SUNY Sustainability Conference

The SUNY Sustainability Conference is here once again! Hosted by Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, NY, the 2026 conference will take place Tuesday June 9 through Thursday June 11. The conference will provide an opportunity for professionals from a variety of sustainability-related roles at SUNY colleges and beyond to connect and learn from one another. The event will offer a wide variety of opportunities, including:

• Educational sessions featuring information relevant to sustainability in higher education and New York State
• Chances to share success stories
• Discussions about emerging issues
• Networking and partnership opportunities
• Opportunities to discuss creative solutions to help advance sustainability actions across New York State colleges
• And more!

Registration is now closed.

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Keynote Speaker: David Wallace-Wells

David Wallace-Wells is the author of The Uninhabitable Earth, an instant New York Times bestseller. It was named one of The New Yorker’s Favorite Books of 2019 and one of TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of that year. Wallace-Wells is a columnist and staff writer at the New York Times, and was previously the deputy editor at New York Magazine. He will be giving a riventing talk called "Surviving the World: Making the Best of a Burdened Planet."

Sign up to watch the live stream of his keynote here! Live stream is available for SUNY faculty, staff, or students only.

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Students are welcome!
Are you a student with an interest in learning more about sustainability? Do you have a desire to connect with sustainability professionals, or share your research in the sustainability field? Then the SUNY Sustainability Conference is for you! Students from all NYS higher education institutions (private and public) are welcome to join us. Limited scholarships were available but are now closed.

Student poster presentation instructions can be found here.

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Hotel Block

A hotel block will be available at the Hilton Long Island/Huntington for a reduced rate of $169/night.

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Transportation Options

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Detailed Agenda & FAQs

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Agenda-at-a-Glance
June 9, 2026

time	Session A	Session B
10:30AM-11:30AM	Check-in Campus Center Ballroom
11:30AM-11:50AM	Welcome Address Dr. Robert Prezant, Farmingdale State College
12:00PM-12:50PM	SUNY Climate Hazard Analysis Sadie Ross, State University of New York (SUNY) Green Energy Loan Fund Rebecca Erwin, State University of New York (SUNY)	How to Communicate Energy Issues so People Will Listen Peter Hoffman, DASNY Clean Energy Master Plan: The Roadmap to Start Matthew Brubaker, SUNY Cortland
1:00PM-1:50PM	Lunch & Commitment to Action: Reducing Single-use Plastic Through the Plastic Reduction Partner Program Mary Ellen Malia & Meghan Popcun, University at Albany
2:00PM-2:50PM	Teaching Sustainability through Art, Teaching Art through Sustainability Dan DeZarn, SUNY Geneseo Say What? (And When and Where and How): Sustainability Communication Strategies Juliana Smith, State University of New York (SUNY)	Earthrise Learning Commons: Empowering Learners with Sustainability Pedagogies Sarah Wyman, SUNY New Paltz Communicating Scope 3 Emissions using Study Abroad Air Travel and Web GIS Megan Swing, SUNY Cortland
3:00PM-3:50PM	Vendor Networking Session and Student Poster Presentations Light refreshments will be served
4:00PM-5:00PM	BREAK Hotel to freshen up, rest, continue networking, etc.
5:00PM-6:30PM	Keynote & Dinner Buffet Keynote Speaker: David Wallace-Wells, New York Times Journalist & Author
7:00PM-8:00PM	Happy Hour Sponsored by RAMBOLL at Changing Times Pub

June 10, 2026

time	sESSION a	sESSION b
7:30AM-8:15AM	EcoFlow with Erin An optional morning yoga session led by Stony Brook University's Erin Kluge
9:00AM-9:50AM	Breakfast
10:00AM-10:50AM	Growing Pains: Inter-Generational Sustainability Workplace Conversations Erin Kluge, Stony Brook University & Megan Swing, SUNY Cortland	Integrating Energy, Hydraulic, Borefield & GIS Models to Enable a Phased Decarbonization Plan at UAlbany Rob Neimeier, Ramboll & Mary Ellen Mallia, University at Albany Turning Heat into Hope: How We Can Leverage Obstacles into Opportunities to Decarbonize Ryan McPherson, University at Buffalo
11:00AM-11:50AM	Storytelling for Sustainability Jacqueline Emery, Jesse Curran, David Lei, & Lori Yamond, SUNY Old Westbury	Mapping the Path to the STARS: Targeted Assessment Strategies for Institutional Point Gain and Advancement Martin Larocca, Binghamton University
12:00PM-12:50PM	Lunch & Certify Circularity New York Announcement Kathryn Walker, Center for Sustainable Materials Management & Celeste McMickle, USGBC
1:00PM-1:50PM	Panel: Give a (Food) Scrap: Diversity of University Diversion Programs Rachel Kornhauser, SUNY Oneonta Celia Darling, Skidmore College & Dan DeZarn, SUNY Geneseo	Optimizing Campus Energy Use Through Data-Driven Occupancy Scheduling Christian Guzman & Tom Lanzilotta, Stony Brook University
2:00PM-2:50PM	Roundtable Discussion on AI & Sustainability  Lisa Mitten, SUNY New Paltz	From Campus to Community: Advancing Circularity Through Student Engagement Melissa Young, Institute for Sustainability Engagement & Kathryn Walker, Center for Sustainable Materials Management Scaling Campus Composting: From Waste Audits to On-Site Solutions Marjorie Spitz, Table2Ground/Long Island Organics Council & Akshay Illiparambil, Stony Brook University
3:00PM-5:00PM	OFF CAMPUS TOUR OF CHOICE Experience the beauty of Long Island and join us for one of three tour options: Sunken Meadow State Park Jones Beach State Park Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park Registration is now closed.
5:00PM-6:00PM	Dinner on your own
6:00PM-8:00PM	S'mores & Networking (back at FSC) FSC Amphitheatre

June 11, 2026

time	Session A	Session B
9:00AM-10:00AM	Breakfast & Networking Tables: Working in Sustainability with the YPs Juliana Smith, State University of New York (SUNY) & Isabella Gerace, Purchase College
10:00AM-10:50AM	Design For the Future of Fashion - Sustainably Panel Presentation led by Karen Pearson, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Panelists: Leydi Zapata, Fashion Institute of Technology Whitney Crutchfield, Fashion Institute of Technology Sarah Guadagnino, Student, Fashion Institute of Technology Anja Harrell, Student, Fashion Institute of Technology	Academics and Action: Integrating Sustainability at Purchase College Ragnhild Utheim, Isabella Gerace & Melissa Forstrom, Purchase College Reintroducing Missing Middle Housing: A Path to Sustainability and Affordability Kaveh Samiei, The New School
11:00AM-11:50AM	Recycled Waste-Modified Cement Concrete: A Case Study for Sustainable Construction Shohana Iffat, Farmingdale State College	Teaching Sustainability Through Practice: Life of the Practitioner Eugene Kwak, Farmingdale State College Stories That Sustain: Communicating Sustainability Orla Smyth-LoPiccolo, Farmingdale State College
12:00PM-1:00PM	Lunch

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