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Ms. Elysia Garcia works for the North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park and Highwood, Illinois. She teaches a pre-kindergarten class of students in the three-to-five age group who are a mix of native English speakers, native Spanish speakers, and emerging bilinguals. The class is taught in an inclusive environment in both languages, addressing the needs of students with individual education plans. Ms. Garcia has worked in public and private educational settings for over 15 years. She has a BA from Concordia University and an MEd and an EdS from National Louis University. She is certified to impart early childhood and elementary education, as well as gifted education, along with teaching English as a second language, bilingual Spanish, and Spanish world language. In the school community, she enjoys working with older elementary students as a robotics coach. In her free time, she can be found running and always looking to explore new adventures such as an obstacle course race this past year. She lives in Illinois with her husband, two boys, and two cats.

For her Fulbright program, Ms. Garcia who is specializing in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), is working with the staff at the Avinashilingam Institute to help develop a unified curriculum based on developmentally appropriate practice (DP) for children in the age bracket of three to six. This unified DAP-based curriculum will serve ECCE professionals across India and specifically the teacher trainees enrolled at the institute. The Avinashilingam Institute will share the DAP-based curriculum with the Government of India for consideration as a major policy proposal to realize the proposed NEP (National Education Policy) goals. In this regard, Ms. Garcia is conducting meetings at the institute, working with colleagues to draft curricula frameworks, participating in panel discussions, and carrying out training workshops. She is also promoting developmentally appropriate teaching practices, and learning about Indian teaching methods and culture.

Lalitha Shanmugasundaram is a recent graduate from George Washington University (GW), where she majored in international affairs with concentrations in international development and environmental studies and a minor in mathematics. She was a member of the Elliott School Dean’s Scholars Program where she researched the intersection of gender and the environment by studying menstrual hygiene management in India. In addition to her independent research, she has worked for the Institute for International Economic Policy, The Breakthrough Institute, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the Wilson Center, and GW Sustainability Institute, as an intern and research assistant. Her work spans across many dimensions of sustainability, including energy, food, and water. Outside of her research, Lalitha is an avid runner who competes in marathons.

Climate change has already begun affecting India, with the coastal state of Tamil Nadu experiencing drought, floods, and water scarcity. Previous research has shown that this water scarcity will not only impact the livelihoods of farmers, but also harm female sanitation needs and waste management, especially in the rural areas. With limited access to water, women in the rural and tribal areas may find it difficult to maintain proper menstrual hygiene and sanitation, leading to improper waste management. Without access to water, the core tenets of water justice also cannot be fulfilled, leading to environmental injustices. In her Fulbright-Nehru project, Lalitha is exploring how access or lack of access to water is creating issues in menstrual hygiene management and sanitation. She is also studying whether government schemes aimed at resolving sanitation and menstrual hygiene management issues are helping to alleviate some of the challenges brought on by water scarcity. Additionally, Lalitha is examining what the environmental justice repercussions are of government initiatives and water scarcity. She is also exploring the food–water–energy nexus and the impacts of climate change on this nexus through a feminist political ecology lens.