The semester started off with a frightful awakening after wildfires spread across Los Angeles. Christopher Boone, dean of the Price School of Public Policy, steadfastly joined the panel discussion: “Reconstruction Revival: How to Rebuild L.A.,” discussing the importance of sustainability amid the critical state of Southern California.

Boone took office in January. Boone’s prior experiences are heavily concentrated in the environmental field, specifically dealing with sustainability.

Boone previously served as dean of the School of Sustainability and was the founding dean of the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. Outside of his experience at educational institutions, he has been involved in the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Programme and co-founded the National Sustainability Society, among other experiences.

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At the aforementioned organizations, Boone’s work included exploring the association between global environmental change and urbanization, and working with colleges and public and private nonprofit sectors to strive toward sustainable goals.

“I’m very excited to bring sustainability — it already exists within the Price School — but to be able to amplify that based on the experience that I have,” Boone said.

Price offers various concentrations for students, including the public policy major’s “Urban Environmental and Sustainability Policy Track”, which was newly introduced Fall 2024.

“As an academic field, [sustainability is] relatively new, even though the theme is quite old, it’s actually a very ancient idea, and in some societies has been around for millennia,” Boone said. “Sustainability as an idea is something that engages all ways of knowing, all majors, all knowledge systems.”

Michael Amato, a sophomore majoring in public policy, said he has taken notice of the sustainability program’s expansion.

“Sustainability is one of the things that we can find common ground in this political age,” Amato said. “We see that partisanship is growing in the nation overall. I think sustainability is something that we can all agree on.” 

Boone said he was drawn to Price because of the school’s focus on solutions and reputation for considering how to make a positive impact through its various programs. Developing a “solutions mindset” — the ability to not only understand issues but strive to be part of the solution — is something Boone believes is critical for students at Price.

“One of the things that I embrace a lot is change,” Boone said. “I value tradition. Tradition has its purpose, but I think it’s also useful and important to be able to think differently, to listen to new ideas, to drive innovation.”

Price students themselves strive towards similar goals, Amato said, describing the student population as “collaborative” and “driven” owing to a common aspiration to foster change while helping one another.

“I think everyone who goes into public policy [wants] to see change in the world. They are ambitious,” Amato said.

Boone said he aims to promote the notion that students can be “change agents” both collectively and individually, using their knowledge to make a positive difference, especially when it comes to sustainability.

“[Sustainability] also has to be linked to livelihoods, letting people know that they can earn a living while also working on things that they care about at the same time,” Boone said.

Boone said he plans to achieve this by offering more “experiential learning opportunities,” including internships and opportunities for students to come up with solutions to “real-world, authentic problems” brought by external clients.

“Price is very much focused on having its students learn, through experiential learning, the practice of sustainability and making sure our resources exist in the future,” said Kyle Ching, a junior majoring in law and public policy.

Since taking office as dean, Boone has made several efforts to engage with Price students and allow them to get to know him more personally. Aside from the panel discussion on the L.A. wildfires, he also hosted a lunch with students in February to get to know them more personally.

After attending the talk, Amato said that Boone was “intelligent” and “definitely a leader in the world of sustainability.”

Given that the climate issue is pressing, especially for younger generations, Boone said, it’s important that USC students aim to make our world not just survivable but a place to thrive, considering current scientific projections of the harsh impacts of climate change.

“I also want to give students both the courage and the training to think about how they can be not just understanding those problems, but thinking about interventions that lead to viable, long-term, durable solutions,” Boone said.