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Briseyda Barrientos Ariza

  • Scholar
  • United States
  • 2023 MPhil European, Latin American, & Comparative Literatures & Cultures
  • Trinity College
Briseyda Barrientos Ariza

Briseyda Barrientos Ariza

  • Scholar
  • United States
  • 2023 MPhil European, Latin American, & Comparative Literatures & Cultures
  • Trinity College

I am from Hyattsville, Maryland and most of my childhood summers were spent in the humid climates of Guatemala––saturated in the culture of storytelling. During my studies at Towson University, I returned to the stories of my girlhood. As a recipient of the Leadership for Public Good Fellowship, I collected the oral histories of Guatemalans on their encounters with regional folkloric figures, amplifying occluded voices via cultural/archival work. I built upon my fieldwork in my thesis, where I examined the function of orature and its products as counterstories and symptoms of colonial trauma. During my MPhil at Cambridge, I will broaden my work to the larger Central American diaspora to exhibit how orature and its practice operate as a collective narratological and rhetorical (method)ology that opposition colonial narratives, allowing for new ones to emerge. By re-reckoning the violence represented in the literary and lived, I seek to reassess how narratives are constructed and taught globally through the language and experiences of the oppressed to highlight the anticolonial possibilities extant in intergenerational stories. I am honored to join the Gates Cambridge community, where we all look forward to building a better world.

Previous Education

Towson University English with Literature Track 2022
Towson University Psychology 2022

Kayla Barron

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2010 MPhil Engineering
  • Peterhouse
Kayla Barron

Kayla Barron

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2010 MPhil Engineering
  • Peterhouse

I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in May 2010 with a B.S. in Systems Engineering. Driven by a passion for curbing the effects of anthropogenic climate change while meeting growing global energy demands, I sat for an MPhil in Nuclear Engineering at Cambridge, conducting fuel cycle research on a thorium reactor concept known as the Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactor. I am currently serving as a submarine warfare officer in the U.S. Navy.

Thomas Barron

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2010 MPhil African Studies
  • St John's College
Thomas Barron

Thomas Barron

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2010 MPhil African Studies
  • St John's College

Meir Barth

  • Scholar
  • United States
  • 2020 PhD Sociology
  • Clare Hall
Meir Barth

Meir Barth

  • Scholar
  • United States
  • 2020 PhD Sociology
  • Clare Hall

How do we leverage the widest possible array of human ability to confront the challenges we face as a species? Through the lens of my self-identify as a neuro- and physio- divergent individual, I am driven to seek deeper understandings of the very nature of human ability--how it can be fostered, and how it is stifled. As an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts, I constructed an individualized program around the study of ability, continuing this interdisciplinary work with a Cambridge MPhil. For 12 years I have been part of a participatory-action research team at Boston University that designed and implemented programs to teach self-advocacy skills to youth with "disabilities." Informed by these experiences, I have become a dis/diff-ability activist and speaker, and I am currently a writing book called, "The Theory of Everyone." My PhD research will explore innovative methodologies to identify and leverage diverse human abilities - informed, I hope, by insights from this extraordinary circle that I am honored to join. Ultimately, I seek to become an academic activist and agent of change in the structures and organisations that impact the development of all human potential.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Health Medicine and Society 2020
University of Massachusetts at Amherst Social Phil. Comm. Theory 2018
Harvard Extension School Advanced Soc. Science Research 2018

Ankur Barua

  • Alumni
  • India
  • 2001 PhD Divinity
  • Trinity College
Ankur Barua

Ankur Barua

  • Alumni
  • India
  • 2001 PhD Divinity
  • Trinity College

Karin Bashir

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2015 MPhil International Relations
  • St John's College
Karin Bashir

Karin Bashir

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2015 MPhil International Relations
  • St John's College

During my undergraduate study at the University of Michigan, I majored in International Norms, Security, and Cooperation with a focus in the Middle East. I gained insight into the region through courses covering politics, culture, and history of the Middle East. Additionally, I had the opportunity to study in Egypt, pursue a Fulbright grant in Bahrain last year and am currently working with Syrian refugees in Turkey. Through my academic study and my experiences working and traveling abroad, I became specifically interested in the relationship between grass-roots elements like culture and language and the development of law and policy, especially in regards to human rights. Through the Gates Cambridge scholarship, I will be undertaking the MPhil in Public Policy at Cambridge in order to gain nuanced understanding into the complex process of policy development, analysis, and implementation. Through my MPP degree from Cambridge and the support from the Gates Cambridge community, I aspire to become an expert in the fields of international law and human rights policy and work to create culturally cognoscente, ethical, and effective policy for non-governmental and governmental organizations assisting in the implementation of development projects and attainment of foreign policy goals.

I recently completed my law degree from the University of California Berkeley School of Law with a specialization in International Law.

Previous Education

University of Michigan

Melisa Basol

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2018 PhD Psychology
  • Pembroke College
Melisa Basol

Melisa Basol

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2018 PhD Psychology
  • Pembroke College

Dr Melisa Basol is a Social Psychologist and part of the 2022 Class of Forbes 30 under 30.

In collaboration with the UK Cabinet Office (and supported by UNESCO, UN, and WHO), Melisa co-developed 'Go Viral!', a gamified intervention to combat the threat posed by COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracies. 'Go Viral!' has been played over 1.5 million times since it's launch and is now available in 10+ languages.

Melisa also collaborates with the Stanford Health Communication Initiative and Duke University's efforts to fight vaccine hesitancy. She enjoys public engagement (e.g., BBC World, TedX) and continues to advise governmental institutions (e.g. EU Commission, NATO) on evidence-based policy-making.

As a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge, she read Psychology and focused on persuasion and resistance against misinformation through inoculation theory. Alongside numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications, Melisa was also awarded the WhatsApp Research Grant for Misinformation to help develop, test, and launch interventions against the spread of harmful misinformation on WhatsApp in India, Brazil, and the UK.

Previous Education

University of Wales, Aberystwyth
University of Cambridge

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbasol

Nicole Basta

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2003 MPhil Epidemiology
  • Homerton College
Nicole Basta

Nicole Basta

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2003 MPhil Epidemiology
  • Homerton College

As an infectious disease epidemiologist, I conduct research focusing on vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases. I aim to understand the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, to assess the impact of vaccines and vaccination programs, and to determine optimal strategies for communicable disease prevention and control. Currently, I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University.

Previous Education

Princeton University A.B. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2003

Links

http://www.nicolebasta.com

Amy Bates

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2002 Dip Economics
    2003 MPhil Economics & Development
  • Queens' College
Amy Bates

Amy Bates

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2002 Dip Economics
    2003 MPhil Economics & Development
  • Queens' College

Joshua Batson

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2008 CASM Pure Mathematics
  • Churchill College
Joshua Batson

Joshua Batson

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2008 CASM Pure Mathematics
  • Churchill College

I was born and raised in California's Silicon Valley, and studied mathematics at Yale University. I enjoy using math to solve problems, both practical and theoretical. In internships, I have analyzed internet activity at Advertising.com and modeled interest rate volatility at a hedge fund.  I recently spoke on my work at a seminar New York and a conference in San Diego, and submitted a paper to the Journal of Number Theory. In addition to being elected to Phi Beta Kappa, I was awarded six prizes at Yale: five for mathematics and one for literary criticism. Having seen the value and beauty of mathematics in my own life, I want to share it with others.  To that end, I tutored students in high school and college and founded the Yale Undergraduate Math Society. At Cambridge, I will undertake Part III of the Mathematical Tripos en route to a doctorate.  As a professor, I plan to work to improve the way universities teach undergraduate mathematics.

Marianne Bauer

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2008 MPhil Chemistry
    2009 MPhil Physics
    2010 PhD Physics
  • Jesus College
Marianne Bauer

Marianne Bauer

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2008 MPhil Chemistry
    2009 MPhil Physics
    2010 PhD Physics
  • Jesus College

After an MPhil in Theoretical Chemistry, I moved into theoretical physics to understand more about more fundamental processes in different systems. My supervisor and group in Cambridge and the support of the Trust have helped me enormously during this transition. I am now working towards my PhD in the area of ultracold atoms. I hope that at some point I will be able to make use of all the different aspects of my education.

Hanna Baumann

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2012 PhD Architecture
  • King's College
Hanna Baumann

Hanna Baumann

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2012 PhD Architecture
  • King's College

Previous Education

Barnard College
Oxford University

Michael Baumer

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2012 MPhil Physics
  • Churchill College
Michael Baumer

Michael Baumer

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2012 MPhil Physics
  • Churchill College

As an undergraduate at the University of Chicago and during my time in Cambridge, I worked on the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. For my MPhil thesis, I analyzed rare decays of the Z boson, a well-known Standard Model particle, in order to calibrate mass measurements of the recently-discovered Higgs boson. I am currently a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Stanford University, where I work on the Dark Energy Survey, a wide-field cosmology survey using a 4-meter optical telescope in Chile, as well as hardware development for the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Previous Education

University of Chicago Physics 2012

Links

https://mbaumer.github.io
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbaumer

Matthew Baumgart

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2003 CASM Mathematics
  • Trinity College
Matthew Baumgart

Matthew Baumgart

  • Alumni
  • United States
  • 2003 CASM Mathematics
  • Trinity College

Onon Bayasgalan

  • Alumni
  • Mongolia
  • 2019 MPhil Conservation Leadership
  • Newnham College
Onon Bayasgalan

Onon Bayasgalan

  • Alumni
  • Mongolia
  • 2019 MPhil Conservation Leadership
  • Newnham College

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

Ella Beaudoin

  • Scholar
  • United States, United Kingdom
  • 2023 PhD Archaeology
  • St John's College
Ella Beaudoin

Ella Beaudoin

  • Scholar
  • United States, United Kingdom
  • 2023 PhD Archaeology
  • St John's College

I’ve always lost myself in stories, sci-fi narratives, fantasy quests, tales of faraway places. Growing up, I became increasingly fascinated by stories of the past. How objects and traces can be brought together, giving a glimpse into the lives of those who came before. After earning an Anthropology BA from American University, I pursued a career as an educator, researcher, and project manager at the Smithsonian NMNH. My work involved developing content to highlight key concepts within exhibits and fostering understanding around culturally significant topics. Witnessing the power of museums as spaces for reconciliation, education, and care inspired me to undertake an MPhil at Cambridge, where I investigated ethnographic collections that may lack context. My proposed PhD seeks to build deeper connections with 'ordinary' objects in museum collections and establish best practices based on the needs of stakeholding communities worldwide. These everyday items weave us into the tapestry of life, linking people with their ancestors and fostering shared connections across time and cultures. Our past informs our present and future; I hope that by harnessing this potential, we can create a more empathetic and inclusive museum system.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Archaeological Research 2022
American University Washington Archaeology 2017

John Becker

  • Alumni
  • New Zealand
  • 2001 PhD Earth Sciences
  • Corpus Christi College
John Becker

John Becker

  • Alumni
  • New Zealand
  • 2001 PhD Earth Sciences
  • Corpus Christi College

Moritz Becker

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2001 PhD Computer Science
  • Trinity College
Moritz Becker

Moritz Becker

  • Alumni
  • Germany
  • 2001 PhD Computer Science
  • Trinity College