Our Team

Kate Bartter serves as the executive director of the Sustainability Institute (SI) at The Ohio State University. In this position, she co-leads SI with Faculty Director Elena Irwin. Launched in 2019, SI’s mission is to support, lead and integrate sustainability across the university enterprise, from research to learning opportunities for students to outreach and engagement and campus operations. SI has 31 core faculty hired in partnership with 18 different university departments and has attracted over 300 affiliated faculty from 10 Ohio State colleges.

As executive director, Kate works with the faculty director to develop strategic priorities and metrics of success for SI. Her role focuses on staff management and providing strategic leadership for SI’s non-academic programs. Kate also manages university sustainability initiatives, such as tracking progress toward meeting Ohio State’s enterprise-wide sustainability goals, and building effective external sustainability partnerships. In addition, she chairs the President and Provost’s Council on Sustainability. Formerly, Kate served as director of Ohio State’s Office of Energy and Environment from 2015-2019.

Prior to joining Ohio State, Kate served as the Chief Policy Advisor and Director of Cabinet Affairs for Ohio Governor Bob Taft. In that capacity, she managed the governor’s policy staff, directed cabinet relations and served as the Governor’s Executive Assistant for Environment and Natural Resources throughout the Taft administration.

Kate also serves on the following boards and commissions:  The Great Lakes Protection Fund, The Lake Erie Commission, and the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

Elena Irwin is faculty director and co-founder of the Sustainability Institute and a Distinguished Professor of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. A compelling advocate for sustainability, Irwin develops and nurtures interdisciplinary research and curriculum development across natural, physical and social sciences; engineering; public health; planning and policy; and the humanities. Elena is a professor of environmental economics whose research focuses on the economics of land use and development in urban, urbanizing and agricultural regions, including spatial models of land, water and ecosystem services. She has led research totaling over $19 million, with funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other private and public agencies. She is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Board of Scientific Councilors Committee for Sustainable and Healthy Communities and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Executive Board. Elena holds an undergraduate degree in history and German from Washington University and a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland.

Mike Shelton is associate director for the Sustainability Institute, leading the development of a tracking and reporting system for the university's sustainability goals; managing the Ohio State Sustainability Fund; helping to manage the work of the President and Provost’s Council on Sustainability; and serving as a project manager for a number of sustainability related projects on campus.

Prior to joining Ohio State, Mike was at ScottsMiracle-Gro where he was the manager for Corporate Social Responsibility. He has worked in state government, at the Ohio Legislature, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Governor’s Office, as well as at The Nature Conservancy’s Ohio Chapter, as Assistant Director of Government Relations.

Josh Knights forges strategic partnerships with companies, nonprofits, government agencies and other stakeholders that drive sustainability outcomes for Ohio State and its partners. He works with colleagues from across the colleges to pursue opportunities that advance Ohio State’s contributions to sustainability and resilience, especially in the fields of sustainable energy, healthy land and water, and smart and resilient communities.  Josh firmly believes in the power of collaboration to solve leading sustainability challenges.  Prior to joining Ohio State in 2018, Josh held leadership positions at The Nature Conservancy, including executive director of its Ohio program and director of its Corporate Partnerships team.  Previously, Josh worked on international trade policy in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the law firm of White & Case.

Gina Jaquet’s work as Director of Education and Learning Programs for the Sustainability Institute centers around curriculum development, experiential learning and student engagement opportunities in sustainability and resilience. Founder and co-leader of the SUSTAINS Learning Community, Gina previously led undergraduate and graduate student services and managed academic programs for the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE). She also was program director for the Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability major in collaboration with AEDE and the School of Environment and Natural Resources. Gina has received multiple awards for her work supporting students and academic programs and for her efforts with SUSTAINS.  She believes in the transformative power of education as a tool to create new opportunities for our students to learn, grow and prepare to solve our global sustainability challenges. She holds three Ohio State degrees: a bachelor’s degree in business administration and two master’s degrees, in environment and natural resources and higher education and student affairs.

Katie Zimmerman is the EmPOWERment Program Manager, working as a part of the Sustainability Institute team.  Katie earned her bachelor’s degree from Otterbein University in Business Administration and her master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of South Carolina.  After graduate school, Katie worked at Purdue University with student success initiatives before returning back to Ohio.  Most recently, Katie comes to the EmPOWERment program after 6 years with the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE) where she advised students, supported faculty, and managed academic programs, including work with the Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability (EEDS) major.

Liz Quigley is the Program Manager for Co-Curricular and Community Initiatives with the Sustainability Institute, and currently leads the SUSTAINS Living Learning Community. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Sustainability and Supply Chain Management from Arizona State University. Liz brings experience in sustainability education and youth leadership development, having worked with groups such as Turn it Around! Flashcards for Education Futures, The Rob & Melani Walton Sustainability Teachers’ Academies, and the Regional Center of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development Greater Phoenix. Liz aims to inspire students to pursue their passions and work towards creating a just and sustainable global society.

As the Research Development Specialist with the Sustainability Institute (SI) at The Ohio State University, Charlene works closely with SI’s faculty director Elena Irwin and faculty research leaders to develop and execute strategies that align SI’s strategic vision, planning, implementation, evaluation and assessment of SI’s research goals and impacts. 

Charlene firmly believes that fostering a sense of belonging and trust is essential to working collaboratively and effectively across interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams addressing critical issues of sustainability. In her research development capacity, Charlene will develop and lead a variety of research-focused initiatives including sustainability focused research collaborations, investments, programming, facilitation, trainings and workshops, and extramural proposal development, while providing research project support to the Sustainability Institute’s 300+ core and affiliated faculty across the spectrum of sustainability scholarship at Ohio State. Charlene will lead research development activities, including taking responsibility for the design and execution of various forums for SI faculty affiliates to exchange new scientific discoveries and knowledge and to build professional networks of potential collaborators and resources for research including SI’s Exploratory Research Groups, networking activities, conferences, and other scholarly interactions.

Charlene brings to this role over a decade of experience within the university community having served as Program Director of the STEAM Factory at The Ohio State University, a widely diverse, grassroots organization consisting of over 350 faculty, staff, and post-doctoral students. Charlene is an alumna and holds a Juris Doctor from the Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Kenyon College.

Kathy Jackson is the Sustainability Institute’s program assistant, providing organizational, administrative, and fiscal support for the SI team. She strengthens connections with the SI core faculty, the SI faculty research leads, the SI faculty advisory board, our partnering organizations across campus and all those interested in promoting sustainability and resilience.  Kathy enthusiastically embraces the power of interdisciplinary efforts and conversations on campus and in the community to address the systemic issues facing our society.

Kim McIlwaine is the Sustainability Institute’s executive assistant, providing administrative support to the executive director, faculty director and entire SI team. Prior to joining Ohio State, she was an executive assistant for the Franklin County Auditor’s Office after working for several years as a legal assistant and paralegal in the Columbus area. Kim has a passion for nature and helping others learn the benefit of the natural world in our lives. She is very excited to continue her career as part of the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State.