Harvard - DRCLAS Brazil Office - David Rockefeller Center for Latin ...

(Alphabetical by last name)
PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES
John AZUBUIKE
Harvard College, Class of 2013
A.B. in Engineering Sciences
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jnazubuike@gmail.com
John Azubuike is a third-year undergraduate at Harvard College concentrating in Engineering
Sciences. He was born in Aba, Nigeria and was raised in the Bronx, New York. His academic
interests include neurobiology, medical devices, and systems engineering. In his time with the
Harvard-USP Field Course, John aims to learn about the different factors and stakeholders in the
environmental development process and about the evaluation of risks and rewards in large scale
building projects. He is the Vice-President of the Consent, Assault-Awareness, and Relationship
Educators (CAARE) as well as the Secretary of the Harvard Society of Black Scientists and
Engineers (HSBSE). His laboratory experiences include developing low-cost diagnostics equipment
in George Whitesides Group and serving as the intern for the Harvard Center for Nanoscale
Systems. John has spent his summers working in finance, teaching history and study skills to middle
school students, and teaching math and science to high school students. He is an avid fan of
American football.
Jonathan BAKER
Harvard Kennedy School, Doctoral
candidate in Environmental and
Resource Economics
bakerjonathane@gmail.com
Jonathan Baker is a first year doctoral student at the Kennedy School. He is interested in
investigating economic institutions for sustainable water use and the interrelationships between
economic institutions, social institutions, technical systems, the hydrologic system, and climate
change. Jonathan’s academic background includes an undergraduate degree in physics and a masters
in mechanical engineering, in which he studied fluid power. He recently completed a second
masters in technology and policy, focusing on water resources within the context of large scale
(CGE) economic models.
Maria Elena BENDANA
Harvard College, Class of 2014
S.B. in Mechanical and Materials Science
and Engineering
mebendana@gmail.com
Maria Bendana is a sophomore at Harvard College from Guatemala City, Guatemala. She has lived
in Miami, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam in addition to Guatemala. She is a Mechanical
Engineering concentrator at the College. Her primary academic interests are in the sciences, such as
space exploration and space science and in engineering, mechanical and aerospace. Maria currently
works at the Harvard Micro-robotics Laboratory building and designing micro-thrusters for robotic