Office of Academic and
Student Affairs Main Page

Sustainable Learning and Working Environments at Lane Community College

Debra Rowe

Biography

Dr. Rowe is the President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development (www.uspartnership.org).  The U.S. Partnership convenes members of the business, education, communities, government, and faith sectors of the U.S. and catalyzes national sustainability initiatives. Dr. Rowe is also co-founder of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (www.aashe.org/heasc), founder/facilitator of the Disciplinary Associations’ Network for Sustainability (www.aashe.org/dans), Senior Fellow at Second Nature (www.secondnature.org) and Senior Advisor to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (www.aashe.org).  She helps higher education, K-12 associations and other private and public institutions integrate sustainability into mission, training, research, policy, community life, purchasing and investments, facilities and operations, and community partnerships.  She also helps the private sector catalyze successful business models for the triple bottom line of sustainability.

Debra has also been professor of energy management and renewable energy for 30 years at Oakland Community College (www.oaklandcc.edu/est). Dr. Rowe created a model energy services technician degree design for colleges, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. She also created and teaches energy management and renewable energies in an on-line format with U.S. National Science Foundation support offered by the Consortium for Education in Renewable Energy Technology (www.ceret.us).  These courses are used by students and businesses and as professional development for K-12 and college faculty.  She has helped numerous colleges and other organization develop their sustainability and energy initiatives.

Dr Rowe is presently chairing the Technical Advisory Group for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).  In this role, she convenes energy and sustainability experts, collects and reviews resources, and authors overarching documents for AACC’s Sustainable Education and Economic Development Resource Center (www.theSeedCenter.org).  This Resource Center is designed to share curricula, partnership models, skills and competencies, quality criteria, promising practices and more resources relating to sustainability and green energy.  Through the American Association of Community Colleges, she is also a U.S. Designee to the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics’ for their international sustainability group (http://wfcp.accc.ca/)  and has compiled and posted curricular resources from multiple countries for this group.

Debra Rowe is often a keynote speaker at national and international education conferences.  She is the author or editor of numerous publications on the integration of sustainability into education (e.g. www.ncseonline.org/EFS/DebraRowe.pdf).