Houseen Shalabney

Student, EPFL- École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
Avneet Kaur Mehr

Undergraduate Student, Cornell University

Stella McVey

Laidlaw Scholar, University of St Andrews

Holly Toombs

3rd year student reading Psychology and Linguistics, University of Oxford

Hi, I'm Holly! I'm really interested in Psychology, Linguistics, social action, and policy. In my free time, I love to dance, play guitar, learn languages, and travel. I completed my Laidlaw research project last summer, on UK policy around extra-curricular activities. This summer, I completed my LiA in Mexico, designing a social media campaign for an NGO supporting survivors of gender-based violence. Would love to chat more if you have any questions!
Dan-Thi Nguyen

Program Manager, EPFL

Dan-Thi is an enthusiastic professional with +8 years of work experience in strategic marketing, business development and communication within the higher education industry. She currently works at EPFL as a Project Manager for the School enhanced learning programs (incl. the Laidlaw program). Dan-Thi likes all aspects related to her position but what she especially loves is interacting with students and helping them grow personally and professionally. Dan-Thi has lived in fast-paced environments in Asia (Hong Kong, Japan) and she is now based in Lausanne, Switzerland. She enjoys travelling and always looks for discovering new cultures. She can speak French, English and Vietnamese. You can talk with her about anything regarding food, sport and travel. She is a really bad swimmer and has absolutely no green thumb! :)
Federico Lin

Student, EPFL

Thomas Zaugg

Student studying Life Sciences Engineering, EPFL

I am interested in exploring the human mind and brain from the outside-in and from the inside-out. In my free time, I enjoy playing music (clarinet) and actively participate in youth organizations such as science olympiads and scouts.
Hey there! I’m a CS student from EPFL! I’m interested in understanding human brains in a numerical way - so I decided to explore around starting from neuroscience! I’m also very into different kinds of outdoor sports, which always allow me to jump from one thought to another. Feel free to ping me if you want to talk about something interesting!
Ilan Nissim

Student, EPFL

Cyril Barthelet

Mechanical engineering student, EPFL

I like Space and Robotics.
Yamane Alhaj Kaddour

Student in Microengineering, EPFL

Veronika Wannack

Life science engineering student , EPFL

Hello everyone!  I'm Veronika, a 3rd year life science engineering student at EPFL, and part of the Laidlaw Scholars Board. I'm a strong proponent of mitigating existential risks, of which I'm feverishly passionate about research in biosecurity and infectious disease. As a Laidlaw Scholar, I did my research in the Laboratory of Digital Epidemiology on approximations of human-like crowd behavior during pandemics with AI agents, with the goal of creating an epidemiological model that can quickly and cheaply simulate dynamic crowd behavior. In my free time, I love to garden - I'm currently in the process of growing purple sweet potatoes native to Asia. I'm also currently learning oil painting, absolutely love camping whenever I can, and I'm a big fan of metal music and love to go to concerts.   Our goal in the Laidlaw Board is to make the program better for you (and for future cohorts)! So if you have any questions, complaints, compliments, or suggestions for the Laidlaw Scholars program, feel free to reach out by sending a message on here, on LinkedIn, or using this anonymous form --> https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=m1iBtASKYUmzmpVa7SUZOYAOFAGNJNdOhV2pziMDdMZURFE0SEkxVTFDSEQ2TjhXR0cwNlNSMUFKUy4u&route=shorturl
Hi! I'm a student in micro-engineering at EPFL, interested in nano-science. I love travelling, biking and film-making.
Chems Hamdi

Student in electrical engineering , EPFL

Hi! I'm a physics student at EPFL and more particularly interested in biophysics and statistical mechanics. I also love climbing and running.
Bog Dan

Electrical engineering , EPFL

Hello ! My name is Dan, I am a student in electrical engineering at at EPFL, driven by curiosity and a desire to make a positive impact as part of the brand new Laidlaw 2024 cohort. My point of interest is at the intersection between technology and medicine, more specifically in the implementation and applications of modern technology to the human body. To complement my scientific studies, I like to read a lot, especially philosophy works, and I also enjoy doing all kinds of sports throughout the year depending on the season, but from december to april you can be certain that you will find me on the swiss Alps ski slopes. I love traveling and making new friends, so feel free to text me anytime. A short "Hello" can go a long way.
Trisha Bhujle

Laidlaw Scholar, Laidlaw Foundation

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!