Hello wonderful people :D My name is Deep and I am a first-year undergraduate studying Biology at Pembroke College, the University of Oxford.  I am also proud to be part of the 2025-2026 Laidlaw Scholars Cohort at the Oxford SDG Impact Lab! I'm excited to learn about and get experience in using biology to create a meaningful impact in the world, particularly in the fields of conservation, climate change, ecology and sustainability.  I am also passionate about learning science and student empowerment! I hope to help build a world in which every child and student has the resources, support, guidance and opportunities to dream big; turn their dreams into goals; and turn their goals into reality. I hope to help build a world that is brighter, kinder and more loving, in which more people reach their full, golden glowing potential.  So far in my leadership journey, I have been creating meaningful impact on a small scale, through volunteering as a tutor and at my high school's pupil support centre; my current role as a student mentor at Biology By Clare; and more recently starting an online academic empowerment project! Over the years, I have become fascinated with ways we could empower more students using larger-scale initiatives, at the levels of education policy, charities and other organisations. Hence, I am very excited about my Laidlaw research project!  For my research project, I am going to be working in a group with some of my Laidlaw Scholar friends at the Oxford SDG Impact Lab. We are going to be researching how we can use co-curricular programmes to improve student well-being and educational outcomes, particularly with the hope of helping solve educational inequity in Oxfordshire.  Outside of Biology and academic empowerment, I love English Literature; Drama, Theatre and Film (I'm currently obsessed with the Wicked!). I am also a big Taylor Swift fan :)  Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, want to work on a meaningful project together, or just want to have a good conversation :) (I prefer email or Instagram)  I am immensely grateful for this opportunity and for being part of this incredible global community. Wishing and sending everyone here so much joy, light and happiness! I'm rooting for you! Here is a link to my YouTube channel by the way, in case you want to check it out :D  A link to my YouTube channel, in case you want to check it out :D A link to my empowerment Instagram channel A link to my personal Instagram account My email: deep.thakkar.world@gmail.com

Hi! I’m Alina, an undergraduate Biochemistry student with a strong passion for meaningful work that has a positive impact on the world. I’m particularly fascinated by health sciences, and my long-term goal is to contribute to making healthcare more accessible, equitable, and effective. I believe that starts with improving the quality of health information and ends with optimizing how healthcare is delivered, whether through advances in pharmaceutical research or innovations in point-of-care solutions. To explore this mission, I’ve chosen to pursue an interdisciplinary research project within the School of Medicine, despite my degree being based in the School of Biology. My research focuses on direct-to-consumer health screening tests offered to generally well individuals in the UK. These tests (for instance at-home genetic screenings) are becoming increasingly popular for promoting autonomy in personal health management. However, they also pose risks, including misinformation, false positives, and overdiagnosis. My project aims to contribute to the growing field of evidence-based diagnostics by advocating a shift from early diagnosis to optimal diagnosis, ensuring diagnosis is not only early but is also clinically useful. Outside of my academic life, I’m very active and love exploring new hobbies. I love exploring new sports, hence I’ve recently taken up Judo and Olympic Weightlifting. I also enjoy cycling, especially through the scenic Scottish countryside, which I explore regularly by bike (the perks of not owning a car!). I also have a creative side: I enjoy embroidery, as well as listening to and producing electronic music, and I’m currently learning how to DJ. Additionally, I’m involved with the Entrepreneurship Centre at the University of St Andrews, where I help foster an entrepreneurial spirit within our student community. I’m a versatile and curious person who thrives on meeting new people and discovering new ideas. I’m always excited by opportunities that combine creativity, innovation, and impact.

Hello! I am Major Richmond, and I enjoy spending time with friends, playing tennis, and visiting the best theme parks in the country. I am a PROUD Blue Devil and a member of Duke University's Class of 2028! I intend to pursue a degree in Public Policy Analysis and explore Environmental Science and Spanish💙😈 In general, The United States is in an unprecedented state of division, specifically in the political realm. The US democratic system has turned into a battle arena full of uncertainty, hatred, and various bad decisions. For my life goal, I have sworn to put a halt to this crippling division and start to put compromise over stubbornness. The best current policy solutions arise when democrats, republicans, conservatives, liberals, and independents unite to create change TOGETHER, rather than separate. As an aspiring politician, I plan to end division for the country's benefit.

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!

I am a third-year student of English at the University of St Andrews from New Delhi, India, and I'm interested in languanges and literature. My research project explores literature in radical bookshops.

Hey there! I'm Miki, a 2025 scholar pursuing a combined degree in Persian, Arabic and International Relations at the University of St Andrews. I care deeply about refugee issues - particularly in the Middle East, owing to my personal experiences with refugees in Jordan and Iran. My research project explores how the  Jordanian and Lebanese governments' differing policies toward Syrian refugees have influenced their integration into their host societies.

Hello! I am an incoming third year student at the University of St Andrews undertaking a joint Honours in Art History and Geography. I am interested in the intersection of the visual arts and the climate crisis; exploring the interactions between artists, cultural institutions, and the environment, past and present, as well as imagining what future interactions may look like.             In my first year with Laidlaw I undertook a research project on the environmental impact of digital practice in museums and heritage institutions. This project delved into carbon costing, water usage of data centres, and the new age of digital colonialism with mineral extraction and e-waste disposal - highlight the great ecological, economic, and social impacts of increasing digital activity. My research implemented the concept of Active Hope. I explored how different experiences of hope across and in curation with different communities could write another story of our time. I questioned how hope could be the central axis for social and environmental change within digital policy in museums.               Presently, I am based in Paris working with Karuna-Shechen for my Leadership in Action. I am writing the sixth edition of their key philanthropy output: 'Letters to our Friends'. Centred on the theme of Hope, I am carrying the insights from my first year into my conversations with colleagues across the field in India and Nepal. I am writing articles that capture the charities' commitment to alleviate poverty and how they pass agency back into the hands of the communities they support. 

I am a second year medical student at the University of St Andrews, with a keen interest in microbiology. After completing my first year research project looking at the induction of genes involved in antibiotic resistance, I am now looking to apply the skills I learnt through a healthcare-related LiA project. 

Hello! I'm an incoming third-year History student at the University of St Andrews. I'm from Madrid, Spain, but I moved to Scotland for university.  My research project focuses on the impact of the Cold War on sexuality and sexual expression among LGBTQ+ youth in Brazil and the relationship between sexuality and the state in a military dictatorship. 

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

2025 scholar with a primary interest in microfinance within informal economies. My research aims to understand whether the inclusion of a "peer-support" element in a microfinance programme (where those funded by the programme regularly meet up to form a community) can notably boost the success of microenterprises and improve payback rates on loans. My research has a primary focus on informal economies in Nairobi, Kenya, but I aim to broaden this out to other parts of the world in the future. I'm interested in connecting with anyone, especially those with a focus on development economics, microfinance, informal economies and institutional knowledge building/sharing practices. 

Hey hey! :) I'm Tamar, a Financial Economics student at the University of St Andrews, based in historic and picturesque Scotland. I am originally from Georgia (the country!), heading into my 3rd year of undergraduate study. This summer marks my first as a Laidlaw Scholar, and I am incredibly excited to be undertaking my research project: “Beyond Words: Women, Equality and the Early Esperanto Language Community.” Through historical artefacts, I will be exploring how the early Esperanto movement (1900s–1920s) created inclusive spaces for women, challenging the gender norms of its era. Given that gender inequality remains a pressing issue today, it is fascinating to explore how earlier generations managed to confront these challenges, despite arguably more rigid societal constraints. You might be surprised by my choice of a socio-historic topic — after all, I study finance and economics. But I have always been fascinated by interdisciplinary thinking. My curiosity often leads me to explore humanities subjects at length, and I take every chance I get to expand my horizons beyond my degree. What's more, this project gives me the perfect excuse to pick up another language! Language learning is one of my greatest passions (although I must confess I dabble more than I master), and I am always on the lookout for compelling study materials. Outside of academics, I adore capturing the beauty of my surroundings, travelling and planning future trips, reading, watching great cinema, and unwinding with music — I even brought my national instrument, the Panduri, to St Andrews all the way from Georgia and strum it as much as I can to keep a little piece of home with me.  If any of this sparks your interest —  whether you got curious about my research, want to exchange language-learning tips, or just chat about shared interests, I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out here or connect with me on LinkedIn. Look forward to connecting with you! :)