Dubai: In 2020, when many students across the world were attending classes from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a grade 11 student in Dubai chose to support those with no access to remote learning. Today, her initiative to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and nurture love for biology — Biology for Better — is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit organisation with 20 global chapters, 200 members and a seven-member board of students working tirelessly for the cause. Meet Riya Manas Sharma, a grade 11 student in GEMS Modern Academy and the founder and CEO of Biology for Better (BFB), who is making a difference to the lives of poor children with no access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was in the summer of 2020 that Riya read a Unicef report that said at least a third of the world’s schoolchildren were unable to access remote learning during school closures, or even education, she told Gulf News in an interview.