MITOS Students

A group of MIT students and staff gathered around a conference table are actively engaged in a collaborative activity, writing on large sheets of paper. The room is well-lit, with a presentation screen in the background. The atmosphere is focused and collaborative.

Meet the current students working with the MIT Office of Sustainability on applied projects that connect academics, operations, and climate action across campus.

Spring 2025

Emily Berkemeyer

Graduate Community Fellow

Emily is a second-year Master in City Planning student in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. As the Graduate Sustainability Engagement Fellow with the MIT Office of Sustainability, she connects graduate students with MIT’s campus sustainability and climate initiatives.

In collaboration with the Office of Sustainability and the MIT Climate Project, she organizes events and tours, promotes sustainability programming through MIT-wide channels, and builds platforms (such as a mailing list and Slack space) for cross-disciplinary connection. She also helps raise awareness of MIT sustainability data and staff expertise so graduate students can integrate campus resources into their research and projects.

Caroline Huang

Student Sustainability Project Assistant

Caroline Huang is a first year at MIT planning to major in Computer Science and Economics (6-14). This spring, she will support creative communications projects for MITOS, developing illustrations and visual content to engage the MIT community on sustainability topics, while also assisting the campus heat monitoring team with sensor deployment. She is particularly interested in advancing campus sustainability and understanding the science behind heat mitigation through data and experimentation. In her free time, she loves to journal, draw, play board games, and travel.

Amy Kim

Student Sustainability Project Assistant

Amy Kim is a first year at MIT planning to major in Architecture and minor in Civil and Environmental Systems. This spring, she will help advance the design and implementation of a campus-wide heat sensor network, including refining sensor locations, supporting field deployment, and contributing to data visualization and communication efforts to highlight heat exposure, shade benefits, and microclimate variation across MIT. She hopes to utilize design to protect the environment as well as empower disadvantaged communities. In her free time, she likes to sing, paint, and spend time with family.

Caroline Liu

Design Out Waste Student Advisor

Caroline Liu is a MS/MBA graduate student in MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program, where she combines engineering expertise with business strategy. Passionate about transforming complex operations into impactful systems, she serves as the Waste Watcher Program Strategy Adviser with MITOS. In this role, she is evaluating and redesigning the student-led initiative aimed at reducing campus waste. Her work focuses on optimizing program structure and developing strategies to enhance organizational effectiveness and measurable impact.

Flynn Parkins

Student Sustainability Project Assistant

Flynn Parkins is a master’s student in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Climate, Environment, and Sustainability) at MIT. This spring, she will support community-facing sustainability programs, including planning and documenting public reuse events such as SWAPs and Bike Tune-Ups, and evaluating opportunities to strengthen connections between MIT and local organizations. She will also lend her expertise to a flood documentation project, helping inform pilot design and stakeholder engagement to support both campus and local community resilience. She is particularly interested in being more involved in the local community and in her free time she likes thrifting, picking up new arts and crafts, and listening to live music.

Shelley Tang

Student Sustainability Project Assistant

Shelley Tang is a first year at MIT planning to major in Computer Science and Engineering (6-3) and Math (18). This spring, she will support campus sustainability initiatives focused on food systems and zero waste planning. Her work includes analyzing campus food purchasing and waste data, developing engaging visualizations to communicate findings, researching best practices for sustainable dining, and contributing to the planning of a food recovery pilot program in campus dining halls. Shelley brings strong analytical and communication skills, and is passionate about using data-driven approaches to advance sustainability and climate goals on campus. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, running, and spending time with family and friends.

2025 Summer Cohort

Sylva Das

Campus Climate Action Cohort: Climate Resiliency

Sylva is a rising senior at Wellesley College majoring in Environmental Studies. This summer she is excited to work in collaboration with GreenRoots—a Chelsea-based environmental justice organization—on an urban heat mitigation and community engagement project focussed on increasing tree canopy coverage in Chelsea. In her free time, Sylva enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, exploring the city and nearby rail trails by bike, swimming in the ocean and lakes, hiking, and cooking with her roommates.

Rochelle Griffith

Campus Climate Action Student Cohort: Decarbonization Accelerator

Rochelle is a rising sophomore studying Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is passionate about climate equity and creating a more sustainable future. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and taking long scenic walks. Rochelle is excited to be a part of the MITOS summer cohort, collaborating with others to help MIT achieve its decarbonization goals.

Chiara Palagi

Campus Climate Action Student Cohort: Climate Resiliency

Chiara Palagi is a junior majoring in Urban Planning with minors in Environment & Sustainability and Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). Her interests lie at the intersection of climate adaptation, environmental justice, and equitable urban design. This summer at MITOS, she is working on a project to better understand, sense, and mitigate the urban heat island effect with a focus on the MIT campus and Cambridge area. Outside academics, Chiara enjoys birding, hiking, practicing martial arts, spending time with her cats, and exploring our natural and built environments.

Zachary Rapaport

Campus Climate Action Cohort: Food Systems

Zachary is a Master of Architecture student at MIT. Through the MITOS Summer Cohort and Urban Risk Lab, he leads the MIT Farm project. His work focuses on transforming underutilized campus sites into a distributed network of growing spaces for urban farming and hands-on experimentation. Through summer 2025, he is prototyping the farm, piloting activations, and building a FarmCorps supported by students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

Diego Iglesias Vega

Campus Climate Action Student Cohort: Decarbonization Accelerator

Diego is a graduate student at MIT pursuing an MSCEP degree in the department of Chemical Engineering. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and is passionate about environmental sustainability. As a part of MITOS, he aims to explore different decarbonization options for the MIT campus. During his free time, Diego enjoys exploring the city of Boston, drinking a good coffee, and going to the movie theater.

Santiago Vega

Campus Climate Action Student Cohort: Climate Resiliency

Santiago is a rising sophomore majoring in Electrical Engineering with Computing. Coming from a first-generation, low-income background, he is passionate about being able to motivate real-world change. He is interested in the relation between sustainability and power systems, as well as data science. His work with MITOS focuses on tracking heat and across MIT's campus and the city of Cambridge. And for fun, he is actively involved with music at MIT.

Ria Verensia

Campus Climate Action Student Cohort: Climate Resiliency

Ria is an MEng graduate in Climate, Environment, and Sustainability at MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, with research focusing on soil moisture and drought events. She is a water resources engineer with extensive experience in flood risk assessment, nature-based solutions, and drainage planning. At the MIT Office of Sustainability, she has contributed to flood risk, heat risk, and climate adaptation projects, applying her technical expertise in hydrology and water resources to support campus resilience. Outside of work, she enjoys swimming and jogging.

Tony Wang

Campus Climate Action Student Cohort: Decarbonization Accelerator

Tony is a first-year master’s student in the Real Estate Development program and a Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholar. He is curious about how sustainability concepts can be actively embedded in building design to ensure economic feasibility. He enjoys reading detective novels and spends a lot of time with his middle-aged cat.

Rowan Wergeland

Campus Climate Action Cohort: Food Systems

Rowan is a rising second-year in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. As part of the MITOS Summer Cohort, they work on making campus food waste systems more efficient and environmentally friendly. He is passionate about renewable energy, sustainability efforts, and indigenous sovereignty. They can typically be found around campus at the WMBR radio station, playing in the MIT Concert Band, or gathering more clothing for their costume collection.

Past MITOS Students

Learn about the many students that have worked for MITOS over the years.

Group of 6 students standing together, smiling at the MIT Office of Sustainability

2024 Summer Cohort: Jordyn Goldson '27, Dylan Cook '27, Sawyer Garrett '26, Rudiba Laiba '25, Ananda Santos Figueriedo '25, and Megan Lim '24