‘This cradle of unimaginable beauty’: Ben Miele and sustainability at MSU or Meet the Universities New Sustainability Director

The University Sustainability Office (USO) was founded in 2012 when students saw a need for sustainability advocacy on campus, according to its website. Since then, the office has gone through multiple changes, including its leadership — culminating in its most recent addition, Director Ben Miele.  

At MSU, he is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) E. Kika de la Garza Fellow and a grant recipient for multiple projects from the USDA, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Environmental Protection Act. Additionally, in his previous position as chair of the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) Sustainability Advisory Board he helped found Project EL JARDÍN, which aims to advance UIW’s gardening and composting efforts, according to UIW’s News Service.

In an interview with the Exponent, Miele spoke about his experience stepping into the new role and the influences that sent him onto a path of sustainability. 

“We can't forget that at the root of whatever we do, is a story,” Miele said. 

Growing up, Miele said his home city of Denver's natural beauty and his love of childhood cartoons shaped him. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) and Captain Planet sowed a subtle, but powerful, environmental consciousness in him. 

“Those are probably the most famous examples of narratives about how pollution can go wrong and how we need to combat pollution,” he said. “Some of [TMNT’s] episodes were openly about pollution doing these bad things to these animals and it's hurting you too.”

Miele began working at MSU this past June. Previously, he worked at the University of Iowa, UIW and Cornell College. 

At UIW Miele taught a Shakespeare class where he incorporated sustainability into his lectures. According to him, he took Shakespeare — which is not usually analyzed under a sustainability lens — and incorporated a climate perspective on the subject.

“Every class that I taught was a climate class, even if I was teaching Shakespeare,” Miele said. 

According to him, he often conversed with students from Mexico, Central America and South America. Miele said the students were very well educated on matters relating to climate and sustainability, but they were also more fearful than students who were American citizens because they experienced the indiscriminate murder of climate activists — many of them Indigenous — in their home countries. 

“It’s easy to sit in an office warmed by natural gas and tell your students — also enjoying all the benefits of American life — to be courageous and truthful and seek innovative solutions,” he said. “But it’s another thing to tell someone who is returning to another country that they need to be courageous in the face of lethal violence.”

Miele said he believes that higher education is incredibly important for building awareness around issues, but that conversation is part of the reason he changed career paths. 

“Educating other people is the greatest way to raise awareness about this and to make sure that you are building a critical mass of good people who are doing good things,” he said. 

Miele reflected on the difficulty of teaching such heavy and depressing topics. “My proudest moment is when students are like, ‘Yeah, I feel hopeless,’ and then through the semester, over the course of the semester, they find reasons to change their mindset,” he said. 

For Miele, this mindset develops from more than empty promises and false hope. According to him, helping students become level-headed changemakers is important.

Miele has been inspired by books like “The Last Temptation of Christ,” “The Road” and “The Iliad.” He said he appreciates literature for expressing the beautiful complexities in humans. 

Additionally, Miele said “The Last Temptation of Christ” taught him to try and live an adventurous life. He explained that taking risks and seeking uncomfortable experiences is important for finding purpose. For Miele, college is an opportunity to go beyond getting a degree. 

“I wanted to do the good work and lead by example for my students, while also educating them about the mountains one has to climb to sustain our way of life and this cradle of unimaginable beauty we call home,” he said. 

Looking forward, Miele said he is excited to work with tomorrow's leaders. Miele has been working on continuing the USO’s initiatives and ensuring that the office has funding. 

For those looking to get involved with sustainability on campus, he said that every little bit counts. “Recycle your yogurt containers. Compost your food. Learn the political process in your city, your county, your state — that’s where the real leverage lies,” he said. 

“If you have a great idea and want to bounce ideas off someone, stop on by the USO offices in the [Strand Union Building] — rooms 280 and 284. Or if you just want to chat. We love talking with students,” Miele said.