Sindhu holds a Masters in microbiology and began teaching Chemistry and Environmental Systems at UWC India in 1998, acting also as a volunteer nature orientation and leadership instructor for WWF. Enjoying the trans-disciplinary approach, she co-pioneered (with Howard Gardner’s Harvard Project Zero) the first trans-disciplinary IB Extended Essay: World Studies.
She is a published photographer of wilderness flora and fauna, and it was Sindhu’s pictures that clinched the board’s decision in 2007 to convert 120 acres of the UWC Mahindra campus into a biodiversity and conservation reserve. Her responsibilities grew to include oversight of this, and here, she designed the YES (Youth, Environment, Sustainability) UWC summer programme.
After 14 years at UWC Mahindra, Sindhu explored another Indian ‘biodiversity hotspot’ as curriculum designer and workshop facilitator for Hanifl Centre for Outdoor Education in the Himalayas. Here, she also lectured for University of Pittsburg’s study abroad programme and spent three years integrating environmental education into school and university courses and curricula.
Experienced at securing fruitful partnerships between NGOs and institutions of learning, in recent years, courses at Schumacher College (UK) have enriched Sindhu’s commitment to sustainability education.
Now IB Co-ordinator at UWC Southern Africa (2015), she integrates her years of experience as an examiner and IB workshop leader, and plans to continue to promote sustainability education by initiating UWC certificate courses in permaculture.