On May 23, 2019, UCLA senior PwintPhyu Nandar was honored with the Dean’s Prize in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The award recognizes undergraduate researcher accomplisments and outstanding presentations given at UCLA’s annual Research Poster Day event. Nandar presented a poster detailing the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (SLA GC) funded gender and water research project. Nandar collaborated with project leads Jessica Cattelino, associate professor in the department of anthropology at UCLA, and Rachel Lee, professor of English and gender studies at UCLA, in order to determine the connection between gender and water use in Los Angeles households.

Nandar became involved with the project by way of the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (SLA GC-URSP), a year-long course providing undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct sustainability research under the mentorship of faculty researchers in order to contribute to the SLA GC goal of transitioning Los Angeles County to 100% renewable energy, 100% local water, and enhanced ecosystem health by 2050. While in the SLA GC-URSP, Nandar researched water use in immigrant households in Los Angeles; her findings suggest that, “immigrant households in Los Angeles are sites of expertise on how to conserve water.”

Following her junior year experience, she participated in a summer research program at Brown University and prepared an honors thesis. As a senior she continued her SLA GC-URSP commitment serving as a Project Consultant. Nandar credits the SLA GC-URSP with helping her achieve research goals beyond the program.

In addition to winning a Dean’s Prize, Nandar has attended a summer research program at Brown University and completed an honors thesis expanding on the research conducted through SLA GC-URSP.

Read more about the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. The program is accepting applications for the 2019-2020 academic year through Sunday, June 30, 2019.