Penn State students win award for connecting health and environment through play

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For children growing up in Claverito, a floating community in the Peruvian Amazon, the river is part of everyday life. It is where they live, play, fish and interact with the plants and animals around them.

For a group of Penn State students, that relationship became the foundation for a collection of games designed to teach children about the connections between human, animal and environmental health. The games were developed as a collaborative studio and One Health Scholars applied research project that received an Honor Award in the Student Collaboration category from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), which recognized the team’s interdisciplinary approach to playful learning and riverine resilience.

The One Health Games project in Iquitos, Peru, which is where Claverito is located, was developed through the LARCH 414: Design Activism for One Health studio course during the spring 2025 semester with Leann Andrews, assistant professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School. The project built upon Penn State’s long-term partnership with Claverito through the InterACTION Labs program, which focuses on improving One Health — the idea that human, animal and environmental health are closely connected.

Andrews has worked with the floating community since 2016 through the InterACTION Labs program she co-founded. She later established the Design Activism Studio and co-founded the One Health Scholars Program, bringing Penn State students to Iquitos beginning in spring 2023.

The One Health Games project brought together Penn State students from landscape architecture, biobehavioral health, and veterinary and biomedical sciences to create games that introduced Claverito children to new concepts.

“Landscape architecture has always been a connecting discipline,” Andrews said. “This project exemplifies this skillset.”

For the students, the project was an opportunity to learn directly from community members whose daily life is closely connected to the Amazon River. Although the students spent only 10 days in Peru over spring break, they spent eight weeks learning about Claverito before developing the games.

The Children and Environment Fair, held at Plaza Clavero above the Claverito community in Iquitos, Peru, on March 9, 2025, gave students the opportunity to share their work with the community, with more than 90 residents in attendance.

Play was chosen as a way to make complex One Health concepts accessible and engaging for children. The games addressed issues that directly affect the community, including hygiene, disease, nutrition and pollution.

“Games are fun,” Andrews said. “Fun to make, fun to play, fun for learning and effective at remembering.”

The collection included games rooted in Claverito’s culture and environment. “Pánico a las Pirañas” or “Piranha Panic,” inspired by Hungry Hungry Hippos, taught children about the role of piranhas in the Amazon ecosystem. “Pez Misterioso,” or “Mysterious Fish,” used magnetic fishing to teach children about food chains, pollution risks and nutrition.

The students also designed a dollhouse based on Claverito’s traditional floating houses. After observing children playing with a dollhouse that resembled a suburban American home, one student helped develop a version that reflected the children’s own community and culture.

The collaboration included undergraduate students Tyler Atkinson, Achiraya Bangching, Aidan Bastarrika, Delaney Beal, Shanu Gopinathan, Rida Hamid, Isabelle Rodemaker, Madeleine Ryan and Charell Walter, with graduate students Alexis Coyle, Janhavi Rajwade, and Ankita Karmakar, advised by faculty members Rebecca Bachman (landscape architecture), Justin Brown and Jennifer Koehl (veterinary and biomedical sciences), Cara Exten (nursing) and Kari Kugler (biobehavioral health), Peruvian professionals Xiomara Valdivia Zavaleta and Patricia Alarcón, and members of the Claverito community. Support came from the Hamer Center for Community Design, Drew Stewart Popjoy Fund for Travel and Experiential Learning, Stuckeman School, Student Engagement Network, Days for Girls International, One Health Minor Program and the Department of Landscape Architecture at Penn State.

For Walter, a landscape architecture student who graduated in May, the children’s creativity and connection to their environment made an impression to her throughout the fair.

“What stood out to me was how open the children were to trying new games and how creative they all are,” Walter said. “It was also apparent that they all care deeply about their environment.”

Bangching, also a May landscape architecture graduate, said one of the most meaningful moments was seeing the impact the games had on the children.

“Seeing their excitement and knowing my work could bring them joy while helping them learn was incredibly meaningful,” Bangching said.

Aidan Bastarrika, a December 2025 landscape architecture graduate, said the fair also gave students an opportunity to see how the children engaged with the activities in their own way.

“We had spent so much time thinking about how to communicate ideas about health, water, animals, waste and the environment, but once we were actually at the fair, the children weren't approaching it as a lesson,” Bastarrika said. “They were playing, asking questions, competing with each other and teaching each other what they had learned.”

Bastarrika said the experience demonstrated the importance of collaboration within a community.

“I also remember how much the experience felt like an exchange rather than us simply bringing something to the community and taking pictures,” Bastarrika said. “We were learning from them as much as we were trying to share.”

For the students, the ASLA award represents more than just recognition for their work.

“It feels amazing to be recognized for a project that we all cared so much about,” Walter said. “A win for us students was also a win for Claverito.”

Bangching said the award also gives the team an opportunity to highlight the community behind the project.

“This is more than just a student award,” Bangching said. “It represents the people, stories and strength of the community. We are incredibly proud to have this opportunity to share their story and show the world how amazing and resilient Claverito is.”

The team is looking forward to presenting Claverito with their award plaque.