Hi! I study Social Policy at LSE and am very, very passionate about intersectional liberation! This summer I did my LIA as a Commissioning Officer at Essex County Council doing participatory research to develop new domestic abuse early intervention services - an area I'm extremely passionate about. One day I hope to be a lawyer as I'm sure many other Laidlaw(y)ers do!  Always happy to chat about migration, dance, pole fitness, languages (currently learning 🇨🇳🇷🇺🇩🇪), and connect with like-minded people. (If you want to go to RBO to watch ballet or pole hire with me please get in contact!) Have the best day if you're reading this xx

Hello there! I'm a third-year student in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. My passion for biology stems from research on pollination, insects and biodiversity at my school's gardens since I was seven-years-old. Now, I intend to continue to pursue passion this with a project that has an impact in disadvantaged communities from my home country, Colombia.  I will be studying the pollination networks of cacao trees, which is crucial to contribute to agroforestry systems in tropical Latin America, so that they are a sustainable and productive opportunity for smallholder farmers that want to restore forest areas. On a side note, I'm a curious person by nature and that's why I like to do and learn lots of things. So whether you are interested in my project or not, feel free to reach out! I believe that there are no boundaries when collaborating interdisciplinary. For example, research on cacao trees not only spans biology. There is ongoing anthropological research that is trying to figure out how cocoa got from the Amazon (its biological origin) to Mexico! 

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! I'm Sophia, an aspiring scientist and philomath. I love learning about everything and anything and delight in spending time with people who are passionate about the things they love! I am really interested and curious about how we can use chemistry to improve processes and products to help society. For example, my research project is looking into the possibility of turning struvite, a mineral which is a by-product of waste-water treatment processes into slow-release nitrogen and phosphorous fertilisers, which would be a green source nitrogen and phosphorous fertilisers and help achieve goals of zero-waste.  If you are researching something similar or are interested in learning more about the project, please reach out! I am super happy to talk about the project and meet other who are doing something similar and possibly collaborate!