The Traveler

Issue date: 1/16/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Gentry Lassiter Nick Brown has been appointed the executive assistant for sustainability in the faciliies management department at the UA. Brown is originally from Helena.

Nick Brown, a lifelong Arkansan and conservationist, has been appointed as the first executive assistant for sustainability in the facilities management department at the University of Arkansas.

The generally accepted definition of sustainability is "the use of natural resources and the management of our social and economic systems in ways that do not compromise the ability of future generations to prosper and flourish," Brown said. The concept rests on ecological balance, social justice, and economic viability. "These are broad terms, but we're learning how to integrate and balance them into our policies and regulations, business systems, development strategies, and personal lifestyles," Brown said.

A sustainability coordinator manages this integration for an institution. Institutions have long since focused on economic viability as the primary means of assessing their strength and value.

"A successful sustainability coordinator will assure that environmental sensitivity and social justice are also fully integrated into programming, budgeting and decision making," Brown said. If ecological balance, social justice or economic viability begin to lag too far behind, the others will eventually collapse, too, he said.

Brown will work in Facilities, "which is an ideal place to influence the UA environmental footprint," Brown said. "My work will include projects involving curricula, research, facilities management, student affairs and community affairs. I expect that there will be few departments that I will not work with at some time or another."

Brown grew up in Helena in a middle class family. "My parents taught me a reverence for life and instilled in me strong ethics of social justice and equality. Those values have guided my personal life and my career choices," Brown said.

In his free time, Brown said he enjoys canoeing, spelunking, hiking and camping, as well as playing sports with his 20-year old and 9-year old boys.

Brown has degrees in philosophy, environmental sciences and ecology.

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