Directory

As an undergraduate in Physics at the University of Oxford, I became fascinated with applying physical, mathematical and computational methods to biological questions. In my PhD at Cambridge, I worked with computational models of RNA secondary structures in order to understand what types of structural changes are likely to occur through random mutations. This is relevant in evolutionary processes. In addition to my research, I served as Vice President of the Gates Cambridge Scholars' Council in 2019/20. I am now a postdoc at the University of Oxford.

Previous Education

University of Oxford

I am interested in the way organisms evolve and the genetic basis behind these processes. My background is mainly ecological having worked with different groups such as crustaceans, protists, birds, oaks and cacti. This has given me a broad view of the way different organisms adapt to their environment. Now I will focus on plant evolution; what I like the most about this subject is the possibility to unveil the complex mechanisms that control the incredible developmental plasticity plants exhibit. In my PhD I’ll be analyzing the evolution of floral morphology in snapdragon from a molecular and ecological perspective. This information will help us to explain how subtle changes in the developmental patterns of the organisms can have enormous consequences for life on the planet.

After I received a BA in Romance Languages from Mt Holyoke College, I joined Teach For America and dedicated myself to improving the educational prospects of my seventh grade students in Phoenix. My passion for education and literature prompted me to pursue an MPhil in European Literature at Cambridge, St John's College. I am now able to combine my academic interests in storytelling with my passion for social change, as a Program Manager at a youth-serving nonprofit in Seattle.

I left home when 16 to become a cadet of the Military School "Teulié" of Milan where I served for three years until the award of my high school diploma. After a brief encounter with the Italian Higher Education I enrolled onto a Chemistry BSc at Imperial College London.I have conducted academic research since a first year undergraduate student, first as an experimental physical chemist and then as a computational physicist. My present work involves the development of numerical techniques for the computation of volumes in high dimensional spaces and their exploration by Monte Carlo sampling methods as well as their application to the development of a statistical theory of granular physics.

As a child, two of my favourite books were a collection of Greek myths, mainly from the Iliad and the Odyssey, and a biography of Alexander the Great; both a love for books and a curiosity for the past have stayed with me since. I was lucky to grow up in Italy first, then in Belgium, and when I made the leap across the Channel to study History at Cambridge I already saw myself as a European citizen. My fascination for the philosophes of the Enlightenment initially lured me towards the eighteenth century, but a combination of chance and opportunity led me to focus on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries instead. As I researched the history of a Florentine family relocating to South Germany in the midst of the Thirty Years’ War for my Master’s, I found in the past some parallels with my own experience of transnational movement. For my PhD I will cross not just national but also disciplinary boundaries, investigating the uses of hydraulic knowledge and expertise across three early modern cities, Florence, Augsburg, and Amsterdam. Retracing the careers of hydraulic experts responsible for monumental fountains and mundane sewage systems alike, my PhD was at the crossroads between the history of science, art history, and environmental history. In particular, I contributed to the field of water history, which has very concrete implications for the present, and for ensuring that we can continue to hold water in shared and sustainable possession with fellow humans.

After finishing the PhD in 2023, I have taken up a one-year postdoc in architectural history at the Universität Bern, in Switzerland. From January 2025, I will be a Wiener-Anspach Fellow at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium.

Previous Education

Birmingham City University Education (Primary) 2019
University of Cambridge Early Modern History 2017
University of Cambridge History 2016

Scuba diving through reefs affected by coral bleaching in Southeast Asia, I witnessed the downstream consequences of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In between my studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto, my work experiences in the wastewater, metallurgical, and nuclear energy industries introduced me to problems dealing with the environmental effects of energy production and consumption. In addition, a fourth-year undergraduate project with industry advisers from NASA exposed me to the possibility of transforming carbon emissions from waste product to valuable resource. Most recently, as an MIT graduate student, I worked on a team in charge of organizing the MIT Energy Conference - the largest student-run energy conference in the United States. During my MPhil in Energy Technologies at Cambridge, I plan to work on electrochemical energy storage technologies capable of meeting new demands with integrating renewables into our energy generation mix. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I will seek to apply my research to creating a sustainable world for future generations.

Previous Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
University of Toronto

After spending a year teaching at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (http://www.aims.ac.za) I have returned to Cambridge to complete my PhD in theoretical physics. I hope to use my background in physics and education to expand educational opportunities for young people everywhere, especially in the developing world.

I am interested in examining the intersection between criminal law and the application of human rights in order to help those who are not served by the justice system and criminal law.

Born in Rwanda, my earliest memories are of life as a young refugee. I pursued my undergraduate at North Central College on a generous scholarship from the school's board of trustees. During my masters at Yale, I focused on the events that I left behind: mass atrocities and their consequences. For my PhD, I am looking into the experiences of a vastly marginalised group in the African Great Lakes known as the Batwa. I am interested in how colonial and neo-colonial notions of eugenics have turned them into a de-politicized group, one which has no say on its political, economic and social reality. Beyond academics, I continue to be involved in the education space especially in providing quality education for marginalised communities. To this end, I am a co-founder of the Tujenge Scholars Program, a leadership institute, which has sent Burundi students to prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Carleton, Brown, MIT etc. The goal is that this group of young leaders will be responsible for Africa's transformation.

Previous Education

Yale University African Studies 2015
North Central College Political Science 2013

As an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University, I have devoted my time to engaging in a variety of interdisciplinary research and coursework, spanning the subjects of astronomy, physics, planetary science, and mathematics. Through astronomy coursework and a recent research experience analyzing X-ray data from a distant, merging galaxy cluster, I have developed a passion for observational astronomy. To me, the study of astronomy requires a curiosity about the universe on the largest scales. I am excited by our ability to understand real astronomical objects, from the stars that populate our own galaxy to the objects whose light takes billions of years to reach us. At the University of Cambridge, I am especially eager to expand my astrophysics knowledge through rigorous coursework and to engage in observational astronomy research as a MASt student. Alongside my years of research, I have passionately supported science education as a volunteer at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences where I ran solar observing sessions and taught mini lessons on dark matter. I plan to continue to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientists by being involved in outreach at the Institute of Astronomy and throughout the rest of my career. I am honored to be joining the Gates Cambridge community and look forward to interacting with and learning from my Gates Cambridge peers of all different disciplines.

Previous Education

Case Western Reserve University Bachelor of Science in Math & Physics, Astronomy 2019

Previous Education

University of Washington BA - English Literature 2004
Seattle University

As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow at Wellesley College, I fell in love with both the research process and the power of research to shape more enlightened, more enlivened, classroom discussions discussions that as both a scholar and life-long student I truly believe can shape our world for better by enabling us to communicate more clearly, more deliberately, and more considerately. As a student of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, I look forward to discovering new uses for age-old stories; unearthing just how differently medieval literature handled difference and diversity, using that literature as a measure of modernity and proof of how diversity has always grounded the Western literary canon. I'm so honored to be joining the Gates-Cambridge class of 2020! I'm inspired by the work of my peers and excited to be entering a community wherein we can all work together to pursue not only knowledge, but the improvement of our surrounding world through that knowledge.

Previous Education

Johns Hopkins University Medieval Literature 2020
Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla MedievalLit/Intern'l Relations 2019
Wellesley College English Literature 2014