Junior Scholars

Mukesh Bastola is a fourth-year student from Nepal pursuing International Studies at SUA. His region of focus is South Asia, and his interest areas are International Development, International Institutions, Politics, Migration, Public policy, and Foreign Policy. He has worked as a research assistant for Professor Shane Barter, primarily on territorial autonomy and its applicability. For Learning Cluster 2023, he will be traveling with Professor Barter to Wales to collect first-hand experience on territorial autonomy in Wales. His current interest is international chain migration from South Asia to Southeast Asia in search of better jobs and opportunities. He believes these chain migrations result from path dependence and external factors like cheaper transport rather than lack of education and other factors. He aspires to return to Nepal and get involved in policymaking and analysis.

I am a senior student of International Studies at SUA, particularly interested in Peace, Conflict, and Genocide Studies. In these fields, SUA offers various courses, in which I have been able to explore human behavior and psychology in the context of violence. I grew up in a small city in Hyogo, Japan. Since childhood, I have had multiple opportunities to learn about the tragedy of war, including memorial war documentaries, talks with war survivors, a field trip to the Atomic Bomb Dorm in Hiroshima, the Tower of Himeyuri in Okinawa, and the Killing Fields in Cambodia. In addition, during my study abroad in Senegal, I worked at the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), where I created reports regarding political demonstrations and monitored violence. Also, as a field journalist, I held interviews with locals to understand their frustration leading to the violent protest on March 16, 2023 in Dakar, Senegal. Based on my experiences in Senegal, Japan, and Cambodia, I am grateful to undertake research on “Dialogue amidst Violence” at the Ambassador Andrew J. Young Dialogue Lab, “Okinawan Peace Education to Reconciliation with East Asian Countries” at the Soka Institute for Global Solutions (SIGS), and “Politicized Education during the Cambodian Genocide” in the Pacific Basin Research Center (PBRC). I am pursuing my career as a scholar-practitioner, who navigates dialogue in the midst of violence in conflict-affected areas.

Quang Pham is a Life Sciences student from Hanoi, Vietnam who is interested in the broad intersection of evolution and genetics. His research aims to decode the evolutionary mechanisms behind the rise of phenotypic diversity via molecular techniques. He is currently working in the Dr. Nydam’s lab where he investigates the allorecognition loci within the marine invertebrate ascidians of the genera Botryllus and Botrylloides through the study of polymorphism. Ascidians are sessile, marine animals believed to be the closest invertebrate relative to humans. In colonial ascidians, allorecognition loci act as a “species-recognition” tool that allows colonies to decide on the costly process of fusion, where related colonies merge into a single colony. However, it is still unknown how the proteins encoded by these loci work to initiate the process and allorecognition systems are also very understudied in invertebrates. There are thus great research opportunities to explore. In the future, Quang hopes to continue the pursuit of evolutionary genetics to study functional color polymorphism in animals.

Growing up in a multi-ethnic community in Southern California, Kaori feels inextricably linked to the social, political, and economic problems faced by the Asia-Pacific. After engaging in SUA’s international studies and humanities curricula, opportunities such as the Dark Tourism Learning Cluster, and my current study abroad in Tokyo, Japan, she has felt a united Pacific to fight the gloom of conflict is more imperative than ever. With the support of the PBRC, she seeks to research connections in the realm of humanistic education, culture, and law throughout the Pacific. In the future, she hopes to help bring together the global community and resolve seemingly irreconcilable differences.

Arnav Pandey is a third-year student from Nepal concentrating in Life Sciences. As a research assistant for Dr. Afrasiabi in the summer of 2022, Arnav worked along with other lab members to compare the efficacy of functional group modification in different kinds of biochar, examined the usefulness of modified biochar in the remediation of heavy metal contamination in soil, and presented their results at American Chemical Society Conference. He also worked with Dr. Walsh this summer to find the function of the yeast protein encoded by a gene of unknown function and is preparing to attend the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Conference in spring. Expressing his aspirations as an emerging research scientist, Arnav emphasizes that the hands-on research experiences at SUA, along with opportunities to present his findings to diverse audiences and establish connections, boost him to contribute significantly to research and development, benefitting the Pacific Basin region and beyond.

My name is Sofia Vitale and I am a third-year student concentrating in Life Sciences. I was born and raised in San Diego, California. Growing up as the daughter of a single, hardworking mother in a low-income circumstance, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges many families endure. Now, I am working towards my dream of supporting vulnerable women and children facing circumstances similar to my own. My ongoing research at the Perinatal RISE lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center dovetails with PBRC’s mission by investigating perinatal psychobiology, aiming to uncover the mechanisms through which social inequities affect individuals across generations. Specifically, I am exploring DNA methylation (DNAm) as a potential biological marker for assessing the impact of perinatal interventions. My work extends to countries along the Pacific Basin including countries in Latin America. I am extremely grateful and excited to uniquely contribute to the PBRC’s pursuit of a more equitable and humane world.  

My name is Mareva Dijoux (She/Her/Hers), and I am a second-year student from France. I am concentrating in Environmental and International Studies, and I am currently learning Spanish at Soka. I am passionate about sustainability and ecology, notably marine ecology, and I am hoping to work with non-profits to restore endangered ecosystems in the future. In January, I had the opportunity to be part of a research project in Moorea, French Polynesia about the impacts of climate change on coral reefs with Professor Anthony Mazeroll. This project made me realize the importance of protecting marine organisms to maintain all ecosystems on earth. 
I am also interested in learning about how we can empower Indigenous communities and allow them to share their knowledge as a way to acknowledge their voice and better protect the environment. I am currently doing an independent study with Professor James Spady on the federal recognition process of the Acjachemen tribe, a native group of California and I am going to be part of a learning cluster addressing the same issue this January. I am looking forward to keeping learning and contributing to these different fields during and after my time at Soka. Thank you so much!

I am Bidisha Kaphle, a sophomore student from Nepal, majoring in International Studies with a passion for International Development, particularly in South Asia. I am interested and involved in advocating for women’s issues and equitable education in the region. With support from the PBRC Summer Grant, I completed my project, Pratidhwani, which worked to bridge the gap between education and advocacy for high school students and middle-aged women in Nepal. Currently, as a Research Assistant for Prof. Lisa MacLeod, I contribute to her study on Women, Peace, and Security—a UN Thematic issue, enhancing my understanding of this field. Serving as a board member of the UNA Chapter at Soka, I have been able to actively work towards the SDGs on campus and in the community. My passion for education and advocacy stems from my hope for a globally accessible and aware community, particularly benefiting those in the developing world.

Vedant Kohli is a sophomore concentrating in Social & Behavioural Sciences, hailing from India. Having witnessed the dawn of the Information Age, Vedant found immersive storytelling as a commercially squandered niche. Recognizing its power to alter space, time, consciousness, and the texture of social reality, he observes that immersive storytelling is being tremendously underutilised for positive contributions to humanity. Consequently, he is interested in researching the effects of a global synthesis of Film, Artificial Intelligence, and Politics. Vedant hopes to predict the impact of strategically influencing public sentiment using soft power, amplifying its effects at the political level through an automated voting interface aimed at democratising policy-making. Thereby, renewing people’s interest to participate in democracy and empowering them to do so in a meaningfully entertaining way.

Hi, this is Khue, a sophomore at Soka University. I grew up in Vietnam, the Tiger Cub of the Pacific Rim. Two years ago, I researched E-waste and Human Rights in Northern Vietnam. For the first time, I witnessed the downside of the Pacific Basin’s interconnectedness. One told me: “We had no choice…the waste came from richer communities…” With an economy’s rapid switch to automation, lower-income communities tend to be left behind. Along with that growth are environmental consequences: pollution, resource shortages, or species extinction appeared frequently in the news of Pacific countries. At Soka, my passion for sustainable growth and environmental justice in the Pacific Basin fuels my commitment to finding the potential for the coexistence between human development and the environment. I am eager to become a Pacific Basin student scholar to bridge academic studies with practical and sustainable community engagement, ultimately making a meaningful and tangible impact! 
Besides the academic field, I enjoy hiking, kayaking, reading, playing the piano, and volunteering. I love learning new skills and collaborating with diverse and talented people with the same vision for a more sustainable world!

Subodh, a second-year student, is pursuing a Life Sciences Concentration at Soka University of America. Having grown up in Nepal, he witnessed the firsthand challenges of the country’s underdeveloped healthcare system. He aspires to improve healthcare in Nepal and in other Pacific Basin countries. Currently, he is undertaking an Engineering Internship at a startup called Equilibrio, Inc. His current focus involves working on electrochemical sensors for glucose testing, where he assists scientists in performing quality control tests for these sensors.

Jun Sawada is a sophomore working in academic research and filmmaking.  Born and raised in South America’s largest city, São Paulo, in a third-generation nikkei household, Jun’s research interests are Japanese-Brazilian history and Asian-Latino identity. He is concentrating in Humanities and International Studies. 
 
In the Summer of 2023, through the PBRC Research Grant, Jun worked as the research assistant to Dr. Monica Okamoto, who investigated the concentration camps and persecution of Japanese-Brazilians in the 1940s for the University of Victoria’s project Landscapes of Injustice. Gaining experience in historical document management, investigation, and outreach, Jun is involved in the pioneer movement of rescuing the forgotten history of the persecution of Asians in Brazil. Alongside research projects, Jun is a Transnational Filmmaker, producing short films and documentaries that vocalize different subjects through narrative. 
 
Besides his native language, Portuguese, Jun is fluent in English, Advanced in French, Intermediate in Spanish, and Beginner in Japanese. 
 
It is amidst his diverse backgrounds, languages, research interests, and artistic productions that Jun seeks to bring different voices and narratives to the Pacific Basin Research Center.

I am a sophomore student who concentrates on Social and Behavioral Sciences. Through my education in high school and college, I have developed my interests in societal empowerment of individuals. Immersion into the idea of capability approach presented by Amartya Sen led me to the interests in economics as a means of empowerment. My current interests consist of political economy and economic development, focusing on the Pacific Rim Asia. The region’s economic movement shall offer a meaningful insight on the well-being of individuals of the region and world economy due to the massive amount of population of the region and various emerging economies such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Hoa Tran is a sophomore from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, concentrating in International Studies. Her academic interests stem from minimal exposure to politics while growing up in Vietnam. Since arriving at Soka University, Hoa has been fascinated by political science courses revealing the influential and dynamic roles government and policy play in global affairs.
Having lived in Japan for four years during high school, Hoa also developed strong interests in the intersection of economic development and international relations. She hopes to focus her research on exploring how evidence-based and ethical policymaking in both economics and politics can support greater environmental sustainability.
As one of our biggest collaborative tasks worldwide, Hoa believes understanding how to balance economic growth, good governance, and ecological protection is essential for current and future international scholars. She looks forward to cultivating her research abilities and contributing meaningful perspectives on this critical challenge.