Name, where are you in the world right now?

Kunal Pathak, and I’m in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Where are you joining us from?

I just graduated from high school and I’m on my way to UNC Chapel Hill in August to study business and computer science.

Why are you passionate about conservation?

I was a boy scout, so I’ve done a bunch of conservation work through that. My Eagle project was to revamp a bridge - I took down a rotting wooden bridge, and built a plexiglass/plastic monomer bridge on a local hiking trail in North Carolina.

What will you be working on with us?

I’m working with the Garage team to determine how we can market the Sentinel System to people who are working with NEPA laws. The Sentinel System could help facilitate the NEPA/ Environmental Impact Statement process through observing the site in which they are about to build a piece of infrastructure to identify the species that are in that location. This is one way to gather information about whether a location is good, or not.

Do you have a favorite species?

I can’t pick one - there are too many! I’m partial to monkeys - my favorite God is a monkey. I should think more rigorously about this!

How are you staying entertained during the pandemic?

I started a composting project, and I play a lot of video games with my friends on Xbox. I’m listening to music (I love Tupac) and a group of my friends and I are all watching Avatar together.

Outside of your work at CXL, what’s one of the coolest projects you’ve worked on so far?

I’m working on a composting project - it would be a free county-wide composting system for all residents of Orange County, NC. It came about after I was walking my dog one day, saw my neighbor’s yard waste, and looked into how to get composting for my parents. I asked about the yard waste to the county, and heard that it all goes into the landfill. In the process, I learned that there are a lot of good things about composting. I only started this a month ago or so - I’m in contact with Orange County, and I’ve gotten a lot of good resources from local and distant composting facilities. I’m working on a proposal now!