Joy is an Assistant Scientist, Sustainability, with the Technical Assistance group at ISTC. She works primarily on zero waste initiatives, helping businesses, organizations, and individuals identify and implement strategies for waste reduction and efficiency. Joy served on teams responsible for the Forest Preserves of Cook County Sustainability & Climate Resiliency Plan, the Forest Preserves of Cook County Clean Energy Framework, and Exploring the Development of an Illinois Farm to Food Bank Program, a feasibility study report which is part of an ongoing project for Feeding Illinois. Examples of past projects include content and program support for the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (US EPA funded project) and Greening Schools (with IL EPA, focused on K-12 schools). She coordinated the Sustainable Electronics Initiative, and served as project director for the International Sustainable Electronics Competition (formerly the International E-Waste Design Competition, ended in 2013). She launched and coordinated the Illini Gadget Garage, a collaborative electronics repair center that empowers consumers and encourages the extension of product life through repair to curtail the generation of waste. She also developed the Green Lunchroom Challenge, which began as a voluntary pledge program focused on food waste prevention and reduction in K-12 schools, funded by US EPA Region 5, and continues as a topical blog offering food waste prevention and reduction tips for a variety of institutions. Joy developed and taught a class in Spring 2014 in collaboration with the College of Engineering and the Technology Entrepreneur Center on “Sustainable Technology: Environmental and Social Impacts of Innovations,” and has guided students in various waste-related projects, including the creation of a sculpture from plastic bottles pulled from the UI waste stream, which was displayed at Krannert Center for Performing Arts during Earth Week in 2016. In 2022, she was recognized by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) with the Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) Fred Granek Memorial Pollution Prevention (P2) Ambassador Award.
