Ben Oestericher

Benjamin Oestericher is a junior in the School of Foreign Service majoring in African Regional Studies and minoring in International Development. He has conducted research on global mental health alongside Professor Shabab Wahid and Professor Emily Mendenhall. As a Laidlaw Scholar and 2023 Disability Studies Learning in Practice Fellow, he assessed the integration of mental health and peacebuilding in Northeast Nigeria. Alongside collaborators at Aga Khan University, he conducted fieldwork on the effect of climate change on mental health in drought-affected communities in Kilifi County, Kenya. He is currently studying abroad in Cameroon, where he is conducting research on the nexus of climate change, conflict, and mental health. 

Ben collaborates on the Ecological Grief in Kenya project with Dr. Emily Mendenhall, Dr Edna Bosire, Dr. Shabab Wahid, and Janeeta Shaukat.