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Prakriti is a fourth-year PhD student being co-advised by Prof. Javernick-Will (GPO) and Prof. Sherri Cook (Cook Research Group). She holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering (May 2022) from CU Boulder as well as a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from a small college in India. She was born and brought up in New Delhi, India.

Growing up in a big city in India and seeing first-hand its flailing infrastructure systems, a result of political corruption and a vehement lack of resources, instilled a strong sense of community service and humanitarian rehabilitation and resilience work in Prakriti, and she is now working at the GPO on a collaborative project with the (US) EPA to understand historical drivers and barriers to heretofore successfully implemented water reuse and reclamation projects around the country, with a view to build upon these pre-existing case studies and models to better understand prospects for future implementations. For this, she will be co-advised by Dr. Sherri Cook.

In the summer of 2022, Prakriti worked with the Colorado Senate as part of a summer fellowship for STEM students, to devise a legislative policy proposal over the course of 6 weeks of the fellowship; her project focused on understanding ways to implement a community-based participatory research program for wildfire risk mitigation from a behavioral economics lens. Previously, Prakriti worked in an air quality/atmospheric chemistry research group on several field projects to quantify trace greenhouse gases and aerosols that are hypothesized to be direct contributors to a changing atmosphere and rising temperatures.

Besides a strong passion for and motivation to work towards sustainability and on humanitarian causes, especially within the context of climate change, Prakriti is passionate about teaching tricks to her 5-year old orange tabby, Charak ("wise wanderer" in Sanskrit) and his younger brother Bob Marley, learning as many dance forms as possible within the course of a single human life, and maintaining a mentally and physically active, interested lifestyle despite the constraints of the times.

Preferred pronouns: She/her/hers

Education:

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, °µÍø½ûÇø, 2022
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India, 2018

Awards & Fellowships:

• Sigma Xi Associate Membership Nominee | Sigma XiÌý– The Scientific Research Honor Society | Jun 2025
  Nominated for associate membership in recognition of exceptional research potential (top graduate researchers nationally).
• Graduate & Professional Student Government Travel Grant | U²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â o´Ú C´Ç±ô´Ç°ù²¹»å´Ç‵þ´Ç³Ü±ô»å±ð°ù | M²¹²â 2025
  Competitive $500 grant supporting field work/research travel to complete data collection for Ph.D. dissertation.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Water Research Foundation (WRF)Ìý|ÌýProject Funding Agreement 5198; EPA Grant Number 84046201-0 & CFDA 66.511. Grant titled “Unlocking the Nationwide Potential of Water Reuse – Tasks A, B, D. Funding through May 2026 on current budget (3 full years for the student doing QCA). Grant terminated by U.S. EPA as of May 7, 2025 due to federal priorities transition.
• Dean’s Graduate Innovation Assistantship | College of Engineering & Applied Science, CU Boulder | 2019 – 2023
  Flagship four‑year award for the CU Boulder’s most promising Ph.D. recruits. Included ~$24.8 k annual stipend, full tuition, and cohort‑based professional development programming.
• Dean’s Graduate Fellowship | CU Boulder | 2019 – 2020
  $3k merit fellowship awarded for outstanding academic record and research promise.

Dissemination & Service:

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

• Sardana, P., Javernick-Will, A., & Cook, S. M. (2024). Facilitators and Barriers of Global Water Reuse: A Systematic Literature Review. ACS ES&T Water, 5(1), 3-19.

Oral and Poster Presentations

• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M. Identifying Successful Strategies for Implementing Potable Water Reuse Projects: An fsQCA Approach. IWA-ASPIRE Water New Zealand Conference & Expo, ÅŒtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand. September 2025. Accepted but could not travel.
• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M. Identifying Successful Strategies for Implementing Potable Water Reuse Projects: A Cross Case Comparative Approach. Engineering Project Organizations Conference (EPOC), Chennai, India. July 2025. Accepted but could not travel.
• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M. When Good Pilots Stall: Comparative Evidence from Potable Reuse Journeys. AWWA Annual Conference & Expo (ACE), Denver, CO. June 2025.
• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M. Facilitators and Barriers of Global Water Reuse: Findings from a Systematic Literature Review and Analysis of Published Case Studies of Water Reuse Projects. AEESP Research and Education Conference, Durham, NC. May 2025. Accepted but could not travel or present a poster.
• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M.† Successful and Sustainable Water Reuse Adoption Pathways (Task D). Utility/project partners and Project Advisory Committee (PAC) Fall meeting, Denver, CO. February 2025.
• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M. EPA/WRF 5197 project panel: Successful and Sustainable Water Reuse Adoption Pathways (Task D). WateReuse Symposium, Denver, CO. March 2024.
• Sardana, P.; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M.† Successful and Sustainable Water Reuse Adoption Pathways (Task D). Utility/project partners and PAC Fall meeting, Denver, CO. September 2024, March 2024.
• Sardana, P.†; Javernick-Will, A.J.; Cook, S.M. Exploring the Drivers and Pathways to Water Reuse Adoption in Communities: Preliminary Results from a Literature Review. WateReuse Symposium, Atlanta, GA. March 2023.

(† indicates presenter role)

Reviewer for Peer-Reviewed Journal Submissions

• Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability (ERIS), May 2025.
• Management Communication Quarterly, January 2023.

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