April 2, 2025 | Inn at the Colonnade
6th Annual Sustainability Symposium
The 2025 Sustainability Symposium on Research, Practice, and Education, hosted by the JHU Sustainability Leadership Council and Office of Climate and Sustainability, featured presentations, panel discussions, research posters, and informational tabling from Johns Hopkins University students, faculty, and staff. Topics of discussion ranged from climate mitigation and adaptation, environmental justice, environmental education, the built environment, responsible consumption practices, and more. Distinguished speaker Serena Coleman McIlwain, Secretary of the Environment for the State of Maryland, gave a lunchtime talk to attendees. The day of impactful content concluded with a networking social hosted by the Life Design Lab.
Distinguished Speaker
Serena Coleman McIlwain, Secretary of the Environment for the State of Maryland, gave a lunchtime talk to symposium attendees.
McIlwain serves as the 11th Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment. She previously was Under Secretary of California’s Environmental Protection Agency and held senior executive roles in multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. EPA. A Washington, D.C. native, McIlwain has led efforts in climate action, environmental justice, and Chesapeake Bay protection. Her leadership focuses on sustainability, equity, and organizational excellence to strengthen Maryland’s environmental policies and programs.
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Full Sessions
50 minute concurrent sessions throughout the day from 10 AM – 4 PM will include series of speakers, panel discussions, workshops, and other session content types. All sessions will have time for audience Q&A.
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Research Posters
Sustainability research posters will be displayed throughout the symposium. Poster presenters will be available to talk with attendees during the afternoon poster sessions (1-1:30 PM and 2:30-3 PM).
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Informational Tabling
JHU groups, programs, centers, institutes, and departments will host informational tables at the symposium. Organizational representatives will be available to talk to attendees during the afternoon breaks.
Symposium Schedule
Click here for the full schedule with more details about the session topics and presenters.
Directions
Transportation Options
Parking Options
Sustainability Leadership Council
Directions
Inn at the Colonnade
4 West University Parkway, Baltimore, Maryland
Transportation Options
Sustainable transportation options to the symposium include free shuttles and circulators, local bus and rail, bicycling, and more!
Use the Imagine Center stop for any of the following JHU Blue Jay shuttle routes:
• Hampden Circulator
• Homewood-Peabody-JHMI
• Keswick-Homewood-Eastern-JHMI
• Mt. Washington Express
• Remington
• Keswick-Homewood-Eastern-JHMI
Parking Options
The Inn at the Colonnade offers daily parking in their underground garage. For a reduced rate of $15/day, please take your parking ticket to the hotel front desk and pay hotel staff directly.
There is a variety of parking options available on the Homewood campus depending on your affiliation with JHU. The closest parking garage to the event is West Gate Garage, located behind the Johns Hopkins Club near the Chemistry building, which is a 10-minute walk from the Inn at the Colonnade.
Public parking garages are also located at 9 E 33rd Street (enter at 3271 Lovegrove) and 152-173 E 34th Street (Union Memorial Hospital parking garage) at an additional cost.
Sustainability Leadership Council
This Symposium is organized by JHU's Sustainability Leadership Council (SLC), students, faculty, staff, and alumni who collaborate to further sustainability initiatives across research, academics, operations, and engagement.
Comprised of members from across the university, the SLC identifies strategies, incubates initiatives, and provides recommendations to the President and Provost to build a greater role for Johns Hopkins University in teaching, research, and leadership on sustainability, both locally and globally.