Nore Apelgren, Norway, is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Sustainable Management at the School of Professional Studies (SPS), Columbia University, New York City. At SPS, Nora is taking classes in climate finance, circular economics, carbon capture technology and management with a wish to continue to focus on coursework that will enable her to work with companies, industries and/or countries towards a more circular and sustainable economy. After obtaining a Magna cum Laude for her BA in Environmental Studies and another BA in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado – Boulder in 2020, Nora has submitted her Honors thesis on Norwegian participation towards creating Antarctic MPAs for publication in the Polar Journal. She looks forward to meeting inspiring people and gaining insight from top scholars and global leading practitioners in the integrated field of sustainability. In her free time Nora enjoys spending time in nature skiing or running and practicing yoga.
Iglika Atanassova, Bulgaria, is a middle and high school science teacher whose mission is to help transform Bulgarian public schools into places where students are supported academically, socially, and emotionally so they fulfill their potential; where teachers grow, learn, and feel appreciated; and where parents are active members of the school community. She began her teaching career as an English as a second language teacher in a small village in rural Bulgaria as a Teach for Bulgaria fellow. In her two years part of the program, she learned that a child’s success in life largely depends on where the child is born and what the socioeconomic status of their family is. Since then, apart from working full-time as an educator, she has been part of the program team of School Miracles – an initiative that creates positive role models among students from underprivileged communities who show that hard work and quality education can take any child wherever they want regardless of where they have started from. In the next few years, she sees herself as a principal at a Bulgarian public school. She is pursuing and Ed.M. at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Johan Björck, Sweden, is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science, originally hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden where he completed his bachelor’s in engineering physics at the Chalmers University of Technology. At Cornell, Johan’s research is centered around machine learning and its applications to sustainability issues. With modern machine learning methods, it becomes possible to use computers to analyze high-dimensional data as well as humans can. Together with his advisor Carla Gomes, Johan has used machine learning to analyze spectroscopic data from material science, satellite images for invasive species management, and recordings of endangered elephants in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to applied research, Johan has also pushed the boundaries on understanding modern “artificial neural networks” via empirical methods similar to what is used in physics.
Linnéa Gad, Sweden, is a visual artist from Stockholm with a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts from Parsons The New School for Design. She is currently a LeRoy Neiman Fellow at the Columbia University School of The Arts in New York where she is earning her Master in Fine Arts in the class of 2022. With landscape as her subject matter, Gad explores geological change, calling for empathy for the earth’s resources. Through printmaking, sculpture and installations, her work responds to the climate crisis by evoking expansive time spans that give context to our current moment. Her recent solo exhibitions include Erratics at Spencer Brownstone Gallery (2019), Mound Remover at New Release Gallery in New York (2018), Luster Pit at RØM in Copenhagen (2018). In the fall of 2021 her current research and work with limestone, oyster shells and lapis lazuli will be part of an exhibition at Sixty Eight Art institute in Copenhagen. She will also release her first publication on their associated RSS Press.
Anna Agafia Egholm, Denmark, is quickly gaining international recognition as one of the most promising concert artists to emerge from Scandinavia. After having won all music competitions in Denmark, Anna moved to Switzerland and obtained her Bachelor and Soloist Master degrees at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne. Since then, Anna has led the life of a soloist and chamber musician. Aside from winning many prizes, most recently in the 1st Stuttgart international competition, she is performing in some of the most prestigious halls in the world, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, through the Grange au Lac in Évian and the Grand théâtre in Aix-en-Provence, occasionally alongside world-renowned former prize winners. Anna most recently served as Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the guidance of Augustin Dumay. Starting September 2021, Anna will be perfecting her musical abilities at the New School College of Performing Arts in New York City, where she was accepted as a Fulbright and Thanks to Scandinavia grantee.
Alex Ekvik, Finland, is a PhD student in the Metabolic Biology program at UC Berkeley. She completed her BSc in Biology at University of Helsinki and her MPhil in Translational Biomedical Research at University of Cambridge. Her current project at Denis Titov lab (denistitovlab.org) revolves around regulatory roles of ATP, a molecule that fuels energy-requiring reactions in the cells. Modifying the ratio between ATP and its degradation product, ADP, and studying the effects can help us understand ways in which cells adapt to energy stress. Given that two forms of energy stress, caloric restriction and exercise, are the main interventions known to promote healthy aging, such understanding could inspire new approaches to the treatment of age-related diseases.
Julia Hirschberg, Sweden, a lawyer and Thanks to Scandinavia and Wallenberg–Hans Werthén scholar, is pursuing a Master of Laws degree at Columbia University, specializing in Corporate Law and Corporate Governance. Julia obtained her Swedish LL.M. degree at Uppsala University in 2018 and has subsequently engaged in working as a Capital Markets Associate at the top tier Swedish law firm Vinge, publishing articles and teaching at Uppsala University. She is passionate about applying policymaking as a tool to shape the corporate landscape and gear the conduct of companies.
Evelina Karlsson, Sweden, is a Fulbright Graduate Grantee and lawyer who will be pursuing an LLM at University of Chicago Law School. Her primary interests are third-party funding in international arbitration and areas where law and economics intersect. Evelina graduated from the University of Gothenburg in 2018. After graduating she has been part of the dispute resolution group at the top-ranked law firm Mannheimer Swartling. During her law studies she was a trainee at the European Space Agency in Paris and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sweden.
Dimitar Kirilov, Bulgaria, is a Software Engineer. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the American University in Bulgaria in May 2020 with a full scholarship from the America for Bulgaria Foundation. Shortly after that, he was selected as a Fulbright grant recipient to study in the US. In August 2021 he will be starting his M.Sc. in Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dimitar is passionate about sharing knowledge with others, discussing technological topics such as how technology can solve societal problems and help improve people’s lives. In his free time, Dimitar likes socializing, walks, hikes, and playing guitar.
Iines Kiuru is a clarinetist from Helsinki, Finland. Kiuru is a recent graduate from the Sibelius Academy as a Master of Music. In the Fall 2021 she continues her studies in the United States in Eastman School of Music with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree as a Finnish Fulbright grantee. In the Sibelius Academy Kiuru studied with Professor Harri Mäki and Olli Leppäniemi. She also took part in exchange studies in the University of Southern California with Professor Yehuda Gilad and in the Norwegian Academy of Music with Professor Björn Nyman. Kiuru has gained vast professional experience in Finnish symphony and wind orchestras and Nordic youth orchestras. Kiuru is passionate about the future of art music and thrives to create new ways to offer experiences to wider audiences. She enjoys discovering rarely heard music and uncommon performance practices. She shares the joy of music making through teaching and taking part in interdisciplinary art projects.
Elitza Koeva, Bulgaria, is an artist and researcher from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She holds a Master’s Degree in Information Studies from the University of Tokyo. She has practiced at various art & architectural firms and institutions: OMA, Arata Isozaki & Associates, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT), Junya Ishigami & Associates, among others. Elitza is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at Harvard Graduate School of Design, with a secondary field in Critical Media Practice (CMP). Prior to Harvard, Elitza was a research fellow at the Chair for Digital Architectonics, ETH Zürich. Elitza is a recipient of the Monbusho scholarship from the Japanese Government, the Fulbright and Thanks to Scandinavia grants, as well as of the ETH CAAD 2017 research fellowship. Elitza’s practice plays with temporality and the impermanence of tangible and intangible nature, as well as with the emerging in urban contexts interferences and resonances between sound and space. Her work takes up the argument that contemporary art has struggled to find its place relative to technology and society, especially as these are often pitted against each other in problematic polemics. Elitza’s aim is to understand how artistic visual, sonic & spatial practices engender people’s engagement, critical awareness, and participatory responses to digitally mediated environments, reconciling the self and the social at the level of city construction and subjectivity.
Emilie la Cour, Denmark, was born in Denmark and grew up in Indonesia, Vietnam, the United States and Denmark. She is currently pursuing her graduate degree in Security Studies at Georgetown University. She has experience in the academic, diplomatic, non-profit and military realms of the security world and is passionate about building international security structures on a foundation of intercultural understanding and particularly interested in how to address new security issues stemming from new dilemmas like climate change. She earned a B.Sc. in International Relations with First Class Honours from the London School of Economics in 2019.
Idunn Lohne, Norway, is a Norwegian/Swedish student, currently pursuing a Professional Studies Certificate in violin performance at San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studies with Ian Swensen. She recently completed her Master’s degree in Chamber Music at the same conservatory, and holds performance degrees from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Carnegie Mellon University as well. Idunn is an avid chamber musician and has had the pleasure of playing with musicians such as Ian Swensen, Owen Dalby and Dimitri Murrath. She plans to continue pursuing a career in chamber music as well as taking orchestral auditions. As a teenager Idunn lived in Amman, Jordan. This experience sparked an interest in culture and languages, and she has studied Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi.
Henos Musie, Sweden, is currently pursuing an MBA at Harvard Business School and an MPP at Harvard Kennedy School. Born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden to Eritrean parents, Henos is passionate about driving lasting social and economic development in Africa through integrated public and private sector efforts. Prior to his graduate studies, Henos was a founding member of the investment team at Africa50, a pan-African investment platform based in Casablanca, Morocco. He began his career in Citi’s M&A investment banking groups in New York and London, helping launch the latter. Henos holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Economics from Yale University. Outside work, he is a soccer enthusiast (himself a former elite player), and enjoys traveling, mentoring, and learning new languages.
Henrik Nordahl, Norway, graduated from The National Academy of Arts in Oslo in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design & Illustration. Since then he has pursued a more artistic practice in art, and is currently enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design. He is a multidisciplinary artist working in a variety of mediums like painting, installations and video.
Khalil Tafni, Denmark, is currently a junior at the University of Oklahoma (OU) pursuing his studies in Management Information Systems (MIS). He was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark to Moroccan parents. He has traveled a fair amount around the world living and studying in countries like Costa Rica and Norway where he went to the United World Colleges (UWC), which are international boarding schools. When Khalil is not studying, he enjoys reading books and playing soccer. Currently, Khalil is applying for an accelerated Bachelor + Master in MIS at the University of Oklahoma. If he gets admitted he will be able to finish both his Bachelor and Master by May 2023, which is after just four years in total in college.
Peter Vang Uttenthal, Denmark, is a PhD student in Mathematics at Cornell University. His research interest is number theory and his advisor is Professor Ravi Ramakrishna. He holds a Cand.scient. in Mathematics from University of Copenhagen and a Master of Advanced Studies in Mathematics from University of Cambridge, UK. Before that, he did a BSc in Mathematics at University of Copenhagen and a BSc in International Business at Copenhagen Business School.
Sidra Yousaf, Norway, is a student of International Relations and Political Science and will pursue a M.A. in Global Thought at Columbia University, where she will be supported as the TTS Herbert Singer Memorial Scholarship holder and as a Norwegian Fulbright scholar. She recently finished her bachelor’s degree in International Studies at the University of Oslo in the spring of 2020, and has spent the past year working as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, while pursuing a one-year economics program. During her bachelor’s degree, Sidra has partaken in a number of volunteer and academic activities beside her studies, such as in the fall of 2019, when she spent a semester at American University in Washington D.C., where she worked with the effects of globalization on the informal economy of India and on security in the Middle East as a research assistant at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Her main areas of interest and research include nationalism, identity and religion, as well as the politics and security issues of South Asia and the Middle East, all areas that she plans on exploring further during her time at Columbia University.