CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – When anthropologist Susan Mazur-Stommen introduced herself to co-workers at her new high-tech job, she didn’t hesitate to confront the elephant – or perhaps the dinosaur – in the room. In a blog post on the website for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, she wrote, “The popular image of anthropologists has us paddling up the Amazon in search of un-contacted tribes.” But Mazur-Stommen is a practicing anthropologist, the kind who uses their training to tackle real-world problems in areas such as health care and international development, typically performing research for corporations such as Intel and Microsoft, or utility companies such as Southern California Edison, rather than the academy.
Susan Mazur-Stommen
Mazur-Stommen, the director of behavior and human dimensions at ACEEE, will deliver the keynote address at the Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency conference May 22 (Tuesday) at the I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign.
The conference, designed for anyone involved in implementing energy-efficiency programs at institutions of higher education, will help participants understand how to create an energy-efficiency culture for college campus leadership, faculty and staff members, and students. It is co-hosted by the Illinois Green Economy Network and the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center, which is managed by the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois.
Mazur-Stommen worked in Silicon Valley from 1986 to 1996, and left to pursue graduate studies. She received a Fulbright grant for her doctoral research in cultural anthropology, and started her own firm, Indicia Consulting, providing ethnographic research to retail and hospitality businesses. She has written on urbanization, food ways, pop culture, consumption, media and women’s issues.
“I do believe that good planning and good legislation matter, but they need to be put into a context that also includes changing the messaging people are exposed to, as well as tweaking environmental cues that we respond to automatically and even somatically,” she said.
After the keynote address, Doug Widener, the executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council Illinois chapter, will moderate a panel discussion on buildings and facilities management. Panel members: Joseph F. Clair, the former director of campus energy and sustainability for the Illinois Institute of Technology; Andy Frank, the vice president of business development for Efficiency 2.0, a software and program administration company that specializes in customer engagement; Lisa Hannaman, an account manager for Southern California Edison; and Morgan Johnston, the sustainability and transportation coordinator at the U. of I.
Kristine Chalifoux, a licensed, LEED-accredited architect with SEDAC, will lead a panel discussion on building occupant engagement. Panel members: Merrilee Harrigan, the vice president for education at the Alliance to Save Energy; Chris Hart, a founding member of the Chicago firm sr4 and change strategist for Kahn Creative Partners based in Marina Del Rey, Calif.; Mithra Moezzi, a research project director at Portland State University, Portland, Ore., and a member of the advisory group for HELIO International, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to assisting countries to achieve energy sustainability; and Tim Gibson, a Certified Green Professional and Home Energy Rater and sustainability coordinator for John A. Logan College.
The conference, funded in part by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, also includes tours of the Gable Home, a 2009 Solar Decathlon competition winner created by U. of I. students, and a presentation describing the development of the Illini Energy Dashboard.
The conference fee is $75.
