Human Rights / Norms

Research Interest

Kate Ngo

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Economics
French

Kate Ngo is currently a junior from San Gabriel Valley, CA double majoring in Political Science and Economics at UC Berkeley. Her academic interests broadly include international human rights, economic development, and interstate conflict. She is also pursuing a minor in French to learn more about the language and culture. Last semester, Ngo interned at a nonprofit media and communications organization where she tracked opinion polls and helped build a database to store polling data. In her free time, you will find her reading a suspense novel or binging on the latest Korean drama.

Mariano Sigifredo

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Goldman School of Public Policy

Mariano is an Argentinian senior student pursuing a B.A. in Political Science, with a concentration in comparative politics and the political economy of development, with a minor in Public Policy. He is interested in the distribute effects of fiscal rents in developing countries and the politics of economic development. He worked as a research assistant and a “Summer Research Fellow” on projects of international security and post-conflict contexts in Latin America. He has been working on an Honors thesis that seeks to analyze the impact of the variation of subnational regime types in...

Jolie Leung

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Political Economy

Jolie Leung is a junior pursuing a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and a minor in Political Economy. Her interests include post-conflict economic development, human rights, and socio-economic inequality, particularly in Latin America and East Asia. Since 2019, Leung has worked as a research assistant to Dr. Aila Matanock in her project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Minerva Research Initiative, researching and analyzing data on the constitutional frameworks of post-colonial nations. Aside from research, Leung teaches about current...

Ali Hasan

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Rhetoric

Ali Hasan is in his third-year pursuing a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Comparative Politics and a minor in Rhetoric. His interests include constitutional law, failed states, postcolonial politics, political theory, and the intersection of rhetoric and politics. Hasan is also involved with the City of Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission, UC Berkeley’s model UN team, and political publications centered around international relations and human rights. After graduation, he hopes to pursue law school and learn more about criminal justice reform and public interest law...

Ariana Jessa

Undergraduate Student
Environmental Economics and Policy
Haas School of Business

Ariana is a senior studying Environmental Economics and Policy and Business Administration at UC Berkeley. Her prior research has been focused on climate change economics, and she is currently finishing up her thesis on modelling the migration of a Panamanian indigenous group due to climate change. She has worked with numerous professors as an undergraduate researcher on projects ranging from climate governance to peace deals and counterinsurgency in the Middle East. In her spare time, Ariana enjoys cooking and learning Arabic.

Valerie Hammer

Undergraudate Student
Conservation and Resource Studies
French

Valerie Hammer is a junior at University of California, Berkeley pursuing a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies and a B.A. in French. Her academic work focuses on global environmental politics, with particular interest in political ecology. She has previously interned for the Human Rights Foundation in New York/Oslo. On campus, she works at the Student Advocate's Office and within the environmental service community (Epsilon Eta, Herbicide Free Berkeley). She looks forward to applying her French and budding interest in coding to her CPD fellowship on Ethnic Inequalities in French...

Krish Gopalan

Undergraduate Student
Molecular and Cell Biology
Public Health
Global Poverty and Practice

Krish Gopalan is a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley from Southern California. He is pursuing a B.A. Molecular and Cell Biology and minoring in both Global Public Health and Global Poverty and Practice. His interests broadly include the politics of health and development in the Global South, especially in South Asia. His prior research includes analyses into the effectiveness of the Integrated Rural Development Program and the role of private-public partnerships in developing health infrastructure in India. At Berkeley, he was involved with the California Public Interest Research Group,...

Luis Hassan Gallardo

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Ethnic Studies

Luis Hassan Gallardo is a senior from Los Angeles, CA, majoring in Political Science and Ethnic Studies. He is interested in how his fields of study intersect with issues of international affairs and migration policy. Luis is also currently working with Sociology Professor Cybelle Fox to conduct historical analyses of the United States Sanctuary Movement and the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative to map immigrant health and legal clinics in California. After graduation, he hopes to continue his work on immigration advocacy, policy, and research before applying to law school....

Adrian Frias

Undergraduate Fellow
Geography
Ethnic Studies
Education

Adrian Frias (he/him) is a junior from Carson, California, pursuing a double major in Geography and Ethnic Studies with a minor in Education. His research interests include environmental justice, immigration, public transportation, energy policy, city planning, and race/ethnicity. Previously, Frias has gained experience doing research on his hometown's oil refineries. He has worked as a legal/communications intern for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and currently works as a peer academic counselor for Berkeley's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). In the near...

Louise Curtis

Undergraudate Student
History

Louise Curtis is a senior majoring in History with a minor in French. She is interested in early modern intellectual history and the history of political thought, especially as it relates to common people. Since March 2019 Louise has worked as a research assistant to David Collier, Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Political Science, on his Critical Junctures project. She assists with research, editing, and writing on American electoral history and methodology in political science for his forthcoming book.