Ms Rao Kavle is graduating with a PhD in food science from the University of Otago today.
She moved to Dunedin from India when she started her degree back in 2019, spending about three years away from her family.
"I’m grateful for everybody who’s been with me on this journey, especially my midnight calls to mum being like ‘oh my god, I can’t do this any more’, to being on TV next day."
She made headlines during her degree, featuring in the Otago Daily Times various times and even being interviewed for TVNZ.
Ms Rao Kavle researched edible insects as a nutritious and sustainable source of protein and sent TVNZ insect ice cream to taste on air.
Throughout her time at the university, she published four book chapters, nine peer-reviewed articles, four conference papers, completed more than 90 hours of outreach, and made two appearances on national television.
"I loved every minute of it.
"It is emotional, definitely, because four years of my life I’ve spent doing this.
"But I’m excited because I haven’t lived life yet."
Ms Rao Kavle initially studied towards a biotechnology degree in India and felt drawn to the University of Otago after searching it on Google.
"It was so beautiful.
"I just wanted to come here and see it for myself."
She explained the most challenging part of her time in Dunedin was "spending time away from family".
"In three years of being here I did not meet them at all.
"I got into PhD and I had to go through all of that by myself."
Although being away from home was difficult, she was grateful for the constant support from her supervisors.
"They were amazing and made me feel like home when I couldn’t be with my family.
"I learned so much from my supervisor, they’ve taught me so many things and I had so many opportunities to do things that I never imagined."
She said the part of her graduation she was most excited for was walking across the stage — almost forgetting that she would be leaving the stage as a doctor.
Next year, Ms Rao Kavle planned to move to Christchurch where she would start an internship with the meat distributors Alliance Group.
"I just wanted to take the risk and just to see how [the] industry feels like, because it must be so different from academia."
Her role with the Alliance Group was "confidential" but she said it would be around research and development.
Ms Rao Kavle will celebrate her achievements by taking a much-needed break and travelling around the South Island with her family.
She hoped to continue to work in New Zealand for the foreseeable future.
