Food waste expert, educator, & storyteller
My name is Dr. Haley Everitt (she/her) and I am a food waste expert, educator, and storyteller.
I was a master’s student when I conducted my first waste audit. There I was, elbow deep in a bag of trash separating containers, paper, and food, when I found an unopened container of cinnamon buns. My jaw dropped.
I checked the best before date. It had not yet passed.
I ripped open the plastic packaging and inspected the buns for mold. For a moment the smell of cinnamon and cream cheese frosting filled the room before the smell of decomposing organic matter returned. No mold.
I wondered why someone would throw away an unopened package of food.
This experience has and continues to lead me to pursue opportunities where I can use my research talents, teaching expertise, and storytelling skills to make a positive impact towards climate change mitigation and sustainable waste management.
Hello!
Most recently, I joined the Department of Geography, Environment, and Geomatics at the University of Guelph where I led research on food waste policy in Canada’s industrial, institutional, and commercial sectors. I am collaborating with a national research team to quantify ‘farm to fork’ greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and am currently evaluating the governance model and sustainability impacts of a first-of-its-kind, municipally led circular economy initiative.
While completing my Ph.D. in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western University, I led multiple research projects exploring consumer-level food waste reduction and diversion in partnership with the City of London, Ontario. Most notably, I evaluated the long-term effectiveness of a food waste reduction intervention and discovered that it can sustain a 30% reduction in food waste sent to landfill for at least two and a half years.
Teaching experience
In conjunction with my research, I have taught sustainability and climate change curricula to more than 1,200 students across seven courses at two post-secondary institutions. I have several years of experience designing and delivering lectures on resource management, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, environmental compliance and policy, and climate solutions pertaining to energy, water, waste, food and agriculture, transportation, buildings, land use, and industrial processes.
Current research
Previous research
Waste, waste reduction and diversion, waste policy and governance, waste characterization, circular economy, sustainable food systems, climate change mitigation, pro-environmentalism, & behavioural change
Sustainability, climate science and communication, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental justice, & social change