Capstone Project Highlight Series: Christine Chandran ’21

Each year, a number of junior and senior class members choose to participate in the MFS Capstone Program. Designed to challenge students who wish to pursue advanced study in a particular field, the program asks participants to produce scholarly work by engaging in independent research and/or creative development under the guidance of an MFS faculty member. This series highlights recently completed projects of the 18 senior students in the program. 

As a young girl, Christine Chandran ’21 recognized her passion for science, health, and medicine. Having participated in medical mission trips with her family, she saw the effect of poor water systems and water hygiene on the people in Nellore, India first-hand. It became her goal to help both educate the area’s residents and fix the problem by providing better water sources to the community. 

In addition to starting a non-profit organization, Christine used her capstone project to delve deeper into the issue and provide a curriculum to remote communities in need. As she stated in her project description: “The objective is to provide information to remote communities about the effects of water hygiene and ways of improving water quality through simple, sustainable action. This… will put health into the context of economic situations, climate, and social norms.” Her research was broken into sections including the importance of clean water and the various types of water needed for sustaining a healthy lifestyle – drinking, sanitation, portioning, and natural water. The pandemic interrupted the opportunity for a trip to more closely study the area and its water sources, but Christine was able to use online reports to research, monitor, and understand the region. 

While her capstone project has helped to develop a more concrete plan on how to help the Nellore community moving forward, she intends to continue her work into the foreseeable future. As Christine moves forward with her project, she will focus on the basics of water cleanliness and hygiene. She noted that “what could be basic knowledge and practices to [her], could be newer concepts to those from different areas. Therefore, I decided to redesign my curriculum to become easier to comprehend and with direct solutions.” She hopes to be able to visit the area soon and work with the residents to implement her curriculum. Read more about her project on her capstone page.