view all Zawadi girls

Joan Kwamboka

Arizona State University , Kenya, Class of (2013)

Major(s)

Biological Sciences (Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology)

Current Occupation

Student

Synopsis

Kwamboka Joan calls herself a scientist who is an artist. She is an undergraduate student at Arizona State University on a MasterCard Foundation Scholarship majoring in Biological Sciences (Gen, Cell & Dev. Bio) and an upcoming photographer. The MasterCard Foundation has invested in the education of young Africans from sub-Saharan Africa who are committed to giving back to their communities and developing their respective regions. Currently, she is involved in starch and sugar analysis of desert plants (Arizona has xerophytic conditions) by studying how water loss and availability impacts the synthesis of sugar in these plants.

Outside class, Kwamboka is a photographer under the tutelage of an American photographer and gallery owner, Allan Fitzgerald. She is also the official student photographer for the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Program (MCFP) at Arizona State University tasked with documenting the works of other scholars. It is a position she requested to be charged with to practice her skill. She is currently the Social Media and Marketing Director for the New American Youth Initiative (NAYI), a student organization that is involved in promoting the integration and participation of refugees in Phoenix in their communities.