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Social Impact Summer 2025 Photo/Video Contest Winners

  • November 25, 2025
  • Amanda Soh

We have our top three winners in the social impact category of the MISTI 2025 summer photo/video contest. These internships address the socioeconomic and environmental practices that disadvantage communities abroad!

Alison Rufo '28

Political Science and Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science
Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología Peru (UTEC), Peru

Alison Rufo in a classroom while locals presented to a room fill of people seated on plastic chairs in PeruAlison Rufo with locals in Peru in front of a yellow single story houseAlison Rufo at work holding a can while writing on paper with someone looking over her shoulder

"Peru weeks 6-10: Pucará! 🐑⛰️ (with a quick stop at Machu Picchu) This July and August, I worked in Pucará, Puno with Q’ochas Resilientes, a multidisciplinary project focused on investigating and revitalizing indigenous water technologies in the Lake Titicaca region. Recent changes in the high-altitude climate have led to prolonged periods of extreme drought, threatening the livelihoods of campesino communities in the area and limiting access to safe water. With support from @mistiatmit and @mit_southerncone , Q’ochas Resilientes held workshops centered on the co-design and monitoring of water storage systems and conducted on-site testing to establish a database of potable water sources in the community. There is still so much work to be done, but I am forever thankful for the opportunity to work with such a remarkable team and to have gotten to know the communities of Pucará and Pucachupa. I learned so much through my MISTI experience this summer, and I can’t wait to hopefully return to Peru soon!🇵🇪🇵🇪"

Anne Reidenbach '28

Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making
Vytautas Magnus University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Anne Reidenbach zoomed in image a written bookmarked on plants

"A little kid asked how to spell grandma so he could write his wish as part of our Star Festival event. My MISTI at the Ukrainian Center in Vilnius, Lithuania, gave kids like him a chance to participate in fun activities and just be kids while waiting for it to be safe to go back home."

Oliver Mediavilla '27

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (6-2) & Philosophy (24-1)
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BCS-CNS), Spain

Fernando Oliver seated on the far left with two other MIT representative in a room with wood panels and screen hung to it

"The Cybersyn Operations room in the Design Museum of Barcelona is finally ready and open!" Fernando Oliver is pictured seated on the chair on the far left.