Who we are

Sustainability Office

Your hub for sustainability on the St. George campus.

Who we are

The Sustainability Office on the St. George campus is on an ongoing mission to embed sustainability into the fabric of University operations and the on-campus experience.

The principles of regenerative sustainability and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals act as our guide towards U of T becoming a model of sustainability worldwide.

We connect, engage and empower

We develop, support, and empower U of T’s students, faculty and staff as sustainability change agents on and off-campus. We are a hub for sustainability awareness, services, and collaboration to enable and promote positive change.

We collaborate with our academic partners as well as U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough for a more sustainable tri-campus University of Toronto. 

We continuously transform

We work collaboratively with our colleagues responsible for campus stewardship to achieve our environmental commitments. We do this by developing low-energy, low-carbon strategies to responsibly grow our campus while continuously renewing our existing buildings and optimizing our campus operations to minimize all environmental impacts. 

Three members of the Sustainability Office team standing on a solar panel roof on-campus.

Our team

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Scott Hendershot (he/him), Senior Manager, Sustainability Office

Scott is responsible for oversight of reporting, policy, data, engagement, and communications initiatives at the Sustainability Office at the St. George campus. Working with his key stakeholders – students, faculty and staff – Scott acts as an advocate and leader for impactful sustainability at U of T.

A professional engineer with broad knowledge, keen interest and dedication to caring for planet earth, are what drive his motivation to deliver sustainable change across U of T, and beyond. Scott joined the University in 2021 from Pratt & Whitney Canada, where in his most recent position played an active role in developing and embedding sustainability across the corporation for over a decade.

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Chelsea Dalton (she/her), Project Manager, Sustainability Office

Chelsea is responsible for managing and implementing projects at the Sustainability Office. Chelsea works collaboratively across a broad range of departments and with multiple stakeholders to strengthen the Sustainability Office’s projects and programs.

Chelsea joins us from Facilities Management & Planning at UTM, where she has over 10 years experience working in the Sustainability Office. She has worked extensively on outreach, engagement, program management, and sustainability assessment in higher education. Chelsea holds an Honours BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Toronto Mississauga. She is a passionate advocate for sustainability in higher education and throughout the world at large.

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Kevin Leong (he/him), Project Manager, Sustainability Office

Kevin is responsible for managing and implementing projects at the Sustainability Office with a focus on energy metrics and how to effectively verify, measure, and monitor the success of various sustainability programs and campus operations initiatives.

Kevin is a U of T alumnus, holding a Bachelor of Environmental Science. He joins us from within the Facilities and Services family, bringing over 20 years of experience in at the university. In his previous role within Utilities and Building Operations, he has acquired vast experience around energy and water data, environmental metrics, budgets, facility operations, and maintenance—which are all connected to U of T’s sustainability goals.

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Larry Yang (he/him), Energy Manager, Sustainability Office

Lijun (Larry) Yang is a passionate energy professional with over 15 years of energy efficiency industry, strategic energy management, sustainability, and facility management experience. Larry is currently an energy manager where he manages the energy programs and renewable energy project initiatives. Specializing in net-zero energy existing building retrofit strategies and performance-based procurement, Larry oversees the implementation of ISO50001 Standard to continually improve the energy performance of his campus. Prior to joining the UofT, Larry was working in the building energy consulting industry for more than a decade. Larry has a M.A. Sc. from Concordia University and many industrial credentials including P.Eng., CEM, CMVP, BEAP, CBCP, CRE, and CEFP.

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Vic Cassano (he/him), Senior Utilities Reduction Manager, Sustainability Office

Vic is responsible for energy management at St. George campus. His passions drive him to be the best he can be, to push the envelope, to create, lead and support an incredibly talented team and remain up to date on the latest technologies. He is passionate about helping U of T become a climate positive campus. 

Vic began his career as an HVAC, plumbing, and Fire Protection Design Engineer which gives him the expertise required to deliver comprehensive solutions on energy management. Vic also brings experience from his previous role as a Director of Energy & Sustainability at BGIS, supporting projects that focused on operational energy management, enhanced utility reporting, and risk and mitigation strategy.

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Ali Alnaggar (he/him), Energy Manager, Sustainability Office

Ali is responsible for managing the Tri-Campus Energy Performance Standard for new construction and renovation projects and collaborating with project teams to ensure compliance. Ali joined U of T in 2022 and is passionate about the Climate Positive Campus plan and climate action in general, with particular interest in developing and implementing energy and decarbonization projects that make sense financially and operationally.

A professional engineer, certified energy manager, and project management professional, Ali holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Clean Energy Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining U of T, he has worked in various energy management and facilities planning & construction roles in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

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Sherif Shakour (he/him), Senior Utilities Reduction Manager, Sustainability Office

Sherif is responsible for identifying and developing Deep Energy Retrofit Projects across the St. George Campus to reduce GHG emissions and improve the buildings’ energy performance.  Working in concert with key stakeholders, Sherif is responsible for integrating Deep Energy Retrofit Projects with other Sustainability Office efforts to achieve our campus climate positive goal in 2050.

Sherif brings valuable experience from his role at Mann Energy Solutions in energy retrofits project development, and stakeholder engagement experience from his career at Schlumberger. Sherif enjoys working with teams on challenging projects and is passionate about energy efficiency, eliminating waste, and finding innovative solutions to address complex problems.

A headshot of Kaitlyn Myles, sustainability coorduintor.

Kaitlyn Myles (she/her), Sustainability Coordinator, Sustainability Office

Kaitlyn is responsible for coordinating and managing Sustainability Office communications, events, outreach, and engagement. She is involved in various projects, supporting our project managers and the senior manager with coordinating details and making connections internally and externally.

Kaitlyn brings with her four years of experience working in large organizations, where she was responsible for designing and implementing sustainability programs as well as liaising across all levels of operation. She has previously worked in Environment and Sustainability roles at Bimbo Canada, Keilhauer, and the TTC. Kaitlyn holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies with honours in Environment and Business as well as a Diploma of Environmental Impact Assessment—both from the University of Waterloo. Her passion for sustainability coupled with her sociable personality allows her to engage with students on why sustainability is important for our future

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Christie Anderson (she/her), Administrative Assistant, Facilities and Services

Christie supports the Director of Sustainability Operations & Services and the Director of Building Services, Grounds & Trades. She joined the University of Toronto in 2022 and is excited to support the work of the Sustainability Office.

Christie holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Master of Environmental Management and has experience working in the office, laboratory, and field for an environmental non-profit organization, editing research papers in environmental science, and facilitating outreach programs for the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Student team

A work study student named Helena Tang stands in front of leafy foliage.

Helena Teng (she/her), Sustainability Program Research & Development Assistant

Helena is a first-year graduate student completing her master of science in sustainability management at the Institute of Management & Innovation. During her undergraduate experience, she had the opportunity to contribute to various experiential learning projects in her undergraduate and local community; she worked in areas on sustainable procurement, cycling, student life, and health care. She has also worked with non-profits to critically evaluate sustainability policies and develop ESG reports. With a background in health sciences and interdisciplinary learning, Helena is excited to develop a Student Sustainable Ambassadors program and contribute to various facilities projects that support the university’s sustainability goals. Most of all, she is eager to join the U of T sustainability community because she believes in collaborative action and continuous learning to tackle the complex challenges of our world. 

A work-study student holds up a poster display of characters written in ink.

Junyu Zhao (he/him), Research & Development Assistant

Junyu Zhao is a master of global affairs candidate at Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. He participated in work study with the School of Cities and helped support the development of community benefits plans across municipalities in Ontario. Junyu is passionate about climate strategy, and conducted a literature search on housing resilience. He also contributed to TransformTO implementation, the climate plan for the city of Toronto. 

 Junyu has a background in economics at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education. He holds a marketing certificate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. His past work experience with technology has led him to an interest in shaping the policy framework around AI. 

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Irina Belgorodskii (she/her), Marketing & Communications Assistant

Irina Belgorodskii is a final-year University of Toronto student in the Rotman Commerce program, specializing in management with a focus on marketing, strategy, and innovation. She is also minoring in economics and working towards a sustainability certificate. Irina has worked in the beauty industry for the past five years, which allowed her to see a tremendous amount of global waste being created—and that many beauty brands were greenwashing. This experience led her to become very passionate about sustainable beauty. She is very excited to be back in the Sustainability Office for the third year in a row, where she can continue to educate students and staff about sustainable practices on campus. 

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Diego Arreola-Fernandez (he/him), Sustainability Outreach & Engagement Assistant

Diego is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a double major in International Relations and Economics, with a minor in Environmental Ethics. He is an environmental activist from Mexico City working for the last three years to advance comprehensive environmental education through his nonprofit organization, Green Speaking, which is focused on empowering children and youth from the Global South to take climate action. He has presented his ideas on youth leadership and corporate sustainability at international conferences such as GreenBiz 21, the Global Youth Climate Challenges 2022, and through written mediums, working for two years as an editor for the OH-Wake Magazine. Diego is very excited to apply these passions to his work with the Sustainability Office and connect students across the University of Toronto with enriching opportunities that will benefit them and their communities.

Osayuwame Ize-Iyamu

Osayuwame Ize-Iyamu (she/her), Sustainability Program Research & Development Assistant

Osayus is a final-year graduate student pursuing a master of science in sustainability management (MScSM).She is passionate about creating equal access to basic amenities not available to disadvantaged groups. In April 2023, she became a recipient of the UTM Equity and Diversity Award for her volunteer work at a non-profit literacy organization and continued dedication to making more impact in this area. She has worked as a Project Administrator for U of T’s University Planning, Design &Construction (UPDC) division, successfully facilitating the processing of financial and legally binding documents for major construction projects on all three campuses. Since joining the Sustainability Office, Osayus has helped create an organizational structure to support the transition of the Sustainable Building Design Standard’s baseline from LEED v4 to Toronto Green Standard (TGS) and ASHRAE 189.1. 

Looking for student work opportunities?

Apply to the work study program for a chance to work with a team of dedicated professionals and passionate students. Be a sustainability change maker at the University of Toronto. 

Our university partners

We work together with our students, faculty, and staff further Sustainability at the University, as we realize that we will achieve the most success when we are all-in. 

We work in conjunction with our academic colleagues on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability (CECCS) to advance sustainability initiatives around teaching and learning, research, operations and community engagement.  

The St. George campus Sustainability Office works with the sustainability offices at both the University of Toronto Mississauga and University of Toronto Scarborough. Together, we form the Tri-Campus Sustainability Board, working to embed sustainability into the fabric of the entire University.