Awards of Distinction

Lanie Karstrom is the sustainability outreach director in App State's Office of Sustainability, where she has been on staff since 2022.

In her position, Karstrom has overseen more than 30 student Sustainability Ambassadors to engage in many large-scale campus sustainability and resilience initiatives, including Earth Month activities and leading volunteers in zero waste drives, which, this year, diverted nearly 30,000 pounds of waste from the landfill through recycling and composting efforts after major sporting events.

One of Karstrom's nominators said, "Lanie has a very empathetic way of approaching her sustainability initiatives. She is very forward about her mission to make App State as sustainable as possible, and she forms genuine relationships."

Karstrom earned her bachelor's degree in marine science from Coastal Carolina University in 2019.