Jayashree Balakumar, a graduate supply chain management student at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, took first-place honors in the 2023 Earth Fair Poster Competition.
The competition is a part of the annual Earth Fair festivities at The University of Texas at Dallas. It is an interdisciplinary, universitywide, competition presented by the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Research and Innovation.
The competition is open to PhD and graduate students from UT Dallas. Undergraduates who work as EcoReps — student leaders who implement sustainability programs at UT Dallas for the Office of Sustainability — are also eligible to compete and one, Gwen Schaulis, an interdisciplinary studies senior, entered this year.
Balakumar’s first-place winning poster was a presentation of the dangers of chemicals from household pharmaceuticals in our water supply.
“People are accustomed to just flushing drugs they don’t want down the toilet,” she said. “The chemicals from those drugs get into our waterways and, eventually, they get back to us. They often affect at-risk populations, such as young children, pregnant women and the elderly.”
Balakumar is on track to receive a master’s degree in supply chain management in May 2024. She received a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management from the Jindal School in 2022 and is employed in procurement and supply chain management at Johnson & Johnson.
Her presentation was based on a research paper she is co-authoring with Dr. Ramesh Subramoniam, director of undergraduate research at the Jindal School, titled “Waste Disposition Management: An enabler to achieving SDG3 within the Pharmaceutical Industry.”
Balakumar’s solutions for reducing chemicals from pharmaceuticals in waterways include:
- Expanding the existing standard for controlling hazardous energy sources in the U.S. with guidance about the proper disposal and safe handling of pharmaceuticals;
- Educating consumers on the proper way to dispose of household pharmaceuticals;
- Implementing separate collection of pharmaceuticals by public garbage crews;
- Expanding water testing standards to address the monitoring and the need to report active and inactive pharmaceuticals in waterways
“I really care about the environment and I believe environmental justice is important,” she said. “I want my work and my education to have a direct impact on the community.”
While sustainability is becoming a major topic for society in general, Subramoniam has been involved in related research since joining UT Dallas in 2018. He and Balakumar began working on the joint research paper after he reached out to student organizations asking anyone interested in the project to contact him.
“Being able to present the material with clarity so that people can understand is important and she is a strong presenter,” said Subramoniam, a clinical associate professor in the Operations Management Area. “She is also passionate about this topic. She deep-dives into the research and brings information out for us to discuss.”
The research paper they co-authored will be submitted in June for the ANSI competition. Later in the year, Subramoniam plans to submit it to a peer-reviewed publication.
In winning the poster competition, Balakumar credits her education for providing the platform and guidance needed to make it happen.
“Winning opened many new doors and possibilities for me that I hadn’t considered,” she said. “I’ve come into contact with people and possibilities I didn’t know existed. I’m very excited about what I can do.”
She said she is happy to have won the poster competition not only for herself but also for UT Dallas. However, she has her eye on another prize.
“It could be a bigger win for the community,” she said, “if some corporations come forward and take an interest in our research.”
