Meet the GCS faculty
Ted Martinez
Ted Martinez holds degrees in botany and environmental science and policy from Northern Arizona University. In 2005 he moved to Yuma AZ to what is essentially the “end of the line” for the Colorado River before the US and Mexico take their allocations of water. In Yuma he was able to perform conservation, education and restoration in the Lower Colorado River (LCR) Valley. He received grants from the Sonoran Joint Venture, Xerces Society, and Arizona Game and Fish to perform wetland restoration, Monarch conservation, and Bighorn Sheep education and outreach respectively. Ted has also worked with Mexican partners, ProNatura, to perform bi-national wetland restoration along the Colorado River region dividing the US and Mexico. Ted is also Co-PI on an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grant in env/sci and biology at NAU. This program offers research opportunities to underrepresented populations in the sciences and invites them to participate in research at NAU. Students come from across the country to participate in the research program. Ted is happy to have found a home in the NAU Honors College teaching classes on plants, water, and the environment.
Annette McGivney, MLS
Annette McGivney teaches writing, editing and environmental communication courses at NAU and is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism. Her areas of focus are creative non-fiction writing and exploring the connections between humans and nature. She is the author of Resurrection: Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West(Braided River Books; 2009) and Leave No Trace: A Guide to the New Wilderness Etiquette (The Mountaineers; 2003). McGivney has been the Southwest Editor for Backpacker magazine since 1996 and has extensively covered Grand Canyon and other Southwest public lands-related topics for the magazine. She is also the past editor of Grand Canyon Journal and, in addition to Backpacker, her stories on outdoor destinations and environmental issues have appeared in Outside, Arizona Highways, and The New York Times. Through her work as a writer and an educator, McGivney seeks to inspire others to connect with the natural environment and protect wild places.
Robert G. Breunig
Robert G. Breunig is President Emeritus of the Museum of Northern Arizona and the museum’s former Director and CEO, a position he held from 2003-2014. A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Breunig holds a BA degree from Indiana University and a Ph. D. from the University of Kansas, both in Anthropology. In the early 1970’s he served as an anthropology professor at Northern Arizona University and from 1975 to 1982 as an Educator and Curator at the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA). In 1982 he became the Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Heard Museum of Anthropology, Phoenix, Arizona. He also served as Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Arizona State University from 1986 to 1994. In 1985 he became the Executive Director of the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona and served as director of the garden until 1994 when he accepted a position as Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, in Santa Barbara, California. In 1997 he became the executive director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. Throughout his museum career Dr. Breunig has been active in many professional organizations and has served on many boards. In 1991 President George Bush appointed Dr. Breunig to the fifteen-member National Museum Services Board, the governing board of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. In 1994 President Bill Clinton re-appointed him to this board, on which he served until November 2002. More recently Dr. Breunig served six years as a Commissioner of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. In December 2013 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Northern Arizona University. In May 2015, Dr. Breunig accepted the National Medal for Museum Service on behalf of the Museum of Northern Arizona from Michele Obama at a White House ceremony.
Kerry Grimm, PhD
I am a social scientist interested in exploring how people interact with the environment, as well as how people interact with each other over the environment and natural resources. I have worked in diverse places including the cloud forests of Costa Rica, mangroves in the Caribbean, and US Western forests. I focus on ways that networks, knowledge co-production, collaboration, community engagement, and working with landowners and communities can foster equitable, on-the-ground conservation. I have taught several classes in the School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) focused on the ecological, social, and political dimensions around sustainability and the environment. I especially enjoy teaching ENV 250: Conservation on the Colorado Plateau, as we have gotten to experience and learn about the topic while exploring and meeting experts in the field. When not working, I enjoy traveling, exploring, and being outside with my family–whether backpacking, snowboarding, camping, or rock climbing.
Alicyn Gitlin
Alicyn Gitlin manages Sierra Club’s Campaign to Protect the Greater Grand Canyon Ecoregion. In her work, she partners with Tribes, community advocates, scientists, business owners, and elected officials to advance environmental policy solutions where people and nature thrive. She was a founding board member of the watershed group Friends of the Rio de Flag, and currently serves on the boards of the Colorado Plateau Water Advisory Council and Friends of Flagstaff National Monuments. Alicyn is the Creator of Colorado River Days Flagstaff, a two week community celebration of the river that flows through Flagstaff’s culture and economy. She has a decade of experience mentoring students, where her focus is on building their professional networks and helping them to become lifelong advocates for people, land, water, and wildlife. She has an M.S. in Biology from Northern Arizona University and a B.A. in Humanities from Arizona State University. Alicyn enjoys running, biking, backpacking, climbing, caving, canyoneering, and paddling – getting out by any means necessary to explore and learn about the landscape.