Research
My research interests are in international and regional migration governance, refugee and migrant integration, forced migration and immigration policies in Latin America. I am also interested in exploring the role of social connections in refugees' and migrants' pathways to inclusion.
My research is concerned with understanding how migrant and refugee governance, protection and inclusion are achieved and experienced in Latin America, with a particular focus on the role of high and middle-income countries within developing regions. I am also conducting research on the impacts of social connections on refugees’ experiences of integration in Scotland, and beyond, with colleagues of the Migration and Social Connections Team at the IGHD.
I am a founding member of CAMINAR, Comparative Analysis in International Migration and Displacement in the Americas, established in April 2020 with colleagues from eight institutions in Latin America. Our current research examines the pathways and impacts of regularisation, considering both how Venezuelan migrant and refugee population makes sense of regularisation processes and how it impact access to rights in Latin America. Our work has been funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (2020) and the LASA–Ford Special Projects Grant (2021–22).
Currently I am Co-I of the UNHCR funded project 'Health System Resilience, Enhancement and Refugee Response Project', where I led the Peru case study.
I was the PI of the EU-AMIF project ‘New Scots Integration: A Pathway to Social and Economic Inclusion’ (2021-2023), and Co-I of an awarded RSE Research Grant to explore long-term refugee integration in Scotland (2022-2023) (with Dr Emilia Piętka-Nykaza).
In 2020-21 I also co-lead a cross-regional research project (with Prof Parvati Nair), funded by the UKRI-QMUL Strategic Research Priorities Fund, aimed to explore the role of civil society organisations supporting migrant populations in Brazil and India in the context of Covid-19 (Migration, Pandemic and Civil Society - MigPanBrIn).
As a Research Associate of the MIGPROSP project, led by Professor Andrew Geddes, I gathered qualitative data through more than 100 interviews conducted in eight countries across four world regions, in order to explore how key individuals within migration systems understand international migration and how these perceptions shape migration governance.
As part of my doctoral studies, which explored the resettlement experiences of a group of Colombian and Palestinian refugees in Chile and Brazil, I carried out two extended fieldwork visits, establishing partnership with different institutions, and securing external grant funding for my field visits. For this study, I implemented a qualitative driven mixed-methods research design that included 80 semi-structured interviews, a survey, and participant observation in two implementing agencies.
Stencil graffiti of a migrant organisation in Santiago, Chile (2013). The image reads “Migrant, get active. Join our Facebook fan page”.
Humans are meant to move. Metro in Sao Paulo, Brazil (2014).
Tokyo Airport, Japan (2016).
Train station Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil (2014).
Shibuya crossroad, Tokyo (2016).
Manila, the Philippines (2016).
Manila, the Philippines (2016).
Tokyo, Japan (2016).
Panoramic view of Brasilia, Brazil (2017).
All the pictures on my website (these ones included) have been taken by me during fieldwork visits. The photos shown in this gallery were taken in Japan, Brazil, Chile and the Philippines.
Current PhD researchers
Duke Fan Chiang (co-supervised with Alastair Ager and Kathleen Rutledge) QMU: 'The impact of cross-sector intervention on conflict-affected children’s mental health in protracted humanitarian settings. The case of children in refugee settlements in Uganda' (2021 - ).
Funke Adetutu (co-supervised with Stefanie Van De Peer) QMU: 'JAPA Journeys: Exploring Integration of Nigerian Immigrants in Scotland through Film' (2022 - ).
Helen Baillot (co-supervised with Daniel Reidpath) QMU: 'Families of care and connection: a relational exploration of how refugees overcome structural constraints to integration' (2023 - ).
Leyla Kerlaff (co-supervised with Karin Diaconu) QMU: 'Negotiating integration: refugees' experiences of place-making in the UK' (2023 - ).
MD Rezaur Rahman (co-supervised with Arek Dakessian) QMU: 'A mixed-method study to examine the effectiveness of social mixing activities in promoting social cohesion between the long-term and new residents in West Lothian, Scotland' (2023 - ).
Previous PhD Researchers
Dr Nuni Jorgensen (with Rachel Humphris and Kavita Datta) PHD-QMUL: ‘Fleeing South: The Impact of Patchwork Policies on Transnational Venezuelan Families in Latin America’ (2020-2024). QMUL Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship.
Dr Giovanna Gini (with Kerry Holden) PHD-QMUL: 'Anthropocene Mobilities: identity as a process between materialities and mobilities' (2019-2023). QMUL Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship.
Dr Michael Blaney (with Oonagh O'Brien and Alison Strang) QMU: '"Killing Hope" Refugee men's struggle to integrate and experience a sense of belonging in Ireland (- 2023).
Dr Gillian Hughes (with Kathleen Rutledge) QMU: 'Creative use of the ‘Tree of Life’ narrative methodology to develop the emotional resilience of refugee children, young people and their parents in the UK'. PhD by Publication (retrospective) (2023 - 2024)
Associate Researcher MIGPROSP
Awarded in March 2016
University of Sheffield
Ph.D. in Human Geography
PhD Research
SIID-ESRC Fellow
Latin American Perspectives on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
2009
University of Sheffield
M.A. in International Studies
2006
University of Chile
B.A. in Social Communication and Journalism
Education
Research Assistant ID100 project
Research Projects
Co-founder and researcher CAMINAR
Comparative Analysis on International Migration and Displacement in the Americas.
Co-PI MigPanBrIn (with Prof Parvati Nair)
Migration, Pandemic and Responses from the Third Sector: Lessons from Brazil and India
Funding and Grants
2020 Research England QR Strategic Research Priorities Fund for the project ‘Migration, Pandemic and Responses from the
Third Sector: Lessons from Brazil and India' Co-I with Prof Parvati Nair. Amount: £60,000
2020 LASA-FORD Special Project Award as part of CAMINAR research group. Project ‘The crisis of forced displacement and
responses to COVID-19 in Latin America’ Amount: US$12500
2020 Inter-American Development Bank. Assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 in Latin America.
2019 Queen Mary Global Engagement Research Initiation Scheme. Amount: £2000
2018 IHSS Early Career Workshop Funding Scheme to fund the academic event ‘Displacement and Refugee Protection in Latin
America and beyond’. Amount: £1000
2018 University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) grant for the workshop ‘Understanding the ethics of interdisciplinary
research in refugee camps’, held in June 2018. Event co-organised with colleagues of Urban Studies, Landscape and the
Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures. Amount: £1300
2018 EU-LAC Foundation award for co-financing events. ‘Crisis of Gobernability? The politics of Migration governance in Latin
America and Europe’, October 3-4 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (co-writer of the proposal and co-organiser of the event with
colleagues at the European University Institute). Amount: €7500
2017 Research Visit Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik / German Development Institute (DIE). December 2017. Travel,
accommodation and subsistence expenses.
2015 SIID Funding Conference Support to present at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference University of Exeter, from Tuesday
1 September to Friday 4 September 2015. Amount: £420
2014 White Rose DTC Interdisciplinary Student Led Network funding for the creation of the White Rose Postgraduate Migration
Research Network. Amount: £605
2014 Conference travel and fees grant from the IASFM Conference Organisers, Universidad Javariana, Bogotá, Colombia.
Amount: USD$1500
2014 Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) Postgraduate Conference Bursary 2014 to attend 50th Anniversary. Conference
in 2014 at Birkbeck, University of London. Amount: £200
2013 Slawson Award, Royal Geographical Society with IBG. The award supports geographical fieldwork involving development
issues with a high social value. Amount: £2100
2012 Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS), SLAS Postgraduate Travel Award. Amount: £600
2012 Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID), Travel Bursary. Amount: £1000
2012 Bursary CRS Summer Course on Refugee Issues, York University, Canada. Amount: CD$400.00
2011 CONICYT Becas Chile Scholarship for PhD, National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research.
Amount: total tuition fees, flights and monthly allowance
2008 University of Sheffield, University International Scholarship. Amount: £5150 2008 CONICYT Scholarship Master Abroad. Amount: monthly allowance and flights.