ED&I Fellows 2021-2022

This is the second year of running the ED&I Fellowship scheme with representation from across our departments. These Fellows have worked with the central MPLS ED&I Team, ED&I Steering Group and departmental leads to champion ED&I for the Division. Find out more about them below (listed alphabetically).

If you’re interested in getting involved with our work, please contact diversity@mpls.ox.ac.uk. 

Kara Allum

Mathematical Institute

DPhil Student

Pronouns: they/them

I am currently a DPhil student within the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology. Alongside research, I collaborate with many organisations that strive for greater equality within education and believe that MPLS (and the University as a whole) should take a more community driven and proactive approach with how they create and run outreach programs. As an ED&I Fellow, I intend to build projects that share stories and history beyond the cisgender white men of Oxford, and hope to move the focus of discussions beyond just diversity and inclusion, and towards equity and justice in order to enact real change.

Kristina Correa

Department of Statistics

MSc Student

Pronouns: they (preferred)/she

Hi y’all! My name is Kristina Montserrat Correa. I’m a Master’s by Research student in Statistics. I’m Mexican-American, and I grew up in rural Texas. As a low-income/first-generation student of color, I’ve often found it incredibly difficult to navigate predominantly wealthy and white academic spaces. These personal experiences of struggle drive me to work with the communities I’m a part of to make them more accessible and inclusive for other marginalized people. I’m very excited to be serving as an ED&I Fellow to help push forward changes that make MPLS a space where queer, disabled, and Black and Brown folks can flourish.

Elizabeth Crowley

Department of Earth Sciences

Departmental Librarian

Pronouns: she/her

I am the librarian for the Department of Earth Sciences. Many experiences in life have given me the belief that – with the right support, with acceptance and understanding of difference – every contribution is of value, and every life can be full and fulfilled.

As an EDI fellow with lived experience of a fluctuating and invisible disability, I would like to raise awareness of this, and ensure accessibility – in all its forms – is at the heart of every new technology the University adopts. I look forward to listening, learning, and working towards an inclusive and equitable university.

Phoebe Griffith

Department of Biology

DPhil Student

Pronouns: she/her/they/them

I’m Phoebe, a 5th year PhD student in the Biology Department.  My research is on the conservation of crocodylians, especially the gharial in Nepal.  Efforts to improve diversity and access must be followed up with efforts to ensure that people of all identities can thrive at Oxford.  As an ED&I Fellow I want to help with the necessary rethinking and reorganising of support systems for research students, in order to make support better for people from historically excluded groups.  Active decolonisation of research and education is a necessary part of all science, and I want to push for this to be a key component of the framework of research and teaching design in the Biology Department.

Ginger Jansen

Mathematical Institute

HR Administrator

Pronouns: she/her

I’m Ginger and I recently completed an MSc in Human Resources to follow a new career path. Having recently started at the Mathematical Institute, I’m so grateful to have been selected for this role and I cannot wait to get started. I really care about fostering inclusive work environments that enable people from all backgrounds to thrive and feel safe to be themselves. As an ED&I Fellow and Mental Health champion, I hope to bring about positive change as an advocate for mental health awareness, and I look forward to learning from my peers on other areas of ED&I to help me grow as a HR professional. Having completed my MSc thesis on how organisations can best improve psychological safety for BAME professionals through inclusive leadership practices, I look forward to furthering my findings as an ED&I Fellow.

Tika Malla

Department of Chemistry

DPhil Student

Pronouns: she/her

Currently studying for my final year of DPhil in Interdisciplinary Bioscience at Schofield group, I am an outspoken, friendly and driven individual. I have loved participating in conversations and implementing plans to encourage, support and facilitate a fair and equal environment. I hope we can foster a thriving environment where everybody feels safe and comfortable and are always treated equally and with respect. I hope we are all equipped with linguistic tools and means to recognise, address and initiate a conversation to move towards identifying and resolving such matters. It’s like a suspicious package in the tube. “If you see it, say it and sorting is a process so let’s all work together towards it.” I am also mental health first aid trained and have acquired peer support training so I am very happy to actively listen to ideas, concerns and improved ways to implement them so we can enjoy and establish a positive milieu for us and for others to come. 

Dr Alex Ramadan

Department of Physics

Postdoctoral Researcher

Pronouns: she/her

I am a postdoctoral researcher in Condensed Matter Physics where I work on novel semiconductors for the next generation of solar cells. I have worked as the researcher representative for MPLS on the Race Equality Task Force and within Oxford Physics I co-founded and co-organise the group “Challenges and Changes in Physics”. I’ve experienced and seen the impact that working in spaces which aren’t diverse, inclusive, or welcoming has on people’s mental health and wellbeing. As an MPLS ED&I Fellow,

I want to help build a culture at Oxford where everyone is embraced and celebrated for who they are.

Namrata Ramesh

Department of Materials

MSc Student

Pronouns: she/her

I am an MSc(Res) student and a Rhodes Scholar in the Materials Science Department. I am very passionate about improving diversity in STEM, and believe that the best interventions are those that are made in response to a nuanced understanding of the lived experiences of those from marginalized communities in STEM. I hope to bring such an approach to my role as an ED&I Fellow, and suggest interventions based on my work telling the stories of women/folx in STEM via my organization, The STEMinist Chronicles. I also believe that my experience in being a part of a similar committee at UC Berkeley will allow me to suggest solutions that can be practically implemented.

Lauren Rudd

Department of Zoology

DPhil Student

Pronouns: she/her

I am a 4th year DPhil student in the Department of Zoology, and my research focuses on understanding the social dynamics at play within the landscape of lion conservation. Outside of my research, I am actively involved in several ED&I projects through my college and department, and I am one of the co-founders of the BIPOC STEM Network. As an ED&I Fellow, I hope to be able to use my intersectional perspective as a mixed-race, LGBTQ+ person to continue working towards creating a safer, more inclusive environment for everyone within the University.

Tim G. J. Rudner

Department of Computer Science

DPhil Student

Pronouns: he/him

Tim G. J. Rudner is a DPhil student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, where he conducts research on probabilistic machine learning. His research interests span variational inference, Bayesian deep learning, reinforcement learning, and AI safety. As an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Fellow, he hopes to make STEM subjects at Oxford more accessible to first-generation university students and students from low-income backgrounds. Tim is also an AI Fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology and a Rhodes Scholar. His website is https://timrudner.com.

Olivia Simpson

MPLS Doctoral Training Centre

DPhil Student

Pronouns: she/her

Olivia is in the 2nd Year of her Computational Biology DPhil working on a robot that can automatically make samples of chemicals to test for their potential as new medicines. Olivia previously studied Biomedical Engineering where she first got involved in ED&I in academia as a member her department’s Diversity Inclusion and Wellbeing committee. Olivia is the Linacre College Common Room Welfare and Equality officer 2021 and she has worked both proactively, and as an advocate on behalf of members, to ensure the college is a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive institution.  Olivia is passionate about ED&I across the STEM fields (and academia more broadly) and she looks forward to working on ED&I across the Division alongside the other MPLS ED&I Fellows.

Sierra Sparks

Department of Engineering Science

DPhil Student

Pronouns: she/her

Sierra is a DPhil student in biomedical engineering in the Engineering Science Department and is a student at Keble College. She has been involved in several ED&I advocacy and outreach initiatives that aim to promote the recruitment and retention of equity-deserving groups in STEM. She is passionate about increasing the number of gender minorities and other underrepresented demographics in STEM, which she believes is something that inherently strengthens these professions and research – having diversity in academic spaces allows for new perspectives and ideas to fuel innovative research. Sierra is excited for the opportunity to work as an ED&I Fellow to create more inclusive and accessible spaces and to show that the MPLS Division has a place for everyone.