Sophia Spraker, Community Engagement Intern

Eve Azano, Community Research Intern for Montañitas ReImagined

Raegan Lamkin is an Audit Assistance and Analysis Intern for MAAV. She has the integral job of assisting Dr. Sarah Plummer in the creation and documentation of thousands of monuments across Appalachian Virginia in order to create a Monument Audit.

Amber Wendler is the Community Engagement Specialist for MAAV. She has organized community listening sessions and other outreach events, facilitated conversations with the public to document more mountain stories, reviewed project proposals, aided in project development to ensure anti-racism and community-led work, and even taught yoga classes to the MAAV community.

Will Heltzel, MAAV’s arcGIS Graduate Intern, plays a vital role in the MAAV Monument Audit, assisting Dr. Sarah Plummer in cataloging and mapping various monuments across Appalachian Virginia.

Rachel Poteet serves as a Community Engagement Intern for MAAV, where she works closely with Forest Botanicals, one of the Round 1 projects funded by MAAV.

Leeanna Duong is a Communications Intern for MAAV. She creates content for all our socials, attends events to engage with the public, and strategically assists with implementing communications plans to help broaden our audience and outreach.

Chance Cheek, MAAV intern, shares experiences in visiting some monuments in person.

Bethany Hansel is one of MAAV’s community engagement interns who is completing her undergraduate degrees in International Public Policy and Arabic at Virginia Tech this December. Here she shares her reflections on her experiences working with MAAV.