Ashley Watts is a senior environmental science major at MVSU who has been passionate about environmentalism and sustainability since childhood. She attended an environmental charter high school where she learned about the importance of recycling, sustainability, and the environmental problems caused by the Industrial Revolution. At MVSU, Watts is the president of the Green Ambassadors Club, which spreads environmental awareness and encourages sustainability on campus. Through various initiatives, Watts inspires others in the community to care for the environment and live more sustainably.

1. UNIVERSITY NEWS
MVSU STUDENT INSPIRES OTHERS THROUGH
SUSTAINABILITY
California has one of the highest recycling rates in the nation,
so it’s no surprise that senior environmental science major
Ashley Watts, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, also grew up
environmentally conscious.
Unlike many of us, however, Watts has been passionate about
environmental issues since she was a child. When she found out
about an environmental charter high school in Lawndale, Calif.,
she jumped at the opportunity to go.
“I’ve always been interested in the environment and living
sustainably, so when my mom told me about the school I knew I
wanted to apply to go there,” Watts said.
Watts’ commitment to environmentalism has not waned since she
has come to Valley. Currently, she is the president of the Green Ambassadors’ Club, an organization
that helps spread environmental awareness and encourages sustainability throughout campus. She has
also helped organize volunteer efforts structured around environmentalism and has several years of
experience helping facilitate Toyota’s Go Green initiatives on campus.
Her high school, Watts said, taught her many of the values she still holds about environmentalism,
such as the importance of recycling to reduce waste, and why encouraging sustainable choices like
using less water or riding your bike instead of driving are important steps toward creating a more
environmentally sustainable culture.
The school also taught the history of environmentalism; specifically, it focused on how many of the
environmental problems ailing society today, such as acid rain, smog, and polluted waterways, were
born during the Industrial Revolution.
Here at Valley, Watts became involved with the university’s environmental efforts after Dr. Louis Hall
nominated her to represent the university at a conference Toyota was sponsoring at North Carolina
A&T. Hall found out about her high school and decided she was the right person to represent the
MVSU. Before going to North Carolina, however, she met LaFecia Hoover, the coordinator for the
university’s sustainability initiative.
After returning from the conference she began interning with Hoover and working with the Green
Ambassadors. Through the MVSU Sustainability Initiative, Hoover manages the school’s recycling
center, so Watts and the other ambassadors help spread awareness about Valley’s recycling options and
other ways that students, faculty, and staff can conserve energy and reduce waste.
Recently, the Green Ambassadors organized a coffeehouse night where they invited members of the
community to share their poetry and spoken word pieces. Although the poetry was not necessarily
focused on the environment, Watts and the other ambassadors were able to inform the audience about
sustainability in between readings.
Currently, the Green Ambassadors have four regular members - John Beverly, Jerresia Edwards,
Cornelius Kelly, and Watts, the club president. Under Watts’ leadership, the ambassadors were critical
to bringing students to the Toyota/Arbor Day Foundation commemoration. Watts spoke at the event,
passed out t-shirts, and helped organize the volunteers so that they could aid Facilities Management
in planting dozens of trees in front of the Child Development Center and throughout the eastern side
of campus.
“Toyota comes about twice a year to promote sustainability awareness,” Watts said. “They’re trying to
making Green cool – to get people excited about sustaining and using less of things.”
During Founder’s Week, the sustainability initiative and the Green Ambassadors celebrated Earth Day
by cleaning out the greenhouse outside of the MCIS building. Facilities Management replaced broken
windows and helped restore the facility to working condition.
Watts is set to finish her coursework this summer. She is thinking about graduate school, but may work
for a year before going back. A fitness instructor, she figures she has a job she can fall back on if jobs
in her major, environmental science, are lacking. She hopes to eventually work for the Occupational
Safety Hazard Association (OSHA) as a safety director, but “hippie speaking,” she wants to inspire
the black community to become more engaged with health and sustainability. She also wants to do
something with environmentalism, but she isn’t sure what that will be. One thing was clear: she wants
people to focus more on their own health and the health of the world around them.
Summarizing all these thoughts, she cried, “I want to be a humanitarian!”
Ashley Watts