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.

Fall 2025

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.

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