Current RLF Participants & Session Summaries

Sarah E. Alexander grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and attended Laurel School, where she was president of the Honor Board and recipient of the Lyman Prize for highest cumulative GPA. Her family now lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Alexander is an environmental studies major with a focus in environmental economics. On campus, she is a member of the Women's Varsity Crew and the Figure Skating Team. She is also the House Manager in her sorority, Tridelta. Alexander spent her freshman summer biking across the U.S. with Bike & Build, advocating for affordable housing and joining in home building projects. Last fall Alexander interned at St. James's Place, a wealth management firm in London, England. This was her first time in Europe, and she hopes to travel abroad more extensively in the future. Alexander plans to spend her junior summer interning at an Environmental Consulting firm in the New York City area or at a non-profit environmental policy group in Washington, DC. She hopes to pursue this field of work after graduation.

Matthew S. Applegate is from Marlton, New Jersey. Prior to matriculating at Dartmouth, he attended Cherokee High School in his hometown. At Dartmouth, Applegate is pursuing a major in government with a concentration in comparative politics and international relations as well as a minor in Spanish. He is the Co-President of the Dartmouth Cords Male A Cappella Ensemble. He is also an active member of the Dartmouth Investment and Philanthropy Program, the DREAM Mentoring Program, and the staff of the Undergraduate Admissions Office. During his sophomore winter, Applegate interned with Gerrity International, a real estate development firm, in Hong Kong and Bangalore. He studied Spanish in Madrid during his junior fall, and he will spend his junior summer in New York City as an investment banking analyst with Gridley and Company LLC. After graduating from Dartmouth, Applegate plans to pursue his interest in economic and political development in emerging market economies.

Michael W. Brasher is from St. Louis, Missouri and attended John Burroughs School. At Dartmouth, Brasher is a government major with a concentration in international relations. He was previously a Social Chairman of Kappa Kappa Kappa Fraternity and is currently Tri-Kap's President. Since freshman year, he has been involved with the Dartmouth College Democrats, serving in a number of roles, including Vice President. For much of 2007 and 2008, Brasher worked on the National Advance Team for Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign, organizing campaign events around the country for Hillary and Bill Clinton. He has also previously served as a Congressional Page in the U.S House of Representatives. Over junior summer he plans to continue his advance work for President Clinton. After graduating from Dartmouth, Brasher hopes to pursue a law degree.

Benjamin W. Campbell is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Chartiers Valley High School. At Dartmouth, he is pursuing a major in anthropology, with a focus in cultural and medical anthropology. Ben is the Executive Director of the Dartmouth Coalition for Global Health, a writing tutor for RWIT, and co-chair of the Generations Project. He has also been involved in the Alternative Spring Break service trip to the Dominican Republic and the medical brigade service trip to Ecuador through MEDLIFE, a student run non-profit. During his junior winter, Campbell worked in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on a research project aimed at improving children's medicines in low-resource areas. He will continue this research throughout his junior summer, when he will intern in Geneva at the World Health Organization and then return to Tanzania to conduct additional fieldwork. After graduation, Campbell hopes to further explore his interests in medicine and public health.

Maura E. Cass is from Eliot, Maine where she attended Marshwood High School. At Dartmouth, she is pursuing a major in anthropology with a concentration on Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a minor in health care public policy. Cass has been involved with the Rockefeller Center since her freshman year as a First Year Fellow interning at the CDC\W and as a Women in Leadership discussion group leader. On campus Cass has also participated in the DREAM mentoring program, Dartmouth Women's Club Soccer, and is Vice President of Kappa Delta Epsilon. She was a participant in the AMES Foreign Study Program in Morocco and recently returned from Tanzania as a Dickey Center DARDAR intern working in a pediatric HIV\AIDS clinic. These experiences have undoubtedly affected her future plans as she hopes to continue her work in increasing international understanding and improving public health efforts.

Tilman C. Dette is from Berlin, Germany, but spent his last two years of high school in Canada at the Lester B. Pearson United World College, living and studying together with students from 88 different nations. At Dartmouth, Dette is pursuing a double major in mathematics and economics. When not abroad on two of Dartmouth's exchange programs with Oxford and Bocconi University, he is part of The Dartmouth editorial board, leading the photography and graphics department for both the current and last directorate. He further developed his interest in photography into a small freelance job, covering events photographically for several Dartmouth organizations. He also is a member of The Dartmouth Glee Club and The Sing Dynasty. Having had some work experience for a small technology start-up company and for the management of a hotel in Berlin, Dette is interested economical development and progress and its connection to responsible business leadership. After graduation, Dette plans to gain more extensive work experience before returning to university for a Ph.D. in economics.

Charles W. Friedland comes from Palos Verdes, California where he attended Chadwick School. He was a professional snowboarder and on the Burton National Team. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) selected Friedland as a Student-Athlete of the Year, the highest individual award bestowed upon students from CIF. While at Dartmouth, Friedland is president of Theta Delta Chi, and a member of the water polo team. He is the financial manager of Vox Sportswear, a student owned and operated company that supplies clothing to Dartmouth organizations. He also served as a mentor for Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth (SEAD). Friedland is an economics major and an environmental studies minor, and is pursuing a career in the financial services industry with an interest in environmental markets. He interned freshman summer at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin (Corporate Finance Group) and sophomore winter at Credit Suisse (Investment Banking Analyst) in Los Angeles, and during junior summer will intern at Merrill Lynch (Global Corporate and Investment Banking Analyst) in New York City.

Roselina Harmony Gbe was born in the Ivory Coast (West Africa) and is a native French speaker. She grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio but graduated with an International Baccalaureate Diploma from Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. At Dartmouth, she is a government and sociology double major and a French minor. She is very active on campus, working for the Admissions Office as an Intern, for ORL as an undergraduate advisor, and for the French Department as a drill instructor. In addition, she has served as Afro-American Society President, SHEBA Hip-Hop Dance Troupe Co. director, and Green Key Honor Society member. During her junior winter, Harmony interned in a public high school through the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth (SEAD) Program. Her main interests are issues surrounding identity, education, and public policy. Harmony hopes to attend Law School in the near future and pursue a career as an international lawyer working for developing countries.

Jessica C. Guthrie is from Fredericksburg, Virginia and attended the Commonwealth Governor's School at Stafford Senior High School. At Dartmouth, she is a sociology major with a public policy minor. Guthrie is president of the Afro-American Society, an undergraduate advisor, sings with the Dartmouth Gospel Choir, serves as president of Vote Clamantis and works in the Rockefeller Center Policy Research Shop among other campus activities. She completed an independent study in the sociology department during her junior year on the identity development of mixed race college students, specifically in black and white students. In addition to race relations, her interests include education policy, community development, local policy and civil rights and liberties. She hopes to continue her work and interests after graduation while pursuing a PhD in Social Policy.

David J. Knight is from Slidell, Louisiana, and attended Slidell High School. An endowed scholarship recipient, Knight is a thesis candidate in the History Department and is concentrating in political history. Much of what Knight has done at Dartmouth has been in the sphere of education, mentoring and youth development. He is the co-chair for the DREAM Mentoring Program and will be the co-director of the Peer Academic Link and director of its Freshman Initiative, in addition he is involved in other mentoring programs and in the organization of the First-Year Scholarship Enrichment Program. Knight has pursued development work in the Dominican Republic, served as a discussion leader for Education 20: Contemporary Issues in American Education, and sits on several governing and ad hoc committees of the College, including the Committee on Student Life. He has also served as the Community Service Chair and is the current Vice President, Brother Development, of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. This summer, Knight will be interning with the Amy Biehl Foundation, pursuing further work in youth and community development in Cape Town, South Africa. Knight hopes to teach as well as pursue graduate work in education policy, specializing in equity, access, and holistic community engagement.

Alexander R. Lloyd spent the first five years of his life in the US before moving to Australia for nine years. At the age of 14, he moved to Singapore for high school where his family still lives. Lloyd is pursuing a major in religion and a double minor in French and biology. In addition to involvement with several organizations on campus, Lloyd has served as an undergraduate advisor and Diversity Peer Advisor, played guitar and sung with a campus band, and founded and acted as president of Performers' Representative For Opportunity, Recognition and Management (PRFORM). Lloyd is interested in the intersection of science and religion, and is currently engaged in Presidential Scholar research in medical ethics. Lloyd also participated in a Dartmouth spring break trip to San Francisco to work with the homeless and will be the Tucker Foundation Student Director of Alternative Spring Break trips his senior year. During the fall term of his junior year, Lloyd volunteered at a medical clinic in rural India and after graduating hopes to attend medical school.

Jensen R. Lowe grew up in New York City and attended Horace Mann School from nursery school through high school. Lowe became passionate about the environment and sustainable development while studying at the Cape Eleuthera Island School in 2004. This experience led Lowe to pursue a major in environmental studies at Dartmouth, where he is also majoring in government. On campus, Lowe has been a mentor in the organization DREAM since freshman year. Lowe also writes for The Mirror and is a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. In the fall term of his junior year, Lowe attended the Environmental Studies Foreign Studies Program to southern Africa. That following Spring, Lowe expanded upon his experience in Africa with an internship in the Bureau of African Affairs, in the U.S. Department of State.

Alison B. Miller is from Chappaqua, New York and attended Horace Greeley High School. At Dartmouth, she is a government and history double major and a Spanish minor, and was the recipient of the 2007 Schlossmacher Literary Essay Prize. She is the co-founder of New England Neighbors Connect, a community-service project in which Dartmouth students conduct leadership and citizenship building workshops for high school students in Hartford, Vermont. Miller is also a Presidential Scholar in the Government Department, and is involved with the Outdoor Leadership Experience, the freshmen orientation trips program, and the women's club lacrosse team. She spent two terms studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and London, UK. She is interested in public policy, and volunteered through AmeriCorps the summer after her freshman year helping undocumented pregnant women gain healthcare benefits. Miller hopes to pursue a law degree after graduating Dartmouth.

Derikka K. Mobley grew up in South Jersey and attended St. Mary's Hall/Doane Academy, where she was inducted into the Cum Laude Society. She is pursuing a major in African and African-American Studies. Mobley has been a Study Group Leader for the Calculus with Algebra and Calculus with Trigonometry courses. She has also conducted a research internship at the Thayer School of Engineering and traveled to Denmark for an academic exchange program at the University of Copenhagen. Her on campus activities have included the Big Sib-Little Sib Mentor Program through the Afro-American Society, Treasurer for the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students, the Program Director for the Dartmouth Black Business Association, and as a diversity peer advisor through the Diversity Peer Program of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership. Her plan is to pursue a career in the Health field and she will be participating in the Public Health Summer Fellows Program in Atlanta this summer.

Uma Mullapudi hails from Brookville, New York and attended Jericho Senior High School. She is a history major with a concentration in imperialism. She studied abroad on the 2008 London History Foreign Studies Program. There she completed an independent study focusing on child marriage laws, women's rights, and eugenics in colonial South Asia. On campus Mullapudi is the president policy of Milan, the vice president of public relations of Delta Delta Delta, a member of Green Key Honor Society, and a History PAL. She has also served as a SEAD mentor, and tutored at the Haven Homework Club. During her junior winter she interned for the Private Sector Department of Oxfam America in Boston. This experience sparked her interest in development issues and non-profit work. After graduation she hopes to pursue a Masters in public policy or a law degree.

Andrew T. Peisch is from Wellesley, Massachusetts, where he attended Wellesley High School. After arriving at Dartmouth is 2006, he decided to pursue a major in economics, with a concentration on finance and international trade. On campus, Peisch has been a member of the Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse Team since his freshman year. Peisch is also a Presidential Scholar working in the economics department. In Fall 2008, during his off term, Peisch travelled to Port Elizabeth, South Africa where he worked as a volunteer soccer coach and orphanage assistant in the townships surrounding the city. After graduating from Dartmouth, Peisch hopes to pursue a career in the financial services industry.

Lucy R. Pollard grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she attended Holland Hall for both middle and high school. At Dartmouth, she is an American history major and public policy minor. Outside of class, she serves on the Council on Student Organization, is a member of the Sigma Delta executive board, leads the Rockefeller Center freshman only discussion group, and researches for the Vermont and New Hampshire state legislatures through the Rockefeller Center Policy Research Shop. She studied abroad at the London School of Economics in London and has also participated in a local alternative spring break in Hartford, Vermont. She is a major foodie and is planning to combine her love for food and her love for American history by writing her thesis on colonial New England cuisine. After Dartmouth, she is considering a wide variety of paths including pursuing a history PhD, attending law school, or working in the public policy sphere.

Joanna M. Pucci grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is an economics major modified with geography, focusing particularly on development and globalization. She is vice president of Women in Business, a mentor on campus, and co-founder of the Rockefeller Center Sophomore Summer Program. Pucci loves to travel and spent her sophomore winter studying in Barcelona, Spain and attended Oxford her junior fall. She is also interested in public policy and business, having interned at the Democratic National Committee as a Rockefeller Center First Year Fellow her freshman summer and at a consulting firm in Boston this past winter. After graduation, Pucci plans to work in consulting and eventually attend either business or law school.

Joseph R. Santo is from Whitestone, Queens, New York, and attended the all-scholarship Regis High School in New York City. He is pursuing a double major in government and economics, and is conducting honors thesis research on predatory lending prior to the mortgage crisis of 2008 and 2009. Santo is the Publisher of The Dartmouth, an independent newspaper that serves the Dartmouth and Hanover communities. On campus, he has been involved with Student World Assembly, Green Key Honor Society, the Order of Omega, and a small church community at Aquinas House. In the fall of his junior year, Santo worked with the Foreclosure Prevention Unit of the Legal Aid Society in Queens, New York. He will be in Hanover throughout his junior summer as the Publisher of The Dartmouth. Based on his past experiences, Santo wants to pursue a career in law after graduating from Dartmouth and obtaining a Juris Doctorate.

Joanne E. Schneider grew up in Singapore, Switzerland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she attended the Santa Fe Preparatory School. At Dartmouth she is pursuing a double major in environmental studies and Spanish modified with Latin American policy. She is currently the president of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and her activities have included serving as an academic coach for the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth program, freshman orientation trips, tutoring calculus, and starting a tap-dancing group on campus. Schneider spent her off term as a research analyst for Thornburg Investment Management in New Mexico, and interned for an NGO in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She will spend her junior summer conducting research for KLD Research & Analytics, a social investment firm in Boston, and after Dartmouth hopes to pursue work in the field of environmental policy and eventually a law degree.

William L. Schpero is from Norwalk, Connecticut, and graduated from the King & Low-Heywood Thomas School. At Dartmouth, Schpero is pursuing a double major in biology and government, with a concentration in immunology and health policy. He is the executive editor of The Dartmouth and the president emeritus of the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science. Schpero conducts tumor immunology research at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, having conducted similar work at the Yale University School of Medicine, which was supported by a Dartmouth First-Year Research Fellowship. His research led to a co-authorship on a study published in Nature Immunology. Schpero also volunteers as a member of Dartmouth Emergency Medical Services and has served as a teaching assistant in cellular biology. He plans to attend medical school after graduating from Dartmouth, and eventually pursue a career in academic medicine and health policy.