Project Mentor: Dr. Bill Whitney, Creative Inquiry
2026 Impact Fellows:
Ayona Bhadury '29
Will Kaplan '29
Jing Williams '29
Sadie Oranje '28
Project Description:
What is the future of empowering citizens to deal with the effects of climate change?
India is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its vast coastline, dependence on agriculture, and densely populated regions, making it susceptible to extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and shifting monsoon patterns. These changes threaten food security, water resources, and public health, disproportionately affecting the country’s rural and marginalized communities. Climate change education is crucial to raising awareness, building resilience, and empowering future generations to adopt sustainable practices and develop innovative solutions to combat these challenges.
The Agastya International Foundation aims to educate and engage students and teachers in the critical global challenge of climate change through immersive, hands-on learning experiences. By developing interactive exhibits, educational curricula, and mobile outreach models, this project seeks to make climate education accessible to young students in diverse settings, including remote areas through Agastya’s Mobile Science Labs and Bikes. Through multiple outlets and media - including a climate-change workbook for school settings, a hands-on climate change learning kit, and the aforementioned exhibits and mobile curricula, this team will work side-by-side with Agastya staff and teachers to develop innovative experiential learning tools focused on the causes, effects, and solutions to climate change in India (and beyond), fostering environmental awareness and action.
All majors are welcome to apply. Students with graphic design skills are particularly useful to this project, as are students interested in education and teaching methods.
