Natasha –
You were a wonderful daughter! I miss you so so much. And I am so proud of you. The world seems very cold and harsh without you. I spent the last two hours teaching graduate students, students just like you, and all through the class I was trying to come to grips with the fact that you aren't in class now. I was so sad and wintery.
Dad

For those of you who don't know Natasha as well as I do, here is some background.

Natasha was born part child part adult and she grew up like that – seeing and feeing as a child, without the defenses that adults construct against the world. (For now we see through a glass, darkly: but then face to face.) She felt more pain than most of us because of this. She saw more acutely and felt more strongly than the rest.
She was wildly generous and would have given everything she had to someone if she felt it would make them happy, and was very upset by the suffering of others.
About 15 years ago my wife and I were visiting Bridget, my oldest daughter, in London where she was a grad student. Natasha came with us. As we left a train station we passed a homeless man sitting on the floor. Natasha – who was a teenager at the time - went to talk to him to get his story. She was in tears for hours afterwards.
Natasha was very intense, very alive, more so than most of us.
She was also brilliant – she majored in math and political science at Columbia, completed her courses in three years, and was working for a doctorate in political science at Yale. Between Yale and Columbia she worked for DWM, a microfinance organization, in the post-Soviet states of Central Asia. She spent time there, and early on recognized that they would become an area of conflict between the West and Russia. At Yale she organized several workshops on what is happening in the Ukraine, an illustration of her prediction that the ex-Soviet states could become conflict zones. She was a visionary who could unite many perspectives into one.
Natasha wanted to work with international organizations to reduce world conflict, but understood that most current international institutions are ineffective. She wanted to change the world. I do too, and have tried to do so in some small ways. She had the potential to do this in ways that really mattered.
I miss her enormously – she was and is and will remain an important part of my life – and the world will miss the wonderful things she could have done. I'm sure she could have made it a better place. There are many things I can learn from her – we can all learn from her - and I will continue for the rest of my life to do so.
I am so proud to be her father.
Geoff Heal

Here are some comments about Natasha that have really moved me. There are many more on her Facebook page.

"Years ago when I met this bright, beautiful, articulate, enthusiastic charming teenager, I was so impressed. There was something extremely moving and almost hypnotic about her." Abigail Agranat, neighbor, NYC

"An extraordinary young woman: brilliant, empathetic, and extremely courageous in facing the most difficult challenges." Professor Lyn Cooley, Dean, Yale Graduate School

"Natasha took my corruption seminar during her first year at Yale, and she was a real force of nature—always engaged and full of insightful observations on the reading that drew on her own experiences. Her trip to Zambia that year showed how courageous and energetic she could be in carrying out research in difficult environments. She also made a fascinating presentation on natural resource corruption in Mongolia and Zambia at a 2013 conference sponsored by New York City where I was a speaker. After her talk, a participant from the FBI commented that he would love to have been able to take on the case of malfeasance that she documented. Her latest idea was to contribute to the strategy against Ebola in Africa, and I was looking forward to getting a draft op-ed from her. I was really looking forward to working with her as she began to develop her dissertation ideas and to make a real difference in the world.
Her death is a great loss to those of us who hope that social science can make a real difference in helping to understand and solve problems in developing countries." Susan Rose-Ackerman, Professor of Law and of Political Science, Yale.

"She was excited about my class, and working hard and doing well." John Roemer, Professor of Political Science, Yale.

"Natasha was a star that shone brilliantly. She lit up the darkness. And when a light burns that brightly, it can only do so for so long. We will miss her." Dr Neil Howard, European University Institute

"Words cannot express it. She was lovely, brilliant, one of a kind. You can be proud of what she accomplished and what she was in her short but intensely-lived life. " Brad Swanson, Partner and Founder, DWM (Developing World Markets)

"All we can wish, is to make an impact on the world that will out live us. You've done that, tenfold. I love you Natasha, you've touched my heart and my life - you've inspired me. And I'm not alone. You're a force to be reckoned with, you live on in the hearts of so many. Leave the suffering to us- I hope you find the tranquility that's so elusive in existence." Lizzie Cantey, LA.

"Am so grateful to have had you in my life . You were a beacon of light to so many people. You always had the kindest smile for someone in need. I will always remember our talks and your wise words. Your intelligence and kindness were unrivaled. I pray that you have finally found the peace that eluded you for so long. May the light that burned so brightly in your soul never go out." Maya Dorrian

"I'm lucky to have known you." Rebecca Supan