Hello! I’m Trisha Bhujle, an undergraduate student majoring in Environment and Sustainability at Cornell University. My interests in combining my enduring passions for writing and wildlife conservation have driven me to research multiple perspectives on highly-controversial issues such as trophy hunting, retaliatory animal killings, and illegal wildlife crime. As an aspiring environmental policymaker and journalist, I am passionate about making technical scientific information more accessible to the general public. I speak four languages – English, Marathi, Spanish, and Swahili – at varying levels of fluency, and I hope to continue to grow my language skills to communicate environmental issues across cultures as well.

Prior to coming to Cornell, I spent my entire childhood in Lewisville, Texas. Art is my greatest source of solace: whether I’m painting silly-looking cartoon pugs for my neighbors or gluing together a wall hanging from milk jug caps, I can lose myself in heaps of the most mundane materials and spend hours at work on a new project. However, I also love biking, running, or even simply spending time outdoors. And as a foodie who loves to travel, I’m always looking for recommendations of places to visit or new recipes to try! 

I’m excited to chat with all of you and read about your projects!

Think Pacific is a UK social enterprise and registered Fijian charity. We work with the Fijian government and a network of local charities to achieve the aims of the Fiji National Development Plan with a focus upon empowering rural communities. Upcoming projects for Laidlaw Scholars in 2023 can be found here: https://thinkpacific.com/laidlaw2023

Hello all! I did my Laidlaw Programme at Durham University between 2019-2021. My research project focused on evaluating the immigration and asylum system of the EU through a case study of the 2015 immigration crisis. Following the completion of my undergraduate LLB degree I moved to London to pursue my postgraduate LLM study at Queen Mary University of London. I'm also a Project Assistant at the Laidlaw Foundation on a part-time basis. If you have any cool ideas for the Laidlaw Scholars Network or the Foundation, please hit me up on here or LinkedIn and let's discuss it! :)

Aki is an education entrepreneur, where her startup has worked closely with 5,000 children and parents. She is passionate about delivering quality education and improving gender equality beyond cultures. She holds a master’s degree in public administration at Harvard Kennedy School; bachelor’s degree in law from Peking University; Fulbright scholar, enthusiastic tennis player, and enjoys playing the piano.

I am a fourth year Sociology and English Literature student at Trinity College Dublin. My research involves the digital LGBTQ+ community during the initial COVID-19 quarantine and mental health resources. I also have a charity zine series called 'Sick and Tired' that focus on the queer experience during COVID-19.

I study International Relations and Russian at the University of St Andrews', and have a specific interest in the history, cultures and politics of the everyday. I am particularly interested in identity and security in the post-Soviet space, especially Central Asia. I'm looking to take these interests into practice and policy. This summer, I've been researching the interplay between regional foreign policy and how interacts with the development of state identities, by conducting research and then fieldwork in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.  I'm also an adventure cycling obsessive and love being outdoors (even in the Scottish weather). 

I am a Physics student at the University of St Andrews excited about theoretical physics and its applications to industry. I quite like programming as well, and seeing where code can be used to model physics. I also have an interest in improving the speed with which the latest scientific developments can be implemented into humanitarian aid. 

Hey, I'm Jackson. I'm one of the 2022 scholars at University of Leeds. My course is Mechatronics and Robotics; in particular I'm interested in the ways that technology interacts with social and political issues that are important to me, such as environmentalism, the digital divide and the racial and gender biases in algorithms.

My research focusses on improving the robustness of energy storage devices, e.g. for electric vehicles and solar panels. You can read a quick summary below!

The recent global shift towards electrification is raising questions concerning the robustness of current energy storage devices. Electrical vehicles require many battery cells connected together in order to provide a sufficient amount of energy to power the car and solar panels contain many generating cells connected. However, the assumptions made when designing and developing these storage devices, can become invalid due to the uncontrolled environmental conditions or unpredictable faults with individual cells in the arrangement.

In order to prevent failure and premature end-of-life, a unique collection of equalisation circuits can be designed for a system. My research centers on widening the use cases for these equilisation circuits and investigating whether a single set of circuits can be designed in a way that allows it to be used for a variety of applications rather than just one.

PPES student specialising in politics and philosophy. My research concerns the relationship between the Turkish government's usage of policy, specifically the Istanbul Convention, and its impact on rates of femicide in Turkey. 

My name is Ruby Palin. I am a second-year undergraduate student at Durham University studying BSc Biological Sciences. This is my favourite quote from a biologist... “The known is finite, the unknown is infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability…our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land” –Thomas Henry Huxley, Evolutionary biologist.

Benjamin Southwick (he/they) is an undergraduate student at Durham University, UK, reading Music at Stephenson College. He has a research interest in those underrepresented in music, focusing on marginalised genders and LGBTQ+ people. Currently, they are working on diversifying the repertory of Durham University's music ensembles in his role as Chair of Music Durham's Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Benjamin is also Director of Music of St Cuthbert's Society Choir at Durham University, where he is working to reduce inequality in choral music.

Hello! I was Laidlaw scholar in 2019, and I studied national, regional, and local identity in northern Tajikistan through the lens of women's fashion.  For a year after graduating, I worked for the UN Mine Action Service which removes landmines from conflict and post-conflict regions. I then worked for the Laidlaw Foundation 2021-22 and am currently completing a Master's Degree in Anthropology and Development Management at the London School of Economics. Please feel free to reach out on the network, on LinkedIn, or by email. I'm always happy to meet new people and chat.

I am studying BSc Archaeology at the University of York. My primary interests are working on a ‘large scale’: archaeological field survey, GIS and digital methods, and utilising landscape and multiperiod approaches. Accordingly,  my research combines field investigation and digital analysis in a multiperiod study of the Mid-Cheshire Ridge, testing the potential contribution of comparative viewshed analysis to understanding past reasoning and change in the landscape.

The University of Oxford was a part of the Laidlaw Scholarship programme from 2016 to 2019. In 2020, Oxford's Saïd Business School became a partner of the Laidlaw Foundation's Women's Business Education Scholarship Programme. The Oxford SBS Laidlaw Scholars will be joining over 300 Laidlaw Scholars from Columbia Business School whom the Laidlaw Foundation has supported to earn their MBAs; and Scholars at London Business School where the Foundation launched a Women’s Movement in 2019.

I am an aspiring Clinical Psychologist, a second-year Psychology student at Tufts University, and a devotee of the arts. My interests consist of aiding in the destigmatization and reformation of mental health within Black and Brown communities. Another passion of mine is fighting for the prevention of child abuse as I continue to intern with Masskids, the Prevent Child Abuse chapter of Massachusetts. As a Laidlaw Scholar, my research coincides with my interests as I focus on how stereotypes, misrepresentation, and instances of erasure within the media impacts the socio-emotional and mental health of adolescents. The goal of this research is to further understand the problem then understand and navigate solutions. I hope to work with non-profits and other initiatives in the fight for mental health in underrepresented communities and would love to be contacted in support of these efforts.

Hello, my name is Michael and I'm a third year zoology student at Trinity College Dublin.

My research will investigate factors contributing to the transmission of avian influenza to farmed poultry. I'm delighted to be a part of the Laidlaw community and am really excited to get in touch with many of you! My current interests are in rewilding, phenological responses to environmental change and behavioural ecology. But really anything!