Melanie Marshall, of Indianapolis, Indiana is studying food science and minoring in biological engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, class of 2024 at Cornell University. Melanie is a Laidlaw Leadership and Scholarship Fellow. As a research fellow at Fallen Tree, her interests are in the cultural and religious imagination of insects particularly in the development of the human connection with insects and entomophagy. Melanie enjoys swimming, yoga, weight-lifting, brewing kombucha, and preparing vegan dishes. 

I am an incoming MPhil candidate in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology at the University of Oxford. My Laidlaw research explores the Incan Empire's positive view of female homosexuality, exploring how their diverse understandings of gender influenced these views on sexuality. It also considered how La Conquista's use of a European lens and translation when documenting Incan civilisation resulted in the erasure of much of the sexual and gender diversity which existed throughout Incan Peru.  Show more

Hello, nice to meet you! I am Raina, an undergraduate student studying Applied Artificial Intelligence in the University of Hong Kong. My research topic is using artificial intelligence (AI) to turn a mobile smartphone into a stethoscope. What we want to do in this project is to build an AI-assisted mobile application on smartphones to perform cardiovascular disease early screening.

Hi everyone, I am a third year Laidlaw scholar studying Pharmacology at the University of Leeds. I am currently in the process of completing my placement year as regulatory strategist, developing innovative new therapies to transform the lives of patients with rare conditions at Pfizer. My research project focuses on the UN’s SDGs and the opportunity that students around the world have to collaborate with other universities to implement these goals into their final year capstone projects in attempt to combat educational inequality. I had the opportunity to travel to Fiji for my leadership in action. I stayed in an incredible village called Toga and lived with a family while the team built a health centre for the village and facilitated sessions around the importance of climate change with the Fijian youth. If you would like to hear more about my research, LIA or placement- please drop me a message!

My name is Elena Chatrchyan (she/her) and I am an incoming third year student, studying International Agriculture and Rural Development at Cornell University. My concentration at school is in Economics and Development and I am also minoring in Business. My research is about current soil health initiatives in Armenia, what farmers know about soil health and what do they do to manage and actively improve soil health. Ultimately, with this research I am going to be developing a soil health roadmap for Armenia. I chose this research topic because I find soils really interesting and have been actively working with soils for the past year. Healthy soil is going to be the key to not only adapt to climate change but help us mitigate it as well, making soils extremely important to study.  I am from Ithaca, New York in the United States. When I'm not studying/working, I like to ski in the winter and swim in the summer! I also love all types of music. When I have a lot of extra time, I like baking and cooking. Ask me about anything I've said above. Like most people, I love talking about my hobbies, studies and work. That being said, I'd love to connect with any other Scholars! I love learning about other peoples hobbies, and work, especially those belonging to my fellow scholars!

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'm an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto double majoring in Neuroscience and Visual Arts. For my Laidlaw research project, I joined the Iscove lab in the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre to characterize the cell surface antigens on leukemic stem cells in a HOXB4-transgene-dependent leukemia model maintained in mice.  In the future, I am interested in working on research projects that combine neurobiology and immunology.

I am currently a third year studying Physics at the University of Leeds. My research intertwines my knowledge of physics, my love for fashion and my desire to implement sustainability. My self proposal involves investigating all cellulose composites as possible green composite materials to combat the textile waste produced at the hands of fast fashion.

Hi all! I'm Zina! I am a 3rd Year undergraduate scholar from Durham University. My research interests centre on Decolonisation, the Anthropocene and Radical Decolonisation in the Caribbean region.  I have also been an active member of the 'Decolonising the Modern Languages and Cultures' Research group at Durham and have been appointed as the Decolonising intern for MLAC for the 'Decolonising the Curriculum and Pedagogy' initiative at university!

Hi there! My name is Asha, and I am a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, where I study global health, political science, and psychology.  I was part of the 2021 Laidlaw Scholars cohort at UofT — my research summer focused on determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among ethnocultural minority communities in Canada, and my Leadership-in-Action project was with Tortoise Media in London, UK.  I'm always eager to chat about topics in global health, particularly public health policy, planetary health, and health equity! 

Hi! I'm Victor Gachoki, an enthusiast in the world of innovative technology. I study Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering and I'm currently in my first year. I love to read, blog and play rugby. Being a Laidlaw Scholar means the world to me, and I can't wait to grasp every inch of experience through both the research and leadership program.

Hi👋🏾 I’m Pearls I am a final year Law student at the University of Leeds. I recently completed a placement year at The Walt Disney Company as a CPGP Contract Management Intern (hence the 'industrial' next to my degree title) My first-year research project looked at the way game-based learning could be incorporated into Multi-Academy Trusts (aka MATs) to improve the academic attainment and classroom engagement of GCSE-year black students. My Leadership-in-Action project was with MakeSense and focused on empowering minority communities within Mexico City.