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USF's 2022 Millennium Fellows

Thirteen students from the University of South Florida have been selected as 2022 Millennium Fellows. The Fellowship, a collaboration between the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and Millennium Campus Network (MCN), is a semester-long leadership development program that convenes, challenges and celebrates bold student leadership to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals both on campus and in communities.

This year, more than 30,000 young leaders applied for the fellowship from 2,400 campuses across the globe. Only 200 campuses in 37 nations were selected to host 2022 Millennium Fellows based on the caliber of applicants and cohorts. USF is among only 28 American universities selected to host fellows this year.

The selected students are each working on a project to advance one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This year, the Millennium Fellows at USF will help establish a drug prevention coalition, increase academic equity, create an app to easily find sustainable products, increase school supply sustainability, encourage youth to become involved in humanitarian causes, and promote mental health awareness among students.

“We are proud to support the work of our 13 UN Millennium Fellows and advance sustainable development initiatives that improve our society,” said USF Office of National Scholars Director, Dr. Sayan Basu. “We congratulate these Fellows for their leadership and commitment to meaningful change.”

USF’s cohort of 2022 Millennium Fellows includes:

Haley Carrington
Major: Biology
Minor: Public Health
Expected Graduation: Spring 2023
Project Name: Honeybee Hotels
Description: Honeybees are headed to campus! This project is working toward educating the USF St. Petersburg campus community about honeybees and why they are one of the most important pollinators. Students will have the opportunity to construct honeybee “hotels” while learning about bees and ways to keep their habitats healthy.
Akul Gupta
Major: Biomedical Sciences, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Expected Graduation: Spring 2024
Project Title: Jobs for Unhoused Persons
Description: It is difficult for unhoused persons to find jobs for a variety of reasons including the potential lack of ID. This project looks to build a database of vetted employers willing to hire unhoused persons who do not have ID. Outreach teams in multiple cities will collect data on these employers and the project will work directly with shelters and job boards to reach unhoused persons in target communities.
Aastha Jakasania
Major: Information Technology, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Minor: Astronomy
Expected Graduation: Spring 2025
Project Title: United SDG Crusaders
Description: This project lies in the amalgamation of sustainability and technology and works towards United Nations SDG 2030. Through an interactive online platform, information will be gathered from people about sanitation conditions in underprivileged areas and help will be provided in promoting environmental-friendly practices and implementing Zero-Wet Waste management. The project is currently focusing on SDG 9 and 11 to spread awareness regarding online safety in the sector of Automotive Hacking.   

Schuyler Jones
Major: Environmental Engineering
Expected Graduation: 2025
Project Title: "Greenhouse Design/Greenhouse Engineering"
Description: This project will collaborate with Engineers without Borders to design a greenhouse using SolidWorks software for a local community garden. It will teach real world engineering/design skills and increase interest in sustainable and local food production.

Thomas Mezgebu

Shrikar Modukuri
Major: Biomedical Sciences, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Project Title: Eradicate Hepatitis
Description: The goal of this project is to expand free access to hepatitis testing and vaccinations to countries within South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Tia Moriarty
Majors: World Languages and Cultures (Mandarin, Spanish) & History, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Expected Graduation: May 2023
Project Title: "Bridging International Worlds"
Description: Bridging International Worlds aims to connect students from the University of South Florida and greater Tampa Bay area through the beauty of food. This project aims to create a recipe book that students can use to have a taste of home and abroad. This project hopes to bridge the gaps between cultural tastes and create connections through the flavors of life.
Audra Nikolajski
Majors: English and Political Science, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Minor: Education
Expected Graduation: Spring 2024
Project Title: “Educational Growth in Gardening”
Description: This is a research project that looks at the impact of the Judy Genshaft Honors College community gardening course on the students who take it. The goal is to understand the qualitative difference that a postsecondary community gardening course makes in the understanding of topics like sustainability and food insecurity. There will be a focus on incorporating experiential learning into the study of these complex topics.


Nidhi Patel
Major: Biomedical Sciences, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Expected Graduation: Spring 2025
Project Title: YouPrime
Description: The goal of this project is to spread awareness of how to practice healthy habits. It is extremely important for the public to know the characteristics of a healthy lifestyle and how to prevent future chronic illnesses, as that is the base of the healthcare system. YouPrime aims to lead community campaigns and hold workshops to provide accurate information on how to practice healthy habits at home.
Kobe Phillips
Majors: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Expected Graduation: Spring 2024
Project Title: “Rooted in Place”: Developing Sustainability through Community
Description: The Judy Genshaft Honors College Community Garden & Honors Course “Rooted in Place,” provides spaces for the ecosystem to be the classroom. Through experiential learning, this project brings civic ecology and the development of sustainable communities to center stage. The mission is to share the global experience of food sovereignty by implementing it here in our own backyard! We grow our own food and donate it to the Feed-A-Bull Pantry, while providing opportunities for students to learn about sustainable agriculture, community ecology, and food nutrition. The project also extends to campus activities, such as the creation of the USF Community Garden Farmers Market- a monthly market of local vendors with fresh produce accessible for all students and faculty on campus. With all its benefits - food sovereignty, sustainability, education, leadership opportunities, and more - the garden is building a sustainable community that connects everyone at USF.

Jasmine Rehman
Majors: B.A. in International Relations and B.S. in Business Analytics and Information Systems, Judy Genshaft Honors College
Expected Graduation: Fall 2023
Project Title: Transforming Tampa’s Transportation
Description: This project is aimed at addressing one aspect of the increasing socioeconomic disparity in the Tampa Bay community by improving the area's public transportation system. The project hopes to engage with members of the community to gain a better understanding of the need for improved public transit between downtown and suburb areas, and how the lack of existing infrastructure reflects overarching social issues. Project goals include organizing events consisting of roundtable discussions with important community figures involved in public transportation and constituents affected by access to public transit.

Ethan Skidmore
Majors: Psychology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences (concentrations in Sociology & Criminology), Judy Genshaft Honors College
Minor: Mass Communications
Expected Graduation: Spring 2024
Project Title: Expanding Horizons
Description: Expanding Horizons is a Positive Youth Development (PYD) program that can provide Tampa youth with a unique learning experience that integrates traditional and experiential learning in a way that promotes positive values and a greater understanding of themselves.  Essentially, the goal of this program is to teach life lessons to youth in the Tampa Bay area in a fun environment where they have role models to help mentor and prepare them for life.

Nafisa Uddin