Student/Young Pugwash (SYP) UK has an active Executive Board. The Board provides strategic leadership and guides the activities of SYP UK members with the SYP Coordinator.
Members of the Executive Board are:
Olivia Ibbotson
Olivia Ibbotson is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Biological Security Research Centre, London Metropolitan University. With a solid biomedical science background, her interdisciplinary research now focuses on the International Criminalization of Biological and Chemical weapons, the physiological and environmental consequences of BCW weapons and general CBRNe security education. She is also heavily involved in the International Biological Security Education Network (IBSEN) project since it was initiated in 2023.
Olivia is passionate in calling for the non-proliferation of all weapons of mass destruction. For example, she advocates for a reviewal of White Phosphorus’s classification under international law due to its physiological and environmental effects. She believes the use of this weapon in past, present and future conflicts to be inhumane.
Olivia also believes in the importance of discussing the difficult and “forgotten” histories of war, particularly those of the extreme sexual violence against women and children. From The Lola’s of East/South East Asia, the German women surviving the Red Army in Berlin, and to the missing Yazidi women/girls of the Middle East, Olivia believes these women’s histories must be spoken loudly and should never be forgotten.
Ching Wei Sooi
Ching Wei is a Research Intern with BASIC and holds an MA in Peace, Security and International Law from King’s College London. Previously, he has served as a rapporteur for Wilton Park, worked as a Graduate Professional with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research’s Space Security and WMD Programmes, and interned with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs under the Office of the Director.
His work focuses primarily on space and nuclear weapons, with a broader interest in emerging and disruptive technologies, as well as on strategic stability, disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation issues. A published author, he has been invited to panels and fellowships across Europe and Asia.
Soh Yu Wei
Yu Wei Soh is an undergraduate studying Physics at Imperial College London, with a particular interest in quantum physics and emerging quantum technologies. He is passionate about nuclear disarmament, climate action, and the implications of the rise of quantum technologies for global security. Committed to bridging the gap between scientific research and international policy, he hopes to promote dialogue among younger voices on issues of security, ethics, and the future of science.
Matteo Bordin
Matteo Bordin is a PhD student at Queen’s University of Belfast, and an active supporter of science diplomacy in the fields of climate change abolition, AI regulation, and nuclear disarmament.
His PhD project concerns the possibility of measuring quantum effects of gravity using optomechanical platforms. He is also working on issues of gravitational decoherence of open quantum systems.