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About IESG

We deliver the tools you need to understand and mitigate your climate impact.

Our
purpose.

We are passionate about international education and climate action. We want to see an international education sector that thrives and that considers, and mitigates, its climate impact.

Our purpose

What elements of international education does the CAB cover?

We take a broad view of international education because we understand that no two institutions prioritise the same services or structure their international teams in the same way. The CAB measures climate action across seven core components: Global staff engagement Student sentiment and engagement International marketing and recruitment Education abroad Transnational education, global campuses Sectoral engagement and collaboration Emissions reduction and travel policy.
What’s involved in the data collection process?

The questions in the Climate Action Barometer do not involve surveying students, you will be able to answer many of the CAB questions using information you already hold within the International Office or global team. For some questions you will need to ask your sustainability, central data office or HR team to assist. This should not be too onerous a task for them, as they will in many cases be able to answer yes or no or to provide data that already exists. In our analysis and reporting process, all data is reported anonymously and conforms fully with data protection legislation. We collect the data for this Survey on a secure platform which uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption (also known as HTTPS) for all transmitted data.
Who is best placed within an institution to coordinate the data collection?

The majority of the questions relate directly to practices and policies within the International/Global function of an institution, so the International or Global team would be best placed to coordinate the process. If you already participate in an international operations benchmarking exercise, such as the AUIDF BIO report (Australia) or the International Education Benchmark (global), the staff member responsible for coordinating that would be a good candidate.
What is the expected time commitment of my international team if we sign up?

We estimate it should take approximately 1 day (8.25 hours) of an international team member’s time, spread over a period of 4 to 6 weeks to gather the information for the survey. The time taken to complete the travel data component varies considerably depending on the quality of the data you have available.
We already contribute to other sustainability-related surveys and campaigns. How does the CAB fit in and what are the benefits of taking part?

We are very cognisant of the workloads at institutions, especially in international and sustainability teams. That’s why we have been careful to design the survey so that it complements rather than duplicates existing commitments. The CAB gives international teams a clearer understanding of how they can contribute to overall university climate ambitions. This is particularly important for reducing Scope 3 emissions as we know that international business travel, flights emissions for study abroad and for incoming students can amount to a significant proportion of a university’s overall footprint. Taking part in the Barometer should therefore support a university’s broader commitment to campaigns such as the Education Race to Zero, and should not duplicate data collection for other existing frameworks, like AASHE Stars.
What is the expected time commitment of my sustainability team if we sign up?

The workload for staff in the sustainability team will not be onerous as much of the data collation will be undertaken by the international team. We estimate that, depending on the structure of your institution, it will take no more than half a day of Sustainability team time, spread over a period of 4 to 6 weeks.

Core team

Core team.

Ailsa Lamont

Climate action. Sustainability.

ailsa@ie-sg.org

Ailsa was a senior leader in Australian universities before switching focus to help our sector act on climate. She has trained with Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader and served as a NAFSA Senior Fellow for Sustainability.
Ailsa was co-founder and inaugural president of CANIE: Climate Action Network for International Educators. She is a recipient of the 2023 IEAA Excellence Award for Distinguished Contribution to International Education.

Emily O'Callaghan

Governance. Partnerships.

Government Relations.

emily@ie-sg.org

Emily has worked in international education for over two decades across institutions, government and NFPs. As General Manager at the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), Emily oversaw governance, partnerships, strategy, research and policy. Emily is strong advocate for the student voice and volunteers for Council of International Students Australia and the Climate Action Network for International Educators. She is an elected member of the IEAA Board.

Will Archer

Comparative Insights. Development.

will@ie-sg.org

Will is best known as founder of the research, benchmarking and advisory group i-graduate and the International Student Barometer.

During this time he worked with more than 1,200 education providers across 57 countries, reporting and comparing feedback from more than 2.3 million students. He is a sought-after advisor to government, research and higher education globally.

Nannette Ripmeester

Outreach - Europe.

nannette@ie-sg.org

Nannette has worked on mobility for study and work purposes for over 30 years. She started at the European Commission, founded Expertise in Labour Mobility and CareerProfessor.works and is involved in running the International Student Barometer in North America and Europe. As a member of CANIE Europe, she is committed to fostering the best sustainable mobility options.

John Crick

Director Partnerships (UK)

john@ie-sg.org

John has held senior positions across the international education sector for more than two decades. His journey from marketing and international student recruitment through to operations, immigration and compliance has led him to take a keen interest in Sustainability and Net Zero in the #intled sector. As an Associate member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (AIEMA), Climate FRESK and Small99 CRAB facilitator, John is now focused on helping institutions right across the sector drive meaningful change in this critical area.

Gemma Morrison

Director Partnerships (US, Canada)

gemma@ie-sg.org

Gemma is dedicated to strategising climate action to mitigate GHG emissions and adapt to climate change. She holds a B.S. in Earth Science from Pennsylvania State University, focusing on sustainability leadership. With experience studying sustainability abroad, she is eager to create similar opportunities for future leaders. Gemma has worked as a student consultant through the Local Climate Action Program, developing emissions inventory and climate action planning skills. She also served as a Sustainability Assistant for Penn State Global, coordinating student programs and sustainability projects.

Estrid Jonsson

Emissions Expert | Climate Eye

estrid@ie-sg.org

Estrid is a fourth-year international student studying MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Aberdeen. Having previously worked for the Sustainability Team in Estates and Facilities at the University of Aberdeen, she developed a methodology to calculate student travel emissions now adopted by the EAUC: The Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education.

Ivan Hasjim

Lead Analyst

ivan@ie-sg.org

Ivan is a skilled Business Analyst with a strong background in data analytics in international education. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, where he has been working since he completed his degree. As a former international student he is passionate about the international education field and how to best use data to improve the student experience.

Advisory board

Advisory board.

Dr Adrienne Fusek

Adrienne Fusek, Ed.D. is the Executive Director and Founder of In Good Company (IGC) and a lecturer at San Diego State University (SDSU), where she teaches Sustainability and Environmental Science. Prior to shifting focus to advance climate justice in her local community, Adrienne served in various international education roles for 18 years. Her work includes serving as a founding board member of CANIE where she co-founded the Climate Justice working group and was the lead author of the COP26 Glasgow Paper and CANIE Accord. Adrienne also co-wrote the guidelines aligning education abroad with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the Forum on Education Abroad.

Carmen Primo Perez, Advisory Board, International Education Sustainability Group_edited.jpg

Dr Carmen Primo Perez

Carmen is the Senior Sustainability Officer at the University of Tasmania, where she has been a sustainability professional since 2012 and she is committed to help the university advance in all sustainability matters. She has a passion for climate change issues and education for sustainability, partly because of her background as an academic in environmental sciences, discipline in which she worked as an academic for 10 years in both Spain and Australia. Carmen is also a Director of Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) and a Steering Committee member of STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System).

Robin Shields, Advisory Board, International Education Sustainability Group

Professor Robin Shields

Robin Shields is a professor and Head of the School of Education at the University of Queensland in Australia. His research examines how new sources of data and statistical models can be used to understand global trends in education, and his recent work has focused on how international education is implicated in the crisis of global climate change. Professor Shields has held grants from major international funders, and he is currently Global Ambassador for the Climate Action Network for International Education (CANIE) and chair of its Academic Advisory Board.

Christopher Ziguras, Advisory Board, International Education Sustainability Group

Professor Christopher Ziguras

Chris is Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne where his work focuses on the internationalisation of higher education. He has worked extensively with industry bodies, professional associations and government agencies on a wide range of projects and partnerships to jointly undertake research, teaching, professional development, policy advocacy, student mobility and work placements. Chris was President of the IEAA (2015-18) and in 2022 received the IEAA Award for Distinguished Contribution to International Education. He currently chairs the Academic Board of the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation at Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Milan.

Founders

Founding partners.

The Founding Partners of the Climate Action Barometer are shaping the study and its impact, driving the metrics for measuring climate action in international education and are recognised internationally for their leadership on climate action.