Directory listing text (incl.areas of expertise)
Erik Foley became the director of Penn State's Campus Sustainability Office in May 2009. This new office, which is part of the Office of the Physical Plant,
supports cost-effective sustainability initiatives University wide. Prior to joining Penn State, Erik founded and directed the award-winning Renewable Energy Center at Saint Francis University that continues to feature several state-wide projects in community-based renewable energy development.
His twenty years of experience in the environmental and sustainability field has taken him from the Alaskan bush, to Paraguay, to inner city Seattle, and rural Pennsylvania. After growing up in Montana, Erik studied environmental studies and sociology at Whitman College, graduating with a B.A. in 1996. Afterward, he focused on environmental business strategy
and green marketing at Saint Francis University, earning his M.B.A. in 2004. He is the former President of the Pennsylvania
Environmental Resource Consortium, a state-wide association of colleges and universities promoting sustainability
and co-chairs the Big Ten Sustainability Working Group. The Campus Sustainability Office was combined with other Penn State units to form the Sustainability Institute where Erik is currently the Managing Director. Erik is married and has two children and lives in State College, Pennsylvania.