Meet our new employee: Aimee Aubin

We’re pleased to introduce you to Aimee Aubin, a new Public Information Specialist Sr. in our office. Aimee will be working on design and community storytelling.

We asked Aimee a few get-to-know-you questions so you can learn more about her and her background.

Q: Where are you from and what do you like best about your hometown?

A: I’m from Bay Shore, New York, which is on the south shore of Long Island. It was a great place to grow up. I always felt connected to nature and the water (a necessity for a Pisces like myself!), while still being able to tap into all New York City had to offer. I’m from a big family. I have over 50 first cousins and much of my family still lives in the area, so the thing I like best about my hometown is the memories I associate with growing up there: gardening with my mom and grandma, sailing the Great South Bay with my grandfather, playing at the beach with my cousins – activities that all feel uniquely connected to the people and geography of that place. A warm everything bagel with scallion cream cheese from Bagel Boss comes in as a close second.

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what interested you in joining the Office of Sustainability.

A: My journey to sustainability has been a bit circuitous. I graduated from Hampshire College in western Massachusetts where I designed my own major focused on community arts with a lens on women and children. I was interested in exploring how communities could use artistic mediums to support collective healing and sensemaking. ­­After graduating, I had the opportunity to work with a number of youth-focused non-profits that all, in big and small ways, found themselves at the intersection of arts, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and community organizing. For the past three years, I’ve worked with the City’s Urban Forest Program to build innovative partnerships and programming that connect young people and those around them to education in, about, and for our city’s trees.

I think my passion for sustainability grew out of my work with young folks and the acknowledgment that climate crises disproportionately affect women and children. So many of the young people I’ve worked with have been strong and vocal advocates for systems-level change as it relates to the growing climate crisis. I’ve been consistently inspired by their passion. My new role with the Office of Sustainability felt like an opportunity to uniquely weave together my interests in community storytelling, sustainability, and user-centered design.

Q: What are you most excited to accomplish during your time with the Office of Sustainability?

A: The Office of Sustainability focuses on so many pressing issues that impact the lives of Austinites daily. Whether launching the Austin Climate Equity Plan or exploring how to create a more just food system, I hope to center voices from our community in the perspectives and stories we share.

Q: What are some of your favorite things to do or places to go in Austin?

A: I really enjoy going for a picnic and swim at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. I rarely pass up an opportunity to visit the peacocks and explore the hiking trails at Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve. My personal hidden gem is the combination of Flitch Coffee, Pueblo Viejo, and Harvest Lumber Co on Tillery Street. Harvest Lumber Co partners with the Parks and Recreation Department and local arborists to turn fallen trees into lumber for resale. I love checking out their supply with an iced tea and breakfast taco in hand. They are also right up the street from Tillery Street Plant Company, which is my go-to for finding new houseplants!

Q: What is your favorite sustainable thing to do in your personal life?

A: Shopping at Austin’s farmers' markets! I have been trying to be more conscious of where things I purchase come from. I’m grateful that Austin is connected to so many amazing food producers and I love the feeling of community I get through my interactions at the markets. When the weather allows, I’ll bike to one of the weekend markets to really feel like a sustainability superstar.

Q: What is your favorite food and why?

A: I love steamed mussels and clams. I grew up on the Great South Bay and spent a lot of time fishing and clamming with my family, so this meal really reminds me of home. Plus, mussels are some of the most sustainable seafood available. Saltwater mussels are easy to grow and can actually clean the bodies of water they’re in. (This, unfortunately, isn’t true of the freshwater zebra mussels that have infested Lake Travis and Lake Austin.)