It all began in Indra Bishnoi’s hometown of Brampton, ON. Upon hearing about the limited supply of food available at several Soup Kitchens, Indra began delivering non-perishables to them with her father. Indra’s interest in food sustainability led to her involvement with one of Brampton’s Green Committees, an experience that taught her many lessons and helped her to found a home-based business where she would sell apparel to raise money for Canadian sustainable initiatives ranging from food sustainability to climate action.
Now, a PhD student in Neuroscience at the Western University, Indra is the Chair of the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) Sustainability Committee. The committee actively supports green initiatives across campus and more recently have been working on a holistic plan for SOGS to declare a climate emergency. This involves a Sustainability Assessment and an actionable plan with concrete objectives to increase sustainability, and can lead to collaborations with sustainability groups at the University’ Student Council and the university at large. The overarching goal is for the University to align with the goals and objectives of the City of London by declaring a climate emergency.
Bishnoi’s love for sustainability stems from its interdisciplinary nature. “Not only does working within the realm of sustainability require a good breadth of knowledge regarding the environment, but also policy, economics, research, psychology, and much more,” she says. “There really never is an end to what you can learn – and I love that!”
For anyone hoping to pursue a career in sustainability research, she and her good friend working in sustainability recommends a good understanding of current policy and economics at play regarding the environment and sustainability. “You need to be a jack of all trades to a certain degree.” Bishnoi also notes persistency is essential – change takes time, time that sometimes we don’t have, and change does not come easily.
Bishnoi and the SOGS Sustainability Committee demonstrably embodies this mentality. She stresses that a declaration of a climate emergency by a committee, university, city or country is the acknowledgement of the global issue of climate change and the implementation of measures to combat the issue together. The committee is excited to be one of the first stepping stones for that at Western University, a sentiment also shared by many others who hear about their initiatives.
Currently, their initiatives involve creating a climate action plan. But there are so many sustainability initiatives to choose from. Bishnoi says, “[Even] outside of university initiatives, there are so many amazing initiatives to become a part of such as Friday’s for Future and zero waste grocery stores.”
She adds that “[Children] really are our future and I think that’s the case not only for science at large, but especially sustainability.” That’s why Bishnoi is looking forward to inspiring the next generation of scientists at the next Science Rendezvous!
Western University is a proud Science Rendezvous partner and will be hosting their fourth annual event next year on May 8, 2021, celebrating the theme of STEAM Green! They have provided brilliant activities in their last events, from coding to prehistoric paint, and from Chemistry experiences with dry ice and liquid nitrogen to discoveries about space. Not to mention, their firework display and Phantastic Physics Stage Show, along with the science chase where participants can win prizes, are sure to amaze.
Feel free to reach out to Indra if you have any more questions at ibishnoi@uwo.ca or on Instagram @ibishnoi13.
