Gem grew up in the coastal city of Chennai, India, where she developed an affinity for the water and for the relationship between urban development and natural systems. Gem supports project design and model construction in the Cambridge office.

Gem received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Manipal School of Architecture and Planning. Prior to joining MVVA in 2022, she attended the Design Discovery program in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she developed an interest in the role of landscapes in mitigating climate-related disasters.