Energy Management Students Find Themselves in Hot Water in the Amazon

Deep in the jungle, at the foothills of the Andes and the headwaters of the Amazon, runs a river so hot that you can poach an egg in it. While few travelers know about the Boiling River, four students from NYIT-Vancouver went to Pucallpa, Peru, on an Edward Guiliano Global Fellowship to investigate its unique characteristics. The river is known for its extremely hot water, with temperatures reaching up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

For five days, master’s candidates in engineering management Yash Masane, Vishal Rathi, Sandeep Krishna Edara, and Adrian Kanjer, along with Patricia Keen, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor at NYIT School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, examined the area, including its ecosystem and species that live there and its cultural and spiritual importance to indigenous communities.

“We learned that some of the key issues, including environmental, social, and economic factors, for indigenous populations in unique ecosystems in North and South America are similar,” explained Keen. “These communities are committed to conserving the biodiversity, ecosystem, and spiritual and cultural values of environments in resource-rich areas that have existed for thousands of years. The challenge is to conserve these values and at the same time, navigate the rapidly changing, modern world outside the immediate location.”

The group will compare what they discovered in Peru with Meager Creek, a river in British Columbia that has similar characteristics, including extremely hot water and a unique species habitat, and that holds cultural and spiritual importance for First Nations in the region.

“For me and for all of the students, being part of nature deep in the Amazon rain forest was a transformative experience that is proving to be pivotal in our life-long learning journeys,” said Keen.