Faithwin Gbadamos is a PhD student in the Department of Geography. Her research is centered on the nexus of sustainability, health, and development. Her research seeks to answer questions about environmental degradation linked to food security, livelihood impacts, and adaptation strategies. She uses the power of geospatial analysis to gain insights into the relationship between spatial dynamics and social factors. At the Food lab, Faithwin is responsible for tasks involving geographic information.Prior to starting her PhD, Faithwin explored diverse sectors, including energy and telecommunications, providing her with firsthand insights into these sectors and the critical need for sustainable practices. This experience solidified her unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and health. Faithwin graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria with a bachelor’s degree in Geography.
Carlos J. Calderon Jr is an undergraduate student at UB majoring in biomedical sciences and pursuing minors in public health and urban planning. A life-long resident of the East Side, he is invested in understanding the social and environmental determinants of health and putting this knowledge to action in the field of medicine. His lived experiences drive his passion to strive for equity in the physical areas where he grew up, which have shaped his academic pursuits. His long-term goal is to influence legislative change for health equity. Carlos is a McNair Scholar and a member of the Honors College and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program. In the Food Lab, Carlos is beginning preliminary work on a research project which aims to explore the impact of people’s inaccessibility to food on public health in the East Side. In his free time, Carlos enjoys running, biking, and eating at new places.
Mohammad Khurram Qureshi is a passionate advocate for civil, political, and socio-economic rights. He is driven by the conviction that law is a powerful tool for fostering justice and equality. As a licensed attorney from Kashmir, Khurram has dedicated his career to legal aid and social litigation, beginning his advocacy journey during law school. His commitment to human rights and public accountability has seen him collaborate with prominent organizations such as the J&K Right to Information Movement, focused on social justice. Khurram is the serving President of the Young Lawyers Forum, a non-profit legal organization dedicated to promoting legal awareness and social advocacy in Kashmir. He holds an integrated Bachelor in Arts and Law degree from the Central University of Kashmir. During his law school tenure, he demonstrated exceptional leadership as the Vice President of the Law Society. He is an admitted LL.M. candidate at the University of Wisconsin Law School and will begin his studies there in fall 2024. Khurram’s unwavering dedication to social advocacy continues to inspire his work, making him a formidable force in the pursuit of justice. In his free time, he likes to go hiking, camping, and kayaking.
Mashood Ahmad Farooqi is interested in the role of social and environmental determinants on physical and mental health clinical outcomes. As a trained physician, he is also interested in how medical students are trained in understanding the role of social and environmental determinants on clinical outcomes. In the Food Lab, Mashood is working with a team to explore the impact of structural determinants on mental health disorders and substance abuse. Prior to joining the UB Food Lab as a research fellow, Mashood completed his Bachelors in Medicine and Bachelors in Surgery (MBBS) from Government Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
Mashood is an avid football fan. In his spare time, Mashood enjoys reading fantasy and history, and spending time in the gym and in the wilderness.
Festus Adegbola is a graduate student at the UB Geography Department. Festus’ research focuses on spatial ecology with the aim of monitoring degrading ecosystems using remote sensing techniques and proffering sustainable management approaches to ultimately restore such ecosystems.
At the Food Lab, Festus assumes the role of a GIS analyst, responsible for overseeing and processing all projects and tasks that involve geographic information. Festus enjoys playing musical instruments. Sax and piano are his favorites.
Touseef Yousuf Mir is a Faculty at the Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London. He is an award-winning political ethnographer, decolonial scholar and public engagement advocate. Building on a decade plus research and activism experience, his work sits at the intersection of comparative politics, conflict and development studies. Touseef remains committed to community engagement and social justice advocacy bridging university and community spaces through North-South and South-South collaborations. He’s the founder/lead of the online Kashmiri educational platform – Pe’nd Online. He also serves as the trustee and governing council member of Development Studies Association, UK (DSA) as well as task-group member for decolonising knowledge for development initiative of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). Apart from other awards, Touseef recently received the Mary-Tasker Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024) and the Vice-Chancellor’s Outreach Award (2024) from the University of Bath.
A doctoral student in urban and regional planning, Kahad Adamu is interested in the political ecology of gold mining in Sub-Saharan Africa and managing natural resources (land and water), land management and administration, and affordable housing.
At the Food Lab, Kahad works on a variety of analytical projects. He is currently investigating the racial disparities in the spatial distribution of retail food destinations in Erie County. He is also involved in the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) project.
Before joining UB, Kahad earned an MSc in Urban Development Planning from University College London (UCL) and a BSc (Hons) in Land Economy from KNUST in Ghana. Kahad previously worked as an adjunct lecturer at Kumasi Technical University in Kumasi, Ghana, where he taught courses such as Land Use Planning and Administration and Property Rating and Taxation. He also worked with the Land Resources and Management Center (LRMC) on projects that examined urban governance and informal settlement in Ghana’s capital city.
Saad Mustafa Shonthu
Maheen Akram
