Hello! I'm a second year undergraduate in History and Politics at the University of Cambridge. 

Hi Laidlaw community :) I'm Christina, a third-year Vietnamese-Canadian Public Policy & Political Science student at UofT. My work at Laidlaw involves using mixed methodologies to reveal service gaps in Canada's universal healthcare system. My current project combines policy analysis & quantitative methods to advocate for the expansion of abortion rights in Canada's healthcare system and beyond. I argue that provincial jurisdictional authority can restrict access for politically contentious medical services, and that the solution requires intergovernmental cooperation across all levels of government. In addition to my work with Laidlaw scholars, this year I worked with the United Nation's Space Generation Advisory Council and Luxembourg Space Agency to provide a prescriptive review of life on the moon 30 years from now. I also work on the FINCH satellite design team at the University of Toronto Aerospace Team, working to clear licenses to ensure launch as Regulatory Lead and now, Director of Space Systems. Outside of work, you'll see me spending time with loved ones, playing piano, and listening to music. Some of my dreams are to achieve full free-diving certification, and to attend an Apex Legends/CS2 competition in-person. If you share any of these interests or if you're curious about my research, feel free to drop me a message right here on the network or email. I'd be thrilled to connect with you!

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!

Hi! I am a rising third-year in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in neurobiology and minoring in science, technology, and international affairs. During my research summer, I will be using metagenomics to study the diversity and ecological role of viruses in Antarctic soil microbial communities with the Johnson Biosignatures Lab at Georgetown. To give some context, metagenomics is a powerful bioinformatics sub-discipline that leverages genetic sequencing and data processing technologies to study microbial communities in their natural environments. Not only does this research allow us to better understand the ecological structure of environmental microbial ecosystems and how they play critical roles in cycling nutrients at a planetary scale, but studying microbial life can help us understand how life evolved on Earth in the first place. As we continue to overshoot planetary boundaries on Earth while simultaneously exploring deeper into outer space, these questions of how does our planetary system really work and what could such a living system look like on other planets become more and more important.  If you're interested in reaching out to talk about biology, any of my "hobbies," your research, or anything else, feel free!!

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! 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!

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.

Hi! My name is Paige and I am a sophomore studying electrical & computer engineering and computer science at Cornell University. My Laidlaw project involves using eDNA barcoding to assess the health and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. 

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 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.