To celebrate Earth Day, we spoke with a few members of the MIT community whose research has helped better understand India’s water-related issues and advanced the country’s broader sustainable development goals.

Professor Keniston in 1998 founded the MIT-India Program within the MIT Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program to enhance the academic careers of MIT students through professional and research opportunities in India.

We spoke with a few of our hosts who are paving the way for women in the fields of research, tech, sustainability, and social change - in India and beyond - about what inspires them, their roads to success, and advice for young women pursuing careers in STEM.

Ballerina is a new programming language developed by WSO2. Their new language is designed especially for emerging cloud-based applications. To showcase its capabilities, they partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to bring six students to its Colombo office last January, to learn the language along with seven other local students.

MIT geologists use paleomagnetism to determine the chain of events that resulted in the Himalayan mountains, with the support of MISTI-India.

Come Summer and motivated undergrads typically seek internships in companies or other research-related positions. 19-year-old MIT undergrads Yu Jing Chen and Tamara Mitrovska are no different.

Professors Sanjay Sarma and Susan Silbey’s project offered insights into the challenges and opportunities for Indian artisanal craft workers

In India, Ellie Simonson conducted interviews with families and farmers to learn more about water scarcity, clean water access, and water filtration practices.

Serena Le designed and 3-D printed device prototypes that she developed at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, with the goal of increasing eye health care accessibility.

Science Writing graduate student Kate Telma interned at Nature India, and spent her summer pitching, researching, interviewing and reporting, all while building skills working across cultures and trying to beat the heat in New Delhi.

With the goal of increasing road safety in one of India’s largest cities, Reyes devised urban design strategies to improve pedestrian infrastructure.