Nayanika Bora has a background in Civil engineering as a part of her undergraduate degree from VIT University, India. Her passion for sustainability in built environment stems from her continuous interest in combating the climate change.  This passion persisted since her engagement with the Smart Village Lab at the University of Melbourne, as a part of her undergraduate thesis as an exchange student from India. Her research involved in developing a framework for sustainable construction for the state of Assam. She then graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in Master of Science in Engineering in Construction Engineering and Management. She curated the ‘Sustainable Construction Practices’ for the Master Track certification course for the University of Michigan, during her graduate days. Post her graduation, she was actively involved in managing multi-million dollar commercial and healthcare projects in the Silicon Valley and Mid-Western region in the United States. Her interest in academics sustained during her time in industry that led her to step into research after her receival of the Melbourne Research Scholarship. Her doctoral research explores the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions implications of energy retrofitting the multi-storey residential stock in India. Through her research, she hopes to improve the environmental performance of the existing buildings in urban India.