Ashton is a senior at the University of Iowa majoring in Environmental Sciences and earning a Certificate in Sustainability. In April 2022, Ashton completed a project with the Latham Fellows Program titled "Iowa City Clean Living," which was an online blog focused on identifying toxic compounds in everyday products and providing safer, more environmentally-friendly alternatives. This project sparked Ashton's interest in scientific communication and behavior change, particularly how others can be influenced to implement sustainable changes into their lives. Ashton is currently working with the Office of Sustainability's communications team to implement behavioral change techniques into social media content to encourage users to consider the environmental impacts of their lifestyles and how to implement changes into their lives that will benefit both human and environmental health.