Ananya Gulur Nagendra
Plano East Senior High School
Plano, TX
Utilizing Ants Through Novel Aerobic Digester System for Anthropogenic Food Waste Decomposition
Ananya Gulur Nagendra, 18, of Plano, studied how ant scavenging could decompose human food waste for her Regeneron Science Talent Search animal sciences project.
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Food waste produces about 58% of methane emissions from landfills, contributing to climate change. To find a sustainable solution to the problem, she began by feeding four ant species food waste to find which broke down the most per ant per day. Camponotus castaneus ate the most waste and had the highest metabolic rate.
Ananya created a model to estimate the volume of methane emissions reduced by C. castaneus activity. Finally, she designed a prototype of an ant-based aerobic digester that would cost under $50,000. Her tests found it to be about 83% efficient. Ananya’s work could lead to a viable way to reduce the environmental impact of food waste in landfills.
The child of Nalini Rajeswara and Nagendra Gulur, Ananya attends Plano East Senior High School, where she was named singer of the year by the choir department in 2024. Ananya also sings with the Greater Dallas Choral Society for children and youth.
Beyond the Project
Ananya leads her school’s science research club and was named singer of the year by the choir department in 2024. Ananya also sings with the Greater Dallas Choral Society for children and youth.
FUN FACTS: After losing her mother to cancer in 2023, Ananya started the nonprofit Letters of Light, which now has more than 3,000 volunteers who write supportive letters to people facing cancer.
