I am a final year student in an interdisciplinary BASc(Global Health and Development) programme, hosted at the School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU while pursuing a second major in Psychology. In the previous years, I served as the chairperson of my programme's student society at HKU. My research engagement extends beyond the six-week attachment at University College London's ISEH in summer 2023 – after returning to Hong Kong, I am still working with the researchers at UCL to prepare a systematic review, and following up the results so far to combine with the continued effort back in the UK to write up a journal article for submission soon. Back in HKU, I have joined research labs in psychiatry and psychology departments, working on both statistical analyses and research project managements. More recently, I succesfully led the organisation of a month-long summer research programme for high school students as part of my LiA with the research lab I have been working since Jan 2024. Besides what I have been immersing myself in research, I have a keen interest towards topics like inequality in society, our health, environmental and sustainable development studies. During secondary school years, I steered my school's flagship territory-wide primary school STREAM education initiative for two years and administered school student bodies of the discipline team, school history and gifted education team and took an active role in the environmental protection team. I was named one of the 2021 Hong Kong Outstanding Teens and was twice commended by the Education Bureau as an Outstanding Student Environmental Protection Ambassador. I endeavour to promote equality for underprivileged and underrepresented groups in society including ethnic minorities and enhance their upward social mobility. In 2022, I competed the in first Hong Kong Student Service Leaders Award organized by Dream Compassioneers, undertaking social service projects and was recognized with the title of the Top Ten Outstanding Student Service Leaders 2022. Last updated: Feb 2026

Hi! My name is Francesca and I am entering my third and final year at the University of Leeds studying Geography (BSc).  My research project focused on understanding students' expectations of sustainability in their curriculum and experience at the University. The research gained a well rounded perspective of sustainability practices in academic settings and how student voice can be an effective tool for engaging in sustainability further and creating beneficial change.  My LiA is with the make_sense organisation in Medellín, Colombia and focuses on Peace and Social Resilience within Picacho, an area in the city.   I look forward to connecting with many like-minded individuals who are eager to make significant change and adapt the needs of humanity in this climate crisis. 

Hello! I recently graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology Research from the University of Toronto. I’m passionate about youth mental health and how humour can be used to support resilience after adversity. My Summer 1 research project explored the relationship between childhood adversity, aggression, and self-regulation — deepening my understanding of the psychological impacts of early trauma. In Summer 2, I led a Leadership-in-Action project at SOS Children’s Villages in Cape Town, where I designed and facilitated a comedy-based mental health program for teens. That experience led me to found HaHaHelps — an organization that uses improv comedy to support youth mental health through accessible, community-led workshops. I'm currently piloting the full program in South Africa, with plans to expand to more communities globally. Please feel free to connect :) Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/younessrobert-tahiri Email: youness@hahahelps.org

Hello! I’m Trisha, a fourth-year student at Cornell University from Texas, USA. I’m majoring in Environment and Sustainability with a dual focus on food systems and wildlife conservation, and minoring 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. I will be returning 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. At Cornell, I am an Institute of Politics and Global Affairs Scholar, through which I interact with policymakers monthly to discuss pervasive issues in international politics. I also 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.  For fun, I love to turn even the most mundane materials into recycled art, spend hours on end working through jigsaw puzzles, and go for runs while listening to podcasts. And as a diehard foodie who loves to travel, I’m always looking for recommendations of places to visit or new recipes to try!  The Laidlaw Scholars Program has been an invaluable component of my undergraduate experience. The friendships I’ve made, as well as the research and language skills I’ve begun to develop, have 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 trb238@cornell.edu. I hope we can meet in person someday!

Hi everyone! I am currently studying Psychology at UCL, hoping to become a Clinical Psychologist in the future. My Laidlaw research project is about the potential for reduced striatal dopamine transmission as a transdiagnostic mechanism underlying psychomotor retardation across various neurological and psychiatric disorders. I'm hoping that this research would identify shared pathophysiological mechanisms that have clinical implications for more personalised treatments and advance our understanding of dopamine's role in cognitive and motor symptoms of neuropsychiatric conditions, potentially informing the repurposing of dopaminergic drugs. In my free time, I love dancing (contemporary/lyrical), reading, taking photos with my film camera, going on walks, visiting cafés and spending time with my family and friends. I am beyond excited and grateful to be part of the 2024 Laidlaw Scholars cohort and look forward to undertaking this journey with you all! I would love to connect with anyone passionate about raising awareness of mental health and improving access to education for individuals with special needs, or share an interest in neuroscience, psychology or my hobbies. I'm also very open to learning from others interested in different disciplines. Please feel free to reach out :)

Hi! I am a junior at Cornell University pursuing an independent major of Interdisciplinary Studies (Education, Information Science, Psychology). Through Laidlaw, I am conducting research on the social-ecological impacts of Indonesia's capital relocation and am excited to explore the intersection between bioacoustics, Indigenous knowledge, and public education. Feel free to connect with me on here or on LinkedIn!

Hi, I'm Hin, a year 3 student at The University of Hong Kong. I major in Psychology and Neuroscience, and will be conducting my research project at HKU's LKS Faulty of Medicine. The project aims to investigate the efficacy of gamified inter-professional education in the promotion of knowledge co-construction in the context of cancer treatment. In my free time, I like to catch up on recent neuroscience literature and draft up research proposals with friends. I also enjoy singing and drawing, and have a few vids on YouTube! Oh, and if I am not fatigued from work, I sometimes code for fun (mostly in Python, but not a pro). I usually rework my code in previous projects, optimise them or find new ways to write them...... and if I am really, really free......maybe start a new project???? I'd love to connect with anyone who loves doing research, creating or listening to music, and starting fun projects because of that cool idea that popped up in a daydream.