Sustainable communities alum promotes green energy, cost savings

Hailley Delisle grew up north of the Adirondack Mountains in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where she learned to love the outdoors and the environment. But with no courses in environmental studies available at her high school, Delisle’s only exposure to environmental science was through biology and Earth science, so she majored in biology when she entered her local community college.

A year later, Delisle transferred to Binghamton’s Harpur College of Arts and Sciences as a biological sciences major. Despite her best efforts, she struggled academically and personally.

“My grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and I was in these biology classes and it just wasn’t gelling,” she explains. “After a year and a half, I decided to take a year off.”

Delisle went home, spent time with her grandmother and returned to community college, this time to complete all the prerequisites required for Binghamton’s environmental studies program.

Upon returning to the University and now in a program she was passionate about, Delisle was determined to succeed.

“When I got back, I kicked butt,” she jokes.

In her senior year, Delisle interned for Network for a Sustainable Tomorrow (NEST), a nonprofit system of programs working toward social, environmental and economic justice. Her task was providing outreach and education on solar energy — debunking myths surrounding the technology.

By the time Delisle graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, she had already been hired by Catskill Mountain Keeper, an environmental advocacy nonprofit and the program that oversaw NEST’s local efforts. Her role was to help communities run solar technology education and outreach campaigns.

After a year, Delisle recognized she needed a master’s degree for career advancement. Binghamton University was an obvious choice logistically since she worked remotely from her home in the Binghamton area, but it was her previous struggle at the University that was the biggest factor in Delisle’s return.

“I wanted to prove to myself that I could get my master’s degree from Binghamton,” she says. “It was really important for me to overcome what had happened my first year and a half, so Binghamton University could be a special place for me, because it wasn’t at first.”

Delisle selected Binghamton’s master’s program in sustainable communities, a joint program of the College of Community and Public Affairs and Harpur College. She was among the program’s second cohort.

Planting the seeds for success

The interdisciplinary structure of the sustainable communities program is one of its main benefits, according to Delisle.

“I was exposed to a wide breadth of topics and that helped prepare me for the real world,” she says. “I learned how to educate community members on sustainability initiatives, how to talk to them about the complexities of these technologies and how they can implement them in their own homes. The program touched on all these things.”

Delisle adds: “This gives you a lot of flexibility when applying for positions; you’re able to craft how you market yourself. I have classmates from the program who work in several different industries. There are so many things that you can do with this degree.”

Delisle is in contact with many of the students she graduated with in 2019. Those connections mean a lot to her, as did the support she got from program faculty, including George Homsy, associate professor and director of the Environmental Studies Program. Homsy is also a faculty member in CCPA’s public administration and sustainable communities programs.

“George Homsy is part of the reason I chose Binghamton for my graduate degree,” Delisle says. “He brought a lot of real-world experience and could talk about a lot of different topics; he was also very accessible throughout the program.”

Helping Tompkins County stay green

When Delisle returned to the University to earn her master’s degree, she also returned to work at NEST. She remained there until June 2022, when she joined the Office of Planning and Sustainability in Tompkins County, N.Y. as a sustainability coordinator.

One of her key responsibilities is running the county’s Business Energy Advisors Program, which focuses on business owners who are planning major facility renovations or new construction. The county reviews the business’ plans and provides an energy options report that illustrates potential savings. The reports also include incentives available to offset costs.

“We challenge the business owners to think about their design with the environment and sustainability in mind,” she says. “We also educate them on any economic benefits.”

Delisle has also been monitoring a legal case involving New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG), one of the major energy providers in Tompkins County, which is proposing a significant increase in electric and gas delivery rates this year. She stays abreast of the case and advocates on behalf of county residents.

Delisle admits that there’s no typical day in the office, even on the days she gets to work from her home in Endicott, which she shares with husband and Binghamton alumnus Kevin McKeon ’14 (mechanical engineering).

“New technologies and programs come out, so you’re constantly trying to figure out how to explain things to the public or evaluating if this is what we should be promoting, so it’s ever-evolving, which makes it interesting,” she says.