Students of Dr. Lankapalli Bullayya College, Visakhapatnam during their visit to Capitol Hill in Washington DC as part of their U.S. fellowship tour.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Four students from Dr Lankapalli Bullayya College have completed their 10-day fellowship tour to the U.S.A. on their project —‘Pioneering Blue Carbon Ecosystems: Restoring Seagrass Meadows in Visakhapatnam Coast’.
The final year BSc students— T. Harshitha, A. Teja, M. Ashwini and J. Karthikeya— under the guidance of their faculty B. Madhavi took up the project as a part of the Climate Tank Accelerator competition.
The initiative of Student Society for Climate Change Awareness (SSCCA), in collaboration with Seeds of Peace, U.S.A., brought together budding innovators from South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh under one roof to discuss the pressing issues related to climate change.
The students described the visit to Vanderbilt University, Nashville for the project as an enriching learning experience as they met and shared ideas with the students and distinguished faculty of the other parts of the globe.
“To be in the vast campus is inspiring. We could cover only half of the department during our week-long stay. It was no less than a privilege to visit the Art Museum which has a unique and rich collection of works on climate change. We loved the Innovation Centre – The Wond’ry— where you can explore and share ideas,” said Ms. Harshitha and Ms. Ashwini.
Their tour included a visit to ‘Caney Fork Farms’, where traditional farming practices are followed to produce healthy food for the local community.
‘Greenathon’
Ms. Teja spoke about ‘Greenathon’ at Vanderbilt University as part of which students pursue ideas to make their varsity more sustainable. “Each participating team was given two minutes to pitch their ideas which, if selected, get funds.
Mr. Karthikeya said he liked innovative practices such as having an exclusive energy plant, besides solar panels. “Vanderbilt University is on a mission to cut its carbon emissions to zero in the next 10 years and every student is working towards achieving this goal,” he says.
The students said they were planning to implement some of such ideas on their college campus here.
“We plan to grow plants on hydroponic stands like they do at Vanderbilt University and use those vegetables in the hostel kitchens here. Segregation of waste at source is another good idea to replicate here and enforce a ban on single-use plastic on campus,” said Ms. Harshitha and Ns. Ashwini said, who are a part of ‘Green Club’ in their college.
Innovative ideas
As part of the programme, the students gave a presentation on the seagrass project at Vanderbilt University before a team of professors. Though we got only two minutes, we got a positive response and the professors enquired more about the project.
“The best part of the tour was sharing ideas with students from other countries. We also met US senators Cory Booker and Peter Welch, and several climate activists in Washington DC,” said Ms. Harshitha.
The team from Bangladesh presented an idea to reduce cloth waste by employing women from economically poor background and creating livelihood options.
Students from Western Pakistan pitched an idea on traditional farming practices of Africa to convert barren lands to fertile ones.
“It was a great learning experience. The tour taught us to aim high and work harder. We want to take forward our work on climate research, global warming and replanting seagrass,” said Ms. Harshitha.
Published – March 15, 2025 05:32 am IST