Hi! My name is Freya, and I'll be doing my research on defining the geotechnical properties of Lunar simulant regolith so that when we begin to create high fidelity infrastructure replicas here on Earth ( whether that be a road, a building or a launchpad) we can predict how the surface will change based on these loads! Aside from all things space, I do a MEng in Engineering and Architectural design, with an interest in small space architecture (such as space habitation) and multifunctional/modularity within spaces. I'm also interested in Japanese architecture, spending my gap year living and working in Tokyo whilst also developing my Japanese to N3 intermediate (plus I love 7/11 and all the Konbini's haha).

My name is Tara Lago, and I am a Rabi Scholar and Laidlaw Scholar at Columbia University pursuing a major in neuroscience and behavior with a concentration in chemistry. With more than 3 years of research related to social science, depression, animal behavior, and computational neuroscience, I aim to study and apply the basic neural mechanisms that underlie human health.  I am passionate about helping my community, inside and outside of the lab. Whether that be creating inclusive programs for my first-year residents as a Resident Advisor or advocating for the freedom to read with the New York and Brooklyn Public Library, I seek to create supportive spaces that encourage intellectual, emotional, and social growth. After my undergraduate education, I plan to work in academic medicine, with the ambition of obtaining an MD-PhD in the future. 

Hey everyone! My name is Rinaz Jamal, and I'm a rising sophomore at Columbia University majoring in Neuroscience & Behavior. I am passionate about helping individuals with mental health and neurodegenerative disorders feel seen, heard, and supported. This summer, I will be doing research at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute under the supervision of Dr. Franck Polleux. My project aims to understand the activity-dependent regulation of mitochondrial protein expression in parvalbumin-positive interneurons, which are among the first neurons to fail in Alzheimer's disease (AD). I am excited to add to the scholarly conversation around Alzheimer's research by identifying the molecular pathways that would be most valuable to target for drug development in the future. Because PV-INs are among the first neurons to fail in AD, understanding these metabolic pathways and restoring levels of mitochondrial proteins has the potential to improve clinical outcomes much earlier in AD progression than current methods. At Columbia, I am involved as a Scientific Review Editor for Grey Matters, our undergraduate neuroscience journal; Blog Editor for the Journal of Global Health; Conference Committee member and Peer Buddy for Columbia Synapse, which advocates for patients with acquired brain injury; and volunteer with Brain Exercise Initiative, where I visit patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia at a local assisted living home. I also play flute and piccolo in the Columbia University Orchestra. In my free time, I love to read and explore New York City. Please feel free to reach out; I would love to get to know you all!

Hello! I'm Kate Morton, a rising Junior at Barnard College from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, pursuing a combined major in Environment & Sustainability and Human Rights with a minor in Dance. My Laidlaw Research combines land rights, history, ecology, and environmental justice to explore how eminent domain reshaped socio-ecological conditions in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area along the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

Hello! My name is Anjelica and I'm a sophomore at Columbia University in New York. My current research aims to look into how language affects our perception of femicide in the media. In my free time, I make podcast videos with people who I find inspiring, I write (and hunt for banger book quotes on Pinterest), I'm currently planning an initiative in my foundation, and I love improv comedy. A quote that I really love as of now is: "When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. So they beat him down to nothing but sparks but each little spark had a shine and a song. So they covered each one over with mud. And the lonesomeness in the sparks make them hunt for one another." Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God And yes, I love existential questions.

I am an undergraduate at Columbia University, currently studying Chemistry & Human Rights.

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 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! 

I'm a student from Mexico 🇲🇽 who wants to learn more about the world! Love community, cycling, and reading. 

I'm a rising junior at Columbia University studying Linguistics, Economics, and East Asian Languages & Cultures. I am the coordinator for an EFL program near Columbia. My current research interests revolve around how to make language education more effective and accessible, and how to utilize community resources to make the economics of free language programs feasible. My research interests include literary histories, the linguistics of poetry, sociolinguistics, the economics of language, and how governments shape linguistic communities. Outside of academia, I spend my time reading a lot of fiction & poetry (especially in translation), playing Stardew Valley, and cooking (and eating) my heart out :) I'd love to connect with you all!

Rising junior at Columbia University studying Computer Science and Political Science, with a minor in Statistics. 

I'm a current undergrad student at Barnard College pursuing a double-major in Theatre & Human Rights, with a minor in East Asian Studies. I'm often asked why I’m studying such seemingly divergent fields. For me, these subjects go hand in hand: my diplomacy and human rights practice are informed by an empathy uniquely cultivated from my experience in the arts; my acting on theatrical stages is enriched by my understanding of what is happening on the "world stage." Mastering both mediums is my answer to the seemingly unsolveable divisions we face today. My work bridges these fields in an innovative, urgent and radical effort to highlight our shared humanity at a time we need it most.

Hello! My name is Lily, and I’m pursuing a degree in psychology with a minor in music. My research is interdisciplinary in that it includes psychology, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral studies, and music. I’m studying how listening to emotionally-intense music impacts the later ventriloquism effect, which is a measure of multisensory binding between visual and auditory stimuli. Then, I will investigate if this effect changes when the visual stimulus is imagined using visual mental imagery. My work is motivated by my deep interest in the interactions between visual mental imagery and mental health, specifically with flashbacks in post-traumatic stress disorder. In the future, my goal is to get a PhD in clinical psychology to support mental health in developmental populations and continue research.

Hi! I’m Kamtoya Okeke (she/her). I’m a rising junior at Columbia University studying Cognitive Science, focusing on Economics and Human Behaviour. My research was focused on destruction myths, stories which depict the end of the world, and I explored how these myths reflect societal values and fears, as well as how they showcase the power of storytelling. I had the opportunity to publish my research poster, and have continued this research with external funding! My LiA is at Serve the City Paris, a nonprofit which supports refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, and the unhoused in the city with food, language and culture exchanges, and more. Feel free to reach out if you're interested in literature research and/or narrative forms, or just want to chat!

Hello everyone! My name is Stella Dull, and I'm a rising junior at Barnard College double majoring in East Asian Studies and Applied Math. My research interests lie in the intersection between environmental justice, political theory, and renewable energy. Last summer, I researched China’s approach to green industrial policy and their associated outcomes through a political theorist lens with Professor Alyssa Battistoni. This summer, I will be traveling to China to work with an environmental NGO called Green Camel Bell, where I will help lead an environmental educational summer program for youth.