{"id":5591,"date":"2026-04-09T23:07:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/?post_type=news&#038;p=5591"},"modified":"2026-04-09T23:08:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:08:53","slug":"usc-dornsife-public-exchange-welcomes-climate-leader-with-deep-la-policy-experience","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-dornsife-public-exchange-welcomes-climate-leader-with-deep-la-policy-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"USC Dornsife Public Exchange welcomes climate leader with deep LA policy experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/archinect.com\/alex\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-light-gray has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-82641648 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained is-style-light-gray--1\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns aligngrid is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:55%\"><p class=\"is-style-default tribe-news-single-overline\" style=\"margin-top:0\"><span class=\"is-color-blue\">News<\/span><span class=\"separator\"> | <\/span><span>USC Dornsife News<\/span><span class=\"separator\"> | <\/span><span>April 2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n<h1 style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\">USC Dornsife Public Exchange welcomes climate leader with deep LA policy experience<\/h1>\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">Michelle Barton has led major environmental initiatives and will guide work on shade, heat resilience and the L.A. River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An environmental leader whose work has shaped biodiversity, water conservation, and urban sustainability efforts throughout California, especially in Los Angeles, Barton has joined\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">USC Dornsife Public Exchange<\/a>\u00a0as director of its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/projects\/?_practice_area=climate-sustainability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Climate &amp; Sustainability Practice<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barton brings more than a decade of experience in city and state government, including leadership roles with Los Angeles World Airports, LA Sanitation &amp; Environment, and Caltrans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her new role, Barton will lead the next phase of Public Exchange\u2019s climate strategy. That includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Co-leading&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/shade-la.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ShadeLA<\/a>&nbsp;with UCLA\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/innovation.luskin.ucla.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Luskin Center for Innovation<\/a>, a cross-sector effort to expand shade infrastructure and reduce extreme heat risk across L.A. County.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overseeing Public Exchange\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/project\/l-a-river-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">L.A. River initiative<\/a>&nbsp;and building on recent work with the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.100acrepartnership.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">100 Acre Partnership<\/a>&nbsp;to support Taylor Yard\u2019s revitalization. Public Exchange also plans to expand scientific monitoring along the river ahead of a study of plant life in the river ecosystem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outlined tribe-button-has-icon is-style-outlined--2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/usc-dornsife-public-exchange-welcomes-climate-leader-with-deep-la-policy-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the full article on Dornsife News<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:45%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full has-custom-border\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Michelle-Barton_Profile-Photo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1786\" style=\"border-radius:16px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michelle Barton will lead the next phase of USC Dornsife Public Exchange\u2019s climate strategy. (Photo: Joey Lozano.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--3\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">Filed under<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span class=\"c-tag-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-tag-list__item t-category c-tag-list__item--green\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/?_practice_area=climate-sustainability\" class=\"c-tag-list__item-link\">Climate &amp; Sustainability<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News | USC Dornsife News | April 2026 Michelle Barton has led major environmental initiatives and will guide work on shade, heat resilience and the L.A. River. An environmental leader whose work has shaped biodiversity, water conservation, and urban sustainability efforts throughout California, especially in Los Angeles, Barton has joined\u00a0USC Dornsife Public Exchange\u00a0as director of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"template":"","practice":[10],"class_list":["post-5591","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>USC Dornsife Public Exchange welcomes climate leader with deep LA policy experience - USC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-dornsife-public-exchange-welcomes-climate-leader-with-deep-la-policy-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USC Dornsife Public Exchange welcomes climate leader with deep LA policy experience - USC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"News | USC Dornsife News | April 2026 Michelle Barton has led major environmental initiatives and will guide work on shade, heat resilience and the L.A. 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