Lesley Anderson
Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, Library of Congress
I am a high school science teacher and researcher who values life long learning. Many of my research experiences have been connected to polar science in the Arctic and Antarctic including the Icecore and Environmental Chemistry Lab at South Dakota State University, JPL Polar Science at NASA, and the AmundsenScott South Pole Station with the U.S. Antarctic Program. This spring, I am finishing my Doctorate in Science and Math Educational Leadership from San Diego State University while participating in a fellowship with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., teaching educators how to use primary sources in science classrooms.
Bryn de Chastelain
MPP, Harvard Kennedy School
I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and spent the last few years living in Halifax on Canada’s east coast. I led Canada’s national student union through the bulk of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m interested in the Arctic region and its intersection with international politics.
University of Southern Maine (USM)
I live in Portland, ME, with my husband and husky. I enjoy hiking, landscape photography, and snowshoeing. I recently graduated from USM with a degree in GeographyAnthropology and currently work for the City of Portland in GIS. Through my GIS Graduate Certificate studies and a NASA DEVELOP term, I have experience using remote sensing to address environmental concerns. Two recent projects use satellite imagery to document and analyze shifts in vegetation coverage and ice cap extent in southern Greenland and central Iceland. My research interests include glaciology and the effects of climate change on communities and ecosystems in the Arctic. I am excited to learn new skills and can’t wait to meet everyone!
Dianna Farrell
Teruaki Fujii
MC/MPA, Harvard Kennedy School
I am from Japan and currently live in Cambridge, MA, with my wife and 4-year-old son. I am on study leave from my role at Japan International Cooperation Agency until May 2022.
In the past, I worked in Tanzania, Malaysia and Japan. I have experience in infrastructure projects and private sector development in developing countries.
PROJECT IDEAS: Raising awareness of Arctic issue and climate change through innovative tools.
Amy B. Gelletich
North Carolina State University (NCSU)
I live in Denver, Colorado, with my husband and two young kids. I am currently studying for a MGIST from NCSU. I also work as a Research Scientist at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). I enjoy running, hiking, skiing and snowshoeing whenever I can.
My graduate studies have focused on mapping wildfires and their impacts (mainly in Colorado), and I am expanding my research into the Arctic region for my capstone project this semester, where NGA also has research interests. I am excited to learn new skills in this workshop so I can implement them in my graduate work, and to meet and learn from all of you!
Poorva Kaushik
MPP1, Harvard Kennedy School
Before joining Harvard, I had a career in nuclear energy spanning over eight years in India, South Korea, and the Middle East. I want to help reverse our global temperature trajectory by accelerating the adoption of non-carbon energy sources in our global energy portfolio.
My experience has taught me that achieving this goal requires policies conducive to overcoming various challenges. While my work has provided me with insights into the challenges in India and UAE, I was able to learn about similar and different challenges in other developing nations during my graduate coursework in Korea from fellow young leaders of 10 other Asian and African countries. I want to develop practical action plans to address some of these challenges.
Emilija Lafond
Ed. M at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
Hi all! I’m from Toronto, Canada. Prior to joining HGSE, I was a Montessori educator for four years in Toronto. Recently, I’ve been working with Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic to support their Montessori schools, teachers/training, and programming. This is what I intend to continue post HGSE.
My previous academic/professional experiences center on Montessori in an urban context. However, I am more interested in the role of alternative/holistic education X traditional Indigenous learning systems. I’m passionate about creating teacher-training opportunities for Inuit women in their communities that would be recognized and accredited, and furthering my understanding of the social changes occurring in Inuit communities in relation to the vastly intersectional education realm.
Grace Lam
Harvard Kennedy School/Harvard Business School
I am currently pursuing a joint degree in MPP and MBA at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. Prior to Harvard, I worked in McKinsey as a management consultant, where I split my career in China and the United States. I was a core member of McKinsey’s sustainability practice and focused my work on decarbonization pathways for China’s power and hard-to-abate industrial sectors.
I grew up in Hong Kong – this subtropical city rarely goes below 40 degrees! Nevertheless, my passion for travelling led me to Iceland, where I got to marvel at the glaciers. I hope to apply the mapping skills from this workshop and contribute to the climate transition discussions in the Arctic and beyond.
Kelsey Landau
MPP, Harvard Kennedy School
I’m a first-year MPP student from Boca Raton, FL. Before starting at HKS, I worked for four years at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where I conducted policy research on a range of natural resource governance issues. I’m particularly interested in furthering the energy transition within the United States, and in making sure that the transition happens rapidly yet equitably.
Matt Lilley
Technical Writer and Children’s Book Author
I live in Minneapolis, MN (which is exactly 45° N) with my wife and two kids. I have a BA in English and an MS in Scientific and Technical Communication. As both a tech writer and an author of nonfiction children’s books, I seek to explain complicated topics in a way that is easy to understand. In tech writing, I work with Subject Matter Experts to help them communicate their knowledge. Hopefully, I can fill that same role here. In writing for kids, I try to tell compelling stories that will teach about science (such as in my most recent picture book, Good Eating, which teaches about Antarctic krill and the role that they play in the Southern Ocean ecosystem).
Lisa Luken
University of Southern Maine
I grew up on a farm in rural Illinois where I developed my appreciation for the human-land connection. My love for the ocean led me to Maine, which my husband and I and our three children have called home since 2014.
My undergraduate studies and corporate work experience focused on financial reporting and analysis (economic capital). In my graduate studies, I am exploring how human, social, and ecological capital can be prioritized and integrated with economic capital to create sustainable communities. I am interested in the role women leaders play in this development, primarily in rural coastal communities in Maine and the Arctic.
Olga Lukyanova
Humboldt University of Berlin (HU)/Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)
I am pursuing a master's degree in integrated natural resource management at HU and work as a research assistant in the Arctic Governance Group at IASS. At work, I am primarily involved in two projects, one on marine biodiversity protection and the other on ethics and methods of co-creative Arctic research. In the former, in addition to contributing to research, I am developing maps to visualize the forthcoming report.
Besides, my master's thesis focuses on spatial aspects of the ecology of target fish species in the coastal waters of the German Baltic and how they can be applied for management and conservation.
Isaac Kim MPP, Harvard
Kennedy School
I’m a first-year student in the MPP program at HKS. Prior to HKS, I worked in grants and reporting for refugee camps and urban areas in Kenya. I currently work as a research assistant on the Arctic Resilience Project with the Arctic Initiative.
Liza Maharjan
MPA-ID, Harvard Kennedy School
I’m a first-year MPA-ID student from Lalitpur, Nepal. Before starting at HKS, I worked for two and a half years at the World Bank in Nepal, where I worked on increasing the use of data through data literacy programs and conducting South Asia regional remote household survey to assess the impacts of COVID. I’m very excited to learn ArcGIS, the Arctic climate and geospatial science with all of you.
Shadman Rahman
MPP1, Harvard Kennedy School
I am from Bangladesh, and I have worked with seasonal migrants and refugees in the country. I am very interested in climate change adaptation and mitigation. I hope to work in flood-prone, “char” areas of the country in the future, to improve the lives of communities vulnerable to climate change.
Jeri Stoller (she/hers)
Colgate University
I am a senior at Colgate and am doublemajoring in Environmental Geology and English with a Creative Writing Emphasis. I am from Naperville, Illinois. My main scientific interests include climate science, conservation, and science communication. I am currently conducting research on a conservation paleobiology project involving the effects of differing environmental conditions on bivalve mollusks in the northern Gulf of Mexico. I am also a staff member of Colgate Outdoor Education, and I love being outside, especially rock climbing.
Annikki Herranen-Tabibi
Department of Anthropology, Harvard (GSAS)
I am a medical and environmental anthropologist working in Indigenous Sámi communities in Deanuleahki, a river valley along Finland’s northernmost border with Norway. I am in the process of writing my dissertation on transformations in relations and practices of care in the context of postwar Nordic state development. I am developing a new research project on the effects of climate change on subsistence livelihoods and mental health in Sápmi (the transborder Sámi homeland), with a focus on the permafrost thaw-induced transformation of peatlands on which the cloudberry plant (Rubus chamaemorus) traditionally grows. I am committed to community-based, publicly engaged research that connects lived experience to questions of policy and practice.
I have two amazing kids and love to play chess and go swimming in the incredible Alaskan summers. My current role is Production Director and Engineer at beadedstream. We have helped monitor over 2,000 data sites and are working with researchers to characterize changes in local Arctic permafrost. My mission is to enable sustainable growth for individuals, teams, communities, and the world.
Erik Williams