My name is Ishaan Jordan, and I am a student at Georgetown University pursuing a major in Government alongside a minor in Tech, Ethics, and Society. Driven by a passion for public service, leadership, and systemic change, my academic and extracurricular focus centers on how policy and emerging technologies intersect to shape a more equitable world. Through the Laidlaw Scholars Program, my primary objective is to conduct research that examines the ethical implications of technology in governance, specifically how algorithmic decision-making impacts civic trust. Furthermore, I am eager to immerse myself in Laidlaw’s leadership development track, refining the skills necessary to lead with integrity, empathy, and clarity. Outside of my academic commitments, I love to stay active and explore the city. I'm a huge fan of the NBA, and I love watching and playing just about any sport. Fitness is a core part of my daily routine, and you can usually find me training at the gym or unwinding by going on long walks to take in nature and clear my head. In my free time, I enjoy trying new coffee shops and restaurants. 

Ciao! I am Gio, a fourth-year student of Economics and Political Science at the University of Toronto. I hail from the country of Georgia, nestled between Europe and Asia, with a millenia-old culture and history. This Summer I am immersing myself in a small coastal town in Northern Japan to work together with local students in uncovering societal impacts of marine climate change. Global warming is a generational challenge and its effects are highly varied from community to community across the globe. I hope to engage in discussions with my fellow students in Japan and facilitate a series of ArcGIS workshops in order to map the implications of climate change on Sanriku coast. I would love to have a chat, especially if you also like food, geography, or world history!

Hello! My name is Cecilia, and I am entering my fourth year majoring in Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies, with minors in political and applied data science at the University of Toronto. Throughout my time at UofT, I have developed a deep interest in the complexities of crime, particularly the powerful influence of organized criminal networks. 

Hello! I'm an incoming fourth year student at the University of Toronto, majoring in health sciences and double minoring in entrepreneurship and anthropology. For my first summer research, I examined what environmental variables influenced sleep patterns in children located in the Republic of Congo. I will be extending this research, with a focus on how sleep is affected with the extent of market integration. I've done research ranging from biomedical physics to pedagogy studies. I have co-authored two publications on treating glioblastoma cancer and Parkinson's disease in animal models using MR-guided focused ultrasound. Below are the links to the papers! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-85314-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-85811-8 For my Leadership-in-Action project, I am in a tiny island in Japan called Yoron, There, I will be helping out the English teachers, creating a Model UN curriculum to help expose the children to more extracurricular opportunities, piloting a Pen Pal project, and helping the science camp students affiliated with the University of Tokyo by teaching academic writing and by extension, academic presentation skills. The last goal is an extension of research I conducted with another professor outside of Laidlaw on pedagogical implications of expert writers' citation practices. I would also like to take this time firsthand to understand cultural differences in academic writing. I'd love to chat more! Please don't hesitate to send me a message. :D

Hi everyone! My name is Lilah and I am going into my fourth year at the University of Toronto studying Economics and International Relations. I am deeply passionate about climate justice, and am particularly interested in exploring how public policy can be used to mitigate the climate crisis.

Hello! I'm Tyler Carriaga, a recipient of a full-ride merit scholarship at the University of Toronto, where I'm pursuing a Masters in Geography. Drawing from my multidisciplinary and multicultural background as an American-born, Vietnam-raised Filipino, I approach questions of place, identity, and community with a global perspective. My Laidlaw projects include research on ethnic enclave development in Seattle and program development in an urban poor community in Metro Manila. As a writer, designer, and urban wanderer, I strive to continually evolve my personal and technical skills in the pursuit of co-creating healthier, more sustainable, and just communities.

Hello! I'm Petrina and I'm currently studying philosophy at the University of Toronto. As a member of the 2024 Laidlaw Scholars cohort, I am interested in philosophy, specifically philosophy of religion and phenomenology. 

Drawing from an interdisciplinary framework, I broadly interrogate nationhood, citizenship, statelessness, and the distribution of rights. As a scholar, I hope to make my life a material of storytelling—seeking life with questions, wandering while film-making, and photography to capture spatial temporality.

Hi there 👋 I'm Neha Gupta, a fourth year student at the University of Toronto.  I'm interested in the law, peace-making, diplomacy and human rights.  My Summer I project looked at how paediatric oncology patients in nations with universal healthcare plans access psychosocial support. In Summer II, I hope to work with an organization to give marginalized communities (particularly women) the institutional support they need to stand up to injustices they face.  My Summer II LiA had me working with United Women Singapore to promote their women in STEM and women's empowerment initiatives. I focused on story-telling, digital communication and community building. 

My name is Sindhu Sivasankar, a student at the University of Toronto. I moved to Toronto from Delaware, US, and call both places my home. I was accepted into the Laidlaw Scholars Cohort for 2024. I am interested in psychology and UX research. During Summer 1, I proposed and conducted an independent research project on the cultural differences in growth mindset and how that relates to insight problem-solving accuracy. During Summer 2, I worked with a mental health nonprofit called batyr on improving their website and conducting user research for global impact. I am eager to improve my leadership skills while pursuing research.

Interested in Alzheimer's Disease, my research focuses on determining whether human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cerebral organoids could serve to accurately and efficiently model Alzheimer's Disease pathobiology. My involvement with dementia patients as a volunteer has deepened my awareness of the lifestyles of not only the patients but also their caregivers, family, and friends. Witnessing the widespread impact of Alzheimer's Disease, I aspire to contribute meaningfully to our understanding of this affliction. I am driven by a passionate commitment to pave the way toward the development of superior care strategies, innovative treatments, and, ultimately, a definitive cure.

Hello there! I'm a third-year student in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. My passion for biology stems from research on pollination, insects and biodiversity at my school's gardens since I was seven-years-old. Now, I intend to continue to pursue passion this with a project that has an impact in disadvantaged communities from my home country, Colombia.  I will be studying the pollination networks of cacao trees, which is crucial to contribute to agroforestry systems in tropical Latin America, so that they are a sustainable and productive opportunity for smallholder farmers that want to restore forest areas. On a side note, I'm a curious person by nature and that's why I like to do and learn lots of things. So whether you are interested in my project or not, feel free to reach out! I believe that there are no boundaries when collaborating interdisciplinary. For example, research on cacao trees not only spans biology. There is ongoing anthropological research that is trying to figure out how cocoa got from the Amazon (its biological origin) to Mexico! 

Hello! I’m Trisha, a graduate of Cornell University from Texas, USA. I majored in Environment and Sustainability with a dual focus on food systems and wildlife conservation, and minored 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, and returned 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. I 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.  The Laidlaw Scholars Program was an invaluable component of my undergraduate experience. The friendships I made, as well as the research and language skills I began to develop, 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 trisha.bhujle@gmail.com!

Hi everyone! My name is Candace (she/her), and I am a third-year international student at the University of Toronto. I am originally from India, but was born and raised in the UAE. I am pursuing a double major in Peace, Conflict & Justice Studies and History. I am passionate about diplomacy and history, and deeply interested in legal discourse, debate, and various policy issues. Specifically, I am drawn to topics such as sustainability and climate policy, immigration, and community-based welfare.  My Laidlaw Summer I project will explore the potential for Faith-based organisations (FBOs) to work alongside newly emerging interfaith alliances to enhance their roles in philanthropy and development, while simultaneously preventing the development of a tradition of communal violence in India. My goal is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the activities of six Indian FBOs based on Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, focusing on their impact on social cohesion, maximising welfare and the creation of communal harmony. 

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 am currently conducting a feasibility study of the program in South Africa as part of my master’s dissertation in Psychology at the University of Cape Town, 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