Ryan has served in the UK Office of Recycling for the last three years. During this time, he has not only stewarded existing recycling efforts, but has also established many waste reduction and diversion initiatives which have collectively brought UK closer to its zero waste goals. For example, in 2023, Ryan joined forces with local nonprofit Bluegrass Greensource to create the Sustainable Office Certification Program; in its first year alone, the program onboarded 25 offices with over 300 employees. I have personally seen Ryan’s engagement and impact through our collaboration conducting a bi-annual campus-wide survey of recycling and waste management attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. Based on the findings from that research, Ryan has led and supported the implementation of a number of interventions, including a coffee cup recycling awareness campaign in partnership with UK Dining, a free store for students, and the redesign of recycling instructional signage. This kind of cross-campus engagement with faculty, students, and staff has brought zero waste into focus for many members of the campus community, and it is due to Ryan’s indefatigable willingness to try out-of-the-box ideas, and build successful collaborations.
I could list many more initiatives that have developed under Ryan’s guidance or with his support, including the online Waste Wizard helping people determine what is recyclable, the increased number of student interns in UK waste management, the growth in composting across campus, record-setting commitments by UK Athletics to zero waste goals in sports facilities, and the creation of the Big Blue Recycling Crew to support waste reduction at UK home football games. Ryan has truly distinguished himself as a Sustainability Champion at UK, and I am thrilled to nominate him to be recognized for his contributions.
- Dr. Lauren Cagle, Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies, Director of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment