I am a student at Cornell University majoring in Environment & Sustainability with a concentration in Land, Air, and Water Resources. I am passionate about learning about the environment and solutions to address the climate crisis.
Hello! My name is Elliot and I'm a undergraduate at Cornell University studying Environmental Engineering. I'm interested in how we can apply engineered solutions to make agriculture more sustainable. My research focuses on the circular bionutrient economy which in essence is about finding solutions to some of the worlds biggest problems by identifying interconnected problems.
In my free time I love playing rugby, reading, learning languages (I'm learning Mandarin and Spanish), creative writing, and cooking.
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!
My name is Jonathan Lam (He/Him) and I am a rising sophomore from Queens, New York City majoring in Industrial and Labor Relations with a double minor in International Relations and Migration studies at Cornell University. As a pre-law student, I am interested in criminal justice, immigration and international human rights law. I am deeply passionate in human rights advocacy as a National Youth Activist at Amnesty International USA and a student organizer at the New York Civil Liberties Union (ACLU of New York).
Hello all! I study Government and Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. I enjoy learning about International Affairs, events and trends in the Middle East (especially relating to democracy and regime type), and the impacts of French colonialism. This summer I will be doing research about the impacts of French colonialism on the education system in Tunisia.
I am a current undergraduate student at Cornell University studying Biological Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Through my studies in Biology and my observation of the natural world, I have developed a deep interest in conservation and intersectional climate justice. Particularly, I am interested in using innovative tools such as eDNA barcoding to restore ecosystems and in mitigating and reversing the effects of climate change. For this reason, I am very grateful to be working in the Cheong Lab this summer as a part of the Commons Biodiversity Project.
Outside my academics I love to read books, cook and watch movies.
Hello! My name is Marina Blackman (she/her) and I am from Columbia, Maryland. I am a sophomore at Cornell University majoring in Biological Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences and concentrating in Marine Biology. I have always loved the ocean and marine life, so getting hands-on Marine Biology opportunities is so exciting to me! As part of the Laidlaw 2024 Cohort, I am so excited to work with Dr. Soon Hon Cheong and Lee Yoke Lee on their Commons Biodiversity Project in Malaysia. In collaboration with a team of scientists at the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, the Commons Biodiversity Project aims to apply Environmental DNA techniques to help conserve the Crocus clams (Tridacna crocea) native to the area. With its mission of Crocus clam conservation, this project aims to foster and grow a passion for marine wildlife conservation in the local population of Terengganu.
Hi, I am Claire. I am a biological sciences undergrad at Imperial College London and a 2024 Imperial cohort. I am particularly interested in immunology, but in general, interested in human biology.
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
Hi, Laidlaw Family. I am the Senior Manager for the Leadership Framework at Durham University, UK. Part of my role is to oversee the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Programme, with particular responsibility for the partnership management. This involves identifying key stakeholders, soliciting and stewarding these relationships while offering a platform for collaborative work.
Networking and managing relationships is a key component of successful leadership. I would urge all future leaders to have a mentor to support them on their leadership journey.
I am also a qualified Family and work place mediator, offering training in mediation and conflict resolution skills. I have also, written and published mentoring guidelines and toolkits. I would be happy to assist any students on the Laidlaw programme.
Prior to this post I have worked as a Director of a Hospice, I have lectured in South African Dramatic Literature, set up several NGO's in South Africa and Zambia.
