By Mira Mukadam
Kaela Moscati, in Emory’s Class of 2027, is an Environmental Science (ENVS) major on the Social Science and Policy track, as well as pursuing an English minor. She is Emory’s 2026-2027 recipient of the Lester Academic Scholarship. This scholarship recognizes Kaela for her exceptional academic achievements and her outstanding engagement within Emory and the ENVS community.
Kaela began her first two years at Emory on the Oxford campus, where her small and intimate classes helped her really get to know her professors and peers. In her introductory Intro to Environmental Studies course Kaela was able to visit the Oxford Organic Farm where organic and fresh food is locally grown. Another travel course on Oxford’s campus Desert Ecosystems, taught by Professor Melissa Hage took Kaela to West Texas and New Mexico to study desert ecology and geology. Kaela later became a teaching assistant under Professor Jenny Burgman for the introductory course Intro to Environmental Studies, where she helped students through the same labs she had enjoyed, and got to witness students discovering their own interest in Environmental Science.
Outside the classroom, Kaela worked with Oxford Emory’s Dr. Martin to study Oxford’s forest through carbon sequestration. As an executive board member of the Oxford Climate Reality Project, Kaela also helped engage with the broader Atlanta community by organizing visits to the Oxford Organic Farm for local elementary school students. On Emory’s Atlanta campus, Kaela works in Emory’s Dining Office, where part of her role consists of helping sustainable vendors set up at the Emory Farmers Market.
Some of Kaela’s classes have been able to bring her interests in Environmental Science and English together. During her first year at Emory, Kaela was able to take a course which read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass, co-taught by ENVS and anthropology professors Dr. Hage and Dr. Ham. The class’s discussions about culture and community helped her see how so many different fields could inform her study of the environment. Since coming to the Atlanta campus, Kaela has continued to explore those connections through coursework on Indigenous environmental issues and eco-literature. Kaela has grown up gardening and cooking with her family, and these courses offer similar ways about how to care for the environment and support the health of communities!
This past summer, Kaela interned with Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives. At the beginning of the summer, Kaela was also able to travel to California as a research assistant for Professor Megan Mucioki to attend a conference on environmental health and Indigenous stewardship. Kaela now researches data centers in Professor Jola Ajibade’s lab. After graduation, she is considering graduate study in environmental science or environmental anthropology, as well as a career in nonprofit work.
On behalf of Emory’s Environmental Science Department, congratulations to Kaela on receiving the Lester Academic Scholarship! We look forward to seeing how she continues to bring her interests in science, storytelling, and community to her work.
Featured image photo credit: Unsplash by Bernd Dittrich
