Big Muddy Speaker Series Jan. 2026

Did you know that more than 460 million metric tons of plastic are produced each year—and about 40% of it is designed for single use? Despite decades of recycling efforts, only 9% of all plastic has ever been effectively recycled. The rest ends up in landfills (49%), is incinerated (19%), or escapes into our environment (22%). This presentation will explore how we got to this point, the far-reaching impacts of plastic on our environment, health, climate, and global equity, and how community organizing can drive real, source-based solutions to reduce plastic use and waste.

Emily is a Pennsylvania native who attended Juniata College and received a BS in Environmental Chemistry in 2022. During her time at Juniata, she completed an immersive learning semester focused on Aquatic Ecology at the Raystown Field Station and wrote an undergraduate thesis investigating total phosphorus sequestration in Raystown Lake, a US Army Corps of Engineers reservoir located in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Following graduation, Emily worked as a Watershed Specialist at the Franklin County Conservation District in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where she coordinated watershed restoration projects in the county and organized several conservation education programs and events for children and adults. In this role, Emily also worked closely with local, state, and federal partners and stakeholders to implement Franklin County’s Chesapeake Bay Countywide Action Plan. Emily served in this role for just over two years before moving to Waynesville, Missouri in 2024. She joined Stream Teams United as an Advocacy Outreach Coordinator in August 2024 to work on the Show-Me Less Plastic project, which aims to reduce plastic pollution in the waterways of the Great Rivers State. To get a Facebook reminder, RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/2267295920415185