Hi! My name is Emma Zhu, and I’m a sophomore at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where I’m majoring in Regional and Comparative Studies with a focus on the United States and Asia, as well as the global Asian diaspora. My academic interests lie at the intersection of history, migration, and transnational political movements. This summer, my research explores the 1982 garment workers’ strike in New York City’s Chinatown—an extraordinary and often overlooked moment in Asian American labor history. Led primarily by Chinese immigrant women, the strike brought together over 20,000 garment workers in a powerful act of collective resistance. Despite differences in dialect, regional origin, and socio-economic background, these women overcame deep structural and interpersonal divisions to organize one of the most successful labor actions in Chinatown’s history. My project investigates the strike’s transnational and transcontinental inspirations, including how global labor movements, migration patterns, and nation-building movements back home influenced their organizing methods and messaging. I am especially interested in understanding how women who were often excluded from formal labor narratives carved out their own space to mobilize, negotiate with union leadership, and ultimately reshape the trajectory of immigrant labor organizing in the U.S. My research this summer is grounded in archival work and oral history interviews and draws from intersecting traditions in ethnic studies, feminist labor history, and diaspora studies. I hope this project will contribute to broader conversations about the political lives of working-class immigrant women and the cross-cultural alliances they formed both locally and globally. Outside of Laidlaw, I really like watching films, cafe-hopping, visiting museums, and traveling. 

I am an undergraduate student at Georgetown University (CAS '27) studying Physics and Science, Technology, & International Affairs. I was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas and am pursuing a career in medicine. Outside academics, I am a volunteer EMT, I am involved in the Georgetown Filipino community, and I spend my free time finding new ways to physically challenge myself (marathons, fencing, wilderness exploration, etc.). As a Laidlaw Program Scholar, I aim to rewrite the narrative surrounding leadership as a practice defined by community impact. Especially in the field I am pursuing, there exists a strong need for advocates who lead alongside those they serve. Through the personal development inherent to the Laidlaw Program, I aim to join a unique cohort of young professionals dedicated toward social change. My Laidlaw research project involves the identification of metabolomic biomarkers indicative of acute radiation exposure. I will utilize mass spectrometry data collected from non-human primate urine, saliva, and serum to improve upon existing radiation exposure models. I anticipate facing the coming research challenges and future opportunities available through the Laidlaw Scholars Network.

Hello! I am a multidisciplinary designer and have been with the Laidlaw Foundation for over five years, working to strengthen our global Scholar community and amplify the impact of our programmes. My work lives somewhere between design, education, and anthropology, usually with sticky notes involved. I studied Human Sciences as an undergrad and am currently doing a Master’s in Anthropology at UCL. Degrees I struggle to explain at parties. Born and raised in Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 Outside of work? Probably in the ceramics studio, wandering aimlessly with a podcast in my ears, attempting a handstand, or watching far too much TV. Big fan of nature and very small bugs.

Laidlaw Scholar Alumna at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, I'm often found at the piano🎹, mesmerized in a theatre🎭, or painting away the night with friends🎨.  If our paths align in interests or work, why not connect? Ping me, and let's connect on LinkedIn.

Hello! I am a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University. I study cognitive science, with interdisciplinary interests in data science and across the social sciences. As a Laidlaw scholar, I am working on a transdisciplinary project dealing with the socioecological impacts of Indonesia's national capital city relocation from Jakarta to Nusantara. Through the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, I assist in combining bioacoustic technology and ethnographic research methods to study human and "more-than-human" communities in East Kalimantan and how they are affected by Nusantara's construction. In the summer of 2025, I traveled onsite for my LiA to work directly with community partners at Mulawarman University and led the development of materials preserving the ecological and cultural heritage of this area amidst cultural change. Outside of academics and research, you can find me paddling on Cayuga Lake, reading speculative fiction, or making art. Please feel free to reach out to me here or at kcr53@cornell.edu!

Hi! I’m Sophie Kleina, a Psychological and Behavioural Sciences student at the University of Cambridge. I’m passionate about language learning and preservation, which is why my Laidlaw research project focuses on the Kashubian language- a regional and Indigenous language of northern Poland, and a heritage I’m proud to be part of. My academic interests span sociology, linguistics, psychology, and education, and I’m especially drawn to work that supports cultural diversity, educational access, and meaningful social change. I care deeply about doing work that helps people, strengthens communities, and protects the richness of human language and identity. I’m always eager to learn from others and collaborate on projects that make a difference- feel free to connect!

Hi! I am a 4th year undergraduate scholar at Trinity College Dublin studying Global Business, and I am currently on my study abroad in ESCP Paris. My research project centres on the importance of female leaders from ethnic minorities in the business C-suite & the necessity for better racial and gender diversity on executive boards worldwide.  I’m really looking forward to meeting new people and experiencing new things on this journey!

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! 

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! Having previously been a Laidlaw Undergraduate Scholar studying English Literature at UCL, I am now the Marketing Manager of the Laidlaw Foundation.  My research looked at collaborative and innovative practices in academic publishing, and community building is something I built a passion for during my Leadership in Action. Feel free to reach out or connect with me!