Zoe Adlam

Student , Durham University
Karina Maria Piotrowska

Natural Sciences (Biology and Chemistry) Undergraduate Student, University of Durham

My project involved investigating the effects of methylphenidate on a Parkinson's disease model in Drosophila melanogaster. Broadly speaking, my academic interests include the molecular mechanisms of addiction, and how we can use biochemical and genetic techniques to investigate this.
William Banner

Economics Student, Durham University

I am an Economics student at Durham University. My foremost interests are Development Economics and Environmental Economics. This is reflected in my research project which explored Demographic Economics, titled "The Shifting Distribution of the Global Population in the Twenty-First Century: an Econometric Analysis of the Projected Fortunes of Nigeria and Japan, with Policy Recommendations for Sustainable Development". I have experience working in economic consulting, specialising in competition economics, and am also a Zumba instructor. During my time on the Laidlaw Programme I have also served as a Laidlaw Schools Trust Mentor for Excelsior Academy in Newcastle. In 2023, I completed a six-week international ‘Leadership in Action’ project in partnership with Think Pacific for my Laidlaw Scholarship. For this, I participated in a multi-faceted programme, comprising the building of a health centre, collaborations with Diabetes Fiji and Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, and a Fijian Culture Course. The project ended with a Think Tank where we planned how we would sustain progress. In my sub-group’s case, we are working on a new project to build a multi-purpose building to act as a kindergarten and evacuation centre, for which we are currently fundraising. We have had multiple meetings with the Laidlaw Foundation CEO and the Laidlaw Schools Trust, and we are presenting at the Conversations Conference in Dublin in October 2023. Our project took place in Vunimaqo and Waisava, Dreketi Settlement, Nalawa district, Ra province, Vita Levu island, Fiji. I attended the Impact 2022 conference at the LSE and will be attending, and presenting, at the Conversations 2023 conference at Trinity College Dublin.
Emma Franck-Gwinnell

Associate (Dispute Resolution), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Hello! I'm Emma, one of the Founding Co-Presidents of the Laidlaw Alumni Society. I'm passionate about the impact of ESG issues on businesses' strategies, diversity in business and musical theatre (in that order!). My Undergraduate Research project focused on UK legislation which requires organisations to publish an annual statement about the efforts they are making to stop modern slavery in their supply chains. In particular, I looked at whether this legislation is making a difference in the fight against modern slavery in supply chains (spoiler alert: it's not!). These days, I work as a lawyer, advising corporate clients on supply chain, ESG, product liability and regulatory risk management and dispute resolution.
Stephanie Ormond

Student , Durham University

I'm currently a final year history student at Durham University from West Sussex with a particular interest in connections between the modern and medieval worlds, and soon to be specialising in early modern-modern history. For my research, I investigated the use of the Crusades within far-right organizations and what it reveals about the readings of crusade history. During my second summer, I was a part of the ThinkPacific Youth and Community project in Fiji from June to July 2022. If you have any questions about my research, LiA, or history stuff in general feel free to contact me here! Also, I like music, video production, and photography.
Lauren Pereira-Greene

Medical Student, University College London

Fourth year UCL medic with an iBSc in Medical Anthropology. I am passionate about increasing access to medicine and am the Co-Founder of a student-led widening participation group, DIMA (Diversity in Medical Academia) @dimafoundation.
Georgia Dillon (she/her)

Law Student, Trinity College Dublin

I am a second year law student at Trinity College Dublin, conducting a research project on period poverty and how it impacts participation in education in Ireland. I currently work as a Policy and Advocacy Advisor at The Pad Project, and am especially interested in in social justice, access to education, gender equality, sustainability and human rights.
Pearls Eddo

Law (Industrial) LLB, University of Leeds

Hi👋🏾 I’m Pearls I am a final year Law student at the University of Leeds. I recently completed a placement year at The Walt Disney Company as a CPGP Contract Management Intern (hence the 'industrial' next to my degree title) My first-year research project looked at the way game-based learning could be incorporated into Multi-Academy Trusts (aka MATs) to improve the academic attainment and classroom engagement of GCSE-year black students. My Leadership-in-Action project was with MakeSense and focused on empowering minority communities within Mexico City.