Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Melody Matavire is a prospective Physics and Data Science major with a deep passion for both STEM and social impact. While science and technology shape much of my academic interests, I have also become increasingly aware of the social challenges that continue to affect communities and shape people’s lives in lasting ways. One issue that is especially close to my heart is early teen pregnancy and school dropouts. Growing up, I witnessed how situations like these can alter the trajectory of young people’s futures, particularly for girls whose educational opportunities become limited long before they are able to fully explore their potential. Through the Laidlaw Scholars Programme, I hope to research how comprehensive sexual education can be used as a practical and culturally relevant tool to address early teen pregnancies and reduce school dropout rates.  Beyond academics and research, I enjoy exploring new experiences, asking too many questions, and finding connections between science, society, and everyday life, otherwise you can also find me in the kitchen cooking whilst singing.

Hi! I'm Kritvi, currently a rising sophomore at Barnard College of Columbia University intending to major in Economics and Mathematics. Having experienced educational and economic systems in India, the UK, and the United States, I've become fascinated by the factors that drive economic development. My interests lie in development economics, particularly how technology can address inequality and support sustainable growth in developing countries. I enjoy exploring questions at the intersection of economics, data, and social impact.

Hello! I'm Kate Morton, a rising Junior at Barnard College from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, pursuing a combined major in Environment & Sustainability and Human Rights with a minor in Dance. My Laidlaw Research combines land rights, history, ecology, and environmental justice to explore how eminent domain reshaped socio-ecological conditions in the Delaware Water Gap, a National Recreation Area just outside the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania, USA. 

Hi! My name is Hayden Chernow and I am from Boston, Massachusetts. I am a rising junior at Barnard College majoring in Urban Studies with a focus on the Middle East and Education.  My Laidlaw Scholars Research topic will examine how Jordan's growing refugee population impacts access to trauma-informed education.

Hi! My name is Evin Schwartz and I am a second year student at Barnard College of Columbia University studying Urban Studies with a specialization in Urban Spatial Data Analysis and a combined major in Human Rights and a minor in Environmental Science. For my Laidlaw research project, I am using GIS to study childhood cancer clustering in the communities surrounding the Santa Susana Field Lab, a Superfund site I grew up on in Los Angeles. I am Lilly E. Reiser and Diller Tikkun Olam Scholar and passionate about grassroots activism and educational equity. I am also the founder of IUY (I Understand You), a queer non-profit that helps over 10,000 queer youth annually. I would love to chat more!

Hello! My name is Van Muller and I am a sophomore in Columbia College from Atlanta, Georgia. I intend on majoring in both Classics and Political Science on the Reception and American Politics/Theory tracks respectively. My project this summer analyzes the debates that formed the United States Constitution through the lens of Classical allusion and aims to evaluate the extent to which those allusions informed the founders about methods of good government.

Hi everyone! I'm a rising sophomore majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior. My research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center's Troy Lab investigates how retinal vein occlusion (RVO) — a leading vascular cause of vision loss and blindness — affects the lateral geniculate nucleus, the thalamic structure that relays visual information from the retina to the cortex. RVO is typically treated as a disease of the eye, but vision depends on the entire pathway, and damage at the retina may drive changes deeper in the brain that go unrecognized in current care. I'm interested in characterizing those downstream effects on the LGN and identifying neurological markers that could help explain why some patients lose vision permanently while others recover, ultimately informing earlier intervention before blindness becomes irreversible.  Outside the lab, I love singing a capella with Columbia Sur and exploring the city. I'm excited to meet everyone and please feel free to reach out!

Hi! My name is Celine and I'm an undergraduate at Columbia University studying Economics-Political Science and Hispanic Studies. In addition to these topics, I also enjoy learnings about China-Taiwan history and politics.  A big part of my interests and passions also lie in journalism. I work as a student journalist at the Columbia Daily Spectator, where reporting on university news. I love studying the things I do because the allow me to tell stories and learn about people from across the world, just as journalism allows me to do here at Columbia.  In my free time, I also love cooking, baking, running, listening to music–maybe occasionally singing some karaoke–and spending time with my friends. 

Hey everyone! My name is Rinaz Jamal, and I'm a rising sophomore at Columbia University majoring in Neuroscience & Behavior. I am passionate about helping individuals with mental health and neurodegenerative disorders feel seen, heard, and supported. This summer, I will be doing research at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute under the supervision of Dr. Franck Polleux. My project aims to understand the activity-dependent regulation of mitochondrial protein expression in parvalbumin-positive interneurons, which are among the first neurons to fail in Alzheimer's disease (AD). I am excited to add to the scholarly conversation around Alzheimer's research by identifying the molecular pathways that would be most valuable to target for drug development in the future. Because PV-INs are among the first neurons to fail in AD, understanding these metabolic pathways and restoring levels of mitochondrial proteins has the potential to improve clinical outcomes much earlier in AD progression than current methods. At Columbia, I am involved as a Scientific Review Editor for Grey Matters, our undergraduate neuroscience journal; Blog Editor for the Journal of Global Health; Conference Committee member and Peer Buddy for Columbia Synapse, which advocates for patients with acquired brain injury; and volunteer with Brain Exercise Initiative, where I visit patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia at a local assisted living home. I also play flute and piccolo in the Columbia University Orchestra. In my free time, I love to read and explore New York City. Please feel free to reach out; I would love to get to know you all!

Hi everyone! My name is Phoebe Matthew, and I am a rising sophomore at Columbia University majoring in Neuroscience & Behavior and possibly minoring in Computer Science. My research this summer in the Siegelbaum Lab at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute explores the role of the ventral CA1 excitatory neurons in the hippocampus, which are known to receive signals from the CA2 region that is heavily implicated in social memory, in valence associated social memory. This type of memory is not only the recognition of a familiar individual but also the memory of how that individual made you feel. Social memory is impaired in several neuropsychiatric disorders, and it is essential to understand how the mechanism behind it to inform possible therapeutics. Beyond the lab, I am a volunteer at a local memory care facility through Brain Exercise Initiative, a writer for Grey Matters (campus neuroscience journal), and involved in Columbia Synapse (traumatic brain injury advocacy group). I also recently got certified as an EMT. I am passionate about brain health advocacy/awareness, science communication, and service. In my free time, I enjoy painting, crafting, reading, and playing the ukulele. I would love to meet everyone, so please do not hesitate to reach out!   

Hi there! My name is Lydia, and I'm an incoming sophomore at Columbia University studying Human Rights and Public Health. I'm originally from Tanzania. In my free time, I like reading, drawing, hanging out with my friends, and trying out new restaurants in New York City!