The Future of Science, the Joy of Community

This is a guest post by Yogya Kalra, shared here with permission. The views are Yogya's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Edge City. ‍Read more Edge City Fellowship reflections from Ivy, Jason, Janet, and Anh.

Introduction

Yogya is a junior at Western University, pursuing a dual degree in Biology and Business with a focus on supporting scientific innovation from a business perspective. He has a primary background in academia, joining Harvard at 15 to research geospatial health, and has since worked at Deloitte in their R&D department and supported diligence efforts for deep-tech companies. Yogya is interested in health systems, technology, policy, and scientific innovation, and wants to explore unique pathways people have taken to enter this work beyond traditional educational routes.

Central Learning Question: How can we craft alternative incentive structures that empower emerging researchers, scientists, and technologists to reach full impact—without forcing them down the traditional academic or corporate routes?

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Edge Esmeralda (EE) was an experience that only a few adjectives could adequately explain: empowering, beautiful, grounded, plentiful, and community-led. It was an experience that most people could only dream about, and a place for me to connect with my most true desires and passions without judgement or self-criticism. 

The world is a very complicated place, but when I was at EE it felt very simple. There were a few fundamental pillars of life that I followed during my time in Healdsburg: 

1. Act, don’t overthink.
2. Greet everyone — you’ll never meet the same story twice.
3. Follow gut > FOMO: choose JOMO.
4. Stay present; notice the beauty around you.

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Reimagining the Future of Science

At EE, I had the opportunity to really explore an idea I’ve always pondered about: the future of science. Through many years of research and curiosity, I’ve come to the realization that science is fundamentally flawed. Research is focused on cycles of publications, grants, and authorship instead of innovation, impact, and policy — science is stagnated by the very structure it follows. However, I’ve never really had a space to take that idea beyond just realization until EE. Through interesting talks, events, and random park interactions, I was able to obtain a better understanding of what the future of science could look like, and obtain clarity on how I can continue this mission outside of EE. 

But, science wasn’t the only form of fun that I had :)

I would argue that some of my favourite events and memories from EE surround not scientific philosophy but spontaneous people and community. We did so many abstract and traditionally uncomfortable things like walking around the city with puppets and putting on a puppet show in the city square, jumping into freezing cold water off Goat Rock beach, and enjoying the sauna and cold plunge at midnight with a bunch of people I’ve never met (but we left the sauna as friends)! 

For those few weeks, Healdsburg felt like home. I believe we got comfortable enough in the town to feel like locals and make it our own, but not comfortable enough to feel the complacency of our day-to-day lives. It was a special pause in life that reminded me of what truly matters.

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The Edge City Fellowship

A huge shoutout to all the Edge City Fellows — Ivy, Alex, Jason, Nick, Janet, and Anh — for being the backbone of this entire experience and being the best fellows I could have asked for. I will always cherish our bike rides, cooking sessions, sauna memories, and craziness. Somehow Edge City brought together the perfect blend of ambition, determination, discipline, spontaneousness, joy, and friendliness. The Edge City team was so supportive in everything we wanted to do, connecting us with the right people and providing us the resources and more importantly, the attitude, to make the most out of this experience.

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This is a guest post by Yogya Kalra, shared here with permission. The views are Yogya's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Edge City. Read more Edge City Fellowship reflections from Ivy, Jason, Janet, and Anh.