Mara Menahan, University of Montana

Mara Menahan, a junior at the University of Montana, is an exceptional student leader in the areas of climate change and environmental sustainability. Over the past several years, Mara has traveled to Bhutan to work with youth and raise awareness about climate change, served as the University undergraduate student representative at the 2013 United Nations global climate change negotiations in Warsaw, created an art-based representation of the scientific evidence of the climate change story for use as an educational tool, and took on a leadership role in creating theme-based housing on campus based on the principles of sustainability. She also led an effort with the UM Forum for Living with Appropriate Technology (UM FLAT) to conduct a comprehensive five-year report to be used as a model for additional theme-based houses. Mara has tremendous capacity, motivation, and drive and she has proven herself as an effective and inspirational leader who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty in order to make positive change.