Aayushi Saxena’s Journey: From Heatwaves to Hope

Aayushi Saxena’s Journey: From Heatwaves to Hope

By: Elena Mart The first story Aayushi Saxena ever recorded for her research came from a street vendor in New York City. He sold cold drinks from a small cart, standing for hours on the asphalt, describing how the heat felt “like breathing through plastic.” That conversation, she says, changed how she understood climate change—not as distant data points, but as something that burns through ordinary lives. At seventeen, Aayushi leads a project th…