No. 4 Yuti Purohit--Breaking Barriers in STEM: From Ai4Teens to International Environmental Research

Welcome to "Share Your Story" post number 4! Today we're excited to share the story of Yuti Purohit from Bellevue Washington. If you're also a STEM girlie, please continue reading as Yuti's story might inspire your own STEM journey. Share it with your friends and family as well, and we would love to see what you guys think in the comments<3

My name is Yuti Purohit, and I’m a high school senior from Bellevue, Washington. My journey in STEM has been shaped by both the world of big tech around Seattle and the environmental challenges I’ve researched, such as cloud seeding and weather modification. Along the way, I founded Ai4Teens, a nonprofit with 50+ chapters; my research has earned recognition from Yale, NASA, and Regeneron ISEF; and I’m slated to present at conferences hosted by Sigma Xi, AAAS, and the Taiwan International Science Fair.

I’ve always believed my journey in STEM was inevitable, and it began long before I had the vocabulary to describe it. I was born in Rajasthan, India, where sixty percent of the land is desert, and later moved to the United States, where lush greenery and constant rain were part of daily life. Traveling between the two places, I could not ignore the contrast. One had more water than it seemed to need, while the other struggled to survive without it. It was impossible to overlook.

At six-years-old, I found elementary ways to bring change. I taped "Sign if you want to stop global warming" posters to lampposts in my neighborhood park. I read encyclopedias for hours -- and I found it fun. All I saw STEM as was a way to understand the world around me and imagine how it could be improved.

I didn't have to look far. Growing up in the greater Seattle area meant technology was everywhere around me, but I saw it as more than novelty for its own sake. While completing certifications in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence before starting high school, I realized something invaluable: technology was how I could bring change. Its true purpose is to improve lives, to leave the world more sustainable and more equitable than it was before.

That belief led me to create Ai4Teens, a nonprofit dedicated to making AI education accessible to students nationally. At the time, i doubted myself and the real impact it could have. I kept thinking Iwas being too far-fetched when I dared to dream, but I ignored the warning alarm in my head and kept moving in the direction I knew I wanted to explore. As I watched my chapter leads spread AI knowledge to their own communities, and as I watched students learn to harness AI and apply it to domains they were interested in, I learned the power of shared innovation.

Another one of my initiatives is environment research. In 9th grade, I discussed the Pakistani floods with meteorologists from Islamabad and built models that could classify potential flood severity. By my 11th grade, though, I stumbled onto a domain that fixed itself in my mind: cloud seeding, a weather modification strategy that can increase precipitation yield. We live in a world where our most sacred resource, water, is becoming a scarcity, affecting billions. Cloud seeding has the potential to fix that.

It also carries controversy. Putting chemicals in clouds isn't the most comforting thought, and there are additional debates on whether altering precipitation patterns in one place might deprive another. For me, though, the question was personal: could this be a tool to help places like my home state of Rajasthan, where drought is a constant threat?

Yuti presenting her research. The mockup you see is a miniature version of my cloud chamber (mockup volume was 3 gallons, actual was 40 gallons)

I still doubted myself. How could a high school student even begin to contribute to this field? I had no university, no lab, no specialized instruments, and no formal meteorology background. I created my research plan, certain I was overshooting, and that I might be wasting my time.

I kept going anyways, but the doubts didn't stop until I had built my homemade cloud chamber and multi-modal model. My work ended up earning international recognition and produced quite measurable results. My #1 learning is how any students' greatest barrier isn't technical but a mindset issue.

Too often, we assume the problems that matter most are too large for us to influence. We need to let ourselves think beyond those limits. We need to dream big and know we can take steps that match them. My experience in STEM has taught me that innovation is strongest when it is combined with empathy. It takes courage and commitment to imagine a better world and work to achieve it.

To every girl in STEM: your ability to create change is far greater than you believe. Begin where you are and take the first step without letting it become your limit. You will never know how far you can go until you stop wondering if you belong and start acting as though you do.

"Better safe than sorry" is a lie when it comes to innovation. The only way you will be sorry is if you stay in the safe zone.

Thank you for reading! If you want to connect with Yuti, feel free to message her through Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuti-purohit/