The student fellows are named in honor of Herbert J. Hansell, a graduate of Yale Law School, who served as Legal Adviser in the U.S. State Department from 1977 to 1979 and who was a leading international lawyer in private practice thereafter. During his time as Legal Adviser, he was closely involved in the negotiation of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (the Camp David Accords), the Panama Canal Treaties, the Salt II Treaty, and agreements establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
Madeline Babin is a second-year student at Yale Law School. After graduating Boston College in 2019 with a B.A. in International Studies, Political Science, and Arabic Studies, Madeline spent three years as a Research Associate at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., specializing in legal and policy analysis related to global criminal justice, human rights, energy security, and climate change. At Yale Law School, Madeline serves as the Co-President of the National Security Group, Co-Director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, and Vice President of the Yale Society of International Law. She is an Articles Editor for the Yale Journal of International Law and a Policy and Features Editor for the Yale Law and Policy Review. Madeline is also Student Director of the Center for Global Legal Challenges. She is a founding member of the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot team and a Chae Fellow in Private Sector Leadership as part of the Tsai Leadership Program. Madeline spent her summer as a law clerk in the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice supporting the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism in advocating for the rights of U.S. citizen victims of terrorist attacks in foreign legal systems.
Sarah Do
nilon is a second-year student at Yale Law School. At Yale, she is involved with the Yale Law Journal, the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project, and the National Security Group. From 2021 to 2023, she was a member of the White House National Security Council staff in its Indo-Pacific office. As Indo-Pacific policy advisor, she worked on bilateral and multilateral initiatives spanning China, East Asia and Oceania, and South Asia, including the Quad, AUKUS, and engagement with the Pacific Islands. Before that, she was a member of the Clinton (2016) and Biden (2020) presidential campaigns and the Biden-Harris presidential transition. She also previously reported for The Economist's foreign desk in each of its five regional sections. She received an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in history from Yale and a master’s degree with distinction in modern British history from Oxford.
Cindy Garay is a second-year student at Yale Law School with an interest in international criminal law and international human rights law. Prior to attending law school, she was an Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the UN. In this role, she oversaw Rwanda’s peace and security portfolio and served as the lead negotiator in the Fourth Committee (the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations). She helped pass resolutions in both the General Assembly and the Security Council that prioritized the protection of civilians, improved the performance of peacekeepers, and increased the participation of women in peacekeeping. Cindy spent the summer of 2024 interning with the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the Department of Justice. As an intern, she worked on cases involving human rights violations, international violent crimes, and war crimes. At Yale, Cindy is involved in the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, the Yale Journal of International Law, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, and the National Security Group.
Samantha Kierna
n is a second-year student at Yale Law School. At Yale, she is a co-president of the National Security Group, an executive articles editor on the Yale Journal of International Law, and a student co-director of the Paul Tsai China Center. She spent the summer of 2024 interning with UN Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland and with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development. Before law school, Samantha worked at the Council on Foreign Relations and the United Nations. She received her MMSc in global affairs from Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar and her BA in international relations from Brown University.
Gabriel Klapholz is a second-year J.D. candidate at Yale Law School interested in international law and LGBTQ and civil rights law. At Yale, Gabe serves as Managing Editor of the Yale Journal of International Law, Executive Notes Editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review, and a first-year editor on the Yale Law Journal. He is also on the boards of the American Constitution Society and the Yale Civil Rights Project. Gabe spent this past summer in the Special Litigation Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Prior to law school, Gabe worked as a paralegal in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice on federal lawsuits against Google and other Big Tech companies. Gabe earned his undergraduate degree at Yale summa cum laude in Global Affairs, History, and Human Rights Studies. Next summer, he will be working as a Summer Associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Inbar Pe'er 
is a 3L at Yale law School, where she focuses on foreign relations law and international law. While at Yale, she worked at the Department of State's Office of the Legal Advisor, the International Institute of Justice in Malta, and Arnold & Porter. Inbar is an Executive Features Editor of the Yale Journal of International Law and was the Co-President of the Yale Law School National Security Group. Before law school, she worked at the Atlantic Council and Columbia SIPA, researching a variety of foreign policy issues. Inbar received her B.A. from Columbia University, where she studied international politics.
Carter Squires 
is a 2L at Yale Law School interested in foreign policy, constitutional law, and administrative law. At Yale, Carter is involved with the Yale Journal of International Law, the Yale Law and Policy Review, the Global Constitutionalism Seminar, Run-L, and is a Ludwig Fellow in Public Sector Leadership through the Tsai Leadership Program. Over Summer 2024, Carter interned with the Federal Programs Branch at the Department of Justice. Prior to law school, Carter worked at the Antitrust Division at the DOJ and conducted research with the Brookings Institution and the Chicago Center on Democracy. His research has been published by Brookings, the Chicago Journal of Foreign Policy, and the Democratic Erosion Consortium. Carter received his B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science from the University of Chicago, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Catherin
e (Catey) Vera is a second-year student at Yale Law School with an interest in international law and human rights. She spent the last summer interning for the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, and for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. Prior to law school, Catey completed a joint fellowship with the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Human Rights Center, where she used open-source intelligence techniques to help investigate alleged war crimes. Catey graduated summa cum laude with a degree in cognitive science from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was the University Medalist.
Eli Scher-Zagier is a third-year JD student at Yale Law School. He has split his summers between different parts of the Justice Department, the United States Air Force, and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Before law school, he graduated summa cum laude from Sciences Po Paris, where he received a master’s in international security. Eli’s research has focused on national security, human rights, and cyberspace, and his work is forthcoming in the Yale Law & Policy Review and the Yale Journal of Law & Technology. After law school, he will clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Kevin Zhang is a third year JD candidate at Yale Law School, where he serves as Articles Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He has wide-ranging interests in legal theory, international law, and public policy. Over previous summers, he has worked at Jenner & Block in Washington, DC and at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (National Security and International Narcotics Division), and he has also recently traveled to both Chile and Argentina to engage in questions about Latin American constitutionalism. Before studying law, Kevin received his DPhil and BPhil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford and his AB from Princeton University.