He's been a member of the scouts since he was in the first grade, and recently achieved Eagle Scout status, and as he looks back over the last 11 years, Pranav Katti said he owes all of his leadership and outdoor skills to what he has learned in his journey through scouting.

"I made friends, had some of the best experiences of my life, and gained many valuable life skills," said Katti, who is a member of Troop 368 led by Rick Jurgens.

Katti, along with five other scouts achieved Eagle Scout status and as one of the conditions, he completed a signficant community project. 

Working the Berkeley Heights Environmental Commission, Katti documented all of the public trees in the town as part of the larger project at the County level.

"Using a handheld PDA device that allows capturing data about the tree such as the species, height, health, damage to sidewalk and power lines, and GPS Coordinates, my project involved planning, scheduling, execution, uploading the data to the central database," Katti said.

The project required over 150 hours to complete one section of Berkeley Heights.

Katti said he chose the project because he has developed a great love of nature.

"I have come to respect nature, the earth and the environment. So it was natural for me to pick up this project because the benefits of the project helps the town to plan future plantings, manage dangerous trees, understand the diversity of trees in town, and calculate other various data like oxygen levels, pollen count, and carbon absorption," Katti said.

He said, "I really enjoyed being able to work outside and take up a project that benefited the environment." 

"What I learned in the process is that planting anything requires a lot of work but it pays off in the end."