Hi! My name is Anagha (pronounced uh-nuh-guh) and I am an undergraduate at Barnard College in the Class of 2027. I am majoring in Sociology as a pre-medical student; I hope to pursue an MD-PhD in Medical Anthropology. My research this summer connects my academic interests in medical sociology and queer studies. Through exploring diverse forms of gender affirming care, I hope to understand how medical and spiritual healers help individuals transition. In my free time, I love junk journaling, singing in Barnard's a capella group, and trying new vegetarian recipes. I'd love to chat about anything from your latest cooking attempts to your favorite (or least favorite) sociological theories - please feel free to reach out and say hi! :)

Hi everyone! My name is Noel Ullom and I am a student at Barnard College studying Political Science and Theatre. While I am more generally fascinated by the fields of political theory, metaphysics, and theatre, I am interested in researching the influence of contrasting philosophies around free will on the queer liberation movement in Italy for my Laidlaw project. I would love to connect with you all!

Hi! I'm Eedha, a rising sophomore at Barnard College, Columbia University, where I’m majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing (and maybe minoring in French, too!). My love for storytelling has shaped both my academic journey and my Laidlaw research. I'm exploring the role of happy endings in children’s literature: can stories that end well do more than comfort? Can they spark resilience, hope, and a sense of agency in young readers facing an uncertain world? Through this project, I hope to better understand the quiet power of optimism in shaping childhood and how literature might offer more than escape.

Hi everyone! I'm a rising junior at Barnard College of Columbia University, where I am double majoring in Political Science and Human Rights, and minoring in French. This summer I'm researching about art reinstitution and its ethical and legal components. Some of my other interests include social work, human rights, and law. Please feel free to reach me at cd3442@barnard.edu

Hi! My name is Spencer Davimos, and I am a rising junior at Barnard College. Through the Laidlaw Scholars Program, I am conducting research on the transfer pipeline from community college to 4-year college within the City University of New York (CUNY). I am hoping to particularly center the experiences and perspectives of students of color to open up a wider conversation about increasing equity in postsecondary education access. 

Hi all! My name is Kirsten Trevino, and I am a rising senior at Barnard College majoring in Sociology and Human Rights. My interests in identity, sexuality, and sociology led me to research the coming-of-age experience and identity formation practices of white lesbian elders who came of age during the post-WWII, Cold War period in Detroit, Michigan, during my first summer.  In my second summer, I am currently volunteering with the organization Rainbow Faith and Freedom to further their mission of securing affirmation for 2SLGBTQIA+ by ending religious-based homophobia and transphobia 🌈 

My name is Tara Lago, and I am a Rabi Scholar and Laidlaw Scholar at Columbia University pursuing a major in neuroscience and behavior with a concentration in chemistry. With more than 3 years of research related to social science, depression, animal behavior, and computational neuroscience, I aim to study and apply the basic neural mechanisms that underlie human health.  I am passionate about helping my community, inside and outside of the lab. Whether that be creating inclusive programs for my first-year residents as a Resident Advisor or advocating for the freedom to read with the New York and Brooklyn Public Library, I seek to create supportive spaces that encourage intellectual, emotional, and social growth. After my undergraduate education, I plan to work in academic medicine, with the ambition of obtaining an MD-PhD in the future. 

I am a sociology major on the pre-medical track at Barnard College. For my Laidlaw research summer I am conducting interviews with people of color who are currently pregnant or have recently given birth to understand how how healthcare professionals can better support their POC birthing patients.

I'm majoring in sociology and minoring in feminist/intersectional science and technology studies! My project is about the (social) experiences and perspectives of long term survivors of HIV regarding the AIDS epidemic and COVID pandemic. Through my interviews, I hope to learn about collective response and risk distribution as experienced by vulnerable/marginalized populations, particularly as public attention and precautions wane. 

Hi everyone! I am a rising Senior at Columbia College majoring in Cognitive Science and Visual Arts. As part of the 2024 Laidlaw cohort, I am deeply interested in the intersections of psychology, social anthropology, and the arts. My first summer specifically focused on understanding the role of forgiveness within Korean American communities.  This second summer, I am working at the Gardens, Libraries, and Museums (GLAM) at the University of Oxford to support with their community engagement team. My work includes creating more accessibility for the elderly and people with disabilities, and also using the archives to spotlight individuals who overcame adversity to promote mental well-being amongst youth.

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!

Reese Taylor is a rising junior majoring in Philosophy, History, and Human Rights on a pre-law track. As a Laidlaw Scholar, she spent her first summer researching the role of labor in the economic and social uplift of Black Americans in the wake of Reconstruction. She was selected to present this research at Johns Hopkins University, The University of Pennsylvania, and the Global Laidlaw Scholars Conference. In her second summer, Reese founded The Voices in Action Initiative which is a program developed to empower and mobilize youth voices by providing them skills and practice in speech and debate. She enacted the program in Nassau, Bahamas with sponsorship from both the Laidlaw Foundation and The Kiwanis Club of Nassau.

I am a junior at Columbia University, majoring in Urban Studies with a specialization in Public Health, and a 2024 Laidlaw Scholar. My first summer research was with the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning Mapping Historical New York Initiative. I digitized historical maps and census data, contributing to a digital atlas of early New York settlements, focusing on Queens and the Bronx. For my second summer, I worked with WeCanMake, a community land trust, on a mixed-use housing microsite in the UK.

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! 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!