The road less traveled by

                                                                                                                 Ankur Bora

Have you ever had a closer look at a bee hive?  Inside the hive, there are tens of thousands of little creatures at work. Have you ever thought what they're doing? Did you know that honey bees have more than one stomach – one for eating and the other one for storing nectar collected from flowers and to ferry the goods to their hives? The wax cell in the honeycomb is hexagonal and they are tilted backward slightly – why do bees build this kind of cells?  Because hexagons possess the highest surface/perimeter ratio while the tilt ensures that honey will not spill out – an outstanding engineering construction and an equally intriguing mathematical concept! Human have never ceased to find the work of these little sculptors truly amazing – the wonderful world of honey bees inspired many and among them is a young Assamese research scholar who has been pursuing a singular path – a road which eventually led her to a journey of self-discovery and fulfillment.

Rachna with the team at the STATE INNOVATION AWARD 

Rachna Nath, based in Phoenix, Arizona is a young woman with boundless energy who would dare to step outside of comfort zone. Hailing from Guwahati, Rachna went to Cotton College to study Zoology and completed her Masters with specialization in entomology, a subject for study of insects and their relationship to humans, the environment, and other organisms. She loves being with the world of insects and when she moved to America in 2003 after her marriage, Rachna got an opportunity to work at USDA (United states Department of Agriculture) for 9 months. “I learned so much just from that short period of time and then my passion for honey bees took over.”  Later on, she learnt bee keeping while volunteering at the honey bee research facility at Arizona State University and henceforth got pulled into study and research in honey bee biology and Neuroethology.

Rachna at a Honey Bee Lab

Honey bees are social creatures and live within colonies with a queen, a few male drones and thousands of workers. To sustain, they need to speak and their language of communication is one of vibration –a buzzing sound. Mostly famously, a honey bee performs a “waggle dance”, a series of carefully choreographed movements that instructs the rest of the hive where to find a food source. How have they created such a society amongst them that they are super-efficient and what are the factors that influence this behavior? Rachna has been researching to uncover the secret and understand the genetic compositions of the bees. A huge turning for her was the opportunity to attend a conference of “Behavioral ecology and Neuroethology of social insects” at the University of Wurzburg, Germany. She experienced firsthand the imaging technologies to study and look into the ultra-structure of the different glands inside the bee’s head –valuable insights which she was able to utilize on subsequent work on Honey bee developmental genetics.

Rachna joined Arizona College, Phoenix in 2015 and she has been teaching since then. Her educational philosophy is hands on learning and creativity - “The more the students are involved in the process of learning, the more they remember and hence learn from their environment better” and thus her journey began. Rachna has initiated a unique mission to spark student’s interest in honey bees, foster enthusiasm in learning about science and promote an increased respect for the living environment. She has been volunteering at schools, colleges around the Arizona valley, sharing her experience on bees and beehives, offering samples of honey and information on bees. Every time, she carries with her a real stingless beehive being set-up as students investigate the hive freely and watch the bees come and go. There are interactive questions and answer sessions where she would discuss about how bees make beehives and how is nectar collected from flowers. Through discovering the journey of the honey bee, student learn to use information and communication technologies to investigate ideas and gained an interest and appreciation in learning about science. Rachna has successfully expanded her reach beyond her classroom, which though demanded a lot of sacrifice – long days, late nights study and extended lab work become norm in her daily and family life.

The honey bee inspired activities changed everything and unlocked a new chapter in Rachna’s life. Not only the research avenues but also they opened her eyes to the limitless opportunities available to someone willing to look for them. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in association with the Lemelson Foundation constituted an annual award titled “Lemelson-MIT Excite Award” to a select group of educators across America. The Educators are selected for this award based on their capacity to lead a year-long, open-ended invention project with students at their school and this year Rachna Nath became one of the proud winners. “At MIT, Nath will see various projects, learn more about team experience attend hands-on workshops and discussions led by MIT professors about invention - unique technological solutions to real world problems.”

Assam Tribune Horizon  August 10

You have to believe in yourself in spite of what everyone else believe. The road ahead is not always straightforward or easy. However, it's only by trying new things, pushing the envelope, doing things differently that you can truly change your life and get rid of what is holding you back. Rachna Nath took the road less travelled by, she followed her inner callings, her shared vision and values guiding her in every step throughout. And that has made all the difference!   

                                                                                                         ankurbora@hotmail.com

Notes from Rachna Nath

Thank you so much for the articles and the videos. Yes, Honey Bees have wide applications not just because of their honey but also for medicinal purposes and as a deterrent.

While growing up, I was not aware of the possibilities  of volunteering, research and outreach and its impacts in our lives. My purpose as an educator now in United States is to make high schoolers (9th through 12th graders ) understand that they don’t have to wait to become famous and do meaningful things in life. I applied for the LEMELSON-MIT award and after I got the Excite award, I am now working with 9th through 12 grade students to develop a product for which they will be filing for a patent soon. The impact of these high schoolers in our lives and society will be tremendous.  They will develop self confidence and a purpose well before they hit college and they will be able to get into credible and Tier 1 Universities with ease and not just because they have good grades. (Who wouldn’t want to have a student who already has a patent under his/her name?) . The dream continues... they maybe in future be able to get 100% tuition coverage in most universities hence relieving parents of the burden of paying tuition ( which comes up to thousands of dollars per year).

These students, for the MIT award, are working with the council man and trying to collaborate with different companies to make a prototype while in HIGH SCHOOL!  I am so happy that I am able to facilitate my students and pushing them to attain heights that was previously unconceivable. I love my scholars and I wish they achieve greatness and I will continue to work for them to make their mark on society.  I sincerely hope that the scope that these students are getting, doesn’t remain restricted to just US but will help open mindset everywhere around the world and give the school students a chance at excellence earlier in life.