November 17 – Special Guest, Larry Herke
Director of the Minnesota Office of Enterprise Sustainability
The State of Minnesota uses a lot of buildings (29 million square feet owned, another 3.6 million leased) and buys a lot of stuff (about $2.2 billion annually). Meet the person responsible for reducing the carbon footprint of Minnesota’s state operations and making them more sustainable, Larry Herke. Mr. Herke will be a few months into this new role in state government, and he’ll share his experiences and leadership lessons. He will also draw from his career in the US military, where he most recently led efforts to drive sustainability in Minnesota National Guard facilities, including aiming to make two major installations net-zero. These efforts were recognized by the Pentagon in 2015 with the Secretary of Defense’s Sustainability Award. Mr. Herke retired from the US Army National Guard as a Colonel in July of 2016.

Time: 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Location: IonE Commons, Room R350 of the Learning and Environmental Sciences Center
1954 Buford Ave, Saint Paul

What are booyas?
The heart of Boreas is the community we create – graduate and professional students and post-docs from across campus connect through Boreas. We host a series of Boreas Booyas (based on the Upper-Midwest tradition of community stews called booyas). At these events, you’ll be able to connect with fellow participants, learn from community leaders, and delve deeper into select leadership topics. Booyas happen on select Thursdays from 4:30 – 6 p.m. through the semester. Check out the rest of the fall schedule.