Paseka Khosa-Chavalala
Laidlaw Foundation Women in Business Society Co-President , Laidlaw Foundation
I am an undergraduate Laidlaw scholar from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. I have lived most of my life in Dublin (apart from three years in Berlin - but no, I can't speak German). My main research area is political philosophy; my research interests in particular are in how human rights can be used as an approach to morality, and how we should consider and address 'structural injustices' in society. I also have interests in democratic theory, and heterodox approaches to economics.
Outside academia, I am often involved in social/political activism. I'm a keen ultimate frisbee player, and I enjoy chess, table tennis, and hiking. I'm also (slowly) learning French and Polish.
Hey everyone, I'm Phoebe !
I am an undergrad for Durham in the 2021 cohort.
My field of research is sociology looking at access to higher education programmes and widening participation.
Hello all! I did my Laidlaw Programme at Durham University between 2019-2021. My research project focused on evaluating the immigration and asylum system of the EU through a case study of the 2015 immigration crisis. Following the completion of my undergraduate LLB degree I moved to London to pursue my postgraduate LLM study at Queen Mary University of London.
I am passionate about literature and foreign languages. I love creative writing and hope to pursue a career in an artistic field. A lot of my research involved finding out about the horrific military dictatorships in Argentina and Uruguay towards the end of the 20th century. For this reason, I have become really interested in the notion of emotional trauma, how it can leave invisible scars on a population, and how it can haunt a nation. I'm also a huge fan of podcasts and hope to start my own one day! I'm in love with The Poetry Exchange podcast and the BBC Arts and Ideas!
Hi! I am a 3rd year Nanoscience student at Trinity College Dublin. My research project deals with urban micrometeorites in Dublin.
Laidlaw Scholar Alumni (Durham University Cohort 6, 2022-24)
Current Endeavours: I am studying MSc Environmental Economics and Climate Change at the LSE for 2024-25. From September 2025, I will be starting a PhD in Environmental Economics at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
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My time as a Laidlaw Scholar:
I graduated with First Class Honours in BA Economics from Durham University. My foremost interests are Development Economics and Environmental Economics. This is reflected in my research project which explored Demographic Economics, titled "The Shifting Distribution of the Global Population in the Twenty-First Century: an Econometric Analysis of the Projected Fortunes of Nigeria and Japan, with Policy Recommendations for Sustainable Development".
I have experience working in economic consulting, specialising in competition economics, and am also a Zumba instructor. During my time on the Laidlaw Programme I have also served as a Laidlaw Schools Trust Mentor for Excelsior Academy in Newcastle.
In 2023, I completed a six-week international ‘Leadership in Action’ project in partnership with Think Pacific for my Laidlaw Scholarship. For this, I participated in a multi-faceted programme, comprising the building of a health centre, collaborations with Diabetes Fiji and Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, and a Fijian Culture Course. The project ended with a Think Tank where we planned how we would sustain progress. In my sub-group’s case, we are working on a new project to build a multi-purpose building to act as a kindergarten and evacuation centre, for which we are currently fundraising. We have had multiple meetings with the Laidlaw Foundation CEO and the Laidlaw Schools Trust, and we are presenting at the Conversations Conference in Dublin in October 2023. Our project took place in Vunimaqo and Waisava, Dreketi Settlement, Nalawa district, Ra province, Vita Levu island, Fiji.
I attended the Impact 2022 conference at the LSE and (virtually, after flight cancellations) the Conversations 2023 conference at Trinity College Dublin.
My Laidlaw experience focuses on reframing the tourism industry to center the environment. In my first year, I developed a map of NYC's ecotourism, focused on environmental justice, circularity, and emissions reduction. In my second year in Santiago, Chile, I have collaborated with FEDETUR, the federation of tourism enterprises of Chile, to develop materials for tourism businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.
Toronto based designer, researcher and community volunteer involved in interdisciplinary projects and student-led mentorship and leadership initiatives. My architecture work focuses on digital timber fabrication and AI computational architecture. I incorporate GIS, Grasshopper, Midjourney, Blender and other tools to look at architecture through a multifaceted lens and dissect problems pertaining to sustainability and urban planning, My other interests include advocacy, library-hopping and deep sea diving. I am always happy to connect over a coffee!
I am studying Sociology, and my research area is sense of belonging, achievement and peer group formation in first-generation undergraduates at Durham University.
More generally, I am interested in the sociological study of health (specifically mental health and wellbeing) and the ways in which this intersects with inequalities. Alongside this, I also have an interest in the role Higher Education plays in social mobility and inequalities.
I am working on the All-or-Nothing Problem in Effective Altruism. I integrate the topic with the classical ethics dilemma- the numbers problem and provide a new perspective on the issue. I conducted my research at the University of St. Andrews under the supervision of Dr Theron Pummer. In general, I am interested in political philosophy, ethics, meta-ethics, politics and public policy.
I'm chemist undergraduate student from UR-CST .Currently, I am conducting a research on how humic acid can be extracted from compost materials which are disposed at landfills .Humic acid is known to be used as soil amendment in soil with low organic matter but also to improve both quality of soil and production from agriculture sector.
Politics
Biological Sciences student with an interest in genetics and embryology. Passionate about fertility rights and activism. Just completed an industrial placement at Reckitt in Hull working as an analytical assistant in the R&D Category Team for Mucinex.
Currently on LIA working on an impact assessment report for social enterprise and domestic violence/homelessness employer program provider: TwoGood Co, Sydney, Australia.
I am a final-year law student from Ireland and I have a particular interest in socio-legal research. I like finding connections between the structure of our legal system and various social-demographic features of the population that it governs. Saying that however, I really am interested in all areas of law and I'm sure I will find other interesting research rabbit holes to wander down in the future.
I was born in 1989 in Georgia and was raised there, right after the Soviet dissolution. I am a lawyer with diverse experience, currently working in the energy sector. I am particularly interested in business, digitalisation and human psychology. My hobbies are fiction literature, movies, skiing, poker, board games, music, debating and numbers. My family: my husband, Beka and our twins - Emily and Shio.
Joel was the Laidlaw Programme Coordinator for Trinity (2018 - 2024). In this role he managed leadership development activities, student coaching, programme design, and the day-to-day support of the Laidlaw Scholars. He is currently the Equality Officer (Acting) for Trinity.
Prior to joining the Careers Service, he worked in Trinity's Academic Registry as a Team Manager (Communications and Human Resources) with a focus on developing modern and inclusive support services for students and staff. He has previously worked with Trinity's Office of Global Relations to develop the Global Room and Campus Visit initiatives for international students.
He is a founder and current Co-Chair of Trinity's LGBT+ Staff Network and is committed to Trinity's mission of fostering excellence by empowering accessibility and diversity in higher education. A graduate of Trinity, he holds a B.A. (Mod.) in English Studies, a Special Certificate in Academic Practice, and a nominal Master in Arts (Dubl.) from the university as well as a CIPD Diploma in Learning and Development (CIPD).
Hi! I'm originally from Hull, East Yorkshire but I'm currently a second year undergraduate student studying for a BA in Linguistics and ab initio Italian at the University of York. Alongside my studies, I am also the current blog coordinator for the University Feminist Society. Being a Laidlaw Scholar allows me to research the success of speech and language therapies in my project entitled 'Hidden behind a smile: acquisition and societal perception of speech sounds in children with cleft lip and palate.'!
My pronouns are she/they, please feel free to use either!