Junior Scholars

Aarohee Bhattarai is a junior trailing Life Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences as her concentrations. Born and raised in Nepal between the echoing fruition of the institutional and public health systems, being in the US was initially a huge take on industrial action, how advanced the infrastructural systems were, and the intensity of where the health-systems had evolved. However, as the COVID-19 cases exploded in the States and elsewhere, the “public health” phrase overwhelmed the news. She learned Asian countries, with institutional learning on pandemic and semi-robust infrastructures were taming COVID-19 far more efficiently than many developed western countries. Therefore, she is interested to explore more about psychological behaviors, genetics, and public-health infrastructure, with a major focus on Asian-Pacific health institutions.

Amelia is a third-year student concentrating in International Studies from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Having interned for the Malaysian parliament, coupled with her Chinese ethnic background and her study abroad experience in Japan, she has developed a passion to learn about the regions of Southeast and East Asia. Her particular research interests are in Malaysian politics, the modern history of Japan, nationalism and soft power in East Asia, and media production in Southeast and East Asia. Today, in line with her reason for being the President of the Soka Southeast Asian Student Association, Amelia connects with people all around the world on a humanistic level through her fluency in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay, Japanese, and her current endeavor of learning Spanish. She is excited to have the opportunity to develop herself through research initiatives provided by the PBRC.

Chiharu Nagai is a third-year student from Kanagawa, Japan. Her field of interest includes social welfare, educational policies, various forms of communication, and literature. Since the end of her first year at Soka, she has remained in Japan due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, she started to work as a volunteer at a local municipal special-needs school, which intrigued her to explore the field of special education. She is interested in the culture of framing disabilities and policies to provide equal educational and occupational opportunities for all. Also, she hopes to explore the values and practices of a diverse and inclusive community in different contexts, including her own experience as a member of SUA. She is grateful for the opportunity to work as a member of PBRC to develop her interests in research.  

Daiki Arai is a fourth-year student concentrating on Life Sciences. He grew up in Tokyo, Japan. As an aspiring doctor, he has gained experience in research and internship. He has worked as a research assistant at the Soka University of Japan and the Soka University of America. He has developed a deeper understanding of science through his research on an iron-carrier protein called ferritin and squid’s reflectin protein. During his study abroad, he also did an internship at Vithas Hospital in Granada, Spain. In his capstone project, he is conducting a comparative study of major depressive disorder in the U.S. and Japan. He hopes to contribute to making a public health system where everyone can receive the treatment they need regardless of their background.

I grew up in Fujiidera City, Osaka, Japan, seeing the astonishing scenery of tombs of ancient kings and other historical sites, which spurred my curiosity, longing, and enthusiasm for the past. I am currently a senior Humanities student committed to studying medieval Japanese society’s values, mentalities, and cultural norms by examining historical documents, literature, and art. In doing so, I critically comprehend the origin of “Japan-ness” and reevaluate it to pass on cultural heritage to future generations. I hope to promote public engagement in Japanese history learning by engaging in various activities, such as seminars at museums or local events, utilizing acquired expertise and experiences at PBRC. I am grateful and thrilled to contribute to the PBRC’s goal of achieving humanistic development in my unique way.

Jenski Nguyen (he/him &/or they/them) is a junior student from Hanoi, Vietnam, currently concentrating in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Growing up in Vietnam where the field of psychology is yet to be fully developed and made accessible to everyone, he has developed an interest and passion for helping people who struggle due to the lack of access to mental health resources. This led him to start working as a crisis intervention counselor to gain more experiences with how to provide psychological first aid and gain insights to the overarching problem of getting the needed help. In numerous communities, especially in Southeast Asia, mental health is still cultural taboo, and the stigma surrounding mental health is etched deeply in people’s preconceived notions and cultural practices, thus preventing many from developing a support system and receiving treatment. Jenski pursues the study Social and Behavioral Sciences in order to better understand the human conditions, social and cultural issues and pave a way for awareness, education and development in psychology and mental health. He hopes to translate his passion into effective social policy-making and reform for cultural norms in his underserved community along with many others, so as to make meaningful impact to help those in need.

I am a senior passionate about education. I grew up in a small town in Hokkaido, Japan. I have always suffered from financial and academic hardships. However, in junior high, I met an SUA alum from India who completely changed my life trajectory. After I enrolled in his after-school program in my hometown, he made me realize that I have the potential that my high school teachers could not see in me. He inspired me to study abroad, and I was introduced to the philosophy of Soka, or value-creation. With his consistent support, I overcame financial and other barriers, getting accepted to SUA with a prestigious national scholarship. In the future, I aim to advance value-creating global citizenship education to empower youth. I have been researching educational reformists, including Daisaku Ikeda, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Paulo Freire. At SUA, I co-organized a Learning Cluster project and visited Sweden and Denmark to study educational programs. In 2021, as an undergrad student leader, I helped organize the World Summit of Educators and Youth Summit events. After coming to SUA, I attained the UN English Exam Special A Level and Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) Level 5.

Michelle Boralessa is a student of the Environmental Studies concentration from Massachusetts. Michelle spent many of her summers in her parents’ homeland, Sri Lanka, and her experiences there ignited her interest in the relationship between the environment and public health. She previously studied the causes and potential solutions to arsenic water contamination in Cambodia and vector-borne disease in Sri Lanka. In addition, she recently interned at an environmental consulting firm where she researched water purification and air pollution reduction in Southern California. She wants to explore what can be achieved through public policy and technology to mitigate environmental threats to human health.

Seeking refuge in the country of liberty, Natsuha flew from her mentally suffocating home country, Japan. In a twist of fate, after two years of study at Soka, she now concentrates in Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, passionately learning about her native culture through the lenses of literature and anthropology. She is especially interested in analyzing women’s fashion in the premodern world, seeking to yield insights into the aesthetic embodiment of the female body through tensions between societal expectation and personal expression. She hopes to contribute to PBRC with her research, which aims to dismantle the fetishizing ideologies of fashion and to reexamine the meaning of female bodies.

After living in Quito, Ecuador, for eighteen years, Pablo Zavala Reina arrived in the United States to study Economics, International Relations, and Mathematics at Soka University of America. After witnessing and learning about Latin America’s political and economic history, Economic Development in developing countries became Pablo’s main area of interest. In January 2021, Pablo participated in a research group to study the influence of national policies on Covid-19-related outcomes with Professor Junyi Liu. Since September 2021, he has worked with Professor Diya Mazumder to estimate the impact of petrol and diesel taxes on the expenditure patterns of Indian citizens. Pablo’s other interests relate to Finance and Accounting, for which he interned at the real-state construction corporation, Uribe & Schwarzkopf. Growing up with Spanish as his native language, he studied English for twelve years, French for six years, Chinese for three years, and Portuguese for one year. Pablo aspires to expand his knowledge, experience, and education in national and international economic policy to impact and improve the lives of people in Latin America.

Sachi Nishida, born and raised in Japan, is currently a third-year student concentrating in Social and Behavioral Science. Specifically, she is interested in Japan’s public policy, including foreign policy, security policy, and economic policy. Japan’s public policy has both positively and negatively shaped its international relations with neighboring countries (e.g., China and South Korea) and the U.S. Through analysis of Japanese politics, economy, and international relations, she would like to explore what Japan’s public policy should be to promote peaceful relations in the Asia-Pacific region. She believes that her experience as a research assistant, an internship at GR Japan, and as an American delegate at the Japan-American Student Conference will help her future research.

Xiyang Ge is a third-year student from Beijing, China, currently concentrating in Humanities. Xiyang’s interests lie in food security in developing countries and the hunger crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past summer, Xiyang earned the opportunity to present at the 67th International Student Conference. He seeks to analyze how Asian countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh implemented various policies (e.g. regional lockdown) and their impact on the local community (e.g. increasing urban poverty). Besides, he is interested in brainstorming a dynamic food supply system with the combined effort of the private sector and government subsidy in the post-pandemic era.

Yixin Wang is a third-year student from Hangzhou, China. She is concentrating in International Studies with a focus on genocide studies, refugee crisis, and international human rights law. Yixin researched the Rohingya genocide and co-founded an NGO named Louder Than Words to help Rohingya refugee children in 2018. During her freshman year, she took the opportunity of SUA’s Travel Learning Cluster and conducted field research on the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Her current interests lie in the China-India border dispute and transboundary water conflicts in the Brahmaputra River Basin. She aspires to prevent mass atrocities and promote the peaceful settlement of disputes in the Pacific Basin and beyond.

Mukesh Bastola is a third-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.

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.

Arnav Pandey is a sophomore from Kathmandu, Nepal, pursuing a Life Sciences concentration at the Soka University of America. Coming from a country whose economy mainly depends on agriculture, Arnav aspires to find ways to mitigate the soil contamination which adversely affects Nepal and other countries in the Pacific Basin Region. Currently, he is working on a project with Professor Zahra Afrasiabi to analyze the advantage of using locally available, environmentally friendly raw materials to subdue soil contamination.