Leysha worked with the University of New Hampshire to promote a culture of “zero-waste” on campus. Her fellowship focused on development and implementation of a communications campaign to reduce waste, energy, and water usage in the residence halls. She worked with the Energy Task Force, UNH Residential Life, the Sustainability Institute, and other key stakeholders to complete the project. Leysha created outreach materials to be used in residential newsletters, social media, and in-person programming. She learned about the inner workings of higher education departmental communication as well as how to craft messages around intrinsic values. The experience also showed her that sustainable behavioral changes are long-term goals which can be furthered through education and awareness. At the time of her fellowship, Leysha was a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, pursuing degrees in Environmental Studies, Communication Studies with a concentration in International Public Relations, and Spanish. Leysha is excited to build upon the waste reduction work at UNH by extending the lessons learned to her home university.
