Maia Roothaan

Maia Roothaan is a Yale College graduate with a B.A. in Environmental Studies (International Development Concentration) and certificates in Advanced French Language and Literature and Food, Agriculture, and Climate Change. Maia served as Speakers Director of Yale College Democrats, interviewing elected officials including Congressman Dan Goldman and National Education Association VP Princess Moss. She was a Peer Mentor in the Environmental Studies Program and was very passionate about her work at the Yale Sustainable Food Program, serving as Lazarus Summer Intern, Events Manager, Harvest Freshman Preorientation Leader, and Senior Advisor.

During her time at Yale, Maia studied Mediterranean feminist literature in France and conducted ethnographic research in Suriname while working as a legal intern at Conservation International. Her senior thesis focused on the Surinamese government’s Green Development Strategy (GDS) and the impacts of ecotourism on labor opportunities for Maroon communities. 

Maia’s Fox Fellowship will build upon research themes from her time in Suriname, comparing development strategies employed in sovereign and non-sovereign Francophone states. She is passionate about mobilizing ethnographic research for policy outcomes and hopes to become a human rights lawyer focusing on international development.