Who We are

Laura Asherman is a mixed media documentary artist from Cambridge, Massachusetts and is pursuing an MFA in Experimental Documentary Arts. Since 2008, she has lived and worked in the South, where she started the production company, Forage Films. Laura has worked as a cinematographer for VICE, HBO, and CNN, and directed the award-winning films American Hasi (2019), The Home Team (2019), and Power Lines (2018). Her practice stems from an endless curiosity about the human condition, guided by the principle that personal stories ignite social change. She is drawn to making character-driven films that examine topics ranging from environmental racism, addiction and recovery, and family legacy.

Tyler Marquise Chisolm is from Henderson, NC, and is pursuing a Master of Science in Population Health Sciences in the School of Medicine. He has a B.A. in Psychology from Winston-Salem State University, a Historically Black University in Winston-Salem, NC, and had great opportunities to participate in research and internships both at WSSU and Wake Forest University. He is interested in using research methods to tackle the issue of social determinants in rural communities and underdeveloped countries, specifically food insecurity. He hopes to work for a federal health entity such as the CDC, NIH, or FDA, and to promote his business, The Life Shop, LLC, which will create pop-up shops in communities in need to address prevalent physical and mental health issues.

Amal Dadi is a student in the Science Policy and Bioethics Master’s program. She grew up in North Potomac, Maryland and graduated from Grinnell College in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in Biology and French. Prior to joining Duke, she worked as a researcher in nephrology and neurobiology at universities across the U.S. Amal has a background as a racial justice activist and organizer. She is interested in a career focused on research implementation, with an eye towards equity and social justice.

Anna Dai is a Master of Interdisciplinary Data Science student. She has a background in Business Economics from UCLA and worked as a tax consultant in the Financial Services Office at Ernst & Young San Francisco for four years. Anna moved between China, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, Canada growing up and is fluent in English, Chinese, and French. Her goal is to bring positive changes to the workplace, whether it is introducing technology to traditional industries or advocating for racial and gender equality. Outside of work, Anna enjoys skiing/snowboarding, golf, photography, and traveling.

Brooks Emanuel, an Atlanta native, is in the MFA program in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis and the 2022-2023 Graduate Arts Fellow in Social Choreography & Performance. After dancing and choreographing for a decade in New York and Atlanta, he shifted to progressive policy work, including serving as Director of Legislative Services for the Georgia House Democratic Caucus under Leader Stacey Abrams. He then attended NYU School of Law, where he interned with NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, ACLU Capital Punishment Project, and NYCLU. Upon obtaining his J.D., he worked at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, representing people on death row, people sentenced to life without parole, and those suffering horrific prison conditions. His MFA research focuses on combining dance and racial justice work.

Born and raised in Brasilia, Brazil, Marcelo is pursuing his Ph.D. in Public Policy. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Political Science from the University of Brasilia in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He has also received a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. Marcelo has served in various branches of the Brazilian government, including the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil, the National Council for Food Security, and the Ministry of Human Rights (where he served as Joint-Secretary for Racial Equality). He plans to change careers from government affairs to applied research.

Michael D. Green (he/him) received his Bachelor of Arts with honors in Anthropology with a minor in Environmental Sciences from Dartmouth College in 2021. He is a Ph.D. student at the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences and has research interests in cardiovascular health disparities for Black Americans as well as social determinants of health which influence health inequity. He is interested in Population Health Sciences because of consistently seeing family members enduring adverse experience in the American medical system. Outside of healthcare, Michael is a freelance environmental portrait photographer. He also was a 4-year member of the Dartmouth heavyweight crew team, where he walked on his freshman year, and still enjoys rowing and running.

Braulio Güémez is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology. He was born and raised in Merida, Mexico, and moved to Mexico City to pursue his undergraduate studies in Sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). His research interests are centered around racial stratification across the Americas using quantitative methods. He worked for three years as a Research Assistant in a research project at El Colegio de México that studies the large-scale tendencies and the mechanisms of racial and socioeconomic inequality in Mexico

Sarah Janek, BSN, RN, ACRN, is pursuing her Ph.D. in Nursing through the Duke University School of Nursing. She graduated with honors from University of Michigan in 2020, where her involvement with the School of Nursing Honors Program and Center for Sexuality & Health Disparities introduced her to research. After graduation, she worked as an RN at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in her hometown of Chicago while becoming an HIV/AIDS Certified Registered Nurse. Her research interest is sexual health disparities that stem from race and sexuality, specifically working with Black and Hispanic/Latino men who have sex with men.

Warren Lattimore is a Th.D. student at Duke Divinity School. A product of the South Side of Chicago, he serves as the chairman of Camp Restore and president of the Black Clergy Caucus of the Lutheran Church. His academic interests include the history of Black Lutheranism, particularly Dr. Rosa J. Young, and the intersection of racial justice and environmental ethics.

Youran Lee is Ph.D. student in Nursing from South Korea. She received her M.S. and B.S. in Nursing in South Korea and worked as a nurse for three years. She is passionate about developing care systems to decrease health disparities. She has volunteered in many developing countries, including Malaysia, Cambodia, and Tanzania, sensing a global need for nursing care. She was also invited as a young nurse leader to be the Korean representative at the Pre-World Health Assembly (WHA) workshop. For her, the meaning of nursing is providing a helping hand to provide comfort to those in need.

Jing Hao Liong is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Cultural Anthropology. He is broadly interested in sexual and ethnic politics in contemporary Malaysia, as well as queer cultures and movements in the larger Southeast Asian region. Originally from Malaysia, he is excited for the opportunity to learn more about racial justice efforts in the U.S. and identify points of solidarity that connect racial justice work in the U.S. and his home country. Jing Hao holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Economics-Political Science from Columbia University and an M.A. in Literature and Culture from the Yenching Academy of Peking University

Judith Mwobobia is a global health graduate student from Nairobi in Kenya. Her formal education background is in microbiology but worked as a journalist for 10 years. Her interests are in health journalism and policymaking; two diverse fields but ones she believes will ultimately improve health and health equity in marginalized regions of the world.

As a dirt road academic, artist, and historian, Kamau is a Ph.D. student in the History Department at Duke. Their research uses historical narratives and oral histories in the U.S. South to explore Black, queer, and trans resistance and resiliency. Kamau is also interested in the history of the environment and unpacking its relationship to capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. Originally from Aiken, South Carolina, Kamau was awarded Charleston’s 50^th Most Progressive list in 2015 and the Community Activism Award in 2016. Along with their scholarly pursuits, Kamau holds many political homes and non-profits close to their heart. These organizations are Southerners on New Ground (SONG), Tiger’s Eye Collective, Carolina Youth Action Project, and the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN).

Justine Robinson is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Duke University. Her research interests include conflict resolution, humanitarian intervention, international relations, and U.S. civil-military relations. She grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and has also lived in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Bryn Mawr College in 2017. She then worked at the National Audubon Society at their Washington D.C. location as a Program Associate in the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion department. She later earned her master's degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University in 2021. Through this fellowship, she hopes to learn more about the political issues and structure of Durham, North Carolina.

Maeve Salm (she/hers) is a MSc student in Global Health student from Wisconsin. She recently completed her B.S. in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University and aspires to work toward global health equity through both medical and global health disciplines. In the future, she hopes to support communities in their efforts to improve maternal and child health outcomes as well as refugee and indigenous population health outcomes. While she is particularly passionate about these specific topics, she hopes to learn from and partner with individuals from a variety of disciplines, believing that every field has an imperative role to play in the health of our communities.

Andrew Wrench is a Ph.D. student in environmental toxicology. He graduated from Howard University in 2021, with a B.S. in Psychology. His research interests include understanding how pollutants lead to diseases like cancer. Eventually, he'd like to work in academia as a professor and conduct research, but also teach and engage others in the field, as he highly values new perspectives and diversity in toxicology, so a clearer picture of the consequences of pollution can be shown. Outside of research and coursework, he loves cars!