Jonty Townson
President
I’m Jonty and I’m your MCR President this year. I’m starting the 3rd year of the BBSRC-DTP programme, completing a PhD in molecular Biology where I work with fruit flies a lot. As President, I represent your interests in college, and try to get any concerns or issues you have resolved, so feel free to email me or come have a chat anytime if you have any concerns. I’m really looking forward to welcoming you all to Clare and to meeting you in Fresher’s Week, please feel free to email me before you get here if you have any questions.
Dan Critchlow
Vice President
Hey everyone, I’m Dan and I’m your MCR Vice President. I’m just starting the 3rd year of my PhD in Chemistry. As Vice President, my main job is to represent the college at the inter-collegiate and university wide level for instance in Students Union (CUSU) and Graduate Union (GU) meetings. I’m also here to prop-up Jonty so if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to drop me an email. I’m also going to keep up my roles from last year and be the acting Green Officer until a replacement can be found so if you have any concerns about green issues in the college please get in contact. Clare is a lovely, friendly place where I have made a group of life-long friends and I’m sure you will too.
Rouchelle Sriranjan
Secretary and Computing Officer
Hi everyone! Welcome to the Clare MCR! I’m Rouchelle and I’m your MCR secretary. I’m a cardiology registrar and am a second year PhD student in the Department of Medicine. As secretary and IT officer, I maintain the mailing lists, the MCR website and access to punts bookings. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries with regard to these. You’re going to have a great time as a part of the Clare MCR and I look forward to meeting you all in freshers week :)
Henri van Soest
Treasurer
Hello! My name is Henri, and I am the MCR treasurer. I am a second-year PhD student at the Department of Land Economy. I will be looking after the MCR finances this year. My work mainly takes place behind the scenes, but it essential for ensuring that we can enjoy formals, swaps, ceilidhs, and other fun activities. I also interact with the college on financial matters. In addition, I help set out the college’s investment strategy through my participation in the investment committee.
Danny Parle
Social Secretary
Hi Everyone! I’m Danny, one our your two MCR social secretaries. I am a second-year chemistry PhD student. As social secs you will hopefully see a lot of us during freshers, and we will be trying to organise the best freshers’ events possible to welcome you to the MCR. After freshers our main job is organising the MCR formals which happen every Friday evening during term time. You will get lots more information on these but do come along as they are great fun and very popular amongst MCR members. If you have any social related questions or have any ideas on events you would like to see the MCR run, then please get in contact! I look forward to meeting you all in freshers!
Stephen Trigg
Social Secretary
Hello! I’m Stephen, that other social sec at Clare. I’m a third year PhD student in Biochemistry, but please don’t ask me about it unless you really really like microbial respiration. Alongside Danny and the rest of the committee (mostly the Short One and the Long One that run the bar), we will warmly welcome you to Clare during Freshers’ Week with a range of events to keep you entertained. We will also be putting on regular events throughout the year to maintain your sanity and give you the chance to meet the wider MCR community at Clare. Definitely do come and talk to us if you have suggestions for events you’d like to see too. See you in October!
William Wood
Bar Manager
Hello! I’m Will and I am one of our two bar managers this year along with Pieter. This will be my fourth year in Clare and third year of my PhD in Physics. We look after and protect what many consider (and you will surely come to consider) our most precious asset: the MCR Bar. We make sure it’s constantly stocked with good quality alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks alike, all at extremely reasonable prices. It’s the perfect place to unwind after stressful days and dropping by regularly is 100% the most effective way of getting to know other MCR members (including your bar managers!). Come and say hi!
PJ Sterenborg
Bar Manager
Hello everyone! My name is Pieter-Jan (but I answer to Pieter, PJ, or any other variation you might wish to conjure up) and I am one of the two MCR Bar Managers this year, along with Will. During the day, I am a second-year PhD student in History. The bar is the social hub of the MCR, serving over a hundred whiskies as well as a wide range of interesting beers, spirits, liqueurs, and non-alcoholic drinks. Please do drop us a line if there is anything you want us to stock in the bar, or if you would like to organise something in the MCR. I am looking forward to meeting many of you there!
Sam Hodder
Female Welfare Officer
Hello everyone, my name is Sam and welcome to Clare! I am entering the first year of my PhD in Cancer Biology after having completed my masters at Clare last year. As your female welfare officer, I’m part of a wider pastoral network here at Clare, and our role is to assure your well-being as much as possible during your time here. I am really keen to make sure the MCR is as warm and friendly as possible and a welcoming place for everyone studying at Clare. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me or the other welfare officers if we can do anything to help you have a better time here at Clare. Looking forward to meeting you all!
Pat Taylor
Male Welfare Officer
Hiya I’m Pat, welcome to Clare MCR! I’ve been at the college for one year, and I’m now just starting the PhD part of the CDT in Computational Materials Science. I round out the welfare team as male welfare officer. We’re here to help you settle into Cambridge life in freshers’ week, and support you throughout the rest of your time at Clare. As well as being able to provide advice for issues you might face, I hope to be a friendly face around college, someone you can sit with for dinner in the buttery or chat with at the MCR bar. So please do come and introduce yourself to me and the other welfare officers at the start of term. I can’t wait to meet you all!
Ellie Dunstone
LGBTQ+ Welfare Officer
Hi everyone! I’m Ellie and I am the MCR LGBT+ rep! I am a second year PhD student working in computational cancer genomics at the Sanger Institute! My role is to work with the other MCR welfare reps and the JCR LGBT+ rep to make sure the college is an inclusive and fun place for our LGBT+ members. I’ll be organising socials throughout the year, so watch this space! So far plans include a freshers’ week social with the Clare JCR, meet-ups with other colleges, and a trip to Cambridge Pride! I am also available at any time for confidential advice and support on LGBT+ related or any other issues, or just a chat! Welcome to Clare :)
Paola Velasco Herrejón
BAME Officer
Hello! My name is Paola, I’m from Mexico and I’m a final year PhD in Development Studies, looking at community energy. One of the things that I love most about Clare is that you get to meet fascinating people from all over the world working on world changing projects in all subjects. That is why I’m very excited and honoured to be BAME Officer this year. My goal will be to ensure racial equality for all students in the MCR and encourage ethnic minority students to fully engage with our college community. I will be organising special events so keep tuned. Please do contact me if you would like to raise a BME related issue with the College or just have a chat! Look forward to meeting you soon!
Hannah Grady
First Year Officer
Hello and welcome to Clare! I’m Hannah, and I’m - for not very much longer - the MCR’s First Year Officer. Last year, I moved to Cambridge from California and completed an MPhil in Theology. This year, I begin my PhD in Theology. I’ll be around during fresher’s week, and then as I’m not a first year any longer, I’ll be passing the baton to one of you! Interested in looking after and planning things for your fellow first years? Being on the MCR is a great way to get plugged in to life at Clare, so consider running!
Lydia Parkinson
Exchange Officer
Welcome to Clare! I’m Lydia and I am a third year PhD student in the Department of Oncology. As your exchanges (swaps) officer I will be arranging for us to go for formal dinners at other colleges to see what they have to offer. Basically, I want to have dinner in all of the 31 colleges in Cambridge so figured this role was a good way of trying to achieve that! I will also be arranging for other colleges to come to Clare formals so they can all see how wonderful Clare is. I look forward to meeting you all in fresher’s week.
Ada Hoi Yee Lee
Mature Students' Officer
Hi, my name is Ada and I am a second-year Land Economy PhD. As Mature Students Officer, I look after the needs of MCR members who are over 25 years old and/or doing a PhD. I will be organising events for PhDs, families and other mature students throughout the year. Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions concerning how we can make the MCR a better place for you!
Andrea Paterlini
Clareity President
Hi and welcome to Clare college! My name is Andrea and I am doing a PhD in Plant sciences. I am in my 4th year of studies and this is my 3rd year in the MCR committee (I got addicted!). One of the best things about Clare - and the college system in general - is that you get to meet people working on research completely unrelated to your own. That’s why I am very excited to coordinate Clareity this year, a series of informal evening talks with wine and pizza where MCR members (grad students and junior research fellows) share their work with the rest of the community. We will also have a daylong symposium later in the year. Hope to see you all at our first Clareity evening, soon after freshers’ week!
Navin Ramakrishna
Quartermaster
Hi! I’m a 4th year Genetics PhD student from Singapore. I oversee the services in the MCR room itself. In particular, I ensure the MCR is well stocked with coffee beans for our (often cranky) espresso machine, as well as ground coffee for our filter machine - lifesavers for those working near college. I put out a range of teas too and I also ensure that the biscuit jar (or cookie jar) never runs out. Well, the last one is a tale; the biscuit jar will run empty from time to time. But this frequency ensures there’ll be biscuits all year around as I operate from a budget. I take requests for your favourite biscuits or tea, so do drop me a message!
Nick Taylor
Sports Officer
Hi, I’m Nick your MCR sports rep. I’m in my second year of a PhD on the BBSRC DTP. I will be organising various sporting events throughout the year and am here to answer any of your Clare related sporting questions. All MCR members have access to our lovely sports ground near Bentley Road and to squash courts and the Clare colony gym.
Calum Ashcroft
Admiral of the Punts
Hi, I’m Calum, and I’m your Admiral of the punts. I’m going into the second year of my PhD in maths. I’m in charge of the punts at Clare for the MCR - the punts can be booked by any College member and are free to use, so I hope you all enjoy them!
Peter Asimov
Library Officer
I'm Peter, entering the fourth year of my PhD in music. As Library Officer, I attend library committee meetings and try to solve any issues you might have related to academic affairs and study spaces. Clare has two main libraries: the Forbes Mellon library, located in Memorial Court, which is a study space with a collection of teaching-related books; and the Fellows’ library in Old Court (unfortunately currently closed for renovations), a historical library which houses Clare’s collection of rare and valuable books, including two first editions of Newton’s Principia. The librarians are friendly and helpful, so feel free to approach them as well. I also run the MCR book exchange (opposite the bar in the MCR) You can take any book you like completely free - just replace it with a book of your own. I look forward to meeting you all!