Tanvi wins Bayer Environmental Award
Tanvi testing the results of her project in the lab
The Bayer Group in India recently announced the winners of the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy 2011 (BYEE 2011) competition from participants across the country and we are delighted and proud that Tanvi Gadgil, one of our MSc students, was among them.
Tanvi - along with 48 winners from 17 other countries - will travel to Germany in October 2011 on a week-long all-expenses-paid study tour sponsored by Bayer. She will get a first-hand experience of how sustainable environmental practices are pursued jointly by the people, government and industry. The trip will include visits to various waste management and recycling sites as well as workshops on nature monitoring and conservation.
Tanvi Gadgil is a 22 year old student from Pune. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Renewable Energy at Loughborough University, UK. Her project explores the possibility of the use of wheat straw as an abundant, low-cost, non-food feedstock for anaerobic digestion to produce energy and a useful bio-fertilizer as the by-product. The result is the completion of ‘food-fuel-fertilizer closed-loop nutrient cycle’, a step towards sustainable living.
Tanvi has volunteered with the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which strives for the holistic development of slum children. She has also been an active member of a local community group which takes up issues of sanitation, road conditions and conservation. Tanvi is an enthusiastic cyclist and enjoys playing her synthesizer.
Her comment on winning the BYEE 2011 award, “In the past one year, I have acquired the technical as well as socio-economic know-how about a wide range of renewable energy technologies and if need be, their integration to suit a particular environment. Having gotten this fantastic opportunity to go to Germany and learn about the interplay of industry, households and governments will help me translate my technical knowledge into practical applications to address various environmental issues in my own country. The BYEE award fits perfectly in my overall scheme of ambitions and I am extremely grateful to Bayer for selecting me!”
In response to her winning the award, her project supervisor, Prof. Andrew Wheatley said, “Tanvi has proved to be a hard-working and enthusiatic researcher with a passionate interest in improving the environment. Her experience of the influence that commercial development has had on the environment in India has promoted this interest. Tanvi has the skills, experience and understanding to make an exceptional contribution to environmental management in the future and therefore benefit from the experience and opportunities offered by the Bayer Award.”
Further reading:
The Bayer article in full : http://www.bayergroupindia.com/byee_envoys_2011.html
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