Reuben Morris-Dyer (He/Him)

Art History and Film Undergraduate, University of St Andrews
Lucy Morris

Laidlaw Project Officer, Durham University

Lauren Powdrell

Student, Durham University

Hello! I am interested in Children's Literature and its effect on its readers. For my research project, I am looking at Ghanaian Children's Literature. In the future, I would love to broaden this to Children's Literature Around the World.
Martha Gillberg

Research Assistant, Business Plan for Peace

I am a Politics, Philosophy and Economics graduate who is greatly interested in peace-building and its direct impact on immigration policy. I have always had a strong strong passion and motivation to make a positive social impact, for my Laidlaw Research Project I was researching alternative and cost-effective education system that could be embedded in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) to guarantee refugees’ educational rights. This required me to conduct extensive research, economic modelling and to think outside the traditional norms of education to find a solution. This is a project I am still working to develop further- if you have any interest in this, reach out and let's have a virtual coffee. I am currently spending my gap year working for Business Plan for Peace to encourage disinvestment in the industry of war, and instead pushing for private funding in initiatives that make peace profitable for the investors. If you are a part of a private company that would like who would like to expand their philanthropic commitment while being an active part of making peace-building a profitable industry- please do reach out!
Valeriya Ryabchina

Laidlaw Scholar, University of St Andrews

I am a 4th year Financial Economics student. My Laidlaw project was in psychology of perception/psychophysics (my degree used to be Economics & Psychology before I switched to Financial Economics). The title of the project was 'Attention in 3 dimensions' and I was investigating the mechanism of selective attention in depth processing.
Charlie Bingham

Student , University of York

I am an Archaeology student at the University of York. My main areas of research interest are focused around using primatology to teach us about the origins of our own species and our behaviours. However, my Laidlaw research project is giving me the unique opportunity to explore another area of Archaeology, ancient plant DNA. My project, entitled, 'Historic Corn Smut: Using ancient DNA methods to understand the risk to UK agriculture', is allowing me to learn about ancient DNA methods during my undergraduate degree. This is something I would not normally get the opportunity to do until masters level. The project is an exciting insight into the evolution of a particular fungal pathogen and looking at the risk this evolutionary progress poses to farming in the UK. As well as being a busy student, I am also a mother of two children under five years of age. Combining these two things has taught me the importance of time management, prioritising and has made me even more determined to succeed.
NTAMBARA Etienne

Masters student in Artificial Intelligence, Nanyang Technological University

My name is Etienne NTAMBARA I am from Rwanda. I studied Computer Science at the University of Rwanda and I was a Laidlaw Scholar of 2019 apart from that I am a computer Science Teacher at MINEDU since 2022 after graduation. Now, I was admitted to pursue a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence at Nanyang Technological University (NTU-Singapore) in the academic year 2023-2024. My research/leadership project was about Open Inventory Management System (O.I.M.S) I chose this project because I wanted to secure all assets owned by my university and other institutions. When I'm not studying/working, I like to watch movies, listen to the news and play football. One thing about me that surprises people is how I trust things with their proof. I'd love to connect with someone who tells me my weakness and advice me to upgrade from it.
Dawn Geronimo Terkla

Associate Provost, Tufts University

As Associate Provost of Tufts University, Dr. Dawn Geronimo Terkla oversees the Offices of Institutional Research & Evaluation (OIR&E); The Center for Enhancement of Learning & Teaching (CELT), and the Tufts Laidlaw Scholars Program: serves on the USAID funded EPT2 One Health Workforce Project; provides guidance across the university on issues relating to institutional research, outcomes assessment, and evaluation; provides critical management information to senior administrators; and serves on university-wide committees (Academic Council, Administrative Council, Social Science IRB, Tufts IT Steering Committee, Information Stewardship Sub-committee, Student Information Steering Committee, as well as, co-chairing the University-Wide Committee on Teaching and Faculty Development. Dr. Terkla is the University Accreditation Liaison Officer to the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). In addition, she participates in school-level accreditations, providing support as needed. She has held leadership positions in several organizations serving as President of both the North East Association for Institutional Research and the Association for Institutional Research, as well as the Chair of the US Department of Educational National Postsecondary Executive Committee (NPEC) Council on Postsecondary Education Statistics. In addition, she has served on the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium Board of Directors, the UCLA/ACE Cooperative Institutional Research Program Advisory Committee, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Commission on Policy Analysis and the National Student Clearinghouse Advisory Committee. Dr. Terkla earned a doctorate in higher education research from Harvard University, a Masters of Public Policy from the University of California Berkeley, and a bachelors degree from Ohio Wesleyan University where she majored in politics and government. In addition, she was awarded a management certificate from the Management Institute for Women in Higher Education.
Ellen Yang

Research Scholar, Durham University

An Education Studies students at Durham University. My research is based on the how digital literacies can affect the social wellbeing of the older generations. I am particularly interested in the education for the elderlies as I believe education can benefit all individuals, not just the younger generations.
Chhavi Sharma

Student, University of Hong Kong

Hi, I'm Chhavi! Brought up in India and Malaysia, I am now a penultimate year Computer & Cognitive Science student studying in Hong Kong. I am passionate about the field of Computer-Human Interaction and have demonstrated experience in Augmented Reality and complex Data Visualization. When I'm not working, you can find me dancing, traveling or maybe just drinking masala chai!
Sebastian Rudden

Student, University College London

Joshua William Dexter

Chemistry Student, Durham University

About Me Currently about halfway through my Chemistry MChem at Durham University (graduate 2023) and I still love every second of it. I am conducting research into amide bond breaking and forming reactions, and similar mechanisms to try to solve fun and tricky synthetic issues (thanks to Laidlaw). Prior to a Chemistry degree, I worked as charity fundraiser/team leader for 7 years. I have personally raised over £1mil for various charities, and have a huge amount of leadership experience (training and management). I am super friendly, love to learn, happy teaching, and I am keen to make the most out the Laidlaw Foundation. So, feel free to get in touch about anything; whether you are looking to support, be supported, or just discuss. Always on the lookout for good research opportunities and ideas. Main interests include synthetic peptide,and organocatalytic chemistry. Nearing the point where I will start applying for doctoral candidate positions. So, if you think you can offer or direct me to a good fit, I would be very happy to hear from you. Laidlaw Research My planned Laidlaw research aimed to develop a series of trans-amidation reactions using azanides (amino, R2N- anions) to cleave/trans-amidate at amide bonds. During lockdown, these reactions were independently developed elsewhere. I am happy the reactions work, even if someone else got to do the work. Feel free to compare the proposed reactions in the research proposal, published on my profile, with the article they published. [M. Fairley, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 6500.] Due to Covid, the time spent familiarising myself with this very niche set of reactions afforded a sensible option with an easy transition into a literature review of novel reactions that could be used to solve the synthetic peptoid (R3N-amino acid molecules and polymers) formation issues when bulky/electron-withdrawing residuals on N are used. I had great fun trying to think my way around the problem and the lit. review was passed onto my supervisor and his team to (hopefully) produce literature worthy solutions. Happy to discuss, share findings and collaborate. Just, get in touch. Other Interests I was doing outreach work with children through the university pre-Covid and I am really looking forward to being able to help out again soon. I am a huge sci-fi nerd. I also run 2 student societies and organise events, socials, talks, etc. for each. Both societies have a broad range of aims with activities that support community inclusion, safeguarding, wellbeing and harm-reduction. Future Plans I made the tough choice to suspend my university studies for the 2020-21 academic year as I feel ensuring access to the full MChem experience is too important to miss. I have been taking the opportunity of spare time to engage with private study and develop some peripheral skills to compliment what I learnt in the first 2 years. I will start 3rd year in October.  My second summer with Laidlaw will now be in 2022 and I am hoping that international collaboration will be possible by then. Seeking doctoral training or relevant internship possibilities to start summer 2023. I am very comfortable being contacted to you are welcome to get in touch, and feel free to pass my details on. Research Interests - Innovation of synthetic mechanisms. - Peptides and peptidomimetics. - Organocatalysis.
Maria Valenstain

Student Researcher, University of York

I am an undergraduate Laidlaw Scholar studying Philosophy and Politics at the University of York. I am very interested in climate education. My project investigates collective responsibility regarding climate change in the primary years of school.
William Liu

Product Management Coop at iRobot, Tufts University

I am a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a minor in Engineering Management and Human Factors Engineering at Tufts. Throughout my undergraduate Laidlaw research career, I have been working on two different research projects. At the Tufts Human Factors Lab, I was designing the next generation soft robotics exoskeleton suit. Together with the research team, we are discovering creative way to embed silicone based soft robots to a lightweight exoskeleton suit. When COVID-19 pandemic out broke in the US, our lab got shut down so I switched to a different research project: investigating the effect of stirring and undercooling on the phase transformation of the FeCo alloy. Two journal publications are pending and I am finishing up my Senior Honor thesis on this topic. Currently I am the Product Management Coop in the New Product Development team at iRobot 
Nori Otis

Student, University of Leeds

I'm a microbiology graduate interested in healthcare, conservation and medicine. My first year research project looked at soft corals and the shifts in their communities due to climate change across the Indo-Pacific. For my LIA I got to travel to remote Fiji with ThinkPacific were I discovered my love for community engagement and saw an entire new culture. Apart from academic interests I love cooking, going to the gym, doing art and learning :)
Anurag Nasa

Medical Student, Trinity College Dublin

Project title: An investigation of the efferent pathways of the amygdala in Major Depressive Disorder using high resolution, multimodal MRI
Shane Coleman Macken

Laidlaw Scholar @ Trinity College Dublin, School of English, Trinity College Dublin

I am a third year English Literature and History student in Trinity College Dublin. My research under the Laidlaw Programme focuses on Tony Kushner's 1991 play Angels in America, and its role in deconstructing the homogenous queer identity. During my first summer, I will carried out close textual analysis of the play, consulted criticism of Kushner's work, and applied leading queer literary theorists' work to Angels in America. In Summer 2021, I will be working with the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival to produce an anthology of plays by Irish based queer playwrights as well as online productions during Dublin Pride. (he/him)
Anna Nuttle

student, Columbia University

Roisin Winters

Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin

I am a neuroscience student in Trinity College Dublin. My research project is entitled "The Benefits of Exercise on the Brain: The Role of Inflammation". The objective of this research project is to analyse brain samples from sedentary and exercised aged mice to investigate if cognitive function is correlated with expression of inflammatory molecules in the brain. I am hoping the data garnered from this project will increase our understanding of how the brain deals with inflammation when in an optimal natural environment and that this knowledge can help with progression towards treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Georgia Kriticou

Undergraduate, Durham University

I believe in ground-breaking research, innovation and teaching. I am passionate about learning difficult concepts and breaking them down to their core; simplifying them and being able to convey their essence to anyone willing to listen. As an undergraduate chemistry student, researcher on synthesis of Blatter Radicals and volunteer tutor, this is exactly what I am doing. And I love it. There’s always more to research and learn in chemistry and I am always up for the challenge. My hobbies and interests range form hiking, running and swimming, to art and reading.
Melody Chan

Student, University of Toronto