Hello! I’m Trisha, a graduate of Cornell University from Texas, USA. I majored in Environment and Sustainability with a dual focus on food systems and wildlife conservation, and minored in International Relations. My interests in combining my enduring passions for writing and wildlife conservation have driven me to explore multiple perspectives on highly-controversial issues such as trophy hunting, retaliatory animal killings, and illegal wildlife crime. Thus, during my first summer as a Laidlaw Scholar and as a member of the Morally Contested Conservation team, I wrote a literature review on the interconnectedness of climate change and human-wildlife conflicts in East and southern Africa. In June and July 2024, I furthered this research by traveling to the University of Oxford and to the Burunge Wildlife Management Area in Tanzania, and returned to Oxford and Burunge in June and July 2025 to report my results.
As an aspiring environmental policymaker and journalist, I am passionate about making technical scientific information more accessible to the general public. I speak Marathi, Spanish, and Swahili at varying levels of fluency and plan to continue to grow my language skills to communicate environmental issues across continents and cultures.
The Laidlaw Scholars Program was an invaluable component of my undergraduate experience. The friendships I made, as well as the research and language skills I began to develop, encouraged me to continue to ask and seek answers to complicated questions about global affairs and environmental science. If anyone has questions or feedback about the Laidlaw Program, is interested in collaborating, or just wants to say hello, please feel free to email me at trisha.bhujle@gmail.com!
Hello! I'm Cate, a second-year undergraduate student originally from Connecticut in the US, and I study English and Political Science at Brown University (and maybe also French!). I'm interested in immigration, human rights, social movements, US constitutional law, and comparative law, and—as you might have already guessed—I'm considering going into the legal field after undergrad.
In 2025, I'm entering my first summer as a Laidlaw Scholar, and I'm excited to be participating in a research project called "In the Wake of George Floyd." This project is about documenting current and past protests across Rhode Island in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd and writing about them in the context of social movements, racism, and police violence in the state of Rhode Island and throughout the country.
Hello! I've directed the Laidlaw Scholars Program at Brown University since 2023. I care deeply about lifting up the next generation of leaders, change-makers, and engaged scholars to create a more just and equitable world. My PhD is in U.S. History and Gender Studies with a focus on families, childhood and youth. Send me a message if you'd like to connect!
My Clifton Strengths are: Achiever, Relator, Strategic, Learner, Individualization