Brown appointed as new director of sustainability practices

Nicholas Brown is the new director of Sustainability Practices at Arizona State University. Brown joined ASU and the Sustainability Practices Group Oct. 31. He replaces former director Bonny Bentzin, who left the post in June 2011.

Brown comes to ASU from the University of Arkansas, where he has served since 2007 as the director for Campus Sustainability and as an adjunct professor for geosciences.

“We believe that Nick’s academic and professional knowledge make him a wonderful asset to our sustainability practices team and the Global Institute of Sustainability staff,” says Ray Jensen, associate vice president, university business services, and university sustainability operations officer. “We believe that Nick can support and lead us to realize our immediate long-term campus sustainability goals.”

Before his University of Arkansas post, Brown gathered a vast amount of professional experience including having worked in Arkansas with the Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, the National Center for Appropriate Technology, and as the solar coordinator for the state’s Department of Energy.

Prior to working in Arkansas, Brown worked with the South Dallas Lead Cleanup Project, as the forest program director at NatureServe, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as the manager for U.S. forest conservation. While working with the WWF, to receive his forest conservation and forest certification, Brown’s fieldwork led him to several places around the globe including: Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, China, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico.

“After a career that has taken me all around the world, it’s a wonderful opportunity to land at ASU, which is at the pinnacle of sustainability practice in higher education,” Brown says. “I am very pleased that university administration is fully on board with advancing our sustainability efforts and am enthusiastic for the challenge to make that happen.”