USC Dornsife Public Exchange welcomes climate leader with deep LA policy experience

Michelle Barton, an environmental leader whose work has shaped biodiversity, water conservation, and urban sustainability efforts throughout California, especially in Los Angeles, has joined USC Dornsife Public Exchange as director of its Climate & Sustainability Practice.

Barton brings more than a decade of experience in city and state government, including leadership roles with Los Angeles World Airports, LA Sanitation & Environment, and Caltrans.

Why it matters: Public Exchange, based at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, works to pair experts in academia with public, private, and nonprofit partners to solve pressing societal issues. As Los Angeles faces growing climate pressures, Barton’s experience will help strengthen efforts to advance practical solutions.

In her new role, Barton will lead the next phase of Public Exchange’s climate strategy. That includes:

• Co-leading ShadeLA with UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, a cross-sector effort to expand shade infrastructure and reduce extreme heat risk across L.A. County.
• Overseeing Public Exchange’s L.A. River initiative and building on recent work with the 100 Acre Partnership to support Taylor Yard’s revitalization. Public Exchange also plans to expand scientific monitoring along the river ahead of a study of plant life in the river ecosystem.

In previous roles, Barton helped lead or support projects that:

• Restored 50 acres at the LAX Dunes
• Secured $5 million to plant 8,000 trees and remove more than two acres of concrete in heavily impacted communities
• Deliver 750,000 gallons of recycled water per day to LAX
• Replace 95,000 square feet of turf at LAX with drought-tolerant landscaping

Barton also served as the City of Los Angeles’ first biodiversity program manager, helping advance the LA Biodiversity Index Baseline Report, LA Biodiversity Guidelines, and the city’s healthy soils strategy.

Her work has included collaboration with a wide range of public agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and California Coastal Commission. Earlier in her career at Caltrans, she supported environmental planning tied to the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.

Barton succeeds Monica Dean, who left Public Exchange in January to become director of the Ocean and Climate Diplomacy Initiative at Oceans5. Dean established Public Exchange’s Climate & Sustainability Practice and helped position it as a partner to public agencies and community leaders across the region.

Editor’s Note: Trenise Ferreira and Jim Key contributed to this story.