Linda Nowlan appointed Senior Director, UBC Sustainability Initiative (USI)
Linda Nowlan has been appointed as the Senior Director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative (USI). This newly created role will provide strategic and operational leadership to the USI as well as playing a key role in UBC sustainability governance through participation in a number of related steering committees and working groups.
Linda brings to USI and UBC a wealth of experience in law, academia, advocacy and organizational leadership. She is a public interest environmental lawyer and is already part of the UBC community as an Adjunct Professor at the Allard School of Law. Linda has worked as the Director of Pacific Conservation with WWF-Canada, Executive Director of West Coast Environmental Law, and as an Environment Officer with the UK Foreign Office. Her advocacy has contributed to numerous law reforms and her publications focus on ocean, water and biodiversity protection law.
Linda also co-founded the BC Endangered Species Coalition and Smart Growth BC, and has served on many public advisory committees, such as the Mayor of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Team, the Board of Directors of the Fraser Basin Council, and the Council of Canadian Academies' Expert Panel on Groundwater. Linda currently sits on the Board of Directors for Farm Folk/City Folk, and serves as a Trustee of the Canadian Museum of Nature. She received a BA in English Literature from Stanford University, a JD from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a MA in international law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University.
Linda brings an exceptional background and knowledge set to USI, and we are pleased to welcome her to UBC.
We would like to acknowledge Victoria Smith and Jean Marcus for their interim leadership of USI since September, as they graciously and competently stepped up to the task and have made the transition period seamless. Their leadership during this period has been greatly appreciated, with a particular thank-you to Victoria for expertly leading USI’s contributions to the new executive-level sustainability steering committee and the Board of Governors.