How Nicole Arsenault is Creating a Sustainable Tomorrow
“Don’t ever stop learning and growing as a person.”
Nicole Arsenault says this is the best advice she received during her time at Glendon. It’s good counsel considering the nature of her work. As a sustainability professional, her day-to-day job consists of engaging with different stakeholders to move important initiatives forward. A growth mindset is key.
Since graduating from Glendon with a BA in Multidisciplinary Studies in 1999, she’s put her passion into practice by playing an integral role in the university’s sustainability projects. She started working for the school right after graduation and is now a Program Director in York’s Office of Sustainability in the Division of Finance & Adminstration. In 2017, she joined the Faculty of Environmental Studies as a graduate student to further pursue academics. Nicole also currently serves as a Board Director for the Windfall Ecology Centre.
In 2016, she won the President’s Sustainability Leadership Award for revamping the university’s transportation modal split, before the opening of the subway on the Keele campus. Previously, students, faculty, and staff predominantly arrived on campus in single-occupancy vehicles. Now, they mostly arrive via public transit or other more sustainable options.
“It was a collective effort,” Nicole explains. “I worked with public transit to improve transit options to York, worked with Smart Commute and implemented the carpooling options, created partnerships with Zipcar and Enterprise Carshare, and installed Bike Repair Stations to improve cycling options.”
The Glendon alumna discovered her interest in sustainability through a happy accident. She’d started a degree in French studies before realizing she was more interested in her bioethics and environmental ethics electives than her literature classes. Switching over to Multidisciplinary Studies made the most sense.
“Multidisciplinary Studies provides an advantage of looking at challenges and problems from different perspectives and applying different disciplines of knowledge. As a sustainability professional, it has certainly benefited me as sustainability impacts everyone, everything, and every discipline.”
She remembers two stand-out courses: a philosophy course with Georges Moyal as well as Anne Russon’s course on Humans as Primates. She also says that people like Jean-Claude Bouhenic, Gilles Fortin, Shelagh Corbett, Vicki Innes, and Tobi Strohan had a significant impact on her academic trajectory from outside the classroom.
“There are too many good memories from Glendon,” Nicole recalls. “It is a small beautiful campus with a great sense of community. What I remember most fondly are the people and the campus experiences. From the day I moved into Wood Residence, working for housing, student security, and being a Residence Don, I built so many lifelong friendships and memories.”
Moving forward, she’s focused on infusing sustainability into all parts of campus life and creating a sustainable world for future generations. It’s work that’s both professional and personal since that future generation includes her son.
“I am the mom of an amazing seven year old boy who has taught me so much about life. He has given me inspiration to continue to challenge myself and pursue my environmental passion in creating a better world for future generations.”