Michael Repovich was recently named as Program Director for the University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability. Repovich will promote sustainability on campus and provide leadership for the campus zero-waste goal as well as other related sustainability related initiatives.
Repovich’s professional background includes teaching theory and applied sustainability courses, as well as building design and technology courses at Washington University in St. Louis. He has also worked with large architecture firms and held private practice for over twenty years.
In his new role at the University of Arkansas, working with the Executive Director Dr. Marty Matlock, Repovich will conduct research related to campus sustainability. In addition to helping provide oversight to the campus sustainability plan, he will analyze and evaluate the success of campus sustainability efforts based on financial, behavioral, and cultural perceptions.
“You have to balance science and culture, that’s how you get effective outcomes in terms of sustainability,” he said.
Repovich said the university’s zero-waste initiative is about moving the campus toward reducing what goes into the landfills and repurposing or recycling the balance.
“If we can make this effort toward reducing or eliminating what goes into landfills, and giving other waste purpose, that will have an enormous impact on the health of our state,” he said.
Working with Dr. Matlock, Repovich will also guide student interns in academic and pilot programs related to sustainability.
“The university setting is an ideal place to establish protocols in organizing groups and events to understand the science and culture of how we live in communities,” Repovich said.
For Repovich, the most appealing thing about his new position is the ability to have an impact on the University’s institutional integration of sustainability into its daily practice, rather than being seen as a special event.
“When you can impact future generations, that’s what matters, and to be able to contribute in that way is very gratifying,” he said.