Portfolio

The Mindfulness Room

In 2012, I proposed, researched, designed, built and managed an innovative space for resiliency and rejuvenation at Carnegie Mellon called The Mindfulness Room. Grounded in improving mental health and wellness of students, The Mindfulness Room offers students, faculty, and staff opportunities to learn and practice wellness strategies such as engaging with therapy animals, music meditations, therapeutic letter-writing campaigns, and wellness retreats. Using data-driven research, monitoring, and evaluation, I built and implemented a protocol to continually adapt and improve The Mindfulness Room initiative, which now exists in multiple colleges, high schools, and hospitals globally. Learn more.

The Mindfulness Room is seen on NYTimes, USA Today, NBC, and more.

Folia Water

I worked with pAge Drinking Paper as a microbiologist evaluating the water purification capabilities of The Drinkable Book, a low-cost water filter that also educated the user. Then, I became one of the first hires of the new start-up Folia Water, as a product engineer and interaction designer developing iterative human-centered designs for different countries and cultural contexts, scaling the innovation. I ran pilot field studies to gather consumer insights about the viability, feasibility, and desirability of the filtration devices and developed business strategies and models in resource limited settings. Learn more and view my selected works here.

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In addition, I worked on creating educational materials that were printed in food-grade safe ink on the silver nanoparticle paper that was cleaning the water in order to facilitate education around water sanitation and hygiene.

Folia Water is seen on CNN, Washington Post, Smithsonian Museum, BBC, Time, NPR, and more.

EcoCampus

I lead impactful sustainability projects at CMU-Q, including implementing carbon offset programs, designing new recycling bins to improve waste management, and calculating carbon data to drive informed decisions. I’ve introduced green guidelines, developed a green vendor list, distributed Metro cards to promote sustainable commuting, and spearheaded the creation of a community garden. Additionally, I’ve designed new sustainable spaces on campus to enhance environmental awareness and community engagement. Under my guidance, we became the first company to ever request Carbon Offsetting from Qatar Airways, first university to offer sustainable transportation, and the first university in the MENA region to attain the Green Flag from FEE.

EcoCampus is seen in the Qatar Tribute.

Women and Climate

The Women and Climate community provides a joyful and safe space for women and nonbinary professionals from around the world to learn and talk about climate. I am the City Lead for Doha, founding the chapter and growing it with weekly events and creating a community of practice.

Learn more about Women and Climate here.

Cultural Cooking Classes

I made great strides towards advancing my commitment to intercultural competency, global learning, and working hands-on with the local community by cultivating cultural cooking classes based on environmental challenges for low-income middle-school students at the Living Classrooms Foundation. This program offered an opportunity to learn about both local and global challenges, helped develop hands-on cooking skills, championed a deeper sense of global citizenship, and provided nutritional meals multiple times a week. 

Contact me to get a copy of the educational cookbook.

Integrating Drones into Humanitarian Emergencies

My master's thesis at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health was based on the idea that drones could be used throughout an entire lifecycle of a disaster, from mapping, monitoring, and planning disaster risk reduction strategies in the mitigation and preparation phases, to search and rescue and assessment in the response and recovery phase. The research focused largely on cultural impact and how to best integrate the drones before a disaster to ensure the most effective and efficient response on a local responder level with capacity building.

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Contact me to read a copy of it!

Paws to Relax

After noticing that students at Carnegie Mellon were unlikely to take the time out of their day to practice different wellness strategies, I fought for a new way to alleviate stress culture. I changed animal policies on campus, partnered with a local animal shelter and licensed therapy animal organization to host therapy animal training, and trained faculty and staff dogs to come on campus to bring stress relief and increase student-staff/faculty relationships. 

Over 500 students come to twice-weekly therapy animal sessions, and the program has been running since 2015.

Paws to Relax is seen in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Seeds of Success: Planting Financial Wellness

Carnegie Mellon University hosted a Data Analytics Day and IronViz competition in July of 2023 to encourage staff to use more data for student success. My team and I developed, created, and presented "Planting Seeds of Success: The Role of Financial Wellness" dashboard and won first place in this inaugural competition. 

We used powerBI and created the data visualizations, data analytics, and story from scratch.  

The Mystery of the Classroom

Carnegie Mellon University hosted a Data Analytics Day and IronViz competition in August of 2024 to encourage staff to use more data for operational  efficiency. My team and I developed, created, and presented "The Mystery of the Magic Classroom" dashboard and won second place in the competition. You can view the dashboard here.

We used powerBI and created the data visualizations, data analytics, and story from scratch.  

Carbon Data

I developed a comprehensive carbon emissions dashboard for CMU, gathering and analyzing data to monitor usage and identify ways to reduce CO2. By leveraging these insights, we’ve implemented strategies to offset emissions through verified local community projects, driving measurable impact toward a more sustainable campus.

Student Success Data

I developed a comprehensive student integration and tracking system to monitor academic performance, experiential learning, and the overall student experience, ensuring a holistic educational journey. This data-driven approach supports student success and continuous improvement in their educational experiences.

ADDvocate: Anti-Discrimination Dialogue for Social Justice

Created a multidisciplinary course is to establish a firm, education-based understanding of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion topics.. Through a series of lectures by subject experts, this course aims to educate and raise consciousness of discrimination, racism and bias in the real world. This course will also highlight strategies to become an active bystander and advocate for fair treatment in all our communities. This course has been running since Fall 2022.

Climate Fresk

Climate Fresk is a collaborative, three-hour workshop that helps teach audiences about climate change by having them solve an interactive puzzle as a group. The Fresk explains the fundamentals of climate change and uses only established, scientific facts to develop participants’ understanding of the subject, toward the goal of raising societal awareness and action on climate. I am a Climate Fresk facilitator and teach worldwide.

Looking Glass Hackathon in Rwanda

I worked with Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda on creating a collaboration with CMU for a cloud-based Integrated Student Information System that would capture a complete student profile containing recruitment, formal education, informal education, and alumni information for all of the students. 

Additionally, I planed a Hackathon using Looking Glass to teach the students the basics of programming as well as creating a curriculum for typing classes for students, faculty, and staff in the village.

S.Y.STEM Coalition

I worked with S.Y.STEM Coalition, CMU's C.S. Academy, and The Nyadire Connection to strategically develop a sustainable computer science curriculum, fundraise and write grants, train teachers, and create STEM workshops such as year-long robotics camps and coding clubs in Nyadire, Zimbabwe. I work with partners to give interested students enough training in computer science that they can either pursue higher education in the field or secure a remote job with a software company anywhere in the world. 

Learn more about S.Y.STEM Coalition here.

Outbreak Investigation

In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I designed an innovative Outbreak Investigation for students to help simulate what steps epidemiologists and responders need to take, including a contact tracing game. This was implemented in classes in high school and universities, as well used for NYC Dept of Health's Take your child to work day. 

​Access Outbreak Investigation here.

HOPE: Humans of Project Earth

I've always felt the term "humanitarian" was reserved for those on the front lines of crises. But then I realized, every act of helping one another, no matter how small, is an act of humanitarianism. During my work in climate change, I discovered amazing communities that inspired me. Yet, I found a gap in aid-focused groups. While there were platforms for professionals or organizations, there was a need for something open, free, and accessible to people looking to make a difference, from the ground up. That's why I've created HOPE: Humans of Project Earth, a collective of compassionate individuals aiming to inspire and support each other. Together, we share resources, ideas, and foster a community that makes positive change accessible to everyone. 

Innovation Studio

Founded a hands-on, practical studio with 3D printers, laser-cutters, CNC machines and other rapid prototyping tools for all to use. Started a residency program with 30 members, teaching them a practical curriculum.

Dragon Boat Trolley

I am a proud member of a Breast Cancer Survivor and Supporter Dragon Boat team. One of the challenges we faced during COVID-19 is the boat capacity dropping from 22 people down to 12 due to social distancing. The boat is 600lbs and with 12 women, some whom are actively going through chemotherapy, we could not lift the boat. I worked with local engineers and builders to figure out a new, innovative way to lift up the boat and put it into the water so the team could paddle on.