Archives: Meet Our India Fulbrighters

Aashna Sharma

Dr. Aashna Sharma is Senior Project Associate at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. She completed her B.Sc. (Hons) in 2011 and M.Sc. (Hons.) in 2013 in zoology from Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh. She has a Ph.D. from the Department of Zoology, PU and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), under joint supervision of Dr. Y.K. Rawal and Dr J.A. Johnson. Her doctoral research focused on assessing the climate change and invasion impacts on native Himalayan fishes, and on developing state-of-the-art models for their conservation.

Dr. Sharma has worked in various capacities at WII, contributing to the assessment of climate change impacts on various taxa of lotic ecosystems. She qualified the UGC-NET and GATE exams, apart from receiving several honors and awards, including the Best Popular Science Story award under the DST-Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) and best oral presentation awards at various research seminars. She has served as an invited speaker for various national and international seminars. Dr. Sharma is also Review Editor of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

Large-bodied freshwater fauna or megafauna are witnessing extensive declines in the Anthropocene, and climate change is expected to exacerbate the situation owing to their extinction-prone traits. Their defaunations are more feared in nations like India that are biologically diverse yet anthropically populous. Through the Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellowship for Postdoctoral Research, Dr. Sharma aims to identify conservation hotspots for megafauna in India by assessing the impacts of future climate and land-use changes.

Bokinala Moses Abraham

Dr. Bokinala Moses Abraham is National Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Prof. Jayant K. Singh at IIT-Kanpur, which focuses on fusing density functional theory simulations with modern machine learning approaches to rationalize and accelerate the chemical design and discovery of novel materials. Dr. Abraham obtained his first-class B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in physics from Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Thereafter, he moved to the University of Hyderabad for a Ph.D. degree, where he pursued his own research ideas that enabled him to tackle multidisciplinary problems, such as those related to the study of materials at high-pressures, and understanding the physico-chemical properties of high-energy density materials.

Dr. Abraham has contributed to nearly 45 international publications in peer-reviewed journals. He has received several prestigious and competitive fundings for attending international conferences, which includes the RSC travel grant and the International Travel Support grant offered by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India. He also received funding from high parallel-computing HPC-Europa3 mobility program (2022) for a research stay of 3 months at the University of Barcelona (UB), Spain with Prof. Dr. Francesc Illas’ group. Dr. Abraham’s work towards design and development of highly efficient catalysts for CO2 conversion and hydrogen evolution reaction are seminal contributions to the field of catalysis.

Dr. Abraham is designing and developing a library of unique and fascinating MXene-supported single atom catalysts by fusing modern machine-learning approaches with experimental techniques during the Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellowship for Postdoctoral Research. Dr. Abraham believes that the scientific knowledge generated from this project would be utilized as a reference for CO2 reduction into hydrocarbon fuels, thereby helping meet real-world energy demands in a sustainable manner.

Rizana Salim

Ms. Rizana Salim is pursuing her Ph.D. from the Aerosol group, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai under the guidance of Prof. Sachin S Gunthe. She completed her B.Tech. in civil engineering from the Royal College of Engineering and Technology, Kerala, and M.Tech. from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, in remote sensing and GIS. At present, her research focuses on experimental and modelling studies to investigate the role of atmospheric aerosols, as physiological sources of reactive oxygen and chlorine species, in producing oxidative stress in the lungs and the resulting health impacts.

Ms. Salim’s upbringing in the mountains made her closely connected to nature and instilled in her a strong belief that we always get what we give. Hence, she believes it is an individual’s responsibility to gift the environment a token of gratitude. Her subject of research is her token of gratitude for the air we breathe. She loves to paint, read and travel.

As a Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellow, Ms. Salim is doing her experimental work at the University of California, Irvine under the guidance of Prof. Manabu Shiraiwa. Ms. Salim is conducting detailed analysis and advanced research using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer and high-resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) and other experimental methods for the detection and quantification of radical species and to understand the toxicity and oxidative potential of these radicals.

Gagan Kumar Sharma

Mr. Gagan Kumar Sharma is working as a Ph.D. candidate under the DST-INSPIRE Fellowship program at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand. He is conducting research with Professor Davinder Kaur on 2D nanomaterial based composites for lead-free energy storage devices (supercapacitors). Mr. Sharma holds a bachelor’s degree (Honours) in physics from the University of Delhi. He is also a second-rank holder in his master’s in physics from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur. During his HSC/Intermediate, he emerged as a third district topper, and the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India has awarded him the INSPIRE Scholarship for UG & PG studies.

Mr. Sharma has published his research work in various peer-reviewed international journals, including Applied Physics Letters. He has presented his research findings at numerous international conferences, including AEM-2022 held at the Imperial College London. He is a recipient of the Best Poster Presentation Award for two conferences. He is also a sportsperson and loves to travel to new places.

As a Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellow, Mr. Sharma is working on the next generation lead-free and environmentally friendly energy storage technology. One of the primary goals of his research on green energy is to benefit every section of human civilization. He expects that the collaborative work will provide a tactic for commercialization at low manufacturing costs and prevent environmental imbalance. He is further optimizing several nanohybrid materials for better capacitive properties, which may solve the current energy crisis of the world. He also plans to explore various metallic foil/mesh/foam as a flexible current collector for bendable supercapacitors.

Navinya Dilip Chimurkar

Mr. Navinya Dilip Chimurkar is a research scholar in climate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai. He is working with Prof. Harish C. Phuleria and Prof. Chandra Venkataraman to understand the climate impact of highly overlooked non-cooking residential activities in India. He has conducted surveys and emission measurement campaigns to characterize the carbonaceous aerosol emissions from biomass and kerosene burning for water heating, space heating, and kerosene lighting.

Mr. Chimurkar has completed his master’s in climate science and technology from the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Odhisha and his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering, Research and Technology, Chandrapur. He has published various articles, a policy brief and a book chapter on air quality. Apart from research, Mr. Chimurkar is a Hindi poet and has participated in many poetic events. He represented his master’s institute at Inter-IIT Cultural Meet for poetry. He is also a yoga enthusiast and has won a district-level competition.

During his Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellowship, Mr. Chimurkar is quantifying the climate impact of brown carbon particles from various sources using the state-of-the-science multi-wavelength spectrophotometer and Mie-theory modeling. The outcome of this research will improve climate assessment and aid in preparing a regional mitigation plan for India.

Shayista Shakeel

Ms. Shayista Shakeel teaches English and Social Science at a government high school in the district of Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir. She has a dual master’s in English and education. She is passionate about environmental pollution and undertakes activities with her students to clean water resources and disposal of bio-degradable waste. She has counseled several students who are undergoing depression or addicted to drugs. She coordinates workshops and events focusing on skill enhancement and development of students. In addition, she is a freelance columnist and has authored several articles in local dailies.

Ms. Shakeel’s participation in the Fulbright TEA program is helping her to develop a curriculum based on the model of shared learning for her students. She is learning new teaching methodologies and is sharing her experience and observations with international FTEA participants. Upon return to India, she intends to advocate practice-based learning and inclusive classrooms in schools of her community with the help of knowledge gained during her Fulbright program.

Ravi Kumar Sankranthi

Mr. Ravi Kumar Sankranthi teaches English to grades 6 – 10 at the Zilla Parishad High School in Kusumanchi, Telangana. Most of his students are from marginalized communities. Since 2008, he is also a teacher trainer for district and state-level training programs. He has trained teachers from vernacular medium schools and equipped them to teach in English medium schools. He has a master’s and a bachelor’s in English literature.

Mr. Sankranthi participated in a workshop on multilingualism organized by the Regional Institute of English, Bangalore wherein he provided digital inputs for the training module of in-service teachers. He presented a paper on “Issues and Challenges in the Implementation of Discourse Oriented Pedagogy” at a national conference in Hyderabad.

During the Fulbright TEA program, Mr. Sankranthi is learning the latest strategies in teaching English. He is excited to share his classroom experiences and success stories with the international FTEA fellows. He is curious to find solutions to the challenges of teaching in a heterogeneous classroom. As a cultural ambassador, he is excited to represent his country and culture and understand the cultures of other countries. Upon his return, Mr. Sankranthi wants to share his FTEA experiences with his students and colleagues. He intends to create a long-lasting bond with U.S. schools and schools of international FTEA fellows by designing various academic projects.

Amandeep Singh Lakhanpal

Mr. Amandeep Singh teaches English at a government school in Andlu village, Ludhiana, Punjab. He has more than 15 years of experience teaching in rural and urban schools. He has a master’s in English and a bachelor’s in education. Additionally, he has completed a postgraduate certificate in the Teaching of English.

As a state resource person, Mr. Singh is involved in developing content for teacher training modules. He has attended international conferences on “English language teaching” in UK and India. He completed a five-week online teacher training course on ‘Shaping the Way We Teach English, the Landscape of English Language Teaching’ organized by the U.S. Department of State and the University of Oregon. He received the prestigious Malti Gyan Peeth Award from the President of India in 2016 for his excellence in teaching. His various appreciation certificates from the Punjab Directorate of Education speak of his contribution to imparting quality education to his students.

The Fulbright TEA program is an opportunity for Mr. Singh to learn new teaching techniques and methodologies used in the American educational system which will further help him serve his community and students in India. His participation in the FTEA program will facilitate in enhancing the English language proficiency of his students. Upon his return to India, he would like to share his knowledge about the U.S. and its educational values with his colleagues and students to make them aware of the best educational practices in the U.S.

Divya Gupta

Ms. Divya Gupta is an English language teacher with the Directorate of Education, Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT), Delhi. She has more than 13 years of teaching experience. Currently, she is engaged with the Library branch at the Headquarters of the Directorate of Education where she is involved in improving the infrastructure and reading resources at the libraries of Delhi government schools. She works with librarians at all the Schools of Specialized Excellence in Delhi to ensure that young learners enjoy reading from their early years and get access to age-appropriate engaging books. She is also responsible for developing these libraries as safe spaces where students can explore reading at their pace.

Ms. Gupta was instrumental in creating Delhi’s first Reading Room in one of the Schools of Excellence. She strongly believes that libraries are centers of learning that play a significant role in raising a thoughtful, tolerant, sensitive generation of thinkers in addition to being springboards for academic achievement and language acquisition.

Through her Fulbright journey, Ms. Gupta aims to learn how the multiplicity of perspectives in different cultures impacts learning around the globe. During her FTEA program, she is gaining insights into curriculum design and the latest models of lesson planning. She is excited to interact with educators from the U.S. and other countries and create a network of educators for continuous professional development.

Rinchen Angmo

At the Ladakh Public School in Leh, Ms. Rinchen Angmo oversees the science department and serves as the high school coordinator. In her present role, she works as student-mentor and teacher-trainer and designs lesson plans and other pedagogical tools. She has a bachelor’s in science and education and a master’s in plant biotechnology.

Ms. Angmo is a member of VIBHA (Vijnana Bharati) and works relentlessly to propagate the participation of students from Ladakh in science and technology competitions and seminars. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has attended workshops to change the science teaching-learning methodologies practiced in schools for decades.

Through her participation in the Fulbright TEA program, Ms. Angmo is looking forward to expanding her pedagogical knowledge and skills by interacting with a global network of teachers. She is determined to empower the teachers in her community through her global exposure. She aims to take forward her belief in “compassion in education” for the holistic development of students.