Dr Alexandra Winkels

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Biography

Alexandra Winkels is Academic Director for International Development and Global Change at the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education (PACE), and is affiliated with the Centre of Development Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge. She has a BSc in Environmental Sciences (University of Salford) and studied for an MPhil in Environment & Development (Geography, University of Cambridge and Clare Hall) before completing her PhD at the University of East Anglia in 2004. Alexandra held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship between 2006-2013.

Alexandra’s teaching ranges from undergraduate geography and development studies, to postgraduate teaching on migration and development. Alexandra tries to engage students in contemporary debates and by drawing on her empirical experiences in Vietnam and elsewhere to help bridge the divide between theory and practice of international development issues. Her research interests centre around mobility, livelihoods and vulnerability.

In her capacity as Senior Researcher at the Centre of Development Studies (University of Cambridge), Alexandra offers a module on 'Migration and Development'. She supervises MPhil dissertations and PhD students.

Research

Alexandra's interest lies in understanding the interplay betweens migration and development. Her projects revolve around the interactions between mobility, human development and livelihood vulberability focusing on the risks faced by migrants and their families as a result of migration. Ongoing research includes migration pathways in the context of climate change in Vietnam (funded by the British Academy) and the effects on return migration of Slovakian migrants (University of Cambridge).

Alexandra has completed projects on internal migration in Vietnam considering the role of social capital in the migration process and the impact of migration on those who stay behind at origin. In this context, Alexandra has also studied the global - local linkages of commodity markets and how they impact on livelihood vulnerability of migrant farmers. She also collaborated with the Centre for Community Health and Development (COHED, Vietnam) on a project funded by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED, London) on heat stress of outdoor workers and illegal migrants in Da Nang City, Vietnam.

In 2011, Alexandra compiled policy briefing papers on climate change and migration for a range of organisations on climate change and migration (e.g. DFID's Climate Change Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the United National Development Programme (UNDP). In the past she has also worked as a consultant for a number of international organisations including Vietnam's United National Population Fund (UNFPA) and the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) in Fiji and as an academic expert for DFID, IDS, CDKN and SOAS.

Selected Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Heat stress and adaptive capacity of low-income outdoor workers and their families in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. Asian Cities Climate Resilience. London, IIED (with Dao Thi Mai Hoa, Do Anh Nguyet, Nguyen Hoang Phuong,Dang Thu Phuong, Vu Thu Nga, R.Few) , 2013
Migration, social networks and risk: the case of rural to rural migration in Vietnam. Journal of Vietnamese Studies 7 (4) , 2012
Migration & Climate Change. DFID Climate Change Knowledge Network Briefing Note (CDKN), London (with N Brooks) , 2011
Nested Vulnerability: exploring cross-scale linkages and tele-connections in Mexican and Vietnamese coffee systems. Environmental Science & Policy 12 (4): 398-412 (with H Eakin and J Sendzimir) , 2008
Rural in-migration and global trade: managing the risks of coffee farming in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Mountain Research and Development. 28 (1) (Feb) , 2008

BOOK CHAPTERS

Vulnerability, poverty and sustaining well-being. In: G Atkinson, S Dietz, E Neumeyer and Matthew Agarwala (eds). Handbook of Sustainable Development 2nd Ed. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (with W N Adger) , 2014
Stretched Livelihoods – the social and economic connections between the Red River Delta and the Central Highlands. In: Sikor et al. (eds) Upland transformations: Opening boundaries in Vietnam. National University of Singapore Press (NUSP): Singapore , 2011
Nested and networked vulnerabilities to environmental change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7(3): 150–157 (With W N Adger and H Eakin) , 2009
vFrontier Migration and Social Capital in Vietnam. in G Mutz & R Klump (Eds.) Modernisation and Social Transformation in Vietnam. Hamburg: Institut für Asienkunde, pp 94-112 , 2005

CONFERENCE PAPERS

Migrant vulnerability in Da Nang City - Vietnam (with Le Thi Hoa Sen, Ha Thi Nga, Ngyen Tien Long, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry) Migrants in the City: New Dynamics of Migration in Urban Settings Sheffield Methods Institute, 12th - 13th October , 2015
The role of Diasporas in International Development. Junctures (Iran – UK dialogue event presented at Cambridge Junction), 25 March , 2015
Migrant networks and the migration process: considering the spatial and temporal dimensions of social capital. Examining Migration Dynamics: Networks and Beyond. Theorizing the Evolution of European Migration Systems (THEMIS) Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford (24-26th September) , 2013
Urbanisation, internal migration and flooding: the vulnerability of Migrants in Da Nang City, Vietnam. Climate Change, Migration and the Urban Environment: Policy, Governance, Theory Workshop sponsored by EU COST Action IS110, Athens (26th April) , 2013
Mobility, Risk and Livelihood Vulnerability. Climate Smart Agriculture – Global Science Conference. UC Davis, USA (19-23 March) , 2013

Memberships

Cambridge Migration Research Network (CAMMIGRES).

Centre for Development Studies

Centre for Global Equality

Garama 3C Climate Change Consultancy

Institute of Continuing Education
Madingley Hall
Madingley
Cambridge
CB23 8AQ

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