Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Ben Walsh completed his Bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) at Saint Louis University in May 2025, where he majored in Russian Studies and Political Science alongside a minor in Women and Gender Studies. While at SLU, Ben presented at multiple academic conferences, demonstrating his research on Russian culture and politics. Ben started studying Russian in high school and developed a passion for the language through meeting and developing close friendships with international students from Russia. Ben has studied abroad in Estonia in the summer of 2024. as well as doing the NSLI-Y virtual program in Kazakhstan in the summer of 2021. Ben speaks English and Russian, and is currently studying Polish. Ben’s areas of research focus on Russian civil society, contentious politics, contemporary Russian culture, and migration. While at CERES, Ben hopes to expand his area of study to include countries outside of Russia, such as Poland. Regarding a career path, Ben is exploring areas around human rights and democratization, especially in formerly communist countries.