Host City India: Boone

Bhavna Sawnani

Ms. Bhavna Sawnani is Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the head office of the Directorate of Education, Delhi and Lecturer of Biology. With master’s degrees in zoology, education, and English, Ms. Sawnani has worked in the field of education for the past 21 years and as a mentor teacher for six years.

During her tenure as a teacher, she worked on several science projects and her models were recognized at the state level for their innovative approach. She was awarded the State Teachers’ Award – Delhi and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for her significant contributions in the field of education. Ms. Sawnani is Editor of Dilli Shiksha magazine and quarterly school science magazine; in-charge of the social media team of the Delhi Directorate of Education and alumni projects; and coordinator of all delegates from India and abroad. She has also represented Delhi at several international conferences and has served as a panelist in several educational programs. As a mentor teacher, Ms. Sawnani observed her colleagues’ classes, offered feedback for improvement, conducted staff meetings and workshops for teachers, developed curriculum for the Delhi Board of Education, and designed several books.

During her Fulbright TEA program, Ms. Sawnani is learning pedagogical tools used by teachers to make classrooms accessible and inclusive. She further intends to work with parents of children with disabilities and bring them together as a community. She aims to disseminate insights gained from her stay in the U.S. to parents and teachers in her communities back home.

Shreya Sarkar

Dr. Shreya Sarkar is working as a guest researcher at the GNSS Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Burdwan, West Bengal. She has worked in collaboration with different space agencies across the globe and published several peer-reviewed papers in reputed national and international journals. She obtained scholarships from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and ISU, France. In 2019, Dr. Sarkar was the only Indian who received a grant from UNOOSA for presenting her research work at the UN/Fiji Workshop on the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems. At this workshop, she also acted as the rapporteur for one of the sessions. She received the prestigious Quarterly Franklin Membership from the London Journals Press. She is also a member of the Women in Aerospace network, Europe; the Space Generation Advisory Council, Austria; and an editorial board member of two Scientific International Open Access Journals.

After pursuing her Ph.D. in physics, Dr. Sarkar obtained her second master’s in space science from the International Space University (ISU), France. She has been teaching physics for the past 16 years at a government sponsored school in West Bengal. Earlier, she worked as a guest lecturer in different graduate, postgraduate, and engineering colleges in West Bengal. She actively organizes science fairs, science seminars, and visits to university research laboratories. As a science teacher, Dr. Sarkar strives to inspire students in science education. To this end, she is conducting virtual space tours for Indian students visiting the central campus of ISU, France and is mentoring her students’ research work on UN’s sustainable goals.

Through her participation in the Fulbright TEA program, Dr. Sarkar hopes to achieve her vision of building a global teacher network. She aims to utilize her insights from the program to create an all-inclusive joyful learning experience for the all-round development of students. She also wants to further her work of including space education in the school curriculum.