Hello! I'm Cate, a fourth-year undergraduate student originally from Connecticut in the US, and I study English and Political Science at Brown University. I'm interested in human rights, social movements, US constitutional law, and comparative law. As you might have already guessed, I'm considering going into the legal field after undergrad. In 2025, during my first summer as a Laidlaw Scholar, I participated in an ongoing research project at Brown University 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. In Summer 2026, for my Leadership in Action project, I am working with the NGO Bibliothèques Sans Frontières in Dakar, Senegal. I am working on expanding access to BSF's educational resources and solar-powered, offline Wi-Fi hotspots to more schools in rural areas across several countries in Western Africa.

Hi everyone, I'm Jasmine, and I'm studying BA Geography at LSE. I'd like to consider myself as an at least partially competent social scientist, but my particular interests are in modern history, gender, and urban studies. I'll happily waffle on about any of those things, and I'm always excited to meet people with shared interests. Outside of academics, I enjoy ballet, marvel, disney music and playing with my dog. I wanted to become a Laidlaw scholar because I enjoy doing research, and I wanted to see if I could take my burgeoning skills outside of university to make a difference (an utter cliché, I know). I'm hoping to do that this summer with my LiA working for Variety, a UK-based charity that looks to support children with disabilities from disadvantaged backgrounds. I will be running a research project investigating where there are gaps in the capacity of these children to access assistive technology, and what we can do about it. If you're interested, if you have any ideas or knowledge, send me a message or an email!

Hi, I’m Katie McGowan, a Psychology undergraduate at the University of Leeds and a 2025 Laidlaw Scholar. My academic interests centre around human behaviour, social influence, and cultural psychology. This summer, I’m researching how cultural background and perceived empathy in artificial intelligence influence consumer trust — a project that brings together my fascination with social psychology and cross-cultural dynamics. Outside of academia, I’m passionate about women’s rights, youth leadership, and community impact. I’ve volunteered with organisations including Let Me Know (LMK) and Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA), helping to raise awareness around healthy relationships and gender-based violence. I’m also a Holocaust Educational Ambassador, committed to promoting dialogue, reflection, and education around collective memory and human rights. I currently serve as a School Representative for Psychology, advocating for students and working with staff to ensure that student feedback leads to meaningful change. Leadership, empathy, and representation are values that guide everything I do. Outside of my academic and voluntary work, I love travel and adventure — I hold an Advanced Open Water Scuba Diving certification, and I’m always looking for new ways to explore both above and below the surface. I'm especially interested in how research and leadership can create real-world change, and I’m always open to connecting with others who share those goals.

Hello there! I'm Ashiya, a member of the 2025 Laidlaw Leadership & Research Programme Cohort. I am a student at the University of Toronto's Munk School, pursuing a double major in Peace, Conflict & Justice and Ethics, Society & Law. I'm passionate about education and the governance of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. I am currently exploring how this affects children facing socioeconomic disadvantage through my Leadership-in-Action project in Northern England. This builds on my previous work in student advocacy, my research of Indigenous-led education initiatives in Canada for my first Laidlaw summer, and my new role as a Center for International Governance Innovation Digital Policy Hub Fellow. I look forward to reading and contributing to the incredible body of work on this platform (you all are awesome)! Outside of research, I love to read, dance ballet, explore, learn new things and make new friends - please feel free to reach out anytime :)

Ciao! I'm Leonardo, a Laidlaw Scholar passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, and creating meaningful change in this world. I come from Italy, and at 17, I took an uncomfortable step by moving alone to the UK to pursue my studies, determined to gain access to an English university, networks, and growth opportunities. My research title is: "Using Points of Interest Data to Understand Retail Change in Great Britain, 2015 – 2025", which deeply connects with my entrepreneurial objectives. Through Laidlaw, I'm excited to expand my leadership capabilities, refine essential entrepreneurial skills and find new people within this amazing network! I'm passionate about engaging with Laidlaw's diverse global community, exchanging perspectives, and fostering long-lasting connections. I look forward to contributing my experiences, collaborating with fellow scholars, and continuously growing as both a leader and an individual. Please feel free to connect; I’m genuinely excited to share ideas, collaborate, and explore innovative solutions together! Leonardo Linkedin leonardogareri05@gmail.com

Hi! I'm passionate about using the elegant and sometimes insane theories in physics and using them to contribute to healthcare. Currently I'm looking at a career treating cancer by using targeted ionizing radiation to skilfully shrink tumours. I'm fascinated at how physics can be used to harness the beautiful complexity of nature to transform lives. I sincerely hope I have a long career of contributing to this effort in any way I can, from being a clinical scientist to conducting own my research to helping other researchers receive patents for their work. The title of my Laidlaw research project is 'Evaluating Current Methods for Enhancing Clinical Computer Tomography Imaging Using Contrast Agents'. This beautifully ties my expertise with improving patient outcomes and innovation within healthcare. If anyone would like to collaborate or just say hi then please do!

Hi! I’m Katya, a third-year English and French student at the University of Leeds and part of the 2025/26 Laidlaw Scholar cohort. My research project topic in 2025 was titled ‘Distinctiveness in the Poetry Activity of the Leeds City Region’. I worked in partnership with the National Poetry Centre to conduct interviews with key stakeholders in the poetry scene, which enabled me to draw conclusions about the levels of connectivity and accessibility in Leeds's poetry scene. In the second year of the programme, I completed my LiA in Auckland, New Zealand, volunteering as a Community Engagement and Media Intern at Youth Arts New Zealand to amplify youth creativity through storytelling and community engagement. After that, I spent a month working as an Events and Marketing Intern at the Laidlaw Foundation. I’m originally from Russia but moved to Slovenia for political reasons when I was 15, then to the UK at 19, and just completed an academic year abroad in Canada, so I’ve had a fair share of adapting to new places. Moving countries meant leaving behind everything I knew, including eight years of acrobatic gymnastics, but it also helped me become more open to change. I see each new chapter as a chance to grow, connect, and tell meaningful stories. Outside of uni, you’ll probably find me at the gym (a post-acrobatics obsession), with my nose in a book, or planning my next trip—I’ve been to 36 countries so far and don’t plan on slowing down!

I've been looking after Research Scholars in the Arts and Humanities since 2008, and have been involved with the Laidlaw Network since it was established. I'm passionate about increasing diversity and making opportunities available to more. I'm a proud Loiner (someone from Leeds) and particularly love to work with students to engage with the city and the amazing cultural and creative industries that we have here.

Amber is a Bachelor of Psychology student at The University of Hong Kong. As a Laidlaw Scholar from the 2024 cohort, she completed her research project, titled “Reading Through Gaming in Primary School,” at the University of Leeds and volunteered with the Red Cross in Taiwan (Pingtung County) during her second summer.

Hello! I’m a psychology researcher and the founder of HaHaHelps, a nonprofit organisation developing and delivering a comedy-based psychosocial programme designed to support young people in residential care. I am currently completing an MSocSci in Psychology at the University of Cape Town, where my dissertation examines the feasibility of HaHaHelps programme with adolescents in South African child and youth care centres. My broader interests include youth mental health, psychosocial intervention development, implementation, participatory approaches, and the use of humour and play to support connection, emotional expression, self-efficacy, and coping with uncertainty. HaHaHelps grew out of my Laidlaw Leadership-in-Action project at SOS Children’s Villages in Cape Town, where I designed and facilitated an improv-comedy programme for adolescents. Since then, I have continued developing and delivering the programme with young people in residential care and am now studying how it can be refined, evaluated, and ultimately adapted for use in other communities and settings. Before this, my Laidlaw research at the University of Toronto examined relationships between childhood adversity, aggression, and self-regulation. I’d love to connect with other Laidlaw Scholars and alumni interested in youth mental health, social impact, intervention development, social entrepreneurship, or simply finding creative ways to turn research into something useful in the world.

Hi! I'm a first year student Law student at the University of Leeds and I am part of the 2024 Laidlaw Scholars cohort. My research topic is "Mapping the Networks of South-South Indigenous Solidarity and Advocacy".

Hi, I'm Megan and I study BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Leeds within the School of Biomedical Sciences. In my degree programme studies, I have a keen interest in biomechanics, as well as physiology and motor control. My research project title is "Investigating the perspectives of staff, students and industry partners on a novel method of teaching undergraduate students transferable skills". Outside of my studies, I play rugby for the Leeds University Union Women's Rugby Union Football Club, where I am the kit secretary for the 24/25 season and a player on the 1st XV.

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 conservationist, 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 conservation challenges 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 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!

Hi! I'm Phoebe, I'm a third year French and Italian student at the University of Leeds and a 2024 Laidlaw Scholar. My research project was 'Mapping Colonial Subjects in the French Resistance' with Professor Nina Wardleworth. I've just finished my year abroad in Bologna, Italy and I am currently on my LiA with Serve the City in Brussels, Belgium.

Cothney Theresa Lasaracina