October Young Professional of the Month: Celia Darling

We are thrilled to highlight Celia Darling (she/her) as October’s Young Professional of the Month! Celia is a sustainability coordinator at Skidmore College, a YP Scholarship recipient, and a member of the USCC YP Mentor Committee. Be sure to keep an eye out for an upcoming speed networking event that is in the works!

In her role, she works with three superstar student compost managers who together oversee the food waste diversion in dining facilities, residence halls and academic buildings which are composted offsite. They also run a ‘backyard compost’ program that takes food scraps from on campus apartments.

Celia got her start in the compost world completing her B.S in political science and M.S. in environmental policy at Clarkson University. She had the privilege of building their food waste diversion program from the ground up, which included diverting pre-consumer food waste to an on-campus digester, implementing food waste buckets in dining halls, and expanding their apartment compost program. In addition, Celia took a course that created and taught food waste curriculum for local middle school students and supported the development of “Management of Wasted Food How-to-Guide & Toolkit for University Campuses,” a comprehensive food waste management kit for higher education institutions which consisted of a five-university food waste audit and major education campaign.

When asked for her favorite compost-related personal story, Celia said, “I love composting as a means of connection. The composting community is warm, kind, and passionate! I feel so lucky in my current role at Skidmore that I get to mentor students that share my passion for diverting food waste, making compost, saving the planet, and taking care of each other. Watching them problem solve, take ownership of our program, and grow is one of the most rewarding things! As someone who spent three years sitting next to the compost bucket in dining halls at Clarkson, it was my favorite thing when I would overhear folks I didn’t know teaching their friends how to sort their food waste properly. My heart swelled with excitement, pride, and hope the first time it happened. It never got old each time it happened after that. Today, I feel the same way when I watch it happen at Skidmore!”

Congratulations to Celia Darling for her outstanding contributions to the composting industry and her dedication to the YP Group!