BEN SIMMONS

I am a research wildlife biologist that has had the opportunity to be part of projects of diverse ecological foci including gemsbok diets in the Chihuahuan desert, Surfbird spatial ecology in Alaska’s white mountains, spotted hyena behavioural ecology in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and den spatial ecology of the Icelandic Arctic fox. My primary research interests lie at the intersection of community ecology and geospatial analyses specifically of systems that are particularly affected by climate change. My research at Cambridge will work to ground-truth a cutting edge spatial method called electrical circuit theory by using machine learning. In my free time I am an avid birdwatcher, hiker, film photographer, and folk music enthusiast. 

ELIZABETH GAMARRA 

I am a mental health clinician, conflict resolution specialist, and scholar of International Relations. A former Fulbright and Rotary Peace Fellow, I have has represented the U.S. at global summits including the Y20 in India and the Policy Center for the New South in Morocco. I am currently serving as a Youth Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State at the Osaka 2025 World Expo, and will next begin my MPhil in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar. 

JOSEPH GAYNOR

Business from the University of South Australia. During his studies, he was elected to the Board of the Student Union, which sparked an ongoing interest in policy and advocacy. During his undergraduate studies, he also worked with the South Australian Ambulance Service as an emergency call-taker. Joe has since worked as a lawyer across government and the private sector. From 2023, he has worked at international law firm Allens Linklaters, in both Litigation and Environment and Planning, with a focus on the development of renewable energy projects. He’s also committed to his pro bono legal work, supporting those unable to access legal services in his community. Previously, he worked at the South Australian Attorney-General’s Department, developing gambling and liquor policy and supporting governance for not-for-profits and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. In 2022, he was admitted as a lawyer and served for 12 months as an Associate to a Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia. Joe’s Rotary focus area is ’Environment’. Shaped by his work as an Environment and Planning lawyer, he has a particular interest in climate, renewable energy, and environmental policy. 

SUMANTH KONDAPALLI

Sumanth (Sumy) graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience. His passion in the field was built upon personal experiences, such as a summer at the Penn Translational Neuroscience Center, which strengthened his belief that neurodegenerative diseases would become the epidemics of the future on a global scale. After graduation, Sumy spent the following year at the Mayo Clinic as a Graduate Research Appointee. Here he focused on neuroproteomics in Dr. Wilfried Rossoll’s lab, specifically examining TDP-43 and Tau aggregates as they pertain to FTD/ALS and AD, respectively. The goal of his work was to identify potential modifiers, mediators, and biomarkers that were causative or indicative of these disease pathologies. His primary aim was to gain translational insights that could one day become clinically relevant in combating these debilitating neurodegenerative diseases. He has presented posters at symposiums and has a paper under review for publication. Since then, he has received a Rotary Global Scholarship to attend the University of Cambridge to pursue an MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience to further his understanding of spinning basic science research into therapeutics to further clinical outcomes. While at Cambridge he hopes to be active in science outreach and events through his affiliation with his host club, the Rotary Club of Saffron Walden. In the future, he hopes to continue by pursuing a PhD within the field.

KYLIE HAMMACK

Kylie is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States, and graduated from Oklahoma State University with undergraduate degrees in economics and political science. Her research has examined political violence, governance, and development aid effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa, most recently through an undergraduate research grant-funded project on local corruption and foreign aid outcomes. She is now pursuing an MPhil in Politics and International Studies at St John’s College at the University of Cambridge. Kylie aspires to apply data analytics and policy research to improve international security by developing early-warning systems and locally grounded peacebuilding strategies.

FRANCESCA NYAKORA

Francesca, graduate of the Yale Class of 2023, has been awarded the Rotary Global Grant Scholarship to pursue an MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. At Yale, Francesca double-majored in Political Science and African Studies while also receiving an advanced language certificate in French and a certificate in Human Rights from Yale Law School. During her undergraduate career, she served on the board of the Yale International Relations Association, as president of the first-ever Yale Model African Union, and as Kerry Fellow at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. Francesca also completed internships at the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations Development Program. Francesca’s research at Yale focused on political development in multi-ethnic African countries. Her senior thesis, “The Divergent Paths of National Unity and Ethnic Cleavage: A Comparative Case Study on Nation-Building Policies and Political Socialization In Four Multi-Ethnic African Countries” was awarded for “outstanding research in the advanced study of Africa”  by the Yale Council on African Studies. Upon graduating, Francesca worked as a Gaither Junior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Thereafter, she was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant in Brazil. Her research in Brazil explores how grassroots organizations increase the effectiveness of service delivery and the reach of governance in favelas. She works with a research collective in the City of God favela and is also based at Fundação Getúlio Vargas as a visiting researcher. Though her undergraduate degree is in African Studies, Francesca chose to pursue Fulbright research in Latin America in order to examine how the proliferation of violent non-state actors– whether insurgent groups in Africa or cartels in Latin America– is enabled by weak governance and economic underdevelopment in the most fragile parts of both continents. As Development Studies is geared towards studying processes of political, social, and economic change throughout the Global South; Francesca will continue to explore the various security and developmental parallels between Africa and Latin America during her time at Cambridge.