NAU.GreenFund
NAU Green Fund
Green Fund Committee
Eva Braunthal,
Co-Chair
Eva is a fourth year student studying Geography and Urban Planning. After studying Sustainability and Environmental Studies at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, she decided to blend her passions for sustainability, urbanism, and technology by working towards a career in sustainable development. Originally from California, Eva experienced the adverse effects of the climate crisis first hand through record breaking wildfires and droughts. These experiences, coupled with her love for nature, inspired her to take an active role in building a greener future for all. She is involved in multiple sustainability initiatives on and off campus, including volunteering at community gardens. Outside of school, Eva enjoys hiking, slacklining, thrifting, and reading.
Maxwell Sewell, Co-Chair
Maxwell is a fourth year student majoring in Biology. He grew up spending most of his time outdoors with his family in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He hopes to help create a world where others are able to spend time in the beautiful outdoors like he was in his youth. Outside of classes he can be found spending time outdoors climbing, mountain biking, and snowboarding or playing guitar. He is also the president of the competitive men’s ultimate club.
Alexia Markoutsis, Secretary
Lindsay Mauss, Public Relations Specialist
Lindsay is a fourth year student majoring in strategic communication with an emphasis in both public relations and advertising. Her passion for PR as well as sustainability both grew during her time in Flagstaff and lead her to join the Green Fund to spread knowledge and love of sustainability across campus and the Flagstaff area. Lindsay is also the communication intern for NAU’s Center for Health Equity Research. When she graduates, she wants to move to Seattle to connect with nature there. In her free time, Lindsay enjoys reading (mainly fiction) and hanging out with her two cats, Dorothea and Ivy, who she rescued from a local shelter.
Makayla Harmon-McIntosh, Treasurer
Makayla is a first-year student studying environmental studies and sustainability. She is also working towards her certificate in River Studies and Leadership. She believes that creating a better world is the best way to serve her community. Growing up in Surprise, Arizona she watched the agricultural land around her be destroyed and turned into crowded residential areas. This caused a lot of the area to lose its beautiful glow and drew her attention to issues in the environment around her. She is invested in sustainability because she loves to enjoy nature and wants the possibility of plentiful resources for future generations, especially for her three younger siblings who will eventually adopt this world from her. Another interest for her is in creating a better future for marginalized communities that can not protect themselves from climate change disasters. Otherwise, outside of the Green Fund, you can find her painting, spending time with family, or completing brightly colored puzzles.
Grace Carr, Impact Analyst
Grace is a fourth year student at NAU majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and minoring in Statistics and Sociology. Their passion for sustainability is motivated by the belief that a better world starts with respect for and protection of nature. They hope to pursue graduate school in the future and apply their interests in education, equal access, and the sciences to becoming a STEM librarian at the university level. In their free time, Grace enjoys reading, cozy gaming, and doing anything outside!
Kylie Vetere, Community Outreach Coordinator
Kylie is a fourth year student majoring in physiology science and minoring in psychology. She was drawn to sustainability because being kinder to the Earth can have a positive impact on physical and mental health. Outside of school, she is interested in culture and art, and she is also an anime enthusiast.
Caleb Atsu Nyatuame, Graduate Student Representative
Caleb is a second year master’s student in the Sustainable Communities program at NAU. Growing up in a farming community of Woe in Ghana, Caleb saw how his maternal grandparents and uncles relied so much on the environment for their subsistence farming of tomatoes, onion, cassava, okra, and other foodstuffs to cater to our needs, especially funding his education. He saw that farmers’ lives were inspiring, but hard! During off-seasons, it was hard for them to take care of the family because their whole lives depended on the farm. However, this is no longer the case because it is now difficult to rely on the environment and its weather conditions to successfully farm due to the human activities that affect the environment. This propelled his passion for pursuing a Master of Arts in Sustainable Communities at NAU– a journey to transform the environment to ensure sustainability, honoring the toil of farmers in his community, country, and the world, and crafting a future where harvests flourish, and communities thrive. Caleb spends his spare time playing or watching soccer, watching movies, and spending time with friends and loved ones.
Dr. Kent Linthicum, Faculty Advisor
Kent Linthicum is an Assistant Teaching Professor of the environmental humanities in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies. He earned his Ph.D. from Arizona State University and was a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology before coming to NAU. He teaches courses in the environmental humanities, energy humanities, environmental justice, media studies, and writing. Dr. Linthicum’s research focuses on energy, especially fossil fuels, in culture. His peer-reviewed articles have appeared in Environmental Humanities, Studies in English Literature, and other journals. Dr. Linthicum has also written public essays for The Atlantic and Slate. His interest in sustainability was catalyzed by his family’s love of the outdoors and their many trips throughout the Western United States. As faculty advisor, Dr. Linthicum enjoys helping shepherd Green Fund projects for the benefit of the NAU and greater Flagstaff communities.
Avi Henn, Staff & Green Fund Business Manager
Avi was born and raised in Israel where he was deeply influenced by environmental damage his hometown experienced from heavy industrialization and poor planning. He became interested in sustainability, climate mitigation, and wildland preservation and traveled to the United States in 2001 to obtain his higher education. His most recent degree was with NAU at the Climate Science and Solutions (CSS) program. Avi has over 20 years of experience and has been involved with sustainability at NAU and in Flagstaff for over ten years. He is excited to help NAU become a leader in all aspects of sustainability and to advance our institution’s carbon neutrality.
Martin Yepiz, Facility Services Representative
Martin was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, and grew up fascinated by diverse styles of architecture and construction techniques from around the world. This exposure ultimately inspired him to pursue architecture as his career path. After a few years of working in residential architecture, Martin realized the field’s impact on the environment, primarily through construction. He wanted to contribute in a meaningful way, so after several months of research and thinking through the situation, he decided to pause my career to join the Building Science Masters program at NAU, which allowed him to gain experience in the optimization of energy, indoor air quality, and the overall performance aspect of buildings. Fast forward a few years, Martin now works as a Project Manager for NAU’s Planning, Design, and Construction department, which allows him to put his experience into practice through a wide variety of construction projects across campus. In addition, he recently had the opportunity to join the Construction Management program as an adjunct professor to share his architecture knowledge with students. Outside of work, Martin enjoys racing bikes, hiking, reading, and spending time with loved ones.