Reflections from Aaron Durnbaugh
As director of the Office of Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago, Aaron Durnbaugh brings a systems-thinking approach to advancing sustainability in higher education. His work focuses on connecting people, ideas, and institutional priorities to create lasting impact for campuses and communities.
In this AASHE Fellows spotlight, Aaron reflects on lifelong learning, the power of professional networks, and the role sustainability professionals can play in helping institutions navigate change while remaining true to their mission and values.
What are you learning at this stage of your career about sustainability in higher education?
At this stage in my career, I’m continuing the lifelong learning of a sustainability professional. Just as we, in the U.S., all became tax experts over the last five years, marketers the five years before, and ROI experts the five years before that, today I’m diving deeper into the contributions sustainability and complexity science can add to higher education more broadly. I’m re-engaging with the value proposition for our institutions, and more importantly, our students.
What motivates you to work towards the advancement of sustainability in higher education?
I believe, and have observed, that higher education demonstrates one of the simplest machines: the lever. As students pass through our doors, nervous with energy and concerned by an uncertain future, one word, sometimes just one example, can be enough to change their whole perspective. Real-talk about the challenges we face, but more importantly, a focus on what we’ve accomplished, and a narrow prioritization on what we need to solve next can unlock creativity and positivity that can see them through that uncertainty and do great things in great numbers.
If you were speaking to your younger, early-career self, what nugget of wisdom would you share?
Your enthusiasm, while often naïve, is one of your important contributions. Keep asking questions and recognize the generosity of those who answer them.
In what ways do you believe higher education sustainability professionals can meet this moment in history?
There is a lot of talk about the role of sustainability in organizations of all kinds. It has led to a quiet, or green-hushing, in many sectors, at the same time that higher education is retrenching and asking critical questions about ROI and cutting academic programs. Sustainability professionals need to be comfortable with change and not fight each of these forces, but also use our experience and literacy around complexity, systems thinking, and integrated solutions to not allow these reductive efforts to eliminate the “hard to explain”. How can we speak up for the “externalities”: the intrinsic beauty, the voiceless nature, and the equitable outcome? How can we champion the win/win/win solution? And if the organizations that we lead and participate in aren’t fulfilling their mission or being true to their identities, then we need to speak up on behalf of our more junior colleagues and students.
What professional achievement or accomplishment are you most proud of?
This fellowship is a lovely recognition, and helping Loyola achieve carbon neutrality for primary energy and STARS Platinum are both recent, meaningful milestones, but I’d probably say that it’s the accomplishments of my colleagues and former students at Loyola. While indirect, seeing them go on to important sustainability roles that didn’t even exist when I went to college warms my heart. Partnering with a faculty member for their course or research and seeing them advance in their careers, or connecting an exemplary student for an internship or first sustainability job, is the gift that keeps on giving.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Thank you to AASHE and other networks at all scales that help connect sustainability leaders, no matter our years of experience or role within higher education. Networks are both a glue and a grease. They stick us together so we can hold tight during challenging times, and they speed us up to get things done faster and with increased impact.