Earth Hacks
Sanjana Paul is an engineer, environmental educator, and advocate for experiential climate action. As the co-founder and executive director of Earth Hacks, she is transforming hackathons into a force for environmental problem-solving and climate justice. Passionate about the intersection of technology, education, and sustainability, she has worked as an atmospheric science software developer at NASA and conducts research on energy policy and infrastructure at MIT. Her interests span environmental justice in technology, renewable energy policy, and closing the green skills gap—empowering the next generation to tackle climate challenges with creativity and confidence.
Earth Hacks organizes hackathons for students to engage with projects that have real-world impact, ranging from mapping urban heat islands and marine mammal conservation to to addressing air quality and the impacts of fast fashion.
For Sanjana Paul, co-founder and executive director of Earth Hacks, environmental education should be as dynamic and engaging as the challenges it seeks to solve. Through Earth Hacks, Sanjana is reimagining hackathons as a powerful tool for climate action, helping students apply their skills to real-world environmental problems while fostering a sense of community and innovation.
“I never heard climate change mentioned once in my degree program,” Sanjana recalls. “What kind of world are students being prepared for if they’re not learning about what’s happening around them?” With this realization, she saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between traditional education and the urgent need for climate solutions and she saw a key role for technology in doing it.
Hackathons, originally rooted in the open-source software movement, have become a staple in tech communities worldwide. However, Sanjana noticed as she participated in hackathons herself, many of these events felt too corporate and lacked the imaginative and community-driven elements she sought. Earth Hacks was created to change that—turning hackathons into platforms for environmental education, climate justice, and hands-on problem-solving.
Earth Hacks hosts events around the world, challenging students to tackle pressing environmental issues. Participants engage in intensive, high-energy sprints to develop prototypes addressing everything from wildlife conservation to the energy transition. “Why wouldn’t we use hackathons as a form of climate action?” Sanjana asks. “They bring together intelligence, excitement, and collaboration, all in a short period of time.”
The results speak for themselves. At an Earth Hacks event with Arizona State University’s Global Futures Lab, a team of graduate students developed a prototype that eventually became a startup, Planet Green Leads, focused on building decarbonization. In another instance, Earth Hacks partnered with WE ACT for Environmental Justice to create a social media campaign that empowered young people to engage with environmental policy.
At its core, Earth Hacks is about experiential education—forcing participants to think critically, assess stakeholders, and develop tangible solutions. “Students don’t just come in and passively absorb information,” Sanjana explains. “They have to figure things out, compete, and create something meaningful.”
Earth Hacks offers two main types of hackathons: student-led and organizational partnerships. Student-led hackathons focus on providing students with the tools to integrate environmental challenges into existing events, while organizational partner hackathons set clear design constraints to ensure solutions are directly applicable to real-world challenges.
“Balancing creativity with tangible outcomes was a big challenge for us,” Sanjana says. “We had to create different models to ensure both students and organizations got value from these events.”
For Sanjana, the ultimate goal is to transform environmental education itself. “I want it to be weird if climate isn’t integrated into every educational program,” she says. “We should be teaching reality—what’s happening in the world—so students can better understand and shape their future.”
With over 5,000 participants worldwide, Earth Hacks has proven that innovation doesn’t have to be confined to classrooms or research labs. By giving students an avenue to apply their knowledge in a collaborative and competitive setting, Earth Hacks is creating the next generation of climate leaders, equipped with both technical skills and a deep understanding of environmental justice.
“Climate change isn’t an industry or a singular issue,” Sanjana emphasizes. “It affects everything. We need more people to listen, engage, and take action. That’s what we’re building at Earth Hacks.”
