The University announced Wednesday that Mike Piehler, a coastal ecosystem ecologist and the director of the UNC Institute for the Environment, will serve as the new Chief Sustainability Officer — a role that has been empty for over a year since the concealed firing of Brad Ives last August.
Piehler will continue to serve as the chairperson for the University Sustainability Council, a new group that was announced in April by Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. The council will help oversee campus sustainability efforts including the Three Zeros Initiative, which has the goal of achieving net zero water usage, zero waste to landfills and net zero greenhouse gas emissions on campus.
“I am very excited to begin this new role,” Piehler said in an email to The Daily Tar Heel. “The Sustainability Council represents the breadth and depth of Carolina’s expertise, and I am very grateful for their willingness to take on these exciting challenges. The Chancellor’s vision for, and commitment to both the council and sustainability activities on campus is inspirational. We are excited to get to work.”
Piehler joined UNC’s faculty in 1998 as an ecologist at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences. In 2018, he became the director of the UNC Institute for the Environment.
“Mike’s research focuses on the interface between land and water, particularly quantifying exchanges and processing of nutrients and carbon in aquatic systems,” Guskiewicz stated in the official announcement. “He studies how human activity affects the interactions between natural and built coastal environments, addressing the challenges and opportunities that those interactions present.”
The Chancellor’s announcement said that the University will transition to a new environmental initiative called “Sustainable Carolina,” which will encompass the Three Zeros Initiative. Under Piehler's leadership, the Sustainability Council will create four separate committees to “set goals and track progress, integrate with other programs at the University, foster innovation and tell the University’s sustainability story,” the announcement states.
Aaron Salzberg, a professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health and new member of the Sustainability Council, said he’s excited to have Piehler at the helm.
“He knows the issues, has great networks and relationships across campus, and I think has the personality to bring staff, faculty, students, and the nearby community together around the chancellor’s vision,” Salzberg said in an email.
Piehler was also a close confidant of Ives’ during his tenure as Chief Sustainability Officer.
