Source: School of Environment and Sustainability
Through their capstone project, Garcia, Natalie Nieman (MS ’26), Mollie Stadlin (MS ’26) and Bionca Stewart (MS ’26) worked to engage community members, urban farmers and community organizations in composting education. Advised by School for Environment and Sustainability Lecturer shakara tyler, they partnered with a coalition of Detroit urban agriculture and food sovereignty organizations, including Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network, Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, Detroit Food Policy Council, Full Circle Future, Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, Sacred Spaces and Sanctuary Farms.
Their capstone, the Detroit Community Compost Collective Program, was funded by a community grant to test composting initiatives across Detroit at three levels: backyard, community and urban farm. During Fall 2025, the program worked with 76 backyard compost systems, 32 community compost locations and six urban farms in Detroit.
The students were involved with onboarding participants and participating farms to the program. This onboarding included teaching farmers how to measure their compost and sharing best composting practices. The team estimates that the program was able to divert around 5,000 pounds of food waste.
