India Summer Fellow, 2026
Navya Vasireddy is a rising second-year undergraduate student from New Jersey planning to major in Molecular Engineering. Her interests lie at the intersection of environmental science, computational analysis, and journalism. She is passionate about sustainable engineering and initiating conversations about alternatives to traditional infrastructure. At UChicago, she is on the editorial staff for the Expositions Magazine and a member of the Bhangra team.
Vasireddy attended the India Summer Fellows Program in 2026. She also won first place in the program’s 2026 photo contest.
“The India Summer Fellows Program was an all-encompassing experience exploring the climate crisis from a localized perspective in the Global South. It was incredible learning about India’s environmental progress, from electric buses in Delhi to recent waste management laws in Ahmedabad. However, we simultaneously learned about and researched potential solutions to address the pressing challenges India continues to face. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to not only hear from industry professionals, but witness the issues we discussed in the classroom firsthand through site visits. But what truly made the program special was the countless conversations between the Ahmedabad and UChicago students. I loved uniting our diverse backgrounds and sharing our cultures with each other, from dancing garba to eating thaali to shopping for bangles – and I’m certain that these friendships and memories will last a lifetime.”