Mahika Behani
Resume
Internship Experience
2022 - Present
Intern
Environment Conservation Society: (SwitchON Foundation)
(NGO working towards equitable and sustainable development) 2022)
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Worked on the Learning Management System (EnvirON) on creating books for elementary and middle school students on educating them about air pollution.
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Contributed to the glossary, summary and graphics for the ‘Fundamental’ and ‘Intermediate’ books on air pollution.
August 2022
Intern
Bangalore Creative Circus (BCC) + Initiative for Climate Action (ICA)
(Urban Living Lab enabling regenerative culture and enterprise for accelerating transformative climate action)
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Researched aquaponics and hydroponics (hands-on research) as well as sustainability in urban areas (made a presentation about the SDG’s that can be addressed along with climate change communication). Created a short series of videos to educate students about global warming in a fun, easy-to-understand way, as well as explaining concepts such as hydroponics.
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Helped organise and emcee a Farmer’s Market event featuring organic produce. The event helped raise awareness on climate change and featured screenings of films such as ‘The Weight of Water: The Human Cost of Climate Crisis’.
2021
Intern
Spectra Constructions Pvt. Ltd.
(a real estate company)
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Learned about sustainable practices during construction and the criteria that the company must meet. Wrote a report about innovations in sustainability and construction technologies used in green construction around the world that can be adopted at Spectra.
July 2020 - Feb 2021
Creative Intern
Centre for Wildlife Studies
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Contributed to the organization’s Wild Shaale initiative aimed at creating an environmental education curriculum that teaches children living near wildlife reserves to be future stewards of conservation and help them become young naturalists.
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Helped design the curriculum for the holistic learning course and provided ideas and samples for games.
Research Experience
Research Paper
2022 - Present
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Research conducted under the mentorship of Ph.D. student Jonathan Choi on living shoreline approaches in the Sundarbans and the southeast US. (In Progress)
Leadership Experience
ExperiMental
2022 - Present
Founder
● Started an initiative to teach science concepts like density, states of matter, non-Newtonian fluids, and structure of cells to children between 6-15 years through fun, DIY experiments on Zoom.
Women in STEM
2021 - Present
Founder
● Started a YouTube channel, podcast and Instagram page about women in STEM such as such as Grace Hopper and Rosalind Franklin to raise awareness and inspire girls interested in STEM fields. Filmed videos, designed posts, and interviewed women in various STEM fields, talking about their inspiring journeys.
Interact Aditi
2021 - Present
Vice President
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Organised a charity carnival event ‘Reach Out’ with 700+ people and events including a fashion show promoting sustainability, and a dance and music competition. Raised over 10 lakhs to donate to 2 NGOS (WARDS and Cheshire Disability Trust).
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Organised the 12th annual blood drive at my school (2022) with 80+ donors. Led a team of 70 members to coordinate with the hospital, make decorations, enact strict safety protocols and invite donors. Raised 1.5 lakhs for the event. Blood was donated to TTK Blood Bank.
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Chosen as a part of the ‘Logistics’ team to help organize a vaccine drive and two blood drives in 2021 by creating sign-up forms, contacting vendors, enforcing social distancing regulations, and coordinating among various teams.
TEDxMAIS
2020 - Present
Lead Organiser
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Led a team of 28 students to successfully organize an online event, inviting 5 renowned speakers and 150+ attendees for the event.
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Organised two successful events (2021 and 2022) and in the process of organising one in 2023 (taking place in Jan) serving as the head of speaker management.
Girl Up MAIS
2022 - Present
Coordinator, Founder
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Started Girl Up MAIS and led a team of 30 students.
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Organised a ‘Girl Up APL’ soccer match to encourage girls to participate in sports; wrote and distributed positivity notes to
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students and teachers in school to spread joy.
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Currently in progress of completing the ‘Girl Up’s Leadership Course’
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Granted $450 by the United Nations as part of a ‘Girl Up STEM Project Award’ in order to organise an event in my school to
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promote science amongst middle schoolers, especially girls, and encourage them to pursue a STEM field. The event involves training the entire Girl Up MAIS team on conducting experiments as well as explaining the science behind it to the participants. The event is scheduled to take place in November
Helyx India
2020 - 2021
Co-President
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Elected as the Co-President for the India chapter of The Helyx Initiative.
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Awarded a Spark Teen Grant to create a website (COVBharat) to fight the spread of misinformation about COVID. Organized an international bioinformatics-based hackathon with over $9,000 in prizes
HerSTEM Global Magazine
2020 - 2021
Founder
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Founded an international magazine aimed at promoting STEM and empowering girls, by providing them with a platform to express their scientific acumen. Led a team of 40+ girls from all around the world to work on and promote the magazine.
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Received and edited submissions from across the globe and hosted an art competition with 20+ international entries.
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Interviewed candidates from the 1000 Girls 1000 Futures program for ‘Mentee of the Month’ as well reached out to influential global mentors across various fields.
Technovation Girls
2021 - Present
Ambassador
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Worked with an international team of five girls to create an app using Thunkable to help regulate and raise awareness on carbon footprint and climate change. Chosen as a quarterfinalist of the competition.
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Chosen as a student ambassador to help recruit girls from underserved communities and guide them during the challenge season.
Child Protection Committee
2020 - 2021
School Representative
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Chosen to be a part of the committee with the Principal, members of the board of trustees, a lawyer, and a few teachers.
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Provided a student perspective by sharing inputs and providing feedback on the policies and ideas discussed.
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Conducted mental health check-ins for teachers and students, organized community-building sessions for each class, and formed support groups to help students and teachers cope with the stress of online classes.
Co-Curricular Activities & Achievements
The Junior Academy - New York Academy of Sciences
2020 - Present
● Conducted research with groups of international students on topics such as closed-loop textile bioeconomy and cybersecurity, under the guidance of skilled mentors and received feedback for research and solutions from industry experts.
●Competed in the following challenges: Cybersecurity in the Age of IoT (team lead and finalist), Sustainable Chain of Transportation, Combating COVID-19, Green Textiles and Healthcare On-Demand: The Future of Telemedicine
Explore Engineering Innovation - Johns Hopkins University
2022
● Accepted into the program for the year 2022.
1000 Girls, 1000 Futures - New York Academy of Sciences
2020 - 2022
● Chosen as Mentee of the Month and mentored by skilled women in various STEM fields on leadership and critical thinking.
● Collaborated with girls from across the world on projects on topics such as science communication and advocacy.
● Winner of the international Girls Voices’ Movement video challenge for creating a compelling video on 50 influential women in STEM from across the world. The video was presented at the (virtual) GSA Summit.
Kode with Klossy
2022
● Learned how to code in Swift and use Xcode. Designed an app on climate change with four other girls from around the world and presented it.
Girls Who Code - Summer Immersion Program
2022
● Learned how to code in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Worked on coding projects such a personal website, personality quiz and activist toolkit (website talking about global warming).
Youth Leaders for Climate Restoration Program
2022 - Present
● Accepted into Cohort 15 of the intensive 13 week program which prepares young leaders to learn, speak and teach about climate restoration. Learn about climate action and climate activism, as well as develop crucial leadership, mentorship and citizenship skills through formal presentations, community service, hosting a webinar and mentoring new members.
Math Club
2019 - Present
● Member of the school’s math club, participated in weekly meetings, learned and made presentations on various mathematical concepts, explored and discussed college-level math problems.
Extra-Curricular Activities & Achievements
International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition (Ambassador)
2020 - Present
● Promoted interest in astrophysics and astronomy through webinars and encouraged students to participate in IAAC.
ILSI (International Learning Sweden India)
2021 - 2022
● Participated in ILSI and collaborated with students of Rudbeck, Sweden. Worked on a research project on the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education, presenting it to students and teachers of both schools (Rudbeck and MAIS).
Language Pursuits
2016 - 2019
● Received the Diplôme D’Études en Langue Française, DELF A1 with a score of 97.5%.
Secured 96% in the national round of the French Olympiad.
● Ranked 3rd internationally in International French Spell Bee Competition 2018, organized by Le FREHENDI, PARIS.
● Ranked 1st (2017) and 4th (2018) in the French Word Power competition, organized by Prayatna Educational Society.
● Ranked 2nd nationally in ROMANCE Inter-school Language Extravaganza for poetry recitation.
● Ranked 1st in the À Vive Voix (Just a Minute) at Franco-Feel, Mount Carmel College and in the English Spelling Contest
conducted by India Spellbee in association with KSCA Club House.
Digital Exchange Program
2020
● Collaborated with a US student over two weeks to strengthen language learning and cross cultural collaboration.
● Learned design thinking, community journalism and researched into the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Theatre
2015 - 2019
● Completed the Trinity College London Grade 5 Speech and Drama Examination (with Distinction).
● Wrote and acted in a social street play ‘Iddu Yara Kere’ about the polluted and disappearing lakes in the city.
Piano
2011 - 2020
● Learned piano for 7 years and performed at various recitals including Christmas recitals at St. Mark’s Cathedral.
● High Achiever in Pre-Prep LCM exam (highest in the state).
Public Speaking
2020 - 2022
● Won numerous elocution and JAM competitions in school.
● Chosen by principal to emcee the Senior’s graduation ceremony (500+ attendees).
● Served as the emcee for the TedxMAIS 2021 event (150+ attendees), Farmer’s Market at Bangalore Creative Circus (200+ attendees) and Sustainable Fashion Show event by The Anugraha Project (150+ attendees)
Swimming
2022
● Certified PADI Open Water Scuba Diver.
Community Service
The Anugraha Project
(NGO aimed at empowering under-served communities)
2022 - Present
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Part of the core team, in charge of training new members and overseeing the coordination between all members for events.
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Emcee for all the events, in charge of explaining the vision and impact of the project to large groups.
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Emcee for the Sustainable Fashion Show event with 150+ attendees, raising 2 lakhs.
Actiwoo
(a health and fitness app)
2021
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Raised Rs 1.5 lakhs to support Amruthahalli and Palanahalli Government Schools with necessary sports equipment.
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Organized a 10 day event where participants walked a total of 7500 kilometres; raising INR 20 for each kilometre for promoting fitness and health.
Scoop the Poop
(Initiative to Raise Awareness about picking up after one’s dogs)
2015 - 2018
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Co-founded ‘Scoop the Poop’ and partnered with a pet store to provide scoopers and bags at discounted prices.
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Promoted awareness about the initiative at various dog shows and dog lovers meets across the city.
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Raised money through various fundraising events and donated the collected amount to the CUPA animal shelter.
Education
Mallya Aditi International School, India (MAIS)
2010 - Present
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Currently pursuing the curriculum for the Cambridge Assessment International Education (A Levels).
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One of the 5 students selected for the accelerated Mathematics program (completed AS and A level courses in 11th grade and
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pursuing collegiate level math in 12th grade)
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Completed the CIE AS Level.
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School topper with 98.8% in the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) grade 10 examination.
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ICSE Board topper in India, securing 100% in Mathematics, Computer Applications, English Literature, and Geography. ● Received the Mahindra Search for Talent Scholarship in Grades 8, 9 and 10 and the Honour Scholarship in Grade 10.
Standardised Tests
2022
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SAT: 1550/1600
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○ Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 780/800
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○ Math: 770/800
Online Courses
2021 - Present
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Harvard University – ‘Energy Within Environmental Constraints’ (In Progress)
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University of Copenhagen – ‘The Sustainable Development Goals’
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University of Arizona – ‘Astronomy: Exploring Time and Space’
Competitions
2019
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Hanoi Open Mathematics Competition – qualified for the national round out of 6000+ students and ranked 14 in the country.
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Australian National Chemistry Quiz – passed the ANCQ with High Distinction Excellence (top 5% in India) in the Junior Division.