My Climate

As I was growing up, I grew an everlasting interest in the mechanisms of biology—whether it be in plants or in animals. One of my interests that stemmed from this passion was gardening; my parents, also having been born in well-known villages in Northwestern India, had farming and gardening in their blood. You can imagine our surprise when they emigrated to Arizona to find that nothing grew in the climate. We tried tomatoes, spinach, potatoes, onions, fenugreek, and so much more. You name it, we tried it (yet almost nothing grew). Recently, even our palm trees began to die, even though they have held up in the past. The air was always so arid that it would easily suck the moisture out of our own skin, let alone fragile plants. We tried to find a way to limit this - extra water, tarps, and so much more - but it would not work.

My Realization

A couple years ago, I was sitting in AP Biology class when I started talking with Brandon Pham, our current main researcher. We were learning about transpiration in plants, when Brandon remarked that he has always had trouble with keeping plants alive in Arizona. This got me thinking. I went around to my other friends and asked them about their gardening experiences in Arizona - all of the responses were negative. This was the first time I realized the magnitude of this issue, and it was the first time I even considered the idea of finding a solution.

My Role

Now, as the leader of Garden Guard, I ensure that our team is organized and on track to complete the project in a healthy way. I'm dedicated to help guide our project to eventual commercial success, but I know that none of our success would be possible without the rest of the team. I take pride in everything that my team and I have done in order to successfully create an efficient mechanism that ensures plant growth in any environment, and in any season.