Mary Bridges
Yale University, Jackson Institute for Global
Affairs
Mary Bridges received her bachelor’s degree from
Harvard University, with a major in history of science and a certificate in
mind, brain, and behavioral studies. Since then, she has worked as a reporter,
writer, and researcher for the World Economic Forum, Condé Nast Portfolio, and
Harvard Law School. In 2009, she lived in Amman, Jordan, and helped Columbia
University set up one of the first research hubs in its new network of Columbia
Global Centers. In her coursework at Yale, she studies the way in which
resource scarcity affects political relations between nations and interactions
among communities.
Cynthia Elliot
American University, School of International
Service
Cynthia Elliott is a second
year graduate student in the Global Environmental Policy program at
American University in Washington, D.C. After receiving her bachelor’s degree
in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of Southern Maine she
became a Peace Corps volunteer focusing on education and development in
Suriname.
This experience greatly enhanced her desire to
travel and work toward sustainable development. Prior to pursing her masters she had been teaching English in Japan where she
developed a love for the country.
She has additional experience working abroad
including volunteering at an orphanage in Thailand and researching tourism and
waste management on the Galapagos Islands. She is currently working on
international energy policy at the Alliance to Save Energy and is focusing her
academic research on energy conservation strategies and renewable energy
projects. She hopes to be able to work on establishing global sustainable
energy practices in the future.
Colin A. Hood
University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
Colin Hood is pursuing a joint J.D./M.P.P at the University of Maryland. Colin lived on the west
coast of Japan for three years where he worked in education and environmental
organizations. His most recent research has been a legal case study analysis of
environmental related industrial accidents in Japan. The purpose of this research
is to predict the trajectory of litigation related to the Fukushima disaster,
to discover new tools for regulators in the U.S., and to see how building or
operations codes might change internationally. Colin recently applied to the
U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General after a 4 month
internship at the United States Naval Academy and hopes to have a career in
international environmental law. His favorite Japanese food is sauce katsudon and enjoys practicing Kyudo in his spare time.
Abdur Rahman Khan
University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
Abdur Rahman Khan was born in New York City and
raised in Lahore, Pakistan. He graduated from the University of Engineering and
Technology, Lahore in 2009 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. After
graduation, he worked as an Environment, Health and Safety manager for
Unilever, Pakistan. Currently, he is a pursuing a Master’s
degree in Engineering and Public Policy at the University of Maryland. His
specialization is in energy, environment and international development. This
summer, he will be interning at the U.S. Department of Energy (Office of Policy
and International Affairs). Abdur is excited about
the trip, and looks forward to having a great time in
Japan with an amazing group of people.
Tinúviel Lathrop
University of Denver, Josef Korbel School of
International Studies
Tinúviel Lathrop is a graduate student in International
Security at Josef Korbel, where she is a Sie Cheou-Kang
Fellow and a Research Assistant at the Sie Cheou-Kang
Center for International Security and Diplomacy. Tinuviel
completed her undergraduate studies in Political Science with honors at the
University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2011, minoring in Peace Studies, Arabic
Studies, and Philosophy, where she focused on early Eastern and Near Eastern
philosophy. She has worked as a Research Assistant for the Pardee
Center for International Futures and the UML Peace and Conflict Program, as an
intern for Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, and as a marketing coordinator for a
defense contractor. This will be Tinúviel’s first
trip to Japan and she hopes to develop her understanding of international
security and disaster risk reduction from the Japanese perspective and is excited to learn some Japanese and be immersed in
Japanese culture.
Judith Li
University of California, San Diego, School of
International Relations and Pacific Studies
Judith Li is a second year Master’s
Candidate studying Japan and Economics from the University of California, San
Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. She currently
resides in Tokyo where she is participating in a study abroad program at the
University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy. After graduating with a
Bachelor’s degree in Economics and minors in both the
Japanese and Mandarin languages, she moved to Japan as a Japan Exchange and
Teaching Program participant where she spent three years in Gunma. After
returning to the US, she worked in a commercial bank before beginning graduate
school. Her last summer was spent interning in the Global Banking Department of
Deutsche Bank in Tokyo. She has studied the Japanese koto
(instrument), Japanese calligraphy, and kyudo (Japanese archery).
Nina Maturu
University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of
Public Policy
Nina Maturu University
of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Nina Maturu
is receiving a Master of Public Policy (MPP) and MBA at the University of
Michigan. Nina has spent her professional and academic career focusing on
community and economic development. From 2008-2009, Nina served as a Clinton
Fellow developing a social leadership program for children who resided in the
slums of Mumbai and Pune, India. Upon returning to the United States, Nina
worked for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-NCA) as their Governmental
Liaison on Capitol Hill. Most recently, Nina worked in Tanzania measuring the
impact of low-cost mobile phone services on people earning less than $2/day.
She has also spent two years in Kyoto, Japan on the JET Program. In her free
time, she enjoys making her own clothing and jewelry and linking craftsman to
markets to the US and abroad.
Marcella McClatchey
Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy
Marcella McClatchey is
a Master’s student at the Sanford School of Public
Policy at Duke University, focusing on International Development Policy. She
graduated from Amherst College in 2008, where she studied Religion and
International Relations. After graduation, she stayed on at Amherst for two
years building and managing a program to recruit and support community college
transfer students. She has also worked for international development NGOs in
India and Ecuador. This summer, she will be interning for BRAC in Uganda,
conducting research on its microfinance programs. Marcella has a long-standing
interest in Japanese studies. She studied Japanese throughout high school and
college, participated in student exchange programs, and studied abroad at
Temple University in Tokyo. Her current professional interests center around economic
development and gender in the developing world, and she is looking forward to
the opportunity to learn more about ways to collaborate with Japan on these
issues.
Bret McEvoy
Tufts University, The Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy
Bret McEvoy is a Masters
candidate at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Having earned his B.A. from Bowdoin College, Bret spent five years working in
the fields of humanitarian assistance and disaster response, in areas as
diverse as the Middle East, India and post-earthquake Haiti. His concentrations
at Fletcher are in Human Security and Public International Law, particularly
around the protection of civilians in conflict and disaster environments.
Correspondingly, Bret will be spending the coming months in northern Uganda and
The Hague doing research on the documentation of war crimes, and will conclude
his summer in Japan, focusing on disaster prevention and response to the 2011
Tohoku earthquake.
Daniel Roarty
University of Denver, Josef Korbel School of
International Studies
Daniel Roarty is a
master’s candidate at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of
International Studies, focusing on Global Finance, Trade and Economic
Integration with concentrations in East Asian Affairs and Political Economy. He
also currently works as a graduate assistant at the Center for China-US
Cooperation in the Josef Korbel School. In 2005, Daniel graduated from the
University of North Florida with BAs in International Studies and English.
After graduating, he moved to Japan to work and study Japanese. After living in
Japan for three years, he moved to Beijing, China, to attend Tsinghua
University’s Chinese language program. Daniel spent his final six months before
entering graduate school in Japan, witnessing the Tohoku earthquake from the
Kansai region and speaking directly to many of those affected by the tsunami
and nuclear disaster.
Casey Sheridan
George Washington University, Elliot School of
International Affairs
Casey was born and raised in upstate New York.
She is a master’s candidate in Asian Studies at GW’s Elliott School, focusing
on Northeast Asia and, in particular, Japan. She completed her undergrad degree
at Union College in Schenectady, NY where she double majored in East Asian Studies
and a self-designed major of Japanese Political Economics. As an undergrad, she
spent a semester at Kansai Gaidai University in
Osaka. Currently, Casey is completing an internship at the Japan Information
and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan, in Washington, D.C. After graduation, she
intends to pursue a career in international business communications. She is
excited to return to Japan and looks forward to participating in this year’s
program.
Kartikeya
Singh
Tufts University, The Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy
Kartikeya Singh received his Master of
Environmental Science degree at the School of Forestry & Environmental
Studies at Yale University and is currently a PhD candidate at the Fletcher
School. His research interests include climate change and energy policy, the
geopolitics of energy use, and transportation. He has authored many articles
focusing on energy, climate change, the citizen sector and the role of youth
movements. Kartikeya has previously worked as a consultant with the
Environmental Defense Fund and co-founded the Indian Youth Climate Network
(IYCN) which has served a space for voices of the budding youth climate
movement from across South Asia. Kartikeya has also been involved with the international
climate negotiations since the UN climate talks in Bali, Indonesia (2007) and
has served as part of the negotiating team of the government of Maldives at the
climate talks since COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009.
Jacob Vawter
Georgetown University, Edmund A. Walsh School of
Foreign Service
Jacob is currently a graduate student in the
Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University. He has
interned with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration
and TV Asahi America. Prior to attending graduate school, Jacob was a teacher
with the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Programme,
spending three years in Hitoyoshi City in central
Kyushu. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Southern California,
where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Economics and
Geography. Jacob’s areas of interest include East Asian security and
international trade, as well as business-government relations. Originally from
Washington State, Jacob enjoys riding motorcycles, watching Trojan football and
Lakers basketball, and spending time with family and friends. Jacob is a
born-again Christian and awaiting membership approval at Capitol Hill Baptist
Church in Washington, DC.