Matthew St. Clair Explained

Matthew St. Clair
Employer:	University of California
Awards:	2020 LEED Fellow

Matthew (Matt) St. Clair is an American environmentalist who is the Director of Sustainability for the University of California system of ten university campuses.^[1]

Early life and education

St. Clair grew up in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.^[2] He has a BA degree in Economics from Swarthmore College and an MA in Environmental Policy from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley.^{[3] [4]} From 1998 to 2000, he volunteered with Friends of the Earth in the Czech Republic, and gained experience and an appreciation for the impact of effective environmental activism.

Career

As a graduate student, St. Clair led a student campaign for the University of California system to adopt a comprehensive green building and clean energy planning policy. The University of California then hired him to implement this policy.^[5] This policy has included powering new buildings with electricity generated without carbon emissions,^[6] and increasing the number of campus buildings that are LEED certified,^[7] including every building on the new campus of the University of California, Merced. It has also included creating its own utility company, including financing new solar power generation facilities.^[8]

He is a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.^[9]

In 2020, he was named a LEED Fellow by Green Business Certification Inc.^{[10] [11]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sustainable Nation Podcast Matt St. Clair - Sustainability Leadership at the University of California. 2021-08-11. Sustridge Sustainability Consulting. April 2018 . en-US.
2. Web site: Staff Snapshot: Matt St. Clair, fighting to keep UC, and the planet, healthy UCnet. 2021-08-11. ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu.
3. Web site: 2020-08-19. St. Clair, Matt. 2021-08-11. EEI. en-US.
4. Web site: 2014-03-31. St. Clair, Matthew. 2021-08-11. Energy & Resources Group. en.
5. Web site: Our Board. 2021-08-11. SEI. en.
6. Web site: California Universities Are Transitioning to All-Electric Buildings. 2021-08-11. www.greentechmedia.com.
7. Web site: Matt St. Clair is named a 2020 LEED Fellow. 2021-08-11. en-US.
8. Web site: 2018-10-29. UC makes bold commitment to 100 percent clean electricity. 2021-08-11. University of California. en.
9. Web site: 2017-11-20. Matt St.Clair Shares How He Advances Sustainability at UC. 2021-08-11. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. en-US.
10. Web site: University of California's Director of Sustainability: Matt St. Clair. 2021-08-11. GBES.
11. Web site: Green Business Certification Inc. Celebrates the 2020 Class of LEED Fellows U.S. Green Building Council. 2021-08-11. www.usgbc.org. en.