Young Farmington residents create conservation app for Land Trust
‘Passion Project’ channels environmental concerns, computer skills
By Maria G O'Donnell
Editor
Next door neighbors and close friends since they were ages 4 and 5, two Farmington High students have joined together for a “passion project,” as they refer to it. Sophomore Aakash Kumar and Junior Samanyu Kasinadhuni chose an outside-of-school project that came from a conversation about their mutual interest in environmental conservation last September.
Using that interest of protecting the local environment, coupled with their computer skills, they worked with the Farmington Land Trust (FLT) to create an AI-powered app called EcoLens to help the organization track invasive species on FLT land parcels. It also determines invasives’ proliferation risk and how to follow the AI’s recommended removal steps.
According to the app’s About EcoLens section: “EcoLens is a field identification tool built specifically for Farmington Land Trust volunteers and stewards. It uses AI [artificial intelligence] to instantly identify invasive species on FLT-managed properties, enabling faster reporting, better data collection and more effective land stewardship.”
The user-friendly app has tabs at the bottom of the screen that navigate the user from Home, to Scan (take a picture of a plant), Map (geotags the plant at the FLT parcel), Learn (listing of common invasives) and Profile (to save the Conservation Volunteer’s progress and adjust settings). Virtual badges are awarded to encourage more activity.
According to Kumar, “The reason we worked on the app is because we grew up all our lives here. And at school, we learned the natural beauty of Connecticut and how to protect it. It’s frustrating that invasives in the woods are taking over natural plants. Our goal is to give back to the community. Samanyu and I have the same goal. We used our skills with coding and computer science to dip our toes into the field of the future – AI.”
He noted he had a “paradigm shift,” at first thinking, “Plants are just plants.” Then he learned “the more resilient [invasive] plants were fighting off the [native] plants. It’s our responsibility to fix that.”
Kasinadhuni added, “Since elementary school, I’ve had an interest in biology and ecology. Aakash and I have the same frustration of invasives killing the native beauty we love to see. With our tech skills, we know how to use AI to give back to the community and make an impact in the world.” Both young men credit family members’ use of technology and AI to influence and improve their own skills.
“For me, AI is something so awesome,” Kasinadhuni continued. “Even with the controversy of its potential to reduce cognitive thinking. It’s a tool to assist in endeavors and goals.” He noted that FLT conservation stewards have to go to the land parcels and find invasives, and “AI can give real time feedback with the app – no interval-based data to put on paper. We can make such a big impact with the assistance of tech.”
Though not related to school, the students credit their education in channeling their skills toward this “independent passion project,” said Kasinadhuni. His younger friend added, “We put our hard work into something that would have a tangible impact.”
The two worked closely with FLT to design “a mobile web app able to teach people how to use and take pictures and find these invasive species,” Kasinadhuni explained. Kumar said, “The goal is that all people can use the app no matter their tech literacy.” They noted that FLT has many stewards working on conservation efforts and needed a user-friendly app.
Once the idea to design a land stewardship app was established, the two reached out to FLT in early Oct. 2025 to present their idea. They were grateful for the FLT’s assistance and guidance, and the land trust was equally grateful in their formulating an app.
In fact, FLT Executive Director Kristin Flyntz, in referring to the “enterprising students,” stated, “From the outset, we have been thoroughly impressed with how thoughtful, well prepared, articulate and responsive Aakash and Samanyu have been. It is meaningful to all of us that, of all the apps they could have developed, they chose to develop one that will support FLT’s stewardship work. To have young people interested in what’s happening on the land, and voluntarily committed to making a positive contribution to the land trust’s work, has been very exciting. They have come prepared to every meeting, have listened closely and incorporated all of our feedback, and have made it a point to keep the lines of communication open. It has been a delight to work with them.”
Kumar said, “FLT allowed us to access their parcels and tailor the app’s improvements – things we hadn’t thought of from their perspective. They never thought we couldn’t do it – to make the best app possible that we can to be supportive of their mission.”
From October to January, the pair worked on the prototype and presented it to FLT on Jan. 9 of this year for their feedback. From Jan. into late May and June, Kasinadhuni said, “We ironed out bugs and added features and parts of the app they wanted to see. On June 15, we gave version 1 of the app to the Stewardship Team to provide more feedback.”
According to Flyntz, “Now, a steward can go out into the field, take a photo of a plant, and the app can tell where it is, what kind of plant it is, whether it’s invasive, and how much of it there is. That information can be fed back to the land trust so we can determine where we potentially have issues that may need addressing.”
Kumar demonstrated EcoLens on his own phone. “When you open the app, the Welcome page explains the steps. The AI-powered scanning app reports for FLT. If someone is unable to take the next step, like use a chemical [to eliminate the invasive], they can take a picture and send it to FLT. It gets geotagged so they know the location. It identifies hot spots with invasives. If it’s a good breeding ground, FLT comes back.”
Kasinadhuni noted that EcoLens is “tailored to FLT now, and the goal is to open it to more organizations – people who can make a difference and see where invasives are, remove them, and protect native species.”
Also on the Welcome page is where “you see FLT parcels,” said Kumar. “We have their data linked in. Go to the second page to Scan and take a picture of the invasive.”
“After you snap a picture,” Kasinadhuni explained, “it sends it to the AI model to identify the type and how dense and proliferating it is. It collects the data so stewards are monitoring what they’re looking at and how to remove the invasive. The AI model figures out that information. After the picture is taken, the species is identified and immediately put on the map with a pinpoint with the location.”
The Learn tab is provided to “foster an educational environment, as well. People can learn from experience and identify and track more invasives on our land and in our community,” said Kasinadhuni.
EcoLens also offers “conservation volunteer incentives” in the form of achievement badges, said Kumar. “It adds a competitive element and makes it more enjoyable. Badges are currently awarded based on the number of invasive plants and the different invasive species a user is able to collect.”Additionally, Kasinadhuni noted, “We want to get more young people involved by providing little rewards (badges) and make them feel appreciated for the efforts they’re doing.”
Last is the Profile tab. Kasinadhuni said, “You can see your scans and badges and access to settings to make you comfortable using the app.”
The two planned to apply to the Congressional App Challenge in October, a competition in which “if we’re selected winner from our district, we get certain rights and privacy acts, get to the App Store as protected property, and get this in more hands of our audience,” said Kumar.
Kasinadhuni added, “We view it as a platform to get more eyes to see our efforts. Congress people will be seeing what we’re doing; it’s an incredible opportunity.”
In addition to their gratefulness to FLT, the students thanked their parents as mentors who supported and pushed them to succeed, as well as their school resource counselor Dr. Steven Netcoh, who “consistently checked our progress and was a helping hand to us,” said Kasinadhuni, adding, “They did so much for us …we worked really hard, but it wasn’t possible without these people.” He noted that they didn’t make the students feel like “‘just kids;’ they made us feel like we were doing something really impactful.”
Kasinadhuni said, “This has been an awesome educational experience; I’m blessed and lucky to have gone through it.”
Kumar noted, “The reason we both did this is, this community helped us grow. We’re super grateful for the Farmington school system, and want to give back to the community in a tangible way. It’s been a unique experience I’ll hold forever.”
EcoLens can be used on or off of FLT parcels to identify plant species. Type the following into your browser: ecolens-alpha.vercel.app. VL