Weber’s first environmental science graduate sets the bar for difference makers
Jaime Winston BA ’22, Marketing & Communications
Weber State University taught Kaila Lemons BS ’22 how to change the world. (She recently wrote a blog about starting your project.)
As WSU’s first Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science graduate, she realized her power through experience — researching issues impacting the community, developing and refining plans to tackle them, and getting others involved. “Anyone is capable of starting a project. You just have to make sure that you are thoughtful about your planning and you’re staying in scope and on track,” she said.
Working with the Energy & Sustainability Office, she became WSU’s first Zero Waste coordinator, helping the university stay on track for 50% of its waste to be diverted from landfills by 2025. In this role, she helped launch Wildcats Go Zero Waste, collecting recyclables at basketball and football games, and educating fans on sustainability. She also led a “free swap,” where Wildcats could either donate or take home lightly used household items.
As president of the office’s Food Recovery Network, she hosted a kitchenware drive for the Weber Cares Pantry, which provides food for any student in need.
“An often-overlooked part of food insecurity is not having the means to prepare your food,” she said. “If you don’t have pots and pans, or if you don’t have silverware, you can only do so much.”
Lemons also worked on a number of other events and sustainability projects. She estimates that during her last academic year she recruited and coordinated 50 volunteers.
“Experiences like these allowed me to be very comfortable in a leadership position and identifying and solving problems in a way that results in real measurable change,” she said.
Lemons spent her first two years of college at a larger university before switching to WSU, where she developed close relationships with faculty members, including her microbial ecology instructor Katrina Twing, who guided her in crafting her own research project.
The Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation selected Lemons as a 2022 Ivory Prize award recipient for her leadership and dedication to the community. Additionally, she was chosen as the student speaker for the university’s commencement ceremony last spring. She received a scholarship for her education through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year competition.
Lemons now lives in Vancouver, Washington, and recently worked for The Cannabis Conservancy, which certifies cannabis companies for meeting sustainability standards. “To me, when it comes to sustainability and being responsible, there’s really no topic that’s taboo,” she said.
She is now a validation and assessment intern with CALSTART, a nonprofit consortium that supports sustainability in transportation. She is still active in the community, and volunteers with the Vancouver Bee Project.