Dr Alexandra Winkels
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 topics
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.