways that inspire the present and future of sports toward environmental stewardship.

Jessica R. Murfree, PhD | Sport Ecology Researcher and Professor
Dr. Jessica R. Murfree has served as an Accountability, Climate, Equity, and Scholarship (ACES) Faculty Fellowship at Texas A&M University for two years and joins the Sport Administration faculty at the University of Cincinnati this summer. Dr. Murfree’s research examines the effects of climate change on sport through social and legal implications of extreme weather, climate risks, and environmental injustices. To date, her expertise has informed organizations like UNICEF’s Global Youth Network Summit on Sports for Climate Action, the Sport Positive Summit, the United Nations Environment Programme, Texas A&M Athletics, Climate Week NYC, Ocean Conservancy, and Divers for Climate. Her research has contributed to sport industry conversations in Forbes and Sports Illustrated and has been featured in outlets like PBS News Hour and Yahoo! News. Dr. Murfree was recognized as a 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports Honoree.

Marc Tessier-Lavigne | President, Stanford University
Dr. Tessier-Lavigne was born in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. He received undergraduate degrees in physics from McGill University and in philosophy and physiology from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He earned a Ph.D. in physiology from University College London (UCL) and performed postdoctoral work at UCL and at Columbia University. He then held faculty positions at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and subsequently at Stanford University, where he was the Susan B. Ford Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences. While at UCSF and Stanford he was also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Nik Balachandran | Founder and CEO, Zabble
Nik Balachandran is an electrical engineer-turned-entrepreneur who found his passion to keep trash out of the environment after encountering it during open water swimming and hiking expeditions all around the world. He founded Zabble in 2016 to help organizations reach zero waste by championing a novel waste measurement process and software platform using AI to streamline operations and engage stakeholders. Nik is a TRUE Zero Waste Advisor, a former board member of the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) and actively participates in local beach cleanups and zero waste advocacy.

Daniel Chau | Recycling Program Manager, University of California San Francisco
Daniel Chau always had an interest in the environment. From hiking in the mountains, camping, and taking field trips to learn how eco-systems work, this was installed in him when he was younger. He graduated from UC Davis with his B.S. in Environmental Horticulture & Urban Forestry. He then worked part-time with the City of Oakland for over 7 years helping facilitate volunteer events and performing recycling outreach. In 2011, Daniel joined UCSF in the Recycling & Waste Reduction Program. He helped create the Sorting Program to target high contamination at certain buildings along with various other programs that help increase the diversion rate. Along with increasing recycling to divert landfill, the focus has always been on reducing waste or finding new avenues for items to be reused before being disposed of.

Cindy Chin | Director of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola
Cindy joined Coca-Cola with two decades of experience in local, state, and federal government having served as chief of staff to a California State Assemblymember, senior director to a member of Congress, and most recently the public information officer for a local city in the East Bay area of northern California. In addition to her work in government, Cindy has a background in political campaign management and non-profit fundraising and marketing.

Kristin Cushman | Founder and CEO, Blue Strike Environmental
Kristin Cushman is the founder and CEO for Blue Strike Environmental. Kristin’s focus is to build climate mitigation strategies that combine community priorities with local greenhouse gas reduction strategies. She has worked for almost two decades driving climate and energy planning, while building public private partnerships to leverage resources and innovate programs.

On the forefront, she designs environmental, social and governance frameworks which includes setting performance indicators and developing efficient annual reporting platforms. She is able to weave in an insightful stakeholder engagement process to better understand community priorities and to ensure that there is authentic representation in the planning process.

Roger Elu | Chief Engineer, San Francisco 49ers, Levi's Stadium
I am a professional with over 34 years’ experience in facility engineering including Operation and Maintenance, Develop and implementation of operational requirements, policies and procedures, manage O&M annual budget, Capital improvement construction support, Capital improvements to BMS Mechanical and Lighting systems, Startup and Commissioning of MEP systems, implementation of cost effective energy retrofits and experienced in LEED EBOM certification process (2010 AT&T Park - LEED Silver EBOM, 2015 AT&T Park - LEED Gold EBOM Recertification and 2016 Levi's Stadium LEED Gold EBOM). Over the last 23 years I have been in the Sports Facility industry. I worked with commissioning agents to start up AT&T Park in 1999/2000 and my remaining tenure working with San Francisco Giants Organization and MLB on multiple Post Season play offs, World Series preparation, All-Star game in 2007 and several major scale concert and corporate events before coming to the 49ers Engineering Operations Team at Levi's Stadium in February of 2015. I oversee all MEP systems operations and support all of Levi’s Stadium major scale concerts, corporate events and the 49ers Football season along with preparation and support for Super Bowl 50 in 2016.

Kara Freedman | Sustainability Engagement and Events, University of Utah
As the Engagement and Events Coordinator at the University of Utah, Kara runs programs like What Goes Around Comes Around to promote the circular economy; Recycle Rice-Eccles to engage football fans about recycling and sustainability; and the Farmers Market to bring local vendors to the campus community. She also collaborates with other departments on bringing speakers and informal educational opportunities to campus with a particular focus on sustainability. Kara enjoys reading historical fiction, riding her bike around town and exploring Utah’s beautiful outdoors.

Scott Gibson | Associate Principal, Architect, POPULOUS
Scott delivers spaces built with the entire athlete’s well-being in mind. As an architect, sustainability expert and interior designer of professional and collegiate sports facilities, Scott’s design vision continuously evolves with the latest research and resources. Scott ensures that elite athlete training facilities take a holistic approach to sports performance, athlete health, nutrition and mental wellness.Scott leads Populous’ design of a new football training facility and an Olympic sports training facility at Vanderbilt University. His portfolio of work encompasses leading the design for the University of Nebraska’s Go BIG Project and the University of Texas South End Zone Football Training Facility. With interior design experience in the luxury hospitality industry, higher education, mixed-use and sports facilities, Scott navigates all phases of design from conceptual through construction administration for seamless project delivery. Scott is a certified professional through the International Living Futures Institute, an elite community of people that create the greenest buildings for a healthy world. He also holds a Master of Architecture from Kansas State University which he graduated from with honors.

Angie Gilbert | Zero Waste Program Manager, Environmental Center, University of Colorado Boulder
Angie joined the Environmental Center in the Fall of 2015 as the Zero Waste Events Coordinator. She graduated in 2002 in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado. It was a great fit to return to Boulder as and alum to further her career in the field of sustainability. Since 2010, Angie has worked with ESPN developing programs for waste reduction, environmental education and sustainable practices in television production. Her focus has been on programs that further the message of environmental responsibility and stewardship in the sports and entertainment community. ESPN zero waste events include Winter and Summer X Games, The ESPYS, College GameDay, and College Football Playoffs. Each of these events has helped Angie develop unique strategies to implement sustainable practices. As the Zero Waste Events Coordinator at CU Boulder, she works closely with CU Football, CU Basketball and numerous other events on campus to continue the mission of zero waste at CU Boulder and in the collegiate sector. She has a knowledgeable support staff of students and professionals that support the many events to create zero waste success. She also works closely with the Recycling Operation Center (ROC), which provides the avenue to process event collections.

Angela Hersil | Vice President – Sustainability, Communications, and Community Affairs, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions ▾
Angela Hersil serves as a Vice President for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions where she is responsible for sustainability strategy and communications, corporate reputation and communications, issues management, media relations, digital media, philanthropy, and community outreach.

Dr. Suki Hoagland | Lecturer, Earth Systems Program, Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University
Suki Hoagland is a Lecturer in the Earth Systems Program in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. With a PhD in International Relations, focusing on sustainable development, she completed her field research in Kenya and created many field studies as an Assistant Professor. Currently at Stanford, she teaches and mentors students through an array of experiential learning courses. In 2021, she launched a new course, “Sustainability in Athletics” designed and TA’d by a group of Scholar Athletes. This provided a wonderful opportunity for Dr. Hoagland to combine her decades long academic career in sustainability with her athletic past. She was a national silver medalist in Pairs Figure Skating, and earned 10 varsity letters in field hockey, springboard diving and lacrosse at Wesleyan University. The Suki Hoagland Award is presented annually to the athlete who made the most significant contribution to women’s sports.

Jeff Koseff | Faculty Member; Founding Director, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment; Faculty Athletic Representative to the NCAA, Stanford University
Jeff Koseff, founding co-director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, is an expert in the interdisciplinary domain of environmental fluid mechanics. His research falls in the interdisciplinary domain of environmental fluid mechanics and focuses on the interaction between physical and biological systems in natural aquatic environments. Koseff was formerly the Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Senior Associate Dean of Engineering at Stanford. He is currently the Director of the Change Leadership for Sustainability Program and also serves as the Faculty Athletics Representative to the Pac-12 and NCAA for Stanford. The recipient of eight teaching awards at Stanford, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2015, and received the Richard Lyman Award from Stanford in the same year. In 2017 he was the first recipient of the Sustainable Stanford Award, and in 2020 he was elected as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences.

Michael Kraus | Director of Sustainable Events and Analytics, Green Sports Alliance
Before GSA, Michael Kraus co-founded 2 sustainability-focused companies that continue to serve partners across the U.S. today. The first, Food Loops, exists to make partners achieve 90% diversion. As co-founder, Michael led 50+ commercial properties and 200+ events across the nation to world-class diversion rates. These include Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Race, Indy NCAA March Madness Tournament, UCI CycloCross World Championships, Walmart Shareholders, and many more. The second, Anew Lumber Co, created the first secondhand lumber yard with a circular economy model for construction and demolition waste. With GSA, he led the event greening for College Football Playoff and ESPN events, directing sustainability across waste, energy, water, and legacy.

Randy Livingston | CFO, Vice President for Business Affairs, Stanford University
Randy Livingston joined Stanford University in March 2001 as Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer, and he reports to Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. As Chief Financial Officer, Randy is responsible for many of the university’s financial strategies and policies such as endowment payout, debt issuance and cash management. As Vice President for Business Affairs, Randy oversees many of the administrative organizations that provide support for Stanford’s academic mission, including University IT (Enterprise Technology, Research Computing, Communications and IT Facilities, Client Services and Service Strategy, Information Security), Financial Management Services (Controller’s Office, Treasurer’s Office, Financial Systems and Support, and Procurement), the Office of Chief Risk Officer (Internal Audit, Compliance, Privacy and Enterprise Risk Management), Improvement, Analytics and Improvement Services, and Scope 3 Emissions. The Office of Research Administration reports jointly to Randy and the Vice Provost of Research. As University Liaison for Stanford Medicine, Randy is responsible for enhancing collaboration and ensuring coordination on non-academic matters between the university and the three Stanford Medicine entities: School of Medicine (SoM), Stanford Health Care (SHC) and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (SMCH).

Mohit Mehta | Global Head of Sustainability, POPULOUS
Mohit Mehta brings more than 20 years of experience engaging in sustainability research, analyses, and delivery of high-performance and low-carbon buildings. He possesses an expansive knowledge of environmentally responsive building practices, materials and site designs that promote and encourage comfort, healthy solutions and energy and resource efficiency. He believes it is vital and essential to address climate change and biodiversity loss through architecture and design. Mohit strives to incorporate science-based decarbonization strategies and has harnessed this method to deliver a diverse range of project types spanning from sporting venues to large commercial buildings to events. Passionate about sharing his knowledge with others, Mohit has lectured and written on topics including the integration of energy, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and incorporating sustainable design practices into master planning and building design. Mohit leads the sustainable vision and strategy of the firm, ensuring the enhancement and quality of sustainable design in all projects.

Jed Mettee | Chief Operating Officer, San Jose Earthquakes, PayPal Park
Jed Mettee is the Chief Operating for the San Jose Earthquakes. He has spent 20 seasons at the Earthquakes as a senior executive and was a key part of the team’s leadership group that spearheaded the construction of Earthquakes Stadium. He works closely with the President and ownership on the strategic direction of the organization, including marketing and communications strategy, analytics, sponsorship and ticketing plans, brand campaigns, civic engagement, stadium events and stadium infrastructure upgrades. Prior to his time at the Earthquakes, Mettee also worked for Santa Clara University in the athletics department. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the Bay Area chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance, while being a member of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame’s selection committee. He is New Hampshire native and a graduate of Bowdoin College.

Julie Muir | Zero Waste Systems Manager, Stanford
Ms. Muir has managed Stanford University’s Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Composting Program for the last 25 years. She leads Stanford University toward a zero waste campus through a rigorous and comprehensive program of waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting Julie has led over 30 audits of the campus trash to determine what can be done to further reduce waste to landfill and return more material back to industry. She enjoys most working with students and the campus community on waste reduction and educating on the connection between zero waste, sustainable materials management, the circular economy, and climate change. Julie Muir is Past-President and current Senior Adviser to the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) and Chair of the Zero Waste Campus Council of CRRA.

Kristin Parineh | Director of Sustainability, Stanford University
Kristin Parineh has been advancing Stanford University’s sustainability goals since 2012. In her role she supports a variety of programs that aim at transforming our climate future, and that use the campus as a living laboratory for accelerating solutions. Prior to joining the Office of Sustainability, she worked in Stanford’s Residential and Dining Enterprises, as well as was the first Sustainability Planner for the City of Palo Alto, where she developed and enforced the city’s green building and sustainable development policies. She also has work experience at both the U.S. and California Environmental Protection Agency, and Natural Resources Defense Council. She is a proud U.C. Davis and Columbia University alum.

Andrew Pellegrini | Vice President and General Manager, Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc.
Andrew Pellegrini first joined PSSI as a relief driver with a Class A California commercial driver’s license. In this role he was trained and became deeply familiar with all Stanford routes, including frontend loader routes for the colleciton of solid waste, cardboard, and organics; automated sideloader routes for the collection of materials from residential faculty housing, interior academic recycling collection points, and exterior student housing collection points. He became deeply familiar with PSSI’s rolloff work and transfer operations. In 2014 he was promoted to dispatcher, where he gained expertise in route scheduling and route optimization, as well as effective communications protocols both internally and with customers—such as contractors and building/loading dock managers concerning scheduling and logistics. Given his success in that role Andrew was promoted to General Manager in 2015—his current role. As General Manager, Andrew is responsible for the daily operations of PSSI, including operation of the permitted direct transfer facility and ensuring compliance with permit conditions and regulations; operation of the permitted agricultural materials storage facility and regulatory compliance associated with it; and oversight of collection routes, fleet maintenance, PSSI’s safety program, and all activities associated with each program. Andrew has also industry leadership positions:

• President, Clara Mateo Garbage Collector’s Association (2019); and
• Treasurer, Resource Recovery Coalition of California (2022).

Monica Rowand | Sports & Entertainment Associate, Sustainability Advisory Services, WM ▾
Monica leads a diverse portfolio of sustainability evaluation and implementation projects for professional leagues, stadiums, and arenas as a member of the WM Sustainability Advisory Services team. With over a decade of experience in sustainability programming, operations, and engagement, Monica helps major sports organizations measure, manage, and create buy-in to reduce their environmental impacts.

Chloe Shewell | Women's Track Runner and Student Government Representative, University of Utah
Chloe is a Junior studying Finance and Chemistry at the University of Utah. She runs on the women's track team and is the student body Vice President. In her free time she enjoys hiking and hanging out with friends.

Jenny Slepian | Product and Zero Waste Specialist, Eco-Products
Jenny has a Masters in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University, a Masters in Regional and Resource Planning from University of Otago (New Zealand), and a BA in Geology from Bowdoin College. Jenny works with Eco-Products customers in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California to implement zero waste strategies, connect with composters and composting technology, and ensure they comply with local and statewide legislation. Jenny is descended from generations of Oregon Ducks, though when it comes to waste diversion projects, she enjoys working with any Pac-12 school. Prior to joining Eco-Products, Jenny was a Sustainability Analyst for the City of Lake Oswego.

Jordan Spradlin | President, Beaver Athlete Sustainability Team, Oregon State University
Jordan Spradlin has been a Pac 12 track and field Student-Athlete for the past 5 years at the University of Arizona and Oregon State University. She is working toward her Master’s of Public Health in Environmental Health at Oregon State and graduated in June of 2023. She completed her Master’s internship with the Green Sports Alliance, where her passion for sports and sustainability had the chance to grow. Currently, she is the president of the Beaver Athlete Sustainability Team (BAST) that helps to push sustainable initiatives within Oregon State Athletics. Jordan believes that the intersection of sports and sustainability is the perfect opportunity to provide environmental education to fans and improve the environmental footprint of our communities.

Brianna Treat | Director of Sustainability, Climate Pledge Arena & the Seattle Kraken
Brianna Treat is a life-long sustainability advocate with a decades spanning career focusing in large scale waste reduction projects, corporate ESG reporting (Environmental, Social, Governance), green building certifications/implementations and carbon accounting. As Director of Sustainability for the Climate Pledge Arena & the Seattle Kraken, Brianna Treat has embedded environmental sustainability across both organizations. She has developed and implemented a multitude of sustainability initiatives onsite, tracking all operational carbon at the Arena and assisting in achieving the Arenas 95% waste diversion goal. Each piece of her past has built her skillset to now ensure that the Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken maintain their commitments to the Climate Pledge

Cheryl Wong | Associate Commissioner, Sport Management and Championships, Pac-12 Conference  
Wong, starting her tenth year at the Pac-12 Conference, serves as the Associate Commissioner for Sport Management and Championships, with oversight of a variety of sports and championships for the Conference. She also leads the Pac-12 Team Green Working Group as well as directs the Zero Waste Challenge each year. With almost 20 years of experience in collegiate and professional athletics, Wong has held a variety of positions, starting as an athletic trainer at UCLA, with stops in marketing and corporate sponsorship, and stints with 4 professional teams in the NFL and NBA. Prior to joining the Pac-12 Conference office, Wong oversaw the travel operations for the athletic department at the University of California, Berkeley. Wong continues her development with participation in various NCAA leadership conferences and programming as well as serving on the National Board for MOAA (Minority Opportunities Athletics Association). Wong completed her undergraduate degree at UCLA and also holds a Masters degree from the University of Miami.

Heather Vaughan | Senior Vice President, Marketing, Pac-12 Conference  
Heather Vaughan is Vice President of Marketing for the Pac-12 Conference and Pac-12 Networks. In this capacity, Heather is responsible for oversight of the marketing, promotions and creative services teams. She also leads campaign strategies for all Pac-12 programming, both on and off channel and is at the helm of the overall look and feel of the Pac-12 Networks brand. A veteran marketer, Heather has worked for the Sacramento Kings, several advertising agencies and was also an instructor at the Art Institute. Heather has a B.A. in Communication Design from California State University, Chico and an M.A. in Communications from California State University, Fullerton. She is a member of the NSMN, WICT, WISE, and the ADL.

Jackie Ventura | Senior Director, Sustainability and Hygiene, Golden State Warriors, Chase Center  
Jackie Ventura is the Senior Director of Sustainability and Facility Health & Hygiene at Chase Center - the home of the Golden State Warriors. She joined the team in July 2019 and helped lead them to a successful opening while establishing world-class systems and processes for venue operations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackie led the strategic reopening of Chase Center by designing protocols in compliance with local, federal, and NBA mandates culminating in an award-winning testing program for players, employees, and fans. In her current role, she leads the sustainability strategy for Chase Center including responsible resource use, operational efficiency, fan education, and collaborative community engagement.