College of Sustainability

San Patten

San smiles at the camera. She has light-toned skin and shoulder-length black hair, and she is wearing a black shirt with multi-coloured patterns. 

San Patten teaches A Sustainable Future (SUST 1001), Sustainability and the Non-Profit Sector (SUST 3104), and Climate Change and Human Health (SUST 4103) at the College. San also teaches Sociology and Interdisciplinary Health Studies at Mount Allison University (by distance).

San loves the multidisciplinary approach at the College. In SUST 3104, San puts heavy emphasis on real-world learning about the role of non-profit organizations in driving social, political, economic and environmental change.

When she isn’t teaching at the College, San runs her own consulting practice, San Patten and Associates, which specializes in HIV policy development, facilitation, program evaluation, and community-based research. She works extensively with issues related to injection drug use and sexual health, in Canada and internationally.

San has a passion for social justice and equity, and plays an active role professionally and personally in many forms of volunteerism, advocacy and activism. San is a board member of the Nova Scotia Health Equity Fund and was a founding member HaliFIX, Atlantic Canada's first overdose prevention site. 

Outside of work, San enjoys lots of different hobbies including rowing, knitting, kayaking, hiking and playing soccer. Her favourite kayaking spot is the 100 Wild Islands Nature Conservancy along the Eastern Shore in Nova Scotia.

In January 2021, San was interviewed by Green Teacher about the role of non-profits in climate change response -- check out the podcast episode here!

On a foggy day, San rows a small, thin boat across the empty north-west arm of Halifax Harbour. Trees and the Dingle Tower are visible on the shoreline nearby.