Ananya Shrestha is working towards her PhD in Socio-Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and English Literature from The College of Wooster (2016) and her Master of Science degree in Migration Studies from The University of Oxford (2017).

A self-professed heliophile, Ananya was born in April and loves Spring the most, but admits to having a list of favorite things about each season. She is slightly obsessed with taking pictures of flowers and pairing them with poems on her Instagram account. She enjoys being around all bodies of water, large or small. If given her way, she would spend her time swimming, hiking, rock-climbing, and growing a garden of daisies for her cats. For now, however, she settles with doing yoga in her front lawn and adding hardback after hardback to her sizable home library! 

When not working in the Culture and Family Life Lab or on the Humans in Nature project, Ananya can be found studying in the main quad or “chilling” by the Alumni fountain, right through the Hallene Gateway on the UIUC campus. Feel free to stop by and tell her about your favorite book!