Elizabeth Bondi is a PhD candidate studying Computer Science at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, with an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) and a B.S. in Imaging Science from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). At Harvard, she is advised by Prof. Milind Tambe. Her research interests include computer vision and deep learning, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and multi-agent systems, especially applied to conservation and sustainability. She is working with Prof. Chris Golden to study the impact of the environment on micronutrient deficiency in Madagascar using satellite imagery.
She has received a Best Application Demo Award at AAMAS 2019 and a Best Paper Award at the Autonomous Air and Ground Sensing Systems for Agricultural Optimization and Phenotyping Conference at SPIE DCS 2016, in addition to an Honorable Mention for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program in 2017, and a Barry Goldwater Scholarship in 2015. For more information and for publications, please see https://sites.google.com/view/elizabethbondi/.
She has received a Best Application Demo Award at AAMAS 2019 and a Best Paper Award at the Autonomous Air and Ground Sensing Systems for Agricultural Optimization and Phenotyping Conference at SPIE DCS 2016, in addition to an Honorable Mention for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program in 2017, and a Barry Goldwater Scholarship in 2015. For more information and for publications, please see https://sites.google.com/view/elizabethbondi/.
Gerard Rabesoa leads Monitoring and Evaluation within the food security program at Catholic Relief Services Madagascar. His work consists of ensuring the good functioning of the program’s monitoring and evaluation system, designing and using different tools for collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on the program, and facilitating various stages of baseline, midterm and final evaluation. He is part of the team that initiated the Community Led Total Nutrition approach, which is an innovative approach to nutrition. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Antananarivo Doctoral School of Natural Resources Management, whose research theme focuses on community dynamism relative to nutrition and resilience.
Hervet Randriamady is the national research director of Madagascar Health and Environmental Research (MAHERY) and has been working with Dr. Golden since 2014. Hervet was a Fulbright scholar in 2011 where he received his MS in Agricultural Economics at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He attended the Environmental Leadership Program at the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. Since April 2018, Hervet has been leading longitudinal, community-based epidemiological research in three rainforest communities adjacent to the 2 largest protected areas in Madagascar: Makira Natural Park and Masoala National Park. Each month, the MAHERY team comprehensively targets every individual in the three communities to collect information on 23 diseases and conditions that are self-reported by roughly 1,300 individuals. In addition to that, MAHERY 1) monitors the growth of kids less than five years of age; 2) collects the blood pressure of individuals above 20 years old; and 3) conducts dietary intake surveys. Simultaneously, the MAHERY team collects temperature, rainfall, humidity, and wind data every day.Hervet has also been the main liaison to government agencies and ministry officials to help the MAHERY team translate its findings to policy action. He is currently working with the Malagasy government to implement a climate-smart health information system. This is a collaboration among MAHERY, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Malagasy government.
Jessica Schiff is a second year Master of Science student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is interested in the intersection between climate and health and is excited to learn more about the direct, and indirect, impacts of global climate change on human health. Her current interests include the impacts of natural disasters/weather on disease transmission, ecosystem transformation and health, and the nexus between climate change and migration. Jessica’s current research with Dr. Golden focuses on understanding the association between relative mercury levels of marine food webs (proxied by algae and representative fish species) and human mercury exposure in Kiribati.She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Boston University in 2017 with minors in Environmental Science and Spanish. As part of her undergraduate studies, she spent one month conducting small research projects in the Amazon Rainforest. In her free time, Jessica enjoys baking, traveling, photography, and reading.
Nick Arisco is a third-year doctoral student in population health sciences and the Global Health and Populations department. His research investigates the socioeconomic, environmental, and spatial effects of land-use change and climate change on malaria transmission in regions undergoing intense ecological change. His dissertation work focuses on the spatial and temporal dynamics of malaria transmission in the Brazilian Amazon as it relates to deforestation, climate change, and human mobility. Prior to beginning his doctoral program, Nick graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2016 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Ecology where he researched ecological predictors of West Nile Virus vector prevalence across an urbanization gradient. Following this, he received an M.S. in Environmental Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2018, where he researched the disease ecology of malaria in Madagascar.
Nile Nair is a first year international doctoral student in the Population Health Sciences and Nutrition department. His work with Dr. Golden will focus on how the relationship between coral reefs and human communities affects the nutritional transition and the consequent disease and health status of local communities in the Pacific region. Originally from Fiji, Nile graduated with a BA in Biochemistry from Skidmore College in 2015. He has been working as the Senior Clinical Research coordinator and Research Associate in the Genetics and Gastroenterology departments at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York for the last four years. His multi-site clinical research endeavors focused on a range of topics including genetics, maternal-fetal health, Inflammatory bowel disease, human microbiome, and Parkinson’s disease research. Outside of his work with Dr. Golden, he also has research projects focused on the novel explorations of disease biomarkers using deciduous teeth. Using the skills attained through his doctoral work with Dr. Golden, Nile plans on helping lead research projects in Fiji, with an emphasis on addressing the NCD epidemic in Pacific Island Countries and Territories.
Romuald Rambikarison is a research project officer at Catholic Relief Services where he assists in the development and implementation of the impact evaluation study of the community-led total nutrition program in Madagascar. His work involves different activities, including translation of all research-related materials, coordination of data collection and database management, and research and development of survey instruments. He is a firm believer that the implementation of these practices will lead toward a better decision-making process by government, NGO, or other organizations and can be adopted to make a difference, especially in the fight against poverty in his home country. Prior to his current post, he attended Brigham Young Universityand obtained his Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the Marriott School of Business.
Will Koh is a MPH student in Nutrition specializing in planetary health. His research investigates public health nutrition in the context of anthropogenic environmental change to inform concepts of sustainable food futures. He served as a research assistant and project coordinator to Professor Golden’s ongoing project in Kiribati measuring human health and dietary behavior as they relate to coral reef health. In the field, Will managed a team of I-Kiribati nurses charged with collecting blood samples for a variety of point-of-care testing devices to quantify risk of diet related non-communicable diseases in local populations. Will graduated from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES) in 2017 with a Masters of Environmental Management where he analyzed the environmental impacts of industrial animal agriculture and its role in the American food system.