Veena Shirsath has a BA (Hons) in Economics from Ahmedabad University and is pursuing an MS in Economics and Computation at Duke University. She is passionate about sustainable development, having started with a community initiative on sustainable waste management in high school, which took her to the UN, New York. She has interned with organizations like ps Collective and Bandhu Urban Tech, gaining practical experience in the challenges faced by urban India in sustainable development. Her undergraduate thesis was a study on predicting household cooling demand using smart meter data, reflecting her passion for working towards a clean energy transition. Beyond her academic pursuits, she is currently working on projects relating to climate resilience and energy transition. Post her masters, Veena aims to utilize her computing and analysis skills to further the net zero shift in the Global South. In her leisure time, Veena enjoys immersing herself in music and exploring the outdoors through long treks. Her love for reading fuels her continuous quest for knowledge and personal growth.