Meet the young wildlife conservationists conquering India’s jungles
Written by: Team GI Youth
(September 14, 2024) “Nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future,” wrote Jon Krakauer in his iconic biography, Into the Wild. Just like his protagonist, Chris McCandless, young conservationists have turned their back on what is tried and tested, seeking their fulfillment in the heart of India’s forests instead. From working with the little-known fishing cat, like Tiasa Adhya, to getting up close and personal with leopards as Shaaz Jung does in Bandipur forest, Global Indian takes a look at India’s conservationists and the people helping to protect India’s treasury of forests and wildlife.
Growing up, Tiasa would run home excitedly to her rooster, Nontu, and his many wives, all cared for by Tiasa and her brother. ‘Home’ had been transformed into a menagerie, with many pigeons, rabbits, fish and the family dog and cat. These experiences were the first seeds of Tiasa’s desire to be in wildlife conservation. Tiasa says in an interview that her coach, Partha, led her to the field. Today, she’s one of India’s young conservationists, and is part of the Fishing Cat Working Group to protect the under-appreciated Fishing Cat.
She has worked with Dr Shomita Mukherjee, the country’s only small cat specialist, to study the species. The team also works to preserve the animal’s natural habitat and to collaborate with local communities to reduce negative interactions.
Members of the International Fishing Cat Working Group also work in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to provide global guidelines to protect the fishing cat.
In 2019, conservationist Ayushi Jain was living in Kanathur village, Kerala, searching for the rare Cantor’s giant softshell turtle. The matter had come to light due to unusual, mass fish death and the Cantor, which can grow up to one metre in length, was suspected as the cause.
Ayushi began working with the Cantor giant softshell turtle back in 2016, during an internship at the Turtle Survival Alliance in Lucknow. After finishing a course on Herpetology at the Indian Institute of Science, she began studying the distribution and mapping of turtles at ATREE, Bengaluru. In 2018, she was selected as a Distinct and Globally Endangered Fellow by the Zoological Society of London. She believes that the most effective conservation efforts involve working with the local community.
A group trip to Eaglenest in Arunachal Pradesh when she was an undergrad student at St. Xavier’s College, would change Nandini Velho’s life. She would go on to be part of the team that organised the first-ever Arunachal Bird Festival at Eaglenest and is the author of The Eaglenest Memory Project, based on interviews with the Bugun and Shedukpen tribes.
One of India’s most important conservation voices, Nandini holds a PhD from James Cook University in Australia. In order to understand policy, she worked as a Policy Fellow at the Ministry of Environment and Forests with then-environment minister Jairam Ramesh, with the forest department and local community leaders.
Malaika Vaz
Even as a child, Malaika Vaz was captivated by the great outdoors. She is the youngest person to reach the Arctic and the Antarctic with the students at the Ice Foundation. Early on, she learned windsurfing, and sailing and is a professional diver. As she grew older, though, she felt she needed more than just adventure. Having witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by unsustainable tourism, illegal trade, and climate change on the marine ecosystem. And she decided to do something about it.
She was swimming in the Maldives the first time she spotted a manta ray – “I saw a beautiful black shadow coming out of nowhere. It was curious about me. I was frozen, I wasn’t expecting this giant cloud to come up to me. It was poetic. Ever since then, I have been obsessed with them.”
“I realised that while I loved being on camera, shaping the stories and bringing in new perspectives and narratives that hadn’t traditionally been seen on television was what I liked best,” she said. She turned to other roles – she has been a director, writer, and producer, apart from presenting. She is also the founder of ‘Untamed Planet’, a production company that seeks to make an impact in the conservation world.
It’s easy enough to see why Shaaz Jung has over a million followers on Instagram. His brand of wildlife photography is raw, captivating and filled with the fury of the jungle.
Shaaz Jung’s role as a conservationist is unconventional – he spends his days studying and photographing wildlife and has become known for his affinity for big cats. He has also helped establish eco-friendly wildlife camps in South India and also in East Africa.
Having studied economics at Utrecht University, Shaaz left the corporate world to follow his passion instead. He now runs his camp, The Bison and is closely affiliated with African Under Canvas, where he leads wildlife and photographic expeditions.
He was 12 when he caught his first snake and looking back, he attributes his sense of adventure to his grandfather, who introduced him to the wonders of wildlife when he was still a child. Soon, Nirmal and his friends were called upon if there was a snake in the neighbourhood, which they would trap and release into the wild.
A wildlife rehabilitator by the time he was in his teens, Nirmal became Goa’s youngest Honorary Wildlife Warden at 18. At 21, he led a team of 200 on a nature conservancy project in Chorla Ghat. Working with Captain Nitin Dond, the conservationist’s team team restored 800 acres of de-forested land and converted it into a diverse, private nature conservancy.
Kulkarni is now the chairman of a research centre and director of a wildlife nature resort. As a qualified herpetologist, he spends the monsoon months in the Western Ghats and heads off to the Northeast in April and May.
(January 1, 2022) Alina Alam wears many hats. Entrepreneur, TedX speaker, Forbes 30 under 30, and Commonwealth Youth Award finalist. Winning awards is her zeitgeist — The NCPEDEP Mindtree Hellen Keller Award, the Microsoft Nipman Award, yes, the list is long and impressive. However, away from these accolades is a girl who cares and believes in the power of positive action. Bringing smiles to the differently-abled is what gives her immense joy, and if she can play matchmaker to some, then that’s all the better. Alam built Mitti Café to help people with disabilities join the workforce and compete with the best in business. Thanks to the café, there are people with visual and hearing impairments, Asperger’s and Down’s syndrome feeling the warmth of a life fulfilled. Today, Mitti Café has 17 outlets across India, and has served over 6 million meals. What’s more, the clientele of hip and happening youngsters love tucking into their favourites from the menu that is also in Braille. A café like no other, when workplace accommodation is a struggle for the differently-abled across India, the café and Alina Alam have blazed new trails by employing the disabled. The journey began at empowerment The girl
The girl from Kolkata was no doubt egged on by her HR executive father, and her mother who is a homemaker. Her siblings often help in her cafe activities. Her sense of compassion comes no doubt from being raised in a family where monetary aspirations were not important, a social purpose was.
When Alam, 29, started the cafe, her mission was to empower persons with disabilities by providing them opportunities to succeed. Looking back, Alam says that it’s been a many-splendored journey.
She was just 23 when she first thought of doing something different and socially relevant. Pursuing her master’s in development studies at the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, a documentary film on Roman emperor Nero left her with no doubt on her path ahead. The film showed Nero treating prisoners of war with extreme brutality before large crowds as the guests watched in silence or enjoyed the spectacle. It disturbed Alam. “I felt that the problem was not Nero as I feel the world will always have people like him. The problem was with the individuals who treated others as inconsequential. What if I am one of the guests at Nero’s party? If something wrong is happening and you are not taking sides, that means you are on the side of the oppressor,” she tells Global Indian Youth.
She then skipped campus placements and volunteered for organisations in the disability inclusion space. “I was passionate about doing something for the disabled,” she says. While working with Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled in Bengaluru, she saw what the differently-abled are capable of. “I understood that they have enormous potential but lack opportunities. They just need someone to guide and upskill them. What better way to reach out and connect them to the world than through food?” smiles Alam. Mitti Café was born, and the differently-abled got a new lease of life.
From dust to dust
The name of the cafe is unique. “Mitti” n Hindi means soil. “The concept is that everyone belongs to the soil and, we all will return to the soil one day. So, everyone is equal,” she adds.
It has been a rollercoaster ride since 2017, but a very fulfilling one. “Entrepreneurship is challenging. I had zero experience and no capital,” she remembers. So, she put on a brave face, and went door-to-door in Hubli, Karnataka, with pamphlets written in bold, calling the disabled to join her with no bar on age, education or experience. Only one person joined her. “She almost crawled in,” Alam smiles. “I got positive strength, and the journey started with one staff who was wheel-chair bound,” she adds.
A café office in Hubli in a dilapidated tin hut infested with rats, slowly things started falling in place, and Alam opened the first branch at the BVB College of Engineering and Technology campus in Hubli in August 2017.
In four years, she has opened 17 cafés in Bengaluru and Kolkata. Not content, Alam also provides experiential training and employment to adults with physical and intellectual disabilities so that they can get gainful employment. The organisation also creates awareness about inclusion and disability rights.
With 106 adults with special needs managing Mitti Cafés, the chain has served over 6 million meals in just four years. “We have 16 cafés within institutions such as Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, Wells Fargo Cytecare Hospital,” adds Alam.
The café has self-explanatory menu cards printed in Braille, are disabled-friendly, with no compromise on ambience. Then, there is the warm smile of the staffers to put one at ease. One of the critical features of the café is the extensive training programme, so the cafés are able to compete with the best in the business. “Our training includes hygiene, culinary skills, sessions about prevention of sexual harassment, etc,” explains Alam, who schooled at Modern High School for Girls and did psychology at Sophia College for Women.
The girl who makes lives better
During the pandemic too, Alam has been on point. The MITTI Karuna Meals gave migrants and others sustenance, serving over 7.2 lakh meals with plans to expand to thousands more. Alam, also recently got married to a Mumbai-based entrepreneur. She recalls the many rejections early on for her venture so when she got a call from Deshpande Foundation under condition that she move to Hubli, she moved lock, stock and barrel.
On her first foray in Hubli, she says, “I learnt the best lessons of resilience through the struggles. I also got to meet Narayan Murthy, who visited our cafe. That is how the Infosys cafe happened a year later,” she says. The Kolkata born Alam loves crooning, and is a newspaper junkie, which helps her stay abreast.
Today, her exuberance is double - she would like to start the café in every major city, with plans afoot for an outlet in Hyderabad in 2022, and wants to follow it up with Chennai and Mumbai. “Then I want to take Mitti Cafe international,” avers the girl whose belief and conviction have created a legacy to a section of society that has finally got its own girl saviour.
(January 19, 2023) “It’s a proud moment when you hold India’s flag and represent your country on a global platform,” says Praveen Kumar Giri, the B Tech student who bagged the silver in the water technology category at the WorldSkills Competition 2022. Praveen first learned about the competition when his college senior, Aswath Narayan, came back to India from Kazan, Russia winning a gold in water technology in 2019. [caption id="attachment_26668" align="aligncenter" width="447"] Praveen Kumar Giri[/caption] “I had just taken admission in my engineering college then. Some of my hostel mates pulled me to the Bhubaneshwar airport where they were headed to welcome Aswath.” That was the first time I learned that there is something called ‘WorldSkills Competition,’ Praveen tells Global Indian in an interview. The global competition, which was held between September and November 2022 is considered the gold standard of vocational skills. Founded in 1950, the WorldSkills Competition provides youngsters from across the globe a chance to compete, experience, and excel in their chosen endeavour. This was the 46th edition of the competition, which is held every alternate year in a new country. [caption id="attachment_26666" align="aligncenter" width="1064"] Praveen, other winners and their mentors after winning at the WorldSkills 2022 in
_blank" rel="noopener">Global Indian in an interview.
The global competition, which was held between September and November 2022 is considered the gold standard of vocational skills.
Founded in 1950, the WorldSkills Competition provides youngsters from across the globe a chance to compete, experience, and excel in their chosen endeavour. This was the 46th edition of the competition, which is held every alternate year in a new country.
[caption id="attachment_26666" align="aligncenter" width="1064"] Praveen, other winners and their mentors after winning at the WorldSkills 2022 in the water technology[/caption]
Originally scheduled to be held in Shanghai, then postponed by the pandemic, WorldSkills 2022 was called a ‘special edition’, because it was held across 15 countries instead of a single venue. India was represented across 50 skill categories, with participants bringing home two silvers, three bronzes and 13 medallions.
Inspiration to bring home a medal
“When the college authorities and officials from the Odisha Government were welcoming Aswath at the airport, I was standing at the back watching,” he smiles. More than anything, he was pleasantly surprised by the fact that a person can hold the national flag with elan for excelling in a field other than sports. Ever since, he dreamed of bringing home a medal and making the college proud. And in 2022, Praveen managed to do just that.
Praveen had always aspired to do something special. When he learned about the WorldSkills Competition he knew this was it. Motivated by Aswath’s grand felicitation in college, he reached out to his professor, Rajat Kumar Samantaray. Professor Rajat happens to be Skill India’s expert in water technology, mentoring youngsters who are interested in the category for district, state, national and international rounds.
“People are facing severe problems due to water pollution and we must do something to combat the challenge," Praveen says. Winning silver has provided him enough confidence to work in the direction.
He had travelled to Stuttgart, Germany, for the competition, going up against people from six countries – South Africa, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O71xJipM3Oo
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), under the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, Government of India, has been leading the nation’s participation on the WorldSkills Platform. “The competition begins from district level, to state and national and once we are able to prove mettle in all, participants are sent to represent India on the global platform,” says Praveen, the Bihar boy who represented Odisha, where he is a student, in the nationals.
His ten days in Germany, Praveen’s first trip abroad, incidentally, made for an experience he will always carry with him. Apart from the excitement of the opening ceremony, there were familiarisation exercises, four days of competitions, a closing ceremony and even an excursion for participants. “I got an opportunity to develop friendships with people from different nations. We discussed the problems related to water pollution and have remined connected with each other ever since,” he reveals.
[caption id="attachment_26669" align="aligncenter" width="902"] Praveen with all participants of water technology at WorldSkills 2022[/caption]
Stepping into the world of knowledge
Having studied until class six in his hometown in Saran district of Chapra, Bihar, Praveen moved out with his mother and brother to stay with relatives in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, with the purpose of better education. His father works in Dubai, and visits the family once a year.
Passing out of class 10 from Sant Gyaneshwar Vidyalaya and class 12 from Holy Hearts Educational Academy in Raipur, Praveen is now a fourth-year mechanical engineering student in CV Raman Global University, Bhubaneshwar.
“I am glad to be part of an institution where students are trained to participate on global platforms like Worldskills and make their country proud by bagging medals,” he says.
[caption id="attachment_26675" align="aligncenter" width="789"] Praveen during the competition in Germany[/caption]
“All credit goes to my expert, Professor Samantaray, who trained me along with two mentors, Ms Barnali and Ms Arpita Ghoshal who work in the water technology industry.”
Together, they trained him for the curriculum which comprised five modules laid down by the WorldSkills platform in mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering, virtual reality (VR), and environment and safety. The training and visits to water treatment plants equipped him to handle real life situations that he had to work upon at different stages of the competition.
Happy to make his dream come true
Praveen is thankful to the Government of Odisha for being very supportive of him as a participant representing the state on the global scale, and recognising his win. “People in my village were exuberant with the news of me winning a silver.”
With the attention that he received in college and the number of juniors turning up to him for advice in participating in different categories in next WorldSkills edition, Praveen is living his dreams. “I feel like a celebrity,” smiles the youngster.
(March 15, 2024) Indian-origin, Texas-based Madhalasa Iyer was appalled when she learned that in her district, a 13-year-old African-American boy was forced by his peers to drink his own urine. They even recorded the inhuman incident while yelling racial slurs at the victim. As she read the news and discussed the hate crime with her friends, Madhalasa learned of many more instances of discrimination and racism in her own district. In 2019, to help change societal mindsets, she founded Team Motley, an initiative emphasising the importance of solidarity for human equality. As part of her drive, she wrote a book titled 'Motley' to drive home the message of social equality. Later, the scope of her organisation expanded to include advocacy for environmental action. In addition to her work on social discrimination and the environment crisis, Madhalasa is working on a manuscript on phytomedicine to emphasise the benefits of ancient medicinal techniques. [caption id="attachment_36623" align="aligncenter" width="539"] Madhalasa Iyer[/caption] The author, researcher, speaker, and environmentalist has received several awards for her multifaceted talent, including recognition for her writing by the Alliance for Artists and Writers and the New York Life Foundation, as one of the six teen artists and writers chosen across
| Global Indian" width="539" height="539" /> Madhalasa Iyer[/caption]
The author, researcher, speaker, and environmentalist has received several awards for her multifaceted talent, including recognition for her writing by the Alliance for Artists and Writers and the New York Life Foundation, as one of the six teen artists and writers chosen across the US.
In 2023, as one of the Coca-Cola Scholars, Madhalasa Iyer was awarded a $20,000 college scholarship for her contributions to bring positive change in her community. She is currently pursuing neuroscience at Princeton University.
“I work on things that I am genuinely passionate about and this keeps me motivated,” Madhalasa tells Global Indian.
What does Team Motley do?
As an international initiative, Team Motley distributes books, stories, and artworks promoting acceptance, inclusion, and biodiversity to children and youth worldwide. These materials are created by teenagers who aim to share positive messages on these themes with children across the globe.
“We started by publishing our own children’s book, Motley, which discusses discrimination on a broader level, seeking to combat racism and bias in our society,” Madhalasa shares.
She and her team have successfully established Team Motley’s chapters in Texas and Washington State in the US, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Ismailia and Cairo in Egypt.
Talking about Motley’s other branch, environmental advocacy, Madhalasa remarks, “It was already a big part of my life considering I grew up watching my grandmother build our own greenhouse. I have participated in environmental advocacy since 2018 but added it to Team Motley in 2022.”
[caption id="attachment_36605" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Cover image of Madhalasa Iyer's book Motley[/caption]
Supported by grants from nonprofits such as Discovery Education, American Service Alliance, the Hershey Foundation, USC Shoah, and the National Century Foundation, as well as through community fundraising, Team Motley now has more than 2,500 participants in five countries.
Emphasising on changing mindsets for making life of youngsters easier, Madhalasa remarks, “Children are often the most susceptible to society’s opinions and social influences. Therefore, building a community of acceptance will promote inclusion for future generations, regardless of their skin colour or ethnic background.”
For its impactful work, her Team Motley has received several awards and recognition from organisations such as the Plano ISD Diversity and Inclusion Board.
Madhalasa attributes the success of her initiatives to her team members at Team Motley.
Merging science with writing
Although Madhalasa is currently pursuing Neuroscience at Princeton, she is passionate about creative writing as well. She has attended the Iowa Young Writers Studio and the Sarah Lawrence Writing Camp (sponsored by the National Anthony Quinn Foundation with a merit-based scholarship). In these programmes, the budding writer got an opportunity to develop her writing skills by garnering tips and advice from the luminaries from the world of writing.
Merging her interest in science and her passion for writing, Madhalasa Iyer has published scientific work at IEEE, Journal of Student Research, Mentoring in Medicine Journal, and the Curieux Academic Journal.
[caption id="attachment_36611" align="aligncenter" width="593"] Madhalasa Iyer while receiving an award[/caption]
With the purpose of bringing the benefits of phytomedicine (herbal medicine with therapeutic and healing properties) to the fore; she is working on a manuscript on the subject. “It explores use of phytomedicine techniques in the ancient Chinese traditional medicinal practices, Vedic Indian scriptures, Native American treatments and mediaeval medicine practices,” she mentions.
An avid researcher, Madhalasa has presented her scientific research findings at esteemed platforms like the International SusTech Conference, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Southern California Undergraduate Conference (SCCUR), the Harvard Research Club at NYC, the Harvard Science Research Conference, and the Texas Science and Humanities Symposium. She has also given talks at TEDx and EarthX (world's largest green gathering held annually around Earth Day in Dallas, Texas).
For her work as an author, environmentalist and social justice advocate Madhalasa has been recognised by national organisations of the US like the Discovery Education, YoungArts, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Leyla Beban Author’s Foundation, Anthony Quinn Foundation, Century Foundation, University of Washington, New York Life Foundation, National Rifle Association (NRA), the Coca-Cola Foundation, and Elks Organization among others.
Her literary works (prose and poetry) have been published in journals like the Cathartic Literary Magazine, The Weight Journal, Scars Publications, Literary Yard, Poetry Nation, Plain View Magazine, Bluefire Magazine, amongst others.
The numerous awards and recognition that she received for writing, has motivated Madhalasa in using the power of the pen to cultivate change. “Each of us have the ability to use our words or work of art to illustrate positive messages and ideas to our community and we should use it” she mentions.
[caption id="attachment_36610" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Madhalasa Iyer after receiving one of her awards[/caption]
Stronger than Hate Challenge
In 2021 when Madhalasa was still in high school, she bagged first place and won a $6000 scholarship in the ‘Stronger Than Hate Challenge’. Created to inspire middle school and high school students, the annual competition is conducted for students aged 13 and up in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Since the event emphasises the role of social-emotional learning in empowering students to overcome hate, and encourages young people to use their voices to connect with the community, Madhalasa had got interested in participating.
Inspired by, Madhalasa had created the multimedia poem titled ‘Where Were You’ emphasising the significance of standing up for what’s right in order to stop history from repeating itself.
“If we can all speak out against discrimination, our war on division the holocaust survivor Tamara Branitsky is won and acts such as genocide and atrocities would only be present in the pages of history,” Madhalasa believes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n0s0fmVH-s
Rising above odds
Although the Texas-based youngster has written several literary pieces and scientific research papers, and given talks at platforms like EarthX and TEDx, her journey of developing into a confident communicator has not been a smooth ride.
She was born in California but spent the first eight years of her life in Nepal and India. As an eight-year-old with a strong Indian accent, when Madhalasa moved to the US, she was looked down upon for her cadence and tone. “During my early schooling years, I struggled at grammar and writing tests. It took me years of continual accent therapy to rebuild the confidence that I had lost,” Madhalasa shares. But a creative bent of mind, dedication towards self-improvement, and love for reading kept her going in her self-enhancement initiatives.
“A combination of determination and support from my parents, family, and friends enabled me to overcome my speech and writing challenges, ultimately paving a way for me to become an author and a speaker,” she remarks.
[caption id="attachment_36609" align="aligncenter" width="645"] Madhalasa Iyer with Scholastic Art and Writing Awards[/caption]
With the attitude and experience of rising above challenges, Madhalasa Iyer aspires to create a world ‘where equality isn’t a question and where people sow the seeds of environmental action for the betterment of the future generation’. “As a citizen of the world, I wish to be an active contributor towards these changes.” She signs off.
(July 6, 2022) As his eleventh grade came to an end, Aaryan Singh found his hobbies fall by the wayside and his free time vanish as academic pressures began to mount. "I became very sleep deprived because I was handling school, the foundation I started during the pandemic and other extra-curricular activities. I had dark circles around my eyes,"the teen entrepreneur told Global Indian. The 17-year-old is the founder of Uninsomnia, an app to help teens deal with sleep deprivation by analysing their schedules, connecting with Fitbits, smart watches and health apps on their phones. When Aaryan talked to his friends about his sleep problem, he found them all in similar situations. "All of us were pulling all-nighters to cram for exams, we were exhausted," he says. When he did some research, he was "blown away by what he found." In the United States, some 69 percent of teenagers face sleep-related problems and disorders, insomnia being the most common. The information on India was sadly lacking and Aaryan did research of his own, finding that fifty percent of high school students don't get proper sleep. That's how, in 2021, Aaryan began working on Uninsomnia. Users get custom sleep tips because the app will analyse their google calendars,
of us were pulling all-nighters to cram for exams, we were exhausted," he says. When he did some research, he was "blown away by what he found." In the United States, some 69 percent of teenagers face sleep-related problems and disorders, insomnia being the most common. The information on India was sadly lacking and Aaryan did research of his own, finding that fifty percent of high school students don't get proper sleep.
That's how, in 2021, Aaryan began working on Uninsomnia. Users get custom sleep tips because the app will analyse their google calendars, connect with Fitbits and smart watches and other health apps. "It tells you when to drink coffee, when to sleep and what exercises you can do to relax and sleep better. It can even suggest melatonin but only if prescribed by a doctor."
[caption id="attachment_18906" align="aligncenter" width="790"] Aaryan, during his internship at Coca Cola[/caption]
Targeting schools
Born and raised in Bhopal, AaryanSingh describes himself as someone who has always been "very curious, always looking for information, in love with technology." Growing up, he would ask his parents for toy cars and helicopters, not to play with but to be able to take them apart and put them back together again.
In 2020, Aaryan says, "the main journey began." When the pandemic hit India, Aaryan was volunteering with a local organisation to help underprivileged and local children. "I was helping the kids with their academics, especially computer science." One day, he noticed some of the children making beautiful artwork.
"They knew a lot about CS, they were discussing algorithms and coding languages. They were curious to learn skills but didn't have the opportunities," he says. So, he set up the Buy To Cure Foundation and ran the organisation for about a year starting October 2020. "We would take drawings from the kids and print them on mugs and other merchandise," says Aaryan. "Buy To Cure sold these through its e-commerce platform and 90 percent of the funds went back to the orphanages."
[caption id="attachment_18905" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Volunteering with underprivileged kids[/caption]
Building the foundation
Setting up the foundation involved building a network of over 100 organisations including NGOs, orphanages and schools. Aaryan also created a global team of volunteers and raised over ₹3 lakh in under a year.
During the second lockdown, the organisation was unable to deliver its merchandise. "We told a local government official about the situation and the team was given special powers to go outside the house and move around," he recalls.
Aaryan, who wants to major in CS and entrepreneurship, also conducts skill enhancing workshops in entrepreneurship and coding.
This April, Aaryan began the LaunchX Entrepreneurship Programme. He will work with entrepreneurial students from around the world to launch a startup and learn from professors from Harvard, MIT (Sloan School) and The Wharton School. He has also been selected into the Dex School of Leadership and Entrepreneurship's Class of '23, part of The Dexterity Global Group, founded by globally acclaimed social entrepreneur Sharad Vivek Sagar. His daily life includes juggling academics, which are top priority, his volunteer work and building Uninsomnia as a "one-man army."
Following through on his deep interest in AI and Machine Learning, Aaryan is a Veritas AI Scholar and an Inspirit AI Scholar. He received a full scholarship for the former, which he began in June this year. As part of Veritas AI, Aaryan is working with Venu Regunath (Dartmouth College), Katrina Brown (Harvard University), and Shravan Ravishankar (University of Chicago), to study data science and artificial intelligence. "The focus is on image classification, AI ethics and why they matter, deep learning, NLP and Language Processing and other topics related to AI and Machine Learning," says Aaryan, who is also a Global Young Leader and Changemaker 2022.
(August 20, 2022) As a young kid, she loved skating and was even gearing up to be a part of the US national skating team. However, at the age of 13, life came to a standstill for Marissa Sumathipala, after she fell during a practice session and hit her head hard on the ice, and suffered a major concussion. The girl, who dreamt of representing the US at the Olympics, was removed from the state team, ending her skating career. For years, Marissa dealt with hazy memories, random nausea, and fatigue. While many around her felt that this was the end of a bright career for this teenager, the incident gave the young neuroscientist a new purpose in life - understanding the workings of the human brain. [caption id="attachment_21017" align="aligncenter" width="557"] Neuroscientist Marissa Sumanthipala[/caption] “I began to realize that there was so much that we didn’t know about the brain,” Merissa said during an interview with The Harvard Gazette, adding, "And that gap in what we understood about the brain had such devastating impacts on patients like myself, but also all the people that I saw in the waiting rooms and support groups that I went to during this experience.”
ws.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/04/marissa-sumathipala-turned-to-brain-science-after-giving-up-skating/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Harvard Gazette, adding, "And that gap in what we understood about the brain had such devastating impacts on patients like myself, but also all the people that I saw in the waiting rooms and support groups that I went to during this experience.”
The neuroscientist joined Johns Hopkins School of Medicine at 14 to perform basic research, and is currently pursuing both a master’s and a Ph.D. in clinical neurosciences at Harvard Medical School. Intending to establish her lab someday, the teenager created Theraplexus, a computational platform that uses network science analytics and artificial intelligence to map molecular interactions and provide better drugs for chronic diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and heart disease. In 2018, the now 20-year-old received the US Presidential Scholars for her contribution to the world of medicine.
Mind matters
A bright child, Merissa's parents - Indian immigrants who settled in Virginia - always encouraged her to take part in various academic and extracurricular activities. Although she wished to have a successful skating career, she was always fascinated by biological sciences. Interestingly, Merissa did a paper on whether pesticides caused multigenerational effects in human beings when she was just 12 years old. “I have long nurtured a vision of being a medical scientist, leveraging core engineering principles to solve contemporary biological and medical problems," the Global Indian informed during a press interaction.
Two-time winner of the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair Grand Prize, Merissa did not lose hope after her skating accident. While she was sad that she will no longer be in the ring, the fact that there are only a few treatments for brain injuries kept her up at night often. Frustrated by the lack of brain treatment options, the young neuroscientist decided to work on neurological disease pathways. She joined the Janelia Research Institute while she was still in high school, and since then has worked in about five different labs.
[caption id="attachment_21018" align="aligncenter" width="623"] Marissa at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine[/caption]
At 17, Merissa was named one of the 40 finalists for the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Award for her project, Reinventing Cardiovascular Disease Therapy: A Novel Dual Therapeutic with FOXO Transcription Factor and AMP Kinase. In her project, the young scientist used a fruit fly model with proteins FOXO and AMPK to investigate the underlying, molecular causes leading to cardiovascular disease, and received the prize money of $25,000. "To be a part of this group is an unparalleled honour, one that has not quite sunk in just yet. I am exceptionally grateful to the Society for Science and the Public for their steadfast mission to promote STEM for almost a century, and to Regeneron for their vision of investing in the next generation of scientists and change makers," the neuroscientist said after winning the competition, which is also known as Junior Nobel Prize.
Road ahead
Currently working at the McCarroll Lab in Harvard Medical School, Marissa is helping to develop a new method for sequencing synapses in the human brain. These synapses are crucial for memory and learning and result in maladies like Huntington’s disease. Her research could someday shed light on the importance of synapses in brain development in humans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSWDH9hFIzs
Marissa's platform Theraplexus has already identified 200+ disease-specific drug targets for debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's, breast cancer, schizophrenia, and diabetes. In first-of-its-kind research, the organisation found more effective therapies within patients’ lifetimes and potentially cut drug development costs drastically. The youngster is now looking at partnering with Harvard Medical School’s Sharma Lab, to develop and transform Theraplexus into a biotechnology startup. "I spent a long time grappling with my identity. Growing up I was just a skater and then, when I got concussed, I had to rebuild my identity. Then I was a scientist. Now, I identify as being both a skater and a scientist," Marissa told The Harvard Gazette.
Praveen, other winners and their mentors after winning at the WorldSkills 2022 in the water technology[/caption]
Praveen with all participants of water technology at WorldSkills 2022[/caption]
Praveen during the competition in Germany[/caption]
Cover image of Madhalasa Iyer's book Motley[/caption]
Madhalasa Iyer while receiving an award[/caption]
Madhalasa Iyer after receiving one of her awards[/caption]
Madhalasa Iyer with Scholastic Art and Writing Awards[/caption]
Aaryan, during his internship at Coca Cola[/caption]
Volunteering with underprivileged kids[/caption]
Marissa at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine[/caption]