New Laidlaw Scholar for the School

Student Caitlin Gough appointed to the Laidlaw Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholarship programme.

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholarship programme invests in talented and motivated undergraduate students, giving them the knowledge, skills and experience to become active global citizens and future leaders.

First year student Caitlin Gough from the School of Chemistry is the latest to be appointed to the programme. Caitlin said, “I am extremely excited for this amazing opportunity to become a Laidlaw Scholar. I am also really looking forward to being a part of the Laidlaw community and learning more about leadership.”

Caitlin Gough, Laidlaw scholar

I am really looking forward to being a part of the Laidlaw community and learning more about leadership.

Caitlin Gough

Caitlin’s project, the Upper Atmosphere of Mars is about exploring the atmosphere of Mars, studying large data sets and models. For this self-proposed project, Caitlin will use data from NASA’s MAVEN satellite to detect seasonal and geographical trends in the upper atmosphere of Mars. These observations will be compared with the outputs from the Mars global model generated by Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) at the Sorbonne, Paris. She will also be doing some research in Colorado next Summer. The project will be supervised by Professor John Plane and Professor Dan Marsh.

Dr Chris Pask, personal tutor of Caitlin said, “Caitlin is an excellent student. I have been impressed with her since first meeting her.” Dr Marcelo Miranda added, “I can’t tell you how pleased I am that Caitlin received the award. If things develop as they should, Caitlin is bound to fly very high. She surely has the potential and the inclination. On top of that, she’s also an accomplished footballer and a terrific person to have around.”

Caitlin is bound to fly very high. She surely has the potential and the inclination.

Dr Marcelo Miranda

A total of 26 scholars were appointed to the 2020 cohort. This year, the interviews were conducted virtually and with a change to the usual schedule of starting the Summer period with a welcome event and leadership development training. Scholars and their supervisors will take part in virtual on-boarding and training, and the first period of the Summer research taking place remotely.

Further information:

The programme aims to create an international network of diverse, passionate and ethical leaders who will reinvest their skills, knowledge and experience to help others succeed. More information can be found on the Laidlaw Undergradaute Research and Leadership Scholarship website.