Naira Aslanyan is a graduate student in environmental studies at Brown University anda participant in the Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program run by the U.S. Department of State. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 to encourage economic and democratic growth in Eurasia, the fellowship program provides opportunities to graduate students and professionals to study  in the United States for two years in order to return home to support their countries' development and pursue better careers.  Before coming to Brown, Naira worked with several environmental programs in Armenia including UNDP/GEF's “National Capacity Self-Assessment for Global Environmental Management (NCSA) Project, USAID's Program for Institutional and Regulatory Strengthening of Water Management in Armenia, UNDP/GEF's Armenia Improving Energy Efficiency of Municipal Heating and Hot Water Supply, and the UNDP/GEF's Enabling Activities for Preparation of Armenia’s Second National Communication to the UNFCCC. She is one of the founding members of the “Protect Our Forests” Coalition (Armenia). Her interests include climate change, global warming, and sustainable development. After graduation she expects to go back to her country and invest all her knowledge and skills towards helping Armenia to effectively address existing environmental challenges and grow as a country with sustainable development.