Students Introduction

• Ginger Vaughn
    I'm Ginger Vaughn. I hail from the state of North Carolina, United States. I have been enrolled in the Ph.D program in environmental governance under Professor Shunji Matsuoka since April 2009. My focus during my course of study is environmental journalism, the main topic being how the media influences public awareness of environmental issues such as climate change throughout Asia. I have been interested in green issues in Japan since I came to this country nearly ten years ago. My background is a combination of business and journalism. I received my MBA from Waseda in 2008 with a concentration in venture capital. I currently work as a reporter for the public broadcaster NHK, reporting on issues related to the economic situation in Asia as well as green-business. I am an avid hiker and am currently pursuing the goal of finishing the Hyakumeizan or 100 great mountains of Japan.

• Yoomi Kim　
  My name is Kim, Yoomi. I entered PhD program and Professor Matsuoka’s seminar in September, 2009. I come from Seoul, Korea and I finished bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Public Administration in Ewha womans University. My concentration was on Urban and Regional Policy in the master’s course.
  In 2005, I got the chance to come to Japan as an exchange student. Since then, I have made comparative studies between Korea and Japan. In 2007, I participated in ‘Waseda Student Forum’ which was belong to ‘Waseda University's 125th Anniversary Celebration’ and made presentation with a Japanese student about the environment cooperation in East Asia countries. I was heavily influenced by this experience and it gave me some ideas of researches in doctor’s program. My MA thesis was about ‘The Impact of Urban Creativity on Urban Competitiveness: A comparative study between Korea and Japan’. The purpose of my MA thesis was to grasp the present status of urban creativity and examine empirically how city creativity affects urban competitiveness in the cities of Korea and Japan.
  During PhD program under Professor Matsuoka, I hope to study about environmental international integrations and cooperation in Asia region and environmental economy. I want to be a researcher who can contribute to regional integration and cooperation in Asia.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Hidehiro Tatsuzawa
  My name is Hidehiro Tatsuzawa. I am doing my Ph.D. under Professor Matsuoka from April 2010. I studies about environmental policy and management. I am especially interested in sustainability and wise use of wetlands. They serve wide variety of functions including water purification and shoreline stabilisation. Also they maintain large number of species and important environment to enhance biological and ecological diversity. They have provided human economic benefits through fisheries, agriculture, tourism and so on. Unfortunately they are also among the world’s most threatened ecosystems, due to unsustainable uses of their resources. Therefore a sustainable manner is the key to wetlands conservation, and a sociological approach gives idea. I would like to study from the viewpoint and contribute to solutions for environmental issues.
  

• Kyosuke Inada
  I am interested in economic and policy analysis of global environmental management in the context of international development. I studied econometrics and macroeconomics during my undergraduate years. I wrote a dissertation on weather index based insurance and climate vulnerability assessment in a low-income African country for my MSc course. The title of my MSc course was environmental change and management, covering a wide range of science, policy and management issues associated with the environment. The focus in this PhD course under the supervision of Professor Matsuoka is economic evaluation and financial mechanism for nature conservation in developing countries. I wish to contribute to sustainable global environmental conservation by integrating my academic interests and achievements with nearly two decades of professional experience as an international development specialist.
  

• KwangHo LEE
  Hello, My name is KwangHo Lee from Korea. I joined Matsuoka Sensei’s PhD program in September 2010. I’m interested in international environmental cooperation especially in environmental ODA. Most of the developing countries are giving priority to economic development, and it is recognized that the environment is subsequent. As a result, developing countries are confronted by serious environmental destruction. Also it costs huge to recover the environment destroyed once afterwards. Therefore, ‘Sustainable development’ with the meaning to which economy grows while preserving the environment, becomes important. In case of developing country’s sustainable development, the possibility that the cooperation of the developed country improves the effectiveness of the reduction in the negative environmental impact is high. Through the research of a long history and the experience of Japan’s ODA, I want to improve more efficient and effective environmental ODA policy. Moreover, I wish to make contribution to ODA policy of South Korea in which emphasis on green ODA.

• Chaewoon Oh　
  Hello~. I am Chaewoon Oh( 彩雲) from Korea. I am a M1 student of Professor Matsuoka’s seminar joining from September 2009. I studied English literature at Korea University, and then began my career at the Policy & Cooperation Department of Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety. My primary responsibilities were the research on international nuclear regulation and safety and the cooperation with IAEA and bilaterally North-American and European nations. Recently I started taking part in Northeast Asian nuclear regulatory cooperation. In parallel with my work, I completed another bachelor’s degree in the economics at Korea National Open University. My interest of research resides in regional integration in Northeast Asia through energy system. I am very happy to meet all of you and Professor Matsuoka at GSAPS. Also, I am grateful for the opportunities to advance my studies at Waseda University and particularly in Japan, some of whose literature writers I am partial to. I would like to share with you a meaningful time~.
  

• Xun Hang　
  Hello, everyone, my name is Xun Hang. I come from the State Forestry Administration of China. I graduated from Beijing Forestry University in 2006. After 4 years’ working, now I have an opportunity to carry out my research under Professor Matsuoka in GSAPS. I am quite interested in bamboo and its social benefit. Bamboo is the most valuable non-wood forest product in the world and it is an ideal resource for development that integrates poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. So I hope my research could make contribution to people's livelihoods, their environment, and their businesses through a sustainable use of bamboo.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Sai Shinkou　
  Hi, my name is Sai Shinkou. I'm from Beijing China. I entered GSAPS as a Master student in September 2010. I'm studying under Professor Shunji Matsuoka. I graduated from CSU Chico in spring 2009 and came to Japan that September. My undergraduate major is mathematics so a lot things are new to me now. I'm looking forward for the 2 years here in Waseda.
  
  

• Hanxiao　
  Hello, My name is Hanxiao, I’m a Chinese student of Matsuoka’s Lab from September, 2010. Before I came to Waseda, I had majored in economics in the University of International Relations which lies in Beijing. During 2008 and 2009, I used to be a volunteer of Beijing Olympic Games, an intern of data analyst in Thomson Reuters, and most importantly, an assistant of a professor who focus on the environmental research in Chinese Academy of Science. Through the last experience, I developed a deep interest in environmental problems and published my first academic thesis in a journal. I hope in Waseda, under the instruction of Professor Matsuoka, I could deepen my knowledge as well as my understanding towards research, and finally, as a result, realize my dream of becoming a scholar.
  

• Lu Han　
  Hello,everyone! I'm Lu Han and I'm from Ningbo,China. I graduated in Business and Management at Tokyo Keizai University then entered GSAPS on Apr.2011. I am very interested in environmental problems so I joined master program and Professor Matsuoka's seminar. Of course, there are many various problems about environment, I want to research in organic farming. As you know ,China is an agricultural country but the safety control is very weak like resudual agricultural chemicals,agricultural pollution and so on. I hope that the organic farming will spread througout China and the Chinese nation can stop worrying about that. I'll work hard to make my research a success.

• Maybi　
  Hello, everyone! I am Maybi, from S?o Paulo, Brazil and I graduated in 2009 in Law at University of S?o Paulo. Since the very beginning of my studies at university, I have been interested in international law, international relations and diplomacy. Afterwards, environmental and development related problems also caught my attention and I have been doing research about these topics since 2008. Convinced that, in the current context, only international actions connected to local ones can help us to find solutions for those problems and build a better society, I decided to go abroad and widen my view about experiences dealing with foreign aid and international cooperation for sustainable development. Japan, a reference in research and big investor in my country, was a perfect choice to conduct my research. Waseda, with its very open-minded ideology and receptive and competent professors, offers an excellent environment for this purpose. I have been in Matsuoka Sensei Seminar as research since May 2011 and in these months have been an amazing experience. I intend to start Masters next year and focus on Japan's investments in the North and Northeast of Brazil for sustainable development. Moreover, I hope that during my stay in Japan I improve my understanding of cultural exchange and its function for increasing the cooperation in a globalized world.

• Amy　
  Hello, my name is Amy and I am very happy for such great opportunity to join Prof. Matsuoka's seminar in April 2011. I graduated from University of British Columbia in Canada and my major was Transportation and Logistics in Business Studies. As a bachelor of commerce, I learned to observe the dynamic society and develop thinking strategically for the business environment. However, along with the growth in global market, environmental issues are increasing, especially happened in the intensive network of transportation for global trading and commercially active urban areas. To learn more about how international cities can be environmentally sustainable while in progress of economic growth, I chose to come to Tokyo because it is one of the cities trying so hard in urban transformation for sustainable development. In GSAPS there are a lot of great professors and academic resources, hopefully we will all achieve in our academic plus personal goals here in Waseda University.
  

• Yohei Yamada　
  こんにちは。山田洋平と申します。私は、2011年4月に早稲田大学アジア太平洋研究科の修士課程に入学しました。早稲田大学社会科学部出身で、学部時代には環境政策や欧州連合（EU）をテーマに扱うゼミに所属して、主に京都議定書や地域統合について勉強してきました。環境問題や、開発、サステナビリティなどのテーマには学部時代から深い関心があったのですが、政治学的な面から考えることが多かったので、経済学的なアプローチや途上国の視点も含めて考えたいと思い、松岡先生のゼミに入りました。私は、電力の生産、供給、需要を大きなテーマに定め、基礎的な知識や分析手法を会得するとともに、試行錯誤を繰り返し、研究を進めていきたいと考えています。 様々なアイデンティティや考え方をもった方々が集まるGSAPSで、積極的に行動して、視野を広げていきたいと思っています。よろしくお願いします。

• Yuri Kojima　
  はじめまして。2011年4月からアジア太平洋研究科に入学致しました、小島友里（こじまゆり）と申します。私は、早稲田大学人間科学部健康福祉科学科出身で、学部時代はカザフスタン共和国の環境問題に関して研究をしていました。 私が環境問題に興味を持ったのは、20世紀最大の環境破壊といわれているアラル海の縮小を見たことがきっかけでした。アラル海を見るまで「環境問題＝目に見えないもの」というイメージを持っており、あまり危機感を持っていませんでした。ですがアラル海に行き、アラル海の縮小とその社会的影響をこの目で直接見ることにより、環境問題は遠いことではなく身近に起こるものであり、とても重要な課題であると実感しました。 そこで大学院に入り途上国の環境問題や持続可能な社会について学びたいと思い、松岡先生の研究室に入りました。修士では、途上国の持続可能な環境開発に関して勉強していきたいと思います。みなさん、よろしくお願いいたします。

• Kaoru Okudaira　
  こんにちは。2011年4月にアジア太平洋研究科修士課程に入学いたしました、奥平薫（オクダイラ　カオル）と申します。私は学部時代から環境政策のゼミに所属し、さまざまな環境問題について勉強してきました。そのなかで環境問題は経済的・社会的・文化的要因が絡み合っているため幅広い知識が必要であり、特にこれまで勉強をしてこなかった経済や統計分析などを含めた様々な勉強をしたいと思いこの研究科に進学することにしました。日本には環境問題の解決に貢献できるような高い技術が沢山あると思っています。それらを用いて持続可能な発展を実現するためには、まずどのような視点から環境問題を見ていけばよいかをしっかりと定めることから始め、修士論文につなげていきたいと思っております。これからどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

• Keiko Noguchi　
  はじめまして。野口恵子と申します。私は２０１１年９月にアジア太平洋研究科に入学致しました。早稲田大学教育学部教育学科出身で、生涯教育について学んできました。学部時代は、教員免許や博物館学芸員の資格を取得するための授業を主に受講していましたが、以前から途上国の貧困問題などには関心を持っていました。大学４年生になり、普通に就職活動をした私は、大学院に進学することなど正直全く考えていませんでした。そんな私がＧＳＡＰＳへの入学を考え始めたのは、他学部の授業に参加し、カンボジアの貧しい農村で調査をしたことがきっかけでした。途上国の貧困、それに付随する教育問題などを直接目の当たりにし、知ったからには自分が何かできないだろうか、ということを考えるようになり入学を決意しました。学部時代とは全く異なる専攻ではありますが、大学院では「ＢＯＰビジネス」について研究しながら、自分なりに色々と模索していきたいと思っております。どうぞよろしくお願い致します。

• Chanjin Park　
  Hello to all! I am Chanjin Park from Seoul, Korea. I graduatd from School of International Liberal Studies (SILS) of Waseda University in March 2011. After graduation, I worked as an intern at Economic Development Cooperation Fund in Hanoi, Vietnam until I entered GSAPS in September 2011. My primary field of interest is development cooperation and foreign aid. My undergraduate thesis was about the significance of rural development in achieving an overall growth, explained by Korea's case of 'New Village Movement'. During MA program under Professor Matsuoka, I would like to investigate practical methods for developing counries to grow. Therefore, I am planning to do research on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the field of ODA, asserting that PPP will advance the efficiency of utilizing ODA and ultimately contribute to accomplishing Millenium Development Goals. I am looking forward to having good discussions with you who have great knowledge as well as interests in development studies!

• Mochammad Iqbal　
  I am the new student of Matsuoka sensei zemi. I am from Indonesia. Before enrolled in Graduate School of Asia Pacific, I was working in the Bureau for Technical Cooperation ? Ministry of State Secretariat in Indonesia. My job description is administering the implementation of South-South Cooperation. I took my undergraduate degree in International Relations Department of Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. My research interest is South-South Cooperation, in line with my previous job. The reason is I need to strengthen my knowledge on aid and development in order to improve my competencies. Since Indonesia is an emerging economics, it is our responsibility to share our knowledge and development experiences. By learning the concept of aid and development cooperation, I hope that I will shape the better South-South Cooperation program for my country.

• Shahnoza　
  People in Uzbekistan greet with each other saying “Salom Alaykum” or “Assalomu Alaykum”. So, Salom Alaykum to everyone. My name is Shahnoza. I am from Uzbekistan. I was born in 1986 in Tashkent. I joined Matsuoka Sensei’s MA program in September, 2011. I’m interested in international environmental cooperation, especially in environmental ODA. I graduated from Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, faculty of Japanese Philology. After receiving bachelor’s degree I have worked for more than 2 years as an assistant of professor and research officer in Tsukuba International Centre for Central Asian Research and Education. During this time I have obtained enough experience of working as researcher of political science. But to develop my academic career in my institution I need to have Master’s degree like the one offered by GSAPS of Waseda University. I know Waseda University as one of top ranking universities not only in Japan, but also in the world. Obviously these facts convince me that studying here I will receive qualitative education from best scholars of Japan. My choice of GSAPS MA program is also related with development of my thesis - “Emerging Water Issues in Central Asia: ODA (Japan) as a key instrument in preventing ecological consequences in the region”. To develop my research paper which is related to regionalization, environmental policy and international cooperation in Central Asia, I would like to strengthen my attention on studying the classes offered by Professor Matsuoka. I hope with the education I obtain in GSAPS MA program and with my Research paper I can contribute to development and environmental sustainability of my country.

• Steven Cleary　
  Steven Cleary is a masters student whose research is focused upon sustainable development, particularly the roles of Australian and Japanese overseas development cooperation (ODA), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and philanthropy in the achievement of the the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Laos and the Mekong Sub-region in general. Steven is from Brisbane, Australia. Upon graduation from the University of Queensland he spent two years as a general news reporter with Quest Newspaper's South-West News and an additional 12 months as a sub-editor at ABC Online News. An abiding interest in Japan, particularly its post-war development and role in Asia-Pacific development cooperation brought him to the country in 2003 as an assistant language teacher on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. He subsequently spent three years in rural Toyama prefecture sharing language and cultural exchange with high school age students in both general and special needs schools. Subsequently he was involved in English language and presentation instruction for Japanese junior and senior overseas volunteers with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a dispatched instructor at training centers in Fukushima and Nagano. In 2009 he was appointed to the role of News Reporting & Editing Trainer at the Vientiane Times, Laos' premier English language newspaper, as a volunteer on the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program for a period of 12 months. He commenced his research at Waseda University's Graduate School of Asia Pacific studies on the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEXT) Scholarship in September, 2010. He is aiming to further his studies and gain further professional experience under the expert guidance of Professor Matsuoka in the collegiate atmosphere provided by Waseda GSAPS.

• Yi Rosa　
  Hello everyone! My name is Yi Rosa, but please just call me Ro as Rosa sounds so female and I don’t really feel comfortable with it. I am from Cambodia, Southeast Asia. I just came to GSAPS this semester September 2011 under Prof. Matsuoka’s supervision. I was in the field Education when I was an undergraduate student, but I completely lost my interest in this education thingy after I graduated. I want to try something else. I want to do what I love for my postgraduate study. My boyhood experience when I spent 18 years in countryside motivated me to study what many of my villagers, particularly the very poor, did and have been doing: migrate to urban areas in search for jobs. I want to look at the issue from socio-economic perspective to see how this rural-urban migration help contribute to poverty reduction at community level and also how poor people use it as an alternative livelihood strategy. Honestly, at the beginning I was quite skeptical of whether or not I made the right decision to be in Prof. Matsuoka’s seminar. My first impression was that everyone was talking about environmental issues or international cooperation while I was proposing to do something else of no relation at all. However, it took me only a few sessions, studying and interacting with Prof. Matsuoka as well as other friends in the seminar, to feel assured that I made a right decision and he is the right person for my academic adventure. Finally, I just want to thank everyone for your warm welcoming me to the seminar. Let’s have FUN!