Eleanor Meng

Age: 22

Home Town: Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Education: B.A. in Biology with Religious Studies minor, Lawrence University

Specific Field Interests: Climate resilience, Education, Environmental justice

Placement: Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Area of Focus: Environment Education

Fellowship Project: Assist in the development and writing of a national textbook for 11th-12th grades on the topics of sustainable development and climate change. Encourage critical thinking in students and support teachers in expanding their curriculum on sustainability issues.

Highlights: Eleanor is serving as a Banyan Impact Fellow with the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. For her project, she will be assisting in developing a national textbook on climate change. Eleanor graduated from Lawrence University in 2024 with a degree in biology. She is passionate about the intersection of conservation, education, and environmental justice, especially in conducting ecology-based research that benefits local communities. During her undergraduate studies, Eleanor worked as a National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Holling scholar, where she studied how human presence affected the use of trash in songbird nests. Because of her interest in public involvement in the sciences, she held a public presentation to discuss ways the community could mitigate the presence of trash in the local environment to help prevent future trash in nests. Since graduating, Eleanor has worked as a science technician around the U.S., including working on prairie grass and songbird conservation research. Most recently, she worked in Alaska conducting salmon surveys to determine commercial fisheries’ catch limits, which helps maintain sustainable fishing practices. Outside of her scientific work, Eleanor is passionate about education and worked for several years as a youth instructor at the YMCA and volunteered as a rock-climbing instructor. Through her Fellowship period, she hopes to better understand how to use her background in conservation science and passion for education to encourage sustainable development.