Carmela Cadja
2026 Pelosi Scholar
Class of 2028
Major: Science, Technology, & International Affairs
Hometown: Burnsville, MN
Carmela aspires to address energy transitions and nuclear energy development, with an emphasis on community agency in these processes. She also hopes to enter the U.S. Foreign Service, engaging in work that understands the crucial roles that religion, fundamentalism, and extremism play in regional African politics.
Through the Figge Fellowship Program, Carmela is conducting research on the ongoing role of contemporary French influence and political pressures from Muslim brotherhoods on the Catholic minority in Senegal. She is a Science & Technology Section Editor for the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs and is a Teaching Assistant for Professor Berlinerblau’s proseminar “Comedy, Blasphemy, and International Relations.” Interested in interning abroad in the summer of 2026, Carmela is excited to explore her commitment to public service through the Pelosi Scholars Initiative.