I'm Aakash Manaswi, a junior at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, Florida. Since seventh grade I've led honeybee conservation research focused on a novel, eco-friendly CO₂-based treatment for the Varroa mite crisis. The system has been validated across 60 colonies at over 96% mite reduction and pairs with an AI detection platform I built that identifies mites at 98.6% accuracy.

Beyond the hive, I study harmful algal blooms from satellites and long-term mental health outcomes among U.S. veterans. I've presented my research to global leaders as a youth delegate at COP29, COP30, and LCOY, and I work with county, state, and federal officials on pollinator protection policy.

I'm also the co-founder and CEO of the International Youth STEM Society, a network of 117 students across 24 countries that turns sustainable technologies into open-source deployment guides for underserved communities, and I founded the Varroa Mite Education program run with Hives for Heroes, which supports over 10,000 veterans using beekeeping to recover from PTSD and trauma.