Watch the third episode of Across STEM with YSI as Amirali Banani speaks with the inspirational Zoe Triantafyllidou⁠ to learn about her unique background growing up in Greece, what it’s like being a STEM-passionate high school student in Thessaloniki, her many passions outside of STEM, the research she’s doing in synthetic biology and its tremendous applications in agriculture, as well as all the projects she’s involved in to contribute to solving some of the world’s biggest problems—especially world hunger.

Zoe originally joined Youth STEM Initiative as a researcher and is now also the leader of our Greece Chapter. An ambitious student and an amazing scientific writer (here is one of her pieces on synthetic biology in vertical farming), Zoe is aspiring to dive deeper into the world of emerging tech with a thirst for knowledge and a drive to innovate to battle humanity’s biggest threats. Her passion for genetic engineering and innovations in synthetic biology—and how they connect to agricultural markets—has led her to projects redefining environmental sustainability and food production to aid poorer countries where hunger is prevalent. Never mind all the diplomacy and public speaking she does—you may even see her in the UN one day!

Already saving lives in high school and exploring scientific innovations that can sustain humanity in such a desperate age.

That’s just a surface-level intro. Watch the third episode of our new podcast at Youth STEM Initiative to learn more about Zoe and all the inspiring things she’s involved in!