Charlene Ren is the founder of MyH2O Water Information Network, a crowd-based platform that connects clean water resources to rural communities in China. Since its inception in 2015, with a thorough data collection from over thousands of villages, solutions have been delivered to over 1,000 beneficiaries. Charlene has a dual MS degree in Environmental Engineering & Technology and Policy from MIT, with a thesis focused on the water and sanitation monitoring policy structure in rural India. She was selected as 1 of 4 Chinese representatives for Homeward Bound 2018 fellow, an initiative focused on raising profiles of women leaders in STEM, that included a 3-week training expedition in Antarctica. She’s also a 2016 Echoing Green Fellow.
Mansukhbhai R Prajapati was born in Nichimandal village in Gujarat in a family of potters and terracotta craftsmen. Being the eldest among four siblings, he became the helmsman of his family and its craft legacy. Despite financial constraints, Mansukhbhai’s parents managed to educate him till high school. Mansukhbhai has developed an entire range of earthen products for daily use in the kitchen. These products include water filters, refrigerators, hot plates, cooker and other such items of daily use.
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Neville Mars is a Dutch architect, urban planner, and researcher renowned for his work in sustainable city design. As the founder of MARS Architects, an award-winning firm with over two decades of expertise, Mars has been at the forefront of integrating data-driven design, green infrastructure, and adaptive architecture into urban planning.
His work addresses the critical challenges of climate change, overpopulation, and resource scarcity, with a focus on creating sustainable, livable cities in rapidly urbanizing regions like China and India.
He designed China’s first China-Dutch Ecocity and Asia’s first large-scale carbon-negative, land-use positive community-centered retreat in Bali. This ambitious project led to the creation of prefab sustainable villas tailored for construction in even the most remote and challenging environments.
Mars’s innovative approach proves that sustainable living is possible in the most difficult locations.
Mars is a lecturer at Diponegoro University. His writings, including the critical exploration “The Chinese Dream: A Society Under Construction”, delve into the complexities of urban expansion in China. He also published, “A Manifesto of Mistakes”, an exploration of evolutionary planning principles for pressured urban landscapes. Mars also leads The Dynamic City Foundation (DCF), a non-profit research platform dedicated to studying the impact of rapid urbanization in Asia and exploring innovative solutions to its many challenges.
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Nikhilesh Das was awarded the fifth National Grassroots Innovation Award by the President of India, Smt Pratibha Patil, for his innovative research on controlling oil pollution in water. A student of Cotton College (BSc in Physics), Das aims to pursue a career in nuclear physics and bring the spirit of scientific innovation to students across India.
Das has been keenly interested in science since childhood. When he was just in class six he made an herbal repellant for cockroaches, which was quite effective. Throughout his school years he represented his school in a number of science exhibitions, debate, quiz and speech competitions, and won many prizes at the state level. Das invented an innovative solution to control oil pollution using waste products. Through experimentation, Das discovered that human hair, bird feathers, and sawdust are all 95% effective at removing oil from water in clinical trials.
Das submitted his proposal to the NIF (National Innovation Foundation), and in 2009 they selected his idea for the national level Science Exhibition. They also recommended it for the highly prestigious National Students Award. Das won the competition, and President Smt. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil of India presented him with the award. In 2011, NIF and Das applied to the Government of India for a patent on his inventions.
Das is currently pursuing a degree physics from Cotton College Guwahati.
PERSONAL JOURNEY
When I traveled to New Delhi to receive the National Student’s Award from the President of India, I came in touch with some of the most fascinating people I have met in my life–the other innovators who were awarded by NIF for their outstanding works on Science and Technology. I was moved by seeing those people, the majority of whom were college and school dropouts yet had made some of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen.
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Tanmoy Ghosh is wildlife conservationist and photographer, renowned for his innovative and sustainable approaches to preserving biodiversity. His work encompasses leading survey expeditions, promoting ecotourism, and capturing compelling wildlife photography to raise awareness about conservation issues. One of Ghosh’s significant contributions includes the rediscovery of a new population of gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) in the Hooghly River, West Bengal. This finding is particularly noteworthy as gharials are among the most endangered crocodilian species globally.
In 2012, Ghosh collaborated with the U.S. National Park Service at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, where he participated in monitoring the critically endangered Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). He has served as a guest faculty member at various colleges and institutions, training students in wildlife conservation. He has been instrumental in converting former poachers into protectors of wildlife, demonstrating his commitment to sustainable and community-driven conservation solutions. Ghosh has also been actively involved in conservation efforts for the fishing cat, the state animal of West Bengal. He runs Belun Eco Village and Biodiversity Research Centre to promote sustainable tourism and environmental awareness.
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