Green Fund Committee
Olive Dunn,
Co-Chair
Olive is a fourth year student majoring in environmental and sustainability studies and minoring in community engagement. Her passion for the natural world and environmental justice is what fuels her green endeavors. She wants everyone to have an equal opportunity to grow a relationship with nature which is why she thinks it’s important to work to protect the future of our Earth. In her free time, she likes to be in the woods foraging and learning about the nutritional and medicinal benefits of the nature around us. She also spends lots of time creating art. Olive is also involved in a few other climate action and social justice movements at NAU and around Flagstaff.
Maxwell Sewell, Co-Chair
Maxwell is a third 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
Alexia is a second year student majoring in environmental science with an emphasis in climate. She was drawn to sustainability through her love of the outdoors. When she finishes her degree, she wants to do research for climate stabilization and biodiversity conservation. Outside of classes, you can find Alexia hiking, gardening, hanging out with her two cats, or sometimes doing theatre.
Lindsay Mauss, Public Relations Specialist
Lindsay is a third 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. In her free time, Lindsay enjoys reading (mainly fiction) and listening to music. She also founded and runs The Taylor Swift Society to share in her love of the singer.
Brynn Katz, Treasurer
Brynn is a second year student majoring in environmental and sustainability studies with a minor in critical sustainability studies. She was drawn to sustainability because she wants to treat the earth with the same love and compassion that it treats us. She wants a livable world for all beings. Outside of school, she plays the electric bass, loves fashion (specifically thrifting) and loves caring for her houseplants. She also has a shih tzu whose name is Stink.
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 third 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 first-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.
Chad Stiller, Staff Advisor
Chad is the Associate Vice President in the Information Technology Services department. He has been involved with Sustainability projects for almost two decades and is a strong proponent of the role technology plays in Green initiatives. In his career, he has led efforts to optimize data center energy consumption, minimize e-waste, eliminate printed paper consumption, and develop monitoring & reporting metrics for utility usage. Chad is trained as an NAU Energy Mentor and was recognized as a Finalist for the campus Sustainable Leadership Award. He has lived in Northern Arizona for over 30 years and is an avid music lover and dog dad.
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.
Joshua Spear, Staff Advisor
Joshua Spear is currently employed at Northern Arizona University in the role of Senior Project Management and oversees multiple construction projects from conception to completion. In this role, he has helped NAU achieve many honors including the USGBC Heavy Metals award two years in a row 2014 and 2015. This is an award for LEED projects that have gone over and above expectations of facility performance and aesthetics.
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.