Anisha Balahara

Anisha Balahara is part of the graduating year of 2027 of Redmond High School, where her interests run to chemistry, bioengineering, and sustainability. She was elected class representative in her freshman and sophomore years, competes as a varsity athlete, and has qualified three times for DECA. She is two years into the Project Lead The Way engineering pathway, and her coursework in AP Chemistry and biology has given her hands-on lab experience, including DNA extraction.

It was through the Technology Student Association that Anisha discovered her passion for science communication. Competing in STEM Mass Media, she advanced from the state competition to the national conference and placed third in the nation, reporting on NASA's Artemis II mission with a news broadcast and a written feature produced on a 24-hour deadline.

Her environmental work began on hiking trails. Noticing how much trash and discarded plastic littered them, she started packing it out and brought her friends along, hauling out pounds of waste. She now wants to design sustainable practices Redmond High can adopt, and plans to add volunteer tutoring for students with disabilities to the K-5 students she already teaches.

Anisha joined Sustainability Ambassadors to take that work beyond the walls of her school and help her community become more sustainable and resilient. She hopes to build a career in chemistry or bioengineering that blends research with environmental responsibility.