Directory

I was born in Eastern Canada and raised in rural Washington-State in the US. I completed my BS in Computer Science & Data Science, my BA in Sociology, and my MS in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. I had the honor of researching three different branches of Computer Science: (1) AI Bias, Ethics, Fairness, and Governance, (2) Commonsense Reasoning and development in AI, (3) Designing equitable pedagogies in Computer Science curricula, (and anything else that interests me in a manic spur of the moment). I have also had industry experience in AI development at Google Brain, DeepMind, and AI2. During my PhD in Digital Humanities at Cambridge, I hope to research how to effectively legislate AI governance in protection of intersectional identities from the Global South, especially in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. I hope to pursue fieldwork in critical areas that are most adversely-affected by the recent accelerated developments of AI, and research how it is that AI can be universally-regulated to avoid such outcomes. In deep gratitude, I am honored to join the Gates Cambridge community and continue to learn about the humanities’ intersections with technology from scholars of other fields.

Previous Education

University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering 2024
University of Washington Computer Science 2022
University of Washington Sociology 2022

I come from Cuiabá, a city right in the middle of South America. Unfortunately, my home state, Mato Grosso, is one of the most homophobic states in Brazil, which is why I always present myself as one of the few openly gay Federal Prosecutors in Brazil. Representation matters! Academically, in 2010, I was one of the first students from the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil, to attend the Hague Academy of International Law. I have a Master of International Law from the University of Cambridge and was awarded a Jennings Award from Wolfson College for my performance at the LLM. Also, I was awarded a Golden Award at Cambridge for my activities at the Cambridge Pro Bono Project. Professionally, in 2015, I was the youngest Judge at the Mato Grosso State Court. In 2016, I became a Federal Prosecutor and have been working with human rights and criminal law. During the LLM, I was deeply interested in international humanitarian law. Therefore, because I am part of the LGBTQIA+ community and wanted to investigate how armed conflicts affect vulnerable groups, for my PhD, I plan on researching how international humanitarian law can protect LGBTQIA+ persons (combatants and non-combatants) during and after wars.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Master of Laws 2022
Fundação Escola do Ministerio Law 2012

Studying history at Brown University allowed me to see how the stories we tell about our past shape every aspect of how we understand ourselves in the present. Of particular interest to me are narratives on gender and emotion. I have found that scholars of the medieval Norse tend to sort their emotional performances, particularly those related to grief and anger, along gendered lines. This creates a binary narrative, not much different from our current perceptions of “proper” emotional performances, in which men are permitted to aggressively express their anger, but not grieve loss, while women are allowed freedom to grieve openly, but not to express their anger. As a student in the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic Studies department, I want to challenge our narratives of gendered emotional performance in the medieval Norse world by researching displays of emotion which diverge from the gender binary imposed by current scholarship. I believe that revising the narratives historians construct around the emotional expression of Norse people will help us redefine ourselves as a society in which anyone can grieve and get angry without worrying about being censured or shamed due to their gender.

Previous Education

Brown University History 2024

I grew up in New York City and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I studied Physics. At MIT I became fascinated by the beauty and complexity of the Earth system, as well as the fundamental challenge of predicting the future climate. Through research projects at MIT, NOAA, and NASA, I have spent the past several years developing statistical methods for climate prediction. I am broadly interested in using novel mathematical and computational methods to make climate models more useful for climate adaptation. At Cambridge, I will obtain my MPhil in Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science. I will research the application of data-driven methods such as machine learning to the study of climate predictability. I believe that better climate models and prediction capabilities are crucial to addressing the impacts of climate change equitably and effectively. I am excited to join the global community of Gates Cambridge scholars dedicated to improving our changing world.

Previous Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physics 2024

My fascination with the relationship between repatriation and emotion is long-standing but was greatly reinforced by my experience managing the establishment and delivery of restitution initiatives in the Australian university sector. My time as a practitioner prompted me to reconsider the nature, role and impact of non-Indigenous actor emotions on processes of provenance and return: the lingering heartache of setting aside the unprovenanced skeletal remains of a child; the couching of obstructiveness in the language of objectivity; the cautious optimism between researchers and First Nations communities following a handover. By acknowledging and engaging with these emotional registers, I believe that more authentic opportunities for inter-community reconciliation and intra-community empowerment can be identified. With the generous support of Gates Cambridge, I aim to provide practitioners with a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the emotional dynamics within and between their institutions and the communities they seek to represent.

Previous Education

Australian National University Repatriation: Principles, Poli 2021
Australian National University Archaeological Practice 2020

Learning under uncertainty is a core daily demand. In an ever-changing world, we must learn to deal with its uncertain nature. How is learning under uncertainty represented in the developing brain? How does anxiety arise as a function of maladaptive uncertainty representations during development? What are important mitigating factors when uncertainty is unavoidable? My PhD research empirically investigates these questions using data-driven, computational modelling approaches. I grew up in a small harbour town in the marshlands of northern Germany – a steadfast childhood on the banks of the river Weser. When I moved to Hong Kong and started my MPhil in the wake of the 2019-2020 protests, I interviewed people for whom that same consistency was absent. My research focused on the cognitive processing of individuals who were affected by internalising psychopathology. Additionally, my broader psychological interests led me to co-found a research group investigating affective processing of art. In Cambridge, I am thrilled to join Prof. Rebecca Lawson’s Prediction and Learning Lab and address one of the world’s most prevalent mental disorders with actionable solutions.

Previous Education

University of Hong Kong Cog. Psychology / Neuroscience 2024
Universität Witten/Herdecke Psychology and Psychotherapy 2020
Universität Witten/Herdecke Management 2018

My passion for sustainable peacebuilding in post-conflict settings stems from being raised in an intergenerational, Russian-American household. Witnessing the consequences of unredressed harm following conflict in the Soviet Union drove my desire to study government, justice, and peacebuilding at Georgetown University. While at Georgetown, I worked with Ambassador Norman Eisen at the Brookings Institution on issues of legal accountability following January 6th. Prior, I supported several non-profits such as PEN America and Triangle Project. Most recently, I am on the research team at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security where I examine women’s issues in active conflict settings and advocate for international policy responses. At Cambridge, I will read for an MPhil in Development Studies. I look forward to exploring how transitional justice, democratization, and international law can meet the needs of historically neglected individuals in post-conflict states.

Previous Education

Georgetown University Government; Justice & Peace 2024

I completed a BSc in Psychology at York University, Glendon Campus; J.D. at Columbia Law School; and Master II at Sciences Po Paris. I then spent a year as a law clerk and associate at an international law firm. During these experiences, I developed an interest in ethics, political philosophy, and legal philosophy. I became interested in how rigorous philosophical analysis can allow us to challenge our assumptions about what constitutes morally permissible behaviour, particularly in the context of interpersonal relationships. In addition, I was drawn to questions about whether the legal framework for shaping conduct in the sphere of intimate relationships is normatively justifiable and, more broadly, the extent to which the legal system is an appropriate vehicle for advancing justice in the domain of intimate relationships. During my MPhil in Philosophy at Cambridge, I aim to continue exploring these topics through research, with an eye to how insights in ethics, political philosophy, and legal philosophy can drive reform in the law and rethinking of policy.

Previous Education

Columbia University Law 2023
Sciences PO, Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris Economic Law 2023

After qualifying as a lawyer in Nigeria, I studied art criticism and writing at the School of Visual Arts in New York. During my MFA program, I was immersed in forms of critical and creative writing at the intersection of art and the media environment. In the past fifteen years, I have developed a diverse body of work that spans criticism, memoir, photography and fiction, including three books and a digital platform for African photography, as well as varied editorial and curatorial projects. In my writing and research, I have given the most attention to the meanings and impacts of photographs, whether they are found in archives, newspapers, or produced in the context of contemporary art. For my PhD in Digital Humanities, I will use computer vision methods to critique the dissemination of photographs during the Nigerian civil war and the ongoing Boko Haram conflict, conducting research on how those photographs have shaped global perceptions about Nigeria, and the African continent in a wider sense. As I accept the privilege to study in Cambridge as a Gates scholar, I hope, in addition, to develop a curatorial and ethical framework for the circulation of conflict photographs in an age of misinformation and AI-generated imagery.

Previous Education

School of Visual Arts Art Criticism and Writing 2015
Obafemi Awolowo University Law 2010

I was raised by my aunt and uncle in a small town in the northeast corner of Tennessee. Throughout my childhood, I developed a growing interest in the world beyond my tight-knit community. I tailored my undergraduate studies to create an interdisciplinary education that explored subjects in international politics, language-learning, economics, world history, and human rights. During my undergraduate years and subsequent experiences as a Gilman scholar in Chile and a Fulbright grantee in Galicia, Spain, I deepened my understanding of the crucial role that education equity plays in society and the economy. As a first-generation student, I understand firsthand the transformative potential of education in personal and professional growth. Through research and classroom instruction at Cambridge, I aspire to delve into the development and implementation of policies that advance equity and inclusivity within educational systems. I am deeply honored to become a part of the Gates Cambridge community and am excited about collaborating with other young minds committed to driving global change in their respective fields.

Previous Education

Middle Tennessee State University Global Studies 2020
Middle Tennessee State University Spanish 2020

My familial experiences with health inequity animate my passion for public health law and policy. As an undergraduate studying political science, global health, health policy, and the Spanish language, I have explored this passion in an interdisciplinary way. My research at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and T.H. Chan School of Public Health — coupled with my service as an Arthur Liman Public Interest Law Summer Fellow — have also allowed me to translate my studies into practice. Now, with an MPhil supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust, I aim to jumpstart a career in health law and policymaking by honing the important skills of developing and critically examining population health evidence. I wait in earnest to join a global network of Gates Cambridge Scholars at the University of Cambridge to understand better how to augment our collective wellbeing.

Previous Education

Harvard University Government, Data Science Track 2024

During my undergraduate studies in anthropology and sociology, I developed a strong interest in medical anthropology, expanding my understanding of social inequality and the impacts of health disparities in Australia and around the world. Since completing my honours degree, I have been working as a Research Officer at the Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab at Edith Cowan University, where I have contributed to research on social and cultural care, and diversity in ageing.

I am thrilled to become a member of the Gates Cambridge community. During the MPhil in Health, Medicine, and Society at Cambridge, I will undertake a research project exploring the experiences of trans and gender diverse people who have accessed assisted reproductive technology, drawing on the fields of medical anthropology, the sociology of reproduction, and gender studies. Following this, I intend to pursue doctoral studies and continue a career in social research that allows me to advocate for improved access to health and social care for marginalised and medically underserved communities.

Previous Education

Australian National University Public Health 2023
University of Western Australia Anthropology and Sociology 2021

Working in the Indian Parliament, I saw my ‘research’ translate into social change and action. My academic and work experience spanning the last five years at the intersections of digital technology, the gig economy, and the future of work and caste is motivated by the pursuit of action-oriented research. As a Cambridge Trust and Commonwealth Scholar (2022-23) at the University of Cambridge, I explored the spatial and temporal structures of platform work by placing the gig economy in the caste society of India. This was inspired by my previous work at University of Oxford’s Fairwork Foundation studying platform economy, the Centre for Internet and Society and the Parliament actively contributing to parliamentary interventions advocating the rights of seven million gig workers in India. During my PhD, I wish to take forward my research on caste in the gig economy through an ethnography of home-based platform services. I aim to understand how caste and the structures of the gig economy co-produce each other while reordering social, bodily, and sensorial relations of work. Using ethnographic evidence, I aim to create a better future of work — informing state policies, digital labour platforms, and consumers of the gig economy.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Modern South Asian Studies 2023
University of Delhi Political Science 2021

My professional experience at highest levels of policy helped me realize the influential role of de-facto power dynamics and informal institutions in shaping development outcomes, especially in fragile contexts. This spurred my interest in comparative politics of development. In my PhD, I seek to understand the political economy of sub-national state capacity through a comparative study of education policy in two Pakistani provinces: Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Despite a common history and social composition, these provinces exhibit differing capacities for improving education outcomes. Through a 'political settlement analysis,' I aim to unravel the drivers behind this variation.My interest in sub-national state effectiveness stems from my upbringing in a remote village along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, where conflict and state fragility were pervasive. While my academic journey—from Government College University Lahore to the University of Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship—enabled me to escape the fragility trap, many others remain ensnared.I eagerly anticipate joining the Gates community & leveraging its diverse network to bridge the gap between academia, policy and media. I enjoy cricket, hiking and evening walks

Previous Education

University of Oxford Governance & Development 2015
University of Oxford Public Policy 2014

When my grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I was driven to deepen my understanding of human cognition to develop solutions that could help people like him. At The Johns Hopkins University, I pursued a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, and Economics, developing interdisciplinary skills to achieve my goals. Through my research, I explored the largely unknown processes underlying human decision-making under uncertainty. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I will pursue a PhD in Engineering, building upon my past research by investigating how humans form internal representations of uncertainty and developing computational models that emulate such representations. Improving our understanding of how the brain tracks uncertainty is crucial to advancing our understanding of human cognition in health and disease, and will pave the way for developing trustworthy and energy-efficient artificial intelligence. While at Cambridge, I will also work to expand STEM outreach initiatives in under-resourced communities and lead dialogue on developing responsible AI regulatory policies. In my free time, I hope to work on my jazz improv skills on the piano!

Previous Education

Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Engineering 2023

Originally from the sprawling metropolis of Daphne, Alabama, I studied biology at Harvard University. There, I worked in a structural virology laboratory, rationally designing immunogens for ssRNA viruses (primarily SARS-CoV-2, dengue, and influenza). In my PhD, I hope to leverage translational immunology to combat one of the most under-recognized public health threats in the world: agro-industrial chemical pollutants.

In my graduate studies, I aim to develop active and passive immunotherapies targeting these persistent organic pollutants. Initially, I will investigate this question in the context of the acute toxicities of pesticides, a major health concern in rural areas. However, I hope to demonstrate that these methodologies are applicable to broad ranges of acutely and chronically toxic pollutants, ranging from agricultural chemicals to ubiquitous flame retardants, plasticizers, and surfactants which impose tremendous burdens on global health.

Beyond the lab, I love to play music, write, and get outside as much as cell cultures will allow. I am exceptionally excited to grow while at Cambridge as a researcher, individual, and member of our global academic community!

Previous Education

Harvard University Biology

I grew up in North Carolina and pursued a BA in history at Stanford University. Most of my historical work focused on the intersection of early modern science and colonial ventures, but some time away from college working in the labor movement and studying the housing crisis refocused my attention. At Cambridge, I will be studying the confluence of two major social trends: the recent rise of short-term gig work, and the decades-long increase in the number of unhoused people owing to rising housing costs, stagnating wages, and austerity measures. Alarmingly, and contrary to popular belief, an increasing number of unhoused people work and still can't afford rent. I plan on conducting field work that sheds light on unhoused labor in the UK, its representation in popular media, and its connection to changes in the welfare state. Ultimately, I'm interested in studying the long-term history of economic exploitation through the interaction of housing and labor markets. I believe there is no well-functioning democracy that does not ensure housing for all.

Previous Education

Stanford University History 2022

Growing up just outside of New Orleans, the urgency of the climate change issue was instilled in me from a very young age. Interacting with some of Louisiana's first climate migrants and experiencing the effects of increased hurricanes and sea level rise pushed me to further pursue climate science. As an undergraduate studying Environmental Earth Science at Tulane University, I discovered a new lens through which the issue could be viewed and learned about the field of paleoclimatology. During my MPhil in the Physical Geography Department at the University of Cambridge, I seek to better understand the fundamental differences in global-scale warming between three interglacial periods. This research will refine scientific understanding of the forcings and feedbacks involved in global-scale warming and will be used in models that will predict the effects of anthropogenically caused climate change. I’m honored and excited to be joining the Gates Cambrdige community and begin working with my peers to tackle one of the biggest issues facing the world today.

Previous Education

Tulane University of Louisiana Environmental Earth Science 2024