Kem Opperman-Torres

About Kem Opperman-Torres

Director of Sustainability working with students, faculty, and staff to weave sustainable initiatives into the fabric of the university community via comprehensive planning and the development of the University Carbon Neutrality Action Plan (30 x 30) that aligns Dillards with city and state carbon neutrality targets. Won $20.6 million from local, state, and federal grants for campus improvements, workforce training, and an enhanced sustainability curriculum. These include from the Department of Energy for the HBCU Clean Energy Education from the Department of Energy for the SOLVE IT Prize, and $19.9 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for the Community Change Grant. Captured of incentive program benefits from the local utility provider to improve building automation systems and HVAC energy efficiency during the first year as director. Advised the student-led Bleu Green Krewe with hands-on activities from campus clean-ups, beautification plantings, creation of a student sustainability pledge, community outreach, and campus tree inventory. Improved waste diversion options by right-sizing landfill disposal and properly disposing of over pounds of e-waste to lower the university’s carbon footprint. Joined with the City of New Orleans and Deltares, USA, Inc. to become the only university in the National Disaster Resilience Water Monitoring Network with a groundwater monitoring well on its campus. Data from the network will be analyzed by STEM and Urban Planning students in courses after the fall of 2024. Member of the EPA’s Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program Management Conference, City of New Orleans Transportation Electrification Working Group, Southeast Louisiana Clean Fuel Partnership Regional EV Readiness Roundtable Working Group, LifeCity’s Louisiana Climate Resilience Impact Group, Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s University Sustainable Coalition, Second Nature’s Intersectional Climate Action Committee, the Intentional Endowment Network’s Climate Justice Taskforce, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Sustainability Elective Working Group, and USGBC National and State Chapter.

Experience

1. Course Facilitator

   Aim Language Learning

   Oct 2018 — Present · New Orleans, LA, US

Education

• Louisiana State University

  Master’s Degree

  1994 — 1995

• Louisiana State University

  Bachelor’s Degree

  1989 — 1994