Research Officer, United Nations University
Julia Blocher joined the United Nations University Office to the United Nations as Research Officer in January 2016. Her main research interests are in the geopolitical impacts of climate change and migration, displacement and planned relocations. She is also an avid communicator and active on social media.
Ms. Blocher is also a Ph.D candidate and Associate Member of the Hugo Observatory at the University of Liege (Belgium), conducting field-based research for the International Organization for Migration (IOM)-led ‘Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy’ (MECLEP) and for the FP7 Consortium ‘High-End cLimate Impact eXtremes’ (HELIX) projects.
Prior to joining the office in New York, Ms. Blocher was a Visiting Scientist at the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and a Research Assistant for the “Politics of the Earth” Program at Sciences Po Paris. She has recently lectured in environmental geopolitics and the governance of migration and asylum at Sciences Po Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité (Paris XIII) and Addis Ababa University.
She previously worked for the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC-NRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She holds a Master 2 from Sciences Po Paris.
Research Interests:
Asylum and migration policy
Climate risk
Disaster displacement
Environmental geopolitics
Planned relocation and resettlement policy
Border policy
Education:
Ph.D Candidate in Political Science, University of Liège
(2011): Master 2, Affaires internationales: environnement, dévelopment durable et risques (U.S. Equivalent: International Development), Sciences Po Paris
(2009): B.A. (General Hons, Departmental Hons, Dean’s list 2007-2009) International Studies and French, Johns Hopkins University
Global compact on migration should focus on harnessing its win-win benefits
May 12, 2017 10:25 am UTC| Insights & Views
An agreement to address migrant and refugee crises worldwide, which the UN General Assembly adopted in September, has been described by many in the United Nations as nothing short of a miracle. But it also appears...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects