Trey McDonald

Trey McDonald, the Director of Sustainability at the University of San Diego, will lead a conversation on the importance of sustainability to USD, the university’s accomplishments to date, the plans are for more progress over the next 15 years.

Trey McDonald has worked in several capacities within sustainability for over 20 years, spending time as a whale biologist, environmental scientist, consultant, and university sustainability officer. Observing the pace and scale of development during his time as an environmental scientist in Florida, he recognized the need to rethink our approaches to growth. He shifted his career focus to sustainability strategies, earning his LEED Accreditation, his M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of South Florida (USF), and his Energy Management Certificate from North Carolina State University. His Master’s thesis focused on sustainability at university campuses and examined USF as a case study. Earlier, he earned his B.S. in Marine Biology from Auburn University, and also studied at the University of British Columbia, the University of Oregon, and Florida Institute of Technology. Prior to his positions as Climate and Energy Manager and Director of Sustainability at USD, he served as the first full-time sustainability officer for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the first sustainability coordinator for the University of Richmond, leading the development of comprehensive sustainability plans and programs at each institution.

Beyond his role at USD, Trey enjoys restoring large, expensive things such as houses and cars. He and his wife Sara (a marine biologist with both the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Scripps) have won historic preservation awards for home renovations in both Florida and North Carolina. They also have two large, unruly dogs they adopted in 2018. Trey is an avid distance runner with two marathons to his credit, an all-around sports fan, and a self-avowed science fiction geek.

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