Committee Members

Lynanne Boyette, Faculty Instructor - Surgical Technology

I think the majority of people care about sustainability - maintaining a healthy planet and lifestyle and securing it for future generations. However, caring about it and influencing it are two different things. The continual increase in the population and decrease in natural resources call for a global participation in practices that will help us enjoy our products of progress without causing irreversible impacts on our health or environment. Education alone will not free us from the web in which we have become entangled. Understanding the technical aspects of "sustainablilty" or "green" living as it applies to creation of substitutes for fuels etc. may not be something everyone, including myself, may understand or be able to participate in. But all of us can contribute to the practical aspects through daily choices. Our greatest asset is local involvement. With education and modeling, we as a college may successfully influence "sustainable practices" throughout the local community.

Claudine Brown, Sustainability/Business and Industry Coordinator

I consider myself to be a "Sustainable Conservationist" and have been interested in nature and the outdoors since I was a small child. I would always choose playing outside to being in the house, unless of course, it was to bring in a frog or lizard to show my Mom. It is my belief that it is our duty to take care of our planet because it does so much for us.

Lynda Cole, Faculty Instructor - Psychology

As members of the human family we are all responsible for the care and protection of our world. Developing and implementing sustainable living practices will allow future generations the opportunity to look back at our efforts and accomplishments and thanks us for leaving them a better home than we ourselves were left.

Jeff Cook, Faculty Instructor - Diesel

Sustainability matters because it affects us all. I feel like our generation needs to address what we are doing so that future generations can have an environmentally sound place to live. As a part of the transportation industry, it is important to me to include sustainable technologies and practices as it relates to my field.

Jim Egerton, Faculty Instructor - Biology

Rob Holsten, Dean of Continuing Education & Sustainability

I see sustainability as being about connections. Connections with each other and the planet. Our desire to get and have more things has resulted in a disconnection from each other and our environment and we have lost sight of how our actions affect others and the environment. Sustainability is about reconnecting to each other and the environment, and in doing so, ensuring the health and future of our planet.

Trish Holsten, Faculty Instructor - Psychology

I have an interest in human behavior related to sustainable practices on all levels: social, environmental and economic. I am particularly interested in environmental conditions affecting human development (physically, cognitively and socioemotionally).

Denise Horne, Director of Human Resources & Marketing

I think that sustainability is important because we need to ensure that the world our children inherit is better than the one we had, and this can only be accomplished by working together to provide for our planet's welfare.

Steve James, Copy Center Supervisor

Favorite sustainablity related quote: "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." Aldo Leopold

Greg Johnson, Faculty Instructor - English

As both an educator and a parent, I believe it is my duty to help teach our students about sustainable practices. With knowledge of how sustainability impacts all areas of life "our society, our economy, and our environment" we can work to ensure that future generations have the resources they need for a high quality of life.

Kelly Kingry, Associate Dean for Trades and Public Service

My interest in sustainability is it is critical for the survival of our wildlife and the preservation of our coastal areas.

Sandra Lackner, College Liaison

Since the beginning of time (whenever you believe that to be) Mother Earth has so graciously shared her bounty and abundance with us. She has supplied us with the nutrients we need not only to survive but to flourish, and she has also given my family more memories than we could ever remember. I look forward to creating many more memories with generations to come! I believe my God created each of us to serve others and to take care of who/what has taken care of us. This is why I joined the Sustainability Committee. In addition to contributing to the monumental tasks of creating greener buildings and structures, I also support incorporating more habit-forming environmentally conscious daily tasks such as using reusable flatware at lunchtime rather than plastic ware. As a college liaison, I have been afforded the unique opportunity to introduce an enthusiastic high school population to the college's sustainability efforts. We are excited about "growing green" together!

Courtney Lynch, Admissions/Retention Counselor

I graduated from NC State in Parks and Recreation, which started my love for the environment. In 2004, I received my Master's in Adult Education from East Carolina and believe in life long learning. I am married with three young children and I want my kids to have a safe environment so they can thrive.

Dee May, Electrician

I hold an electrical license and have taken classes on solar/pv, biodiesel, and wind energy at NCSU.

Margie Norfleet, Computer Training Coordinator & JobsNOW Coordinator

I think it is important to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is about responsibility. I think everyone on this planet has a responsibility to future generations to make sure we are doing all we can to preserve and replenish our environment for our children and their children to enjoy sustainable lifestyles.

Lou Parker, Continuing Education Administrative Secretary I

Pat Perry, Planning & Research Director

Sustainability is important to me because I believe we are to be good stewards of all the resources God has blessed us with and to use them in the manner in which He intended them to be used.

Frances Rampey, Faculty Instructor - Simulation and Game Design

I believe that everyone must take an active role in ensuring that the environment and the world's resources are able to sustain future generations. We are stewards of the earth and it is everyone's responsibility. Regardless of the policies that companies and governments put in place it will take everyone accepting and living up to their responsibility to make a true impact on reversing years of damage to the Earth's environment. My goal as part of the Sustainability Committee and as an educator is to help people realize their role and what they can do to make things better in the world.

Steven Reynolds, Faculty Instructor - Electrical/Electronics Technology Instructor

I believe that sustainable practices incorporated into our daily lives will allow us the opportunity to provide a better life for ourselves and the generations that follow. As an Electrical Electronics Instructor for Wilson Community College I am able to encourage the use of sustainable practices throughout classes and in the electrical field. I know that everyone I come in contact with will not accept the ideas of sustainability, however, if one person makes a change then I have made a difference in the world for today and the future. Enough small changes will add up to make a large change in the world and help to sustain what God has provided for us and most importantly the future.

Cameron Sargeant, Web Designer

Being connected to the environment has always been a strong part of who I am. I have experienced some of the grandeurs the earth has to offer from the Aurora Borealis in Alaska to the beaches of North Carolina. However, it has often been the smallest part that has connected me to nature, the first leaf to change color on a tree in the autumn or the feeling of the sand between my toes in the summer. I see it as a natural extension of who I am to be a part of the Sustainability Committee, to help insure the future of what I hold to be very important for all of us, the Earth.

Denise Sessoms, Vice President of Instruction & Student Services

It has become a priority for one and all to embrace all aspects of sustainability. The College has taken giant steps to ensure that sustainability is practiced on campus and will continue to expand on those activities. We are also making great strides to educate the citizens of our city, county, state and nation so that sustainability is understood and practiced. We must take action now to ensure that our children and grandchildren can exist in and have the natural benefits of this beautiful planet called Earth.

Debby Skinner, Faculty Instructor - Mechanical Engineering Technology

Rusty Stephens, President

Founded on the understanding that the earth and its ecosystems constitute a unity and that those systems are in jeopardy, sustainability can be seen as being about two necessities. First, a reorientation of our understanding of the Earth and our place in it so that things are done in such a way that they may continue. That is, they are sustainable. This would include all things on, in, and, around the Earth. Fundamental to this first consideration is the reorientation of human thought.

Secondly, this implies not just achieving a point where things may be seen as sustainable but also reparation of the disruption, damage and scars brought upon the life of the earth by many generations of unsustainable actions by humanity resulting in healing of the planet and all living things which constitute the earth itself.

Tim Strickland, Director of Facilities

Sustainability means not depleting our God given resources to the point of being unable to have or use them anymore. I feel that it is ok to use and enjoy each and every one of these resources as long as when we are finished using it, we leave it in better shape or equal to the way we found it. We should all work together to restore our resources and educate others in the correct ways to achieve a sustainable environment.

Donna Turner, Purchasing Manager

I began working for Wilson Community College in 1998 and became the Purchasing Manager in 2003. Our vendors were not very receptive when we first began requesting sustainable products and practices. I actually have had vendors get up and leave my office when I insisted we purchase sustainable products. Now, I have those same vendors calling and requesting our assistance in becoming more sustainable. We have come full circle. I enjoy the challenge of locating and purchasing sustainable products of a comparable quality and price as non-sustainable products.

Kathy Williamson, Human Resources Specialist

I began working for Wilson Community College in 1993 as the Administrative Secretary for the Fire/Rescue Coordinator. In 2006, I transferred to Human Resources to fill the position of Human Resources Specialist. I requested to be on the Sustainability Committee in an effort to do my part in making this a better world for my children and grandchildren to live.

Ricky Wilson, Purchasing Specialist

I enjoy being in nature, gardening, and fishing. I have always felt like the littering and trashing of our planet has gone out of reach. We need to live in a more environmentally conscious way of thinking for future generations to come. In purchasing we can influence the way we buy products related to sustainability by purchasing from companies that think this way also. We need to make sure that when we purchase an item we ask ourselves is there a better product for the environment than this one?