Congratulations to the STIA Class of 2020

Message from the Director

We hope this message finds you healthy and safe despite the many disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and we are so proud of you and your resilience during these unprecedented times. The COVID-19 outbreak has illustrated how our leaders must be able to understand fundamental concepts in science and technology to fully grasp the complexity of today’s global policy problems. As a STIA graduate, you are uniquely positioned to go out into the world and drive innovative solutions to the world’s biggest problems. We wish you all the best during this challenging time and know that you will do important work.  

The Class of 2020

The Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA) major equips students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to engage with these challenges and opportunities. STIA students followed the regular SFS core curriculum, completed a lab science sequence, and developed an in depth understanding of a technical area as a concentration. This year there were 78 STIA grads across the 4 STIA concentrations.

Several of our graduating STIA students were recognized with prestigious awards. STIA Senior Kyra Kocis was selected as a Marshall Scholar , and STIA seniors Menta Mohamad and Sinclair Blue were selected as Truman Fellows .  

STIA Senior Adam Potter is the recipient of the 2020 Charles Weiss Medal. The Charles Weiss Medal is presented annually to a graduating senior for overall academic excellence in the field of Science, Technology & International Affairs (STIA). Formerly the STIA Medal, it was renamed the Weiss Medal in 2014 upon Professor Weiss’ retirement to honor his contributions to the STIA program.

Several STIA students will be continuing at SFS to pursue accelerated master’s degrees in Security Studies including Rachel Corbally, Aurora Johnson, Bianca Lambert, and Mark Massa. Yinuo (Jenny) Zhang will be pursuing the accelerated Master’s of Science in Foreign Service.    

STIA Honors Students

This year we had 12 students receive honors in the STIA major. The list of students and their thesis project titles and mentoring faculty advisors are listed below.

Zachary Gallin, Advisor Fida Adely

Donor-NGO Partnerships for HIV Prevention in Jordan: Innovations and Challenges

Kyra Kocis, Advisor Shareen Joshi

The Toxicity of Beauty: Local Social and Environmental Ramifications of Modernization within Clusters of Textile Producers

Ashley Lane, Advisor Mark Giordano

The Securitization of Transboundary Water Resources: A Discourse Analysis of Iranian-Afghan Relations in the Helmand River Basin

Mark Massa, Advisors Jeremy Mathis & Matt Kroenig

Devils without the Deep Blue Sea: Towards a Theory of SSBN Policy

Joshua Mauss, Advisor Thomas Cronin

An Assemblage Analysis of Arctic Ocean Planktonic Foraminifera During MIS 5: Understanding Arctic Amplification of Climate Change from the Palaeoclimatological Record

Mena Mohamed, Advisor Elizabeth Ferris

Digital Humanitarianism and Refugee Response in the MENA Region: The Promises and Pitfalls of Innovating for the Displaced

Caroline Schauder, Advisor Rajesh Veeraraghavan

Biometric Identification Systems for Welfare Distributions: A Case Study of Aadhaa

Siona Sharma, Advisor Rajesh Veeraraghavan

Digital Development: An Interpretive Policy Analysis of Privacy and Social Inclusion in World Bank Technology Projects

Namratha Sivakumar,Advisor Theresa Sabonis-Helf

Distributive Politics in Electrification: How India Turned on the Lights

Millie Spencer, Advisor Mark Giordano

Has the Debate on Water Wars Hindered Progress Toward a More Water Secure Future? 

Zachary Thompson, Advisor Emily Mendenhall

An Analysis of the 2016-2017 Healthcare Worker Strikes in Kenya

Sonia Vohra, Advisor Emily Mendenhall

Dengue hemorrhagic fever in Indonesia: Identifying clusters of high disease incidence within a vast tropical archipelago and finding provincial trends