Makoto Takahashi is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge and a Visiting Research Fellow for Program on Science, Technology and Society (STS) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in spring 2019. Makoto’s interests lie in how societies come to understand and manage novel risks. His doctoral research examines how expert authority is claimed and contested in conditions of low public trust. This work is informed by extensive fieldwork in Japan, conducted in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster.

Prior to his time at Harvard, Makoto held a Visiting Research Fellowship at Waseda University. He received a First-Class BA and an MPhil in Geography from the University of Cambridge. During his doctorate, Makoto has also actively engaged with policy audiences – working at the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) and delivering presentations at the British Embassy in Paris, CEPN, and NERIS.