Shalanda Baker
Vice Provost for Sustainability and Climate Action, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Environment and Sustainability, School for Environment and Sustainability
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Sustainability and Climate Executive Leadership Council
Sustainability and Climate Executive Leadership Council
In 2025, U-M created the Sustainability and Climate Executive Leadership Council (SCELC), the first cross-campus leadership structure of its kind at a public university. Uniting operations, academics, research, and health care, the council drives coordinated action on energy, climate, sustainability, and equity—positioning U-M as a living laboratory for resilient, real-world solutions.
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T. Anthony Denton
Senior Vice President Chief Environmental, Social and Governance Officer, U-M Health
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Shana Weber
Associate Vice President for Campus Sustainability, Office of the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
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Charting the path forward
A History of Action — A Foundation for Change
The A History of Action — A Foundation for Change Report offers the first comprehensive look at U-M’s sustainability journey. It brings together the university’s history, current commitments, and future direction in one place.
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800+
Sustainability courses
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700+
Faculty engaged
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38,000
Metric tons of GHG emissions avoided
Spotlights on Sustainability
Below, we highlight a sampling of the report’s spotlights from the people, programs, and partnerships shaping U-M’s path toward a more just and sustainable future. Download the report for more sustainability stories & spotlights.
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Scrubs, Scalpels & Sustainability
Michigan Medicine launched the Green Anesthesia Initiative at Michigan in 2022, with an aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent. Focused on reducing the use of high-impact anesthetic gases like nitrous oxide and shifting toward less harmful alternatives – including intravenous anesthetics – GAIA achieved an 88 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from inhaled anesthetics.
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Home, Sweet (Sustainable) Home
The Michigan Sustainability Community is a living-learning community where students explore what it means to live sustainably, together. The MSC offers a space for students to connect their values to daily life, build relationships across departments and disciplines, and work together to find solutions to challenges that matter to them.
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Erb Environmental Management Institute
The Erb Environmental Management Institute, established in 1995, provides a formal bridge between business and sustainability teaching and research through a dual-degree MBA/MS program with the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS).
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Pantry with a Purpose
The Maize & Blue Cupboard is a vital student-run campus resource working to address food insecurity on U-M’s Ann Arbor Campus. The student-run pantry provides free groceries, kitchen supplies, and household essentials to all members of the U-M community and links users to campus support services like financial aid, wellness resources, and SNAP assistance.
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Touchdown, Sustainability!
Michigan Athletics’ Zero Waste Game Day initiative keeps football Saturdays sustainable, diverting more than 500 tons of waste from landfills through recycling, composting, and food recovery.
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Campus Farm
The U-M Campus Farm at Matthaei Botanical Gardens is a student-led living-learning lab for hands-on experience in sustainable food systems, leadership, and research. Supported by the Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund, the 11-acre working farm with 3-acres vegetable producing land, provides fresh, local food for students to U-M Dining and the Maize and Blue Cupboard.
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Smart Sharps
U-M Health is replacing single-use "sharps" containers with reusable collector bins, which are sanitized and then reused. One reusable container can eliminate 500 single-use containers — saving more than 75 tons of plastic from being thrown away. The new containers feature a design that limits employee harm.
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Restoring the Flint River
With the Michigan DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, UM–Flint is helping restore the Flint River. In fall 2024, a century-old dam was removed and rock riffles installed to improve flow, reduce flood risk, and expand access for people and wildlife. The project is revitalizing the river’s ecology and supporting biodiversity in the heart of the city.