A Full Circle Journey Seibert Leads College into a Greener Future

Christine Seibert, Westmont’s new assistant director of environmental studies, brings a rare blend of scientific training, deep Christian conviction and a contagious enthusiasm for helping communities care for God’s creation.

Her journey into sustainability began unexpectedly in high school, when she encountered a small booklet, “Loving the Least of These,” published by the National Association of Evangelicals.  It articulated a biblical call to protect creation, especially because environmental degradation so often harms the world’s most vulnerable. For Seibert, who loves science but knew medicine wasn’t her path, this was a revelation. Environmental work, she realized, could be a powerful expression of Christian love: a way to serve neighbors, witness to her faith and join God’s work of reconciliation.

That conviction followed her through her undergraduate years at Gordon College, working for AmeriCorps, and serving as a sustainability coordinator at Williams College and eventually to Harvard, where she completed her master’s degree in sustainability.

Her capstone project at Harvard’s Salata Institute focused on ensuring that climate research reached the people who could turn it into action. “I learned about principles of community-engaged research, ways to connect a university to the broader region, and how to make sure voices from ’the least of these’ are heard,” she says.

The institute later hired her as a project manager, an experience she now hopes to bring into her work at Westmont, especially strengthening ties between the college, local organizations and Santa Barbara’s vibrant environmental community.

Seibert’s arrival at Westmont feels, in her words, “full circle,” since it was her dream college following a campus tour at age 17. She visited again last fall, curious about Westmont’s sustainability efforts, and toured the Westmont Garden with her predecessor, Janell Balmaceda, which made joining the college this fall feel providential.

Seibert’s primary role is to support the new environmental studies major. She’ll begin teaching and advising this spring, along with managing the campus garden and orchard. She will also advise operational sustainability across campus, and lead a national sustainability ranking and assessment project in the spring.

In her first months, Seibert has become a familiar presence on campus, hosting a host of garden activities, including offering freshly harvested produce each week at the garden farm stand. On Dec. 9, she dedicated a new prayer labyrinth at the garden, a collaboration with Balmaceda and alumna Olivia Knapp ’24 to connect the campus community with God through nature, reflection and quiet prayer.

“We have such a great opportunity to tend and keep the earth that God has entrusted to us, and help partner with Him in his work of reconciliation,” she says. “I’m also excited for the opportunity to help develop Westmont students into sustainability leaders who can take what they learn here and become effective change-makers in their own communities.”