Weekend of Research promises fascinating exchange of knowledge

Early marriage and bridal trafficking in Rajasthan, sexual violence in Mumbai, female circumcision among Dawoodi Bohras: my experiences as a journalist and researcher have exposed me to diverse geographies, socio-economic realities and cultural prejudices that young women across India face. Home, however, is the place where I first found my bearings. As a survivor of domestic violence, my feminism got defined by my mother's everyday negotiations within the structures that cultivate and normalise the culture of silence. It drove me to challenge patriarchal notions of leadership and become sensitive to differences. Gender became a way of seeing the world. Backed by my rich field insights, multimedia skills and a feminist consciousness, I am excited to return to Cambridge to pursue my PhD as a Gates Cambridge scholar. My study straddles the areas of climate justice and gender equality. In India's historically drought-prone and caste-ridden Marathwada region, I seek to combine a multi-sited feminist ethnography with an informed interpretation of oral folk poetry, to understand the historical compulsions, lived experiences and gendered labour burdens of Dalit and Adivasi girls in a climate crisis. My fundamental interest in pursuing the project stems from my yearning to reconcile collaborative storytelling with pressing marginalised realities.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Multi-disciplinary Gender Stud 2017
Tata Institute of Social Sciences Media and Cultural Studies 2015

I grew up in the city of Mumbai in India where over half the city lives in "slums". As a person of relative privilege in a country where hundreds of millions live below the poverty line, I am motivated to use my career to drive global development

I completed my MPhil & PhD in Social Psychology at Cambridge (2017-21). As part of my PhD, I examined the gender impacts of a successful NGO in India working to empower women with a view to understanding how their work can be scaled (https://www.muktanganedu.org/).

Motivated by the desire to connect knowledge with practice, I now work at Dalberg Global Development Advisors, an impact focussed strategy consulting firm. My role sits within Dalberg's monitoring, evaluation and learning practice, which advises government agencies, international development organisations, foundations, impact investors, corporations and charities on measuring and managing social impact.

I am immensely thankful to the Trust for their support, without which I would not have been a part of Cambridge's rich intellectual heritage. I had many mentors on my way to this scholarship and I am passionate about paying it forward. You can follow my work and get in touch with me on LinkedIN or Twitter: @Saloni_Atal

Previous Education

University of Hong Kong
University of Cambridge

Ria Roy is a historian of modern East Asia interested in the reception of Western political ideas in East Asia and the revolutionary bloc.

https://www.hoover.org/profiles/ria-roy

Previous Education

Waseda University
Harvard University

I was born in Mongolia, a country that is the most sparsely populated and has the coldest capital in the world. I studied Environmental Economics and later Environmental Policy at Whitman College and Yale University, respectively. During my years of study, I was fascinated by how the valuation of environmental services can be used as a powerful tool to influence policies. More recently, I managed a market-based conservation project called the Sustainable Cashmere Project while at the Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia program. As an MPhil in Conservation Leadership candidate, I am very interested in further exploring ways to incorporate sustainable practices and standards into supply chains. I believe that forging strong relations with committed industries is one of the key solutions to expanding the impact and influence of conservation principles around the world. I am also passionate about further supporting young environmentalists, which will build on the Environmental Fellowship Program that I initiated while working for the Zorig Foundation. I hope to see Mongolian conservationists play a more critical leadership role nationally by pushing to incorporate climate change sensitive policies, and globally by increasing our collaboration with other countries. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I am very excited to be a part of a dynamic network of bright minds around the world that can cross-fertilize a rich array of ideas and experiences on innovative and pressing topics.

Previous Education

Yale University Environmental Policy 2013
Whitman College Environmental Economics 2009

Growing up in the Bolivian Amazon, I witnessed both the construction of infrastructure and the creation of natural reserves. The puzzling tensions between these projects sparked my interest in the politics of the built and natural environment. I moved to Mexico to pursue a BA in Industrial Design at Tec the Monterrey, a training that left me well attuned to the ways in which material cultures (re)produce human-nature relations. During my MPhil in Latin American Studies, I studied the expansion of infrastructures, socio-environmental conflicts, and the emergence of the bio-tech approach to regional development. Now, through my PhD in Geography, I seek to understand the dynamics between scientific knowledge and entrepreneurial networks, and the role that such dynamics play in shaping visions of development in the Amazon. More specifically, I plan to examine how genetic and genomic sciences are enabling the emergence of new discourses and practices of development in relation to the enormous biological diversity concentrated in the Amazon Basin. My research interests also include Indigenous Knowledge, Bioeconomy, Intellectual Property of Genetic Material, and Histories of Development.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Latin American Studies 2020
Tec de Monterrey (ITESM CEM) Industrial Design 2012

I have always been fascinated by wildlife and wild places since my childhood. Growing up in a rural community in Nigeria, I had the first-hand opportunity to interact with nature. Unfortunately, during my early teenage years, these places were fast disappearing, including the wild animals that lived in them. This was my motivation to study Forestry and Wildlife Management for my bachelor’s degree. After my degree in Nigeria, I completed the Durrell Endangered Species Management Graduate Certificate at the Durrell Wildlife Academy in Jersey, United Kingdom (validated by the University of Kent), and an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the University of Oxford. Focused on Cross River gorilla conservation in the Cross River rainforest, I worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Nigeria for about two years prior to my MSc.

During my Ph.D. in Zoology, I seek to understand the population dynamics and ecology of three pangolin species in Nigeria. My research also aims to understand the role Nigeria plays in the trade of pangolins which are currently the most illegally traded mammals. This study will shed important new light on the drivers and characteristics of the trade in pangolins in Nigeria which will be useful in implementing behavioural change interventions and enforcement actions against the trade.

Previous Education

University of Oxford Biodiversity, Conservation/Mgt 2019
The University of Kent Durrell Endangered Species Mgt 2018
Cross River University of Tech Forestry and Wildlife Mgt 2016

While studying at Carleton College in Minnesota and working as a park ranger at my local national park in coastal California, I found myself drawn to the unexpected connections between storytelling, history, environment, and justice. I centred my undergraduate and postgraduate research around these interdisciplinary interests, obtaining a B.A. in American Studies at Carleton and an M.Sc. in Environment, Culture and Society as an Avangrid Scholar at the University of Edinburgh. In my doctoral research in Geography at the University of Cambridge, I will study geographies, histories, and narratives of grey whale migration and conservation along the North American Pacific Coast. Through this work, I aim to examine how stories affect perceptions of historical encounters and outcomes of contemporary encounters, and to assess how storytelling interacts with issues of justice. In addition, I am passionate about public engagement, access, and accessibility. My interest in public engagement and access has been shaped by professional, academic, and service experiences, including volunteering as an environmental educator and education consultant, organizing Carleton’s first ‘BioBlitz’, serving as a resident assistant and public scholarship fellow at Carleton, supporting a local city council member’s environmental justice advocacy, and conducting independent research on environmental history, ethics, and aesthetics with Channel Islands National Park. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I hope to collaborate with other Scholars and Cambridge community members to promote equitable access to research, education, and storytelling.

Previous Education

University of Edinburgh Master of Science Environment, Culture & Society 2017
Carleton College Bachelor of Arts American Studies 2016

After a childhood in Arizona's biodiverse Sonoran desert and later Düsseldorf, Germany, I studied Zoology at University College Cork in Ireland, including an exchange at National University of Singapore. For the past several years, I have been working across Latin America in community-based conservation. Experiencing the conflicts plaguing tropical forests provoked my desire to solve a critical problem: while demand for agricultural land threatens biodiversity, production is essential to livelihoods. With Dr. Edgar Turner, I will focus on conservation and income stability in smallholder oil palm plantations, evaluating management methods’ effects on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and profit. The research aims to improve understanding of oil palm ecology, smallholder economic relations, and other core ecological and sociological principles. With educated management, I believe biodiversity conservation has potential to ameliorate poverty and foster improvement for a range of pressing concerns. I am truly honoured to be part of The Gates Cambridge Trust, which provides an unparalleled foundation and community for positive global change.

Previous Education

University College Cork Bachelors of Science in Zoology 2017

I am so honored to be pursuing my PhD in chemical engineering at Cambridge! I will be studying biopharmaceutical development and drug delivery in the lab of Dr. Nigel Slater. Although therapeutic development is necessary globally, the world is in desperate need of affordable, optimized therapies and diagnostics for resource-limited environments. Millions of people do not have access to the electricity and refrigeration required for many current medical treatments. I hope to use my experience in polymeric drug delivery from The University of Texas, microfluidic diagnostics from U.C. Berkeley, vaccine commercialization from Merck Sharp and Dohme, and antibody purification development from Genentech to support me in my graduate studies. I plan on using the skills I acquire at Cambridge in a future career developing biotechnology-based solutions to world health problems.

Previous Education

University of Texas Austin BSc Chemical Engineering 2013

Born and raised in Morocco, I developed early on an interest for politics and international relations, especially as the Arab spring unfold in neighbouring countries. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how development issues can threaten regional and global security, I majored in International Studies at Al Akhawayn University to study and research the development-security nexus. After a semester spent at Binghamton University and an internship at the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, I particularly developed interest for biopolitics and the interrelation between health and security, which has been the main focus of my undergraduate capstone research. During the course of my Mphil in International Relations and Politics at the University of Cambridge, I seek to further deepen our understanding of how failing to provide for the right to health in complex civil war humanitarian emergencies in the MENA region constitutes an emerging security threat. I want my academic research to embody my engagement towards global development and equity, which I have developed while serving the social missions of clubs such as Rotaract and volunteering to tutor refugee children in Morocco. Besides, I also enjoy reading, traveling, and writing fiction. I am honoured to join the Gates Cambridge community, and look forward engaging in an as stimulating as inspirational journey towards improving others’ lives.

Previous Education

SUNY Binghamton
Al Akhawayn University

Emily Jordan PhD, is the Cofounder and COO of Ancora.ai, a health tech company with the mission to democratize access to innovative medicine. Dr. Jordan holds a neuroscience PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and an undergraduate degree with highest honors from Columbia University in New York. She is the founder of Halo Angel Group, an early stage, impact-focused investment group and is an active mentor, speaker and advisor in the health tech ecosystem. She has spent her career working at the intersection of science and tech in 3 countries, and has a passion for improving diversity in AI, healthcare and tech.

Previous Education

Columbia University BA in Psychology and Anthropology 2009

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-rose-jordan-phd

Born and raised at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Castle Rock, Colorado, I completed my Master's degree in Applied Mathematics just a few miles north at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014. At Cambridge, my PhD research will involve mathematically modelling influenza epidemics, in order to better understand the disease's transmission and to predict which control measures (such as vaccination, travel advisories, and school closures) will most effectively slow or stop an outbreak. I hope that this will ultimately lead to a career in mathematical epidemiology, emphasizing in preventing emerging infectious diseases that cross over from animal to human hosts. In addition to research, I also love to teach mathematics, and I hope to find ways to do so during my time at Cambridge and over the course of my career.

Sabrina was the first Gates Cambridge Scholar from Indonesia. Her PhD at Cambridge was a clinical trial of the implementation of mental health services in primary care clinics. She completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at University College Dublin, studying how collective leadership in healthcare influences patient outcomes. She is now leading the Metaverse research theme in Accenture's Human Sciences Studio.

Sabrina holds a BA in Psychology and Asian Studies from the University of Melbourne, and an MSc in Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology from King’s College London. Before Cambridge, Sabrina researched medical education in the National University of Singapore and spent some years as a Psychologist at the Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore. She’s a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.

Isaac Holeman is a designer-researcher striving for global health equity. As a social scientist and co-founder of the social enterprise Medic Mobile, his work is about seeing complex health systems from the perspective of the poor and marginalized and responding pragmatically. Medic Mobile received a Skoll award in 2014, and Isaac has been featured twice in Forbes Magazine as one of the top 30 social entrepreneurs under the age of 30. He is an active speaker and consultant, and his writing has been featured in outlets such as National Geographic, the Oregonian and the Harvard Global Health Review. He continues to practice design at Medic Mobile, while pursuing research projects as a fellow of the University of Edinburgh’s Global Health Academy and as a Gates Cambridge Scholar in innovation, strategy and organization.

Paulo holds a joint appointment between the Department of Engineering Science and Saïd Business School. His primary fields of expertise are entrepreneurship, sustainable development, systems change, and innovation management.

The emphasis of his work is on transforming unjust systems through entrepreneurship. He formerly served as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Skoll Centre and as an Assistant Professor at Durham University. Outside academia, he worked as an entrepreneur and as a consultant to large companies, governments, and intergovernmental organisations. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, as a Gates Scholar.

He has been granted the IBM Business of Government Award, the Green Talents Award from the German Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Oldham Award from the University of Sussex, and has received multiple scholarships for his studies, such as from the Gates Trust, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Brazilian Council for Science and Technology.

Previous Education

University of Sussex
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

From my childhood, I remember the smell of books. The shelves full of novels at my grandmother’s house, the aroma of old pages in the reading room of my primary school during winter. I like to think of my life as a series of libraries. From the surreal verticality of Biblioteca Vasoncelos, with its whale skeleton hanging from the roof, to the Maori carvings of Auckland University Library. When I think of it that way, perhaps it is not surprising that, after pursuing a degree in biotechnology in Mexico City, I ended up studying immunogenomics. Picture, for instance, Alice through the looking glass. “Here it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place”, said the Red Queen. When I read this quote, I think of the immune system. How fast must it run to keep our place in a world ruled by microbes? But the immune system does not run, it plans ahead and divides tasks. It is a community of cells that talk to each other. During my PhD in at The Sanger Institute, Cambridge I will study the immune system, using transcriptomics to link gene expression and cellular functions to genetic variation across individuals. Because I firmly believe in the transforming power of knowledge, when out of the lab I like teaching, and promoting art and science. Languages and music are my biggest passions. Monet, my favourite painter. And my dearest dream, to someday have a positive impact in Latin American society. As a Nahuatl poet once put it, “all that is true has a root”. And, to me, the desire to improve our world will always be the root from which everything else stems.

Previous Education

University of Auckland
University of Cambridge

Spending the first half of my life traveling from country to country including Dubai, Estonia, Mexico, Sweden, and Azerbaijan, among others, fostered a deep appreciation in me for the tremendous diversity of the world. However, in every place I noticed the ways in which narratives differed based on the perspective of the storyteller and how the national narrative depended on those with the most power. Studying Medical Anthropology, and Multidisciplinary Gender Studies in my BA and MPhil programs respectively, in addition to spending my last two years teaching Ethnic Studies to high school students in Stockton, CA, have been a part of my mission to elevate the status of marginalized narratives. As a PhD student in Education at Cambridge, I will focus on the role education has played in suppressing Black women’s narratives and how Black women have still thrived in academic spaces despite this challenge. As a Gates scholar I will use this knowledge to facilitate more inclusive learning environments and curricula.

Previous Education

Stanford University
University of Cambridge