“To Change Everything, We Need Everyone”: An Interview with Jen Natyzak, AMC Director of Sustainability

It’s an overcast, blustery late winter day. I pull my collar up and brace against the wind. A few more steps, and I’m pushing open a glass door covered in posters for local events, a bell tinkling above me. Inside the café is totally different from outside – warm, cozy, classical music playing over the speaker. I’m meeting Jen Natyzak, AMC’s Director of Sustainability, to talk about AMC’s pathway to net zero. Five years ago, AMC adopted a goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with a goal of reducing emissions by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030. It’s important for our organization to reflect the sustainability values of our community, and we’re grateful for the support of donors who make our work possible.

Over coffee and pastries, Jen and I chat about community, heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, and AMC’s first-ever electric truck. I invite you to grab a drink, pull up a chair, and join us.

Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Gabriella: Can you introduce yourself?

Jen: I’m Jen Natyzak. I’ve been passionate about community-based solutions for climate action my whole life.

Gabriella: What’s your role at AMC?

Jen: [As the Director of Sustainability] I get to work with the many skilled, brilliant, data-oriented people across AMC who are making sure that we walk the talk. That we are pursuing climate action not just through our forest conservation efforts, not just in making sure that there’s access to outdoors for all, but also that our operations – our use of buildings and lodges – are energy smart, efficient, and less reliant on fossil fuels.

Gabriella: That’s a lot! And all that falls under your role, Director of Sustainability?

Jen: This role has a couple different facets which include advancing the Net Zero Strategic Plan. This is a plan with twelve separate goals which capture the comprehensiveness of sustainability [at AMC]. That’s thinking about our direct emissions, [like] burning propane to heat water at our lodges, [and] our purchase decision making – where we’re sourcing our merchandise, how we’re sourcing our food. Net zero is really comprehensive, and it’s happening in so many teams at AMC – in our lodging team, our construction crew, our finance team, communications, and of course our staff scientists. We’re on our way to change a lot about our operations, and to change everything, we need everyone.

Ella: Just to get a handle on some basic terminology, what does “net zero” mean, and what does it entail?

Jen: There’s a helpful clarification between net zero, which is what AMC is targeting, and carbon neutral. Net zero means reducing operational emissions by 90% from a baseline. That means getting off fossil fuels. That means reducing [certain] energy sources, increasing [energy] efficiency, and increasing electrification. Then offsets can be used for emissions that can’t be reduced.

Carbon neutrality is simply offsetting all the emissions associated with operations. It’s not focused on driving down emissions.

We are focused on net zero. We are focused on driving down emissions.

Ella: You mentioned how so many different people at AMC are involved in net zero. What are some of AMC’s net zero projects?

Jen: Net zero is not always super glamourous. It looks like replacing a hot water heater [which uses] propane with a solar hot water heater. There are a lot of logistics about buildings that AMC’s construction crew is quite brilliant at. One of my favorite creative strategies to being energy-savvy is at Joe Dodge Lodge in Pinkham Notch, in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Folks on the construction crew are using river water [instead of standard pumped well water] to offset the water needed to flush toilets. And that’s been around for over a decade!

Ella: That reminds me of Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s new book, What If We Get It Right? She asks in every interview: What’s the nerdiest, least sexy thing we need to do? So for AMC, what’s the nerdiest, least sexy thing we need to achieve net zero?

Jen: I’ll talk about the Highland Center at Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. It was built in the early 2000s, and when it was constructed, it was top of the line for energy efficiency. At this point, it’s been over 20 years, and the wood GARN is ready for an update.

The wood GARN burns firewood to provide heat to the entire lodge. What we have our sights set on now is to use heat pumps to offset all that wood we’re using. We were using what was the latest, greatest technology in the early 2000s, and now we know heat pumps are the way to go. We’re [also] increasing our use of them at other facilities, including at the Stephen & Betsy Corman AMC Harriman Outdoor Center in New York’s Harriman State Park. Heat pumps [aren’t] particularly glam or sexy, but they’re one of the greatest climate solutions for our buildings [in terms of] efficiency and cutting emissions, and maintaining spaces that are comfortable for folks with changing weather.

Ella: That’s awesome. I love a non-glam heat pump. When it comes to net zero and sustainability, where has AMC been in the past, and where are we headed?

Jen: A really cool case study is looking at AMC’s High Mountain Huts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There’s a fair amount of solar [power] for domestic hot water, [but] the need to run a commercial kitchen up in the huts means we also have propane heaters to ensure we can heat all the water on a cloudy day. We’re working on projects to improve the solar already in place. Some of the arrays are over ten years old at this point. We’re updating them with even more efficient solar arrays so we can maximize our solar power and decrease the amount of fossil fuels that we need to make a safe, clean kitchen run. So the huts have gone through this cool story of modernization.

Ella: It sounds like by upgrading our solar, we can start to transition some of our fuel sources. Is that where we’re headed?

Jen: Yes! And at various sites, particularly our Maine Lodges, we’re working on upgrading the batteries. So it’s ensuring that we have sufficient solar, and after that, ensuring we have sufficient battery storage so that we can run all the stuff that we need to run. And we’re almost there.

Ella: That’s so cool. That feels like another non-sexy, but serious solution. Getting excited about data and batteries.

Jen: We [also] got two new electric vehicles to add to our fleet, including a Ford Lightning, which is our first electric truck, so that’s exciting!

One of the things I’m excited to continue working on with the AMC community is leveraging the tools we have to make ourselves future-proof. That’s taking advantage of hybrid and electric vehicles, having the infrastructure at our sites to do that, and working with our AMC community of volunteers, hikers, and community scientists. There’s a lot of sharing to do within our AMC community, and with other conservation organizations.

Ella: Community is everything, and now is a great time to join in and get out. Ok, final question, and it’s a short one. In three sentences or less, why does this work matter?

Jen: As an organization with about 150 years of work connecting people to the outdoors, we, the AMC community, are well familiar with the need to conserve land and access to it. Climate change is an existential threat to these places that we love, but also to the people and communities that we love.

Climate action is essential. Climate action is the cars that we drive, the buildings that we live in, the lands that we conserve. And that work is essential to ensure that we can protect people and planet.

Ella: We live here.

Jen: We live here.

Donate to AMC to support the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the outdoors.