Devon Azzam is the director of environmental and sustainability education in the Department of Education. She is responsible for developing and supporting environmental and sustainability education that spans across undergraduate, graduate and teacher education.
Azzam builds campus and community partnerships to strengthen the impact of environmental and sustainability education through professional development and continuing education offerings. She teaches an undergraduate course on climate justice and sustainability education and designs professional learning programs for K–12 teachers with a solutions-focused approach to addressing local climate and environmental justice issues. Azzam’s research interests include the role of schoolyards in climate action, green space equity and fostering nature connection. She is also interested in how to prepare K–12 teachers for addressing climate change and environmental justice with their students.
Azzam completed her Ph.D. in education in 2026 at UC Santa Barbara. She is the co-founder of Campus Canopy, a nonprofit that works with school communities to increase climate resilience with native plants, soils and shade. Azzam was the recipient of the Department of Education Excellence Award for Community Service in 2025 and the Eco Medicine fellowship in 2023. Prior to her role at UC Santa Barbara, Azzam taught elementary school for eight years and worked as an outdoor education consultant for schools in San Diego and Orange counties to develop school garden programs.