President: Pradnya Latkar
Pradnya pursued a master’s in environmental engineering and graduated from NC State in May 2020. Her research interests lie in learning about systems, processes, and technological advancements that could connect people with safe and adequate amounts of water. She had taken coursework to know more about science and policies in the water resource management sector. She was a part of De Los Reyes group wherein she conducted research for assessing the design and operation and maintenance practices of community toilet blocks in Mumbai, India using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method. She likes to do warli painting, swimming and listening to podcasts.
“The global water, sanitation, and hygiene issues are some of the most pressing problems that the world is currently facing due to lack of access, improper infrastructure, outdated policies, and inefficient practices. This student chapter is a potential platform to network and use the knowledge spread across different disciplines to solve these issues and make the world a better place.”
Vice President: Gracie Hornsby
Gracie graduated in spring 2020 with a Bachelors’s in Civil Engineering. She was a member of Dr. Angela Harris’ research lab where she conducted research on field methods for detecting fecal contamination in drinking water, molecular methods for detecting source-specific contamination in environmental waters, and methods for detecting antibiotic-resistant bacteria in groundwater samples. Gracie also enjoys backpacking, rock climbing, and playing with her fluffy dog.
“Global WASH is a topic we can all engage with because to really address these complex global issues, it takes engineers, medical professionals, economists, social scientists, and everyone in between. If you care about people’s health, the health of the environment, access to education, or gender equality, then global WASH is for you.”
Secretary: Poorva Mokashi
Poorva was a Master’s student in the Environmental Engineering program and graduated in May 2020 with coursework focused on water, wastewater treatment, and sustainability. She worked with Dr. Josh Kearns’s research group, primarily working on remediation of chemical contaminants in low & middle-income countries and assisted other graduate students in experiments of biochar adsorption to remove Fluoride & PFAS (Per & Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) from water. She enjoys reading, bird watching, and nature photography in her spare time.
“The Global WaSH Student Chapter gives students a chance to interact with top-notch researchers & professionals in WaSH while presenting a broad perspective on different problems facing society and how we can contribute to solving them.”
Treasurer: Myat Aung
Myat grew up in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), where she completed high school with a science concentration. In 2008, for political reasons, she and her family had to leave Yangon for Nu Poe Refugee Camp in Thailand, where she stayed for two years spending most of her time studying and teaching English. She earned her GED and was granted a full scholarship to study at Mahidol University International College in Bangkok, Thailand. She graduated from Mahidol in 2015 with a BS in Environmental Science and Technology. Since December 2015 Myat has worked with Aqueous Solutions on various WaSH research and service projects with communities in northern Thailand, Eastern and central Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.