I am an anthropologist specialising in the intersection between migration, aid and security in mainland Southeast Asia. Initially trained in social anthropology at University of Oslo and Macquarie University in Australia, I worked for the United Nations Development Programme in the Mekong region before returning to the social sciences. After completing my PhD and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Anthropology at Macquarie University, I was in 2012 appointed lecturer in Anthropology (Development Studies) at the Australian National University. I am the current co-editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology (TAPJA) and have served in several leadership roles, including the Discipline Head of Anthropology and Research Convenor within the School or Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University.
I have two decades research and programme experience on human trafficking, development and mobility in the Mekong region. In my PhD fieldwork I carried out research on migration and anti-trafficking interventions along the Lao-Thai border. My current research examines how “safe migration” has become an important modality of migration governance in the Mekong region. My overarching research agenda advances the study of the securitisation of aid and mobility in a comparative perspective. Its theoretical contribution is to illuminate how relations and structures of power permeate through development and humanitarian practices as well as how such efforts are mobilised, enacted, and legitimated. I extend my academic research through collaborations with UN agencies and other external partners through consultancies, commissioned research, and other forms of engagements.
I am the author of Safe Migration and the Politics of Brokered Safety in Southeast Asia and The Perfect Business? Anti-Trafficking and the Sex Trade along the Mekong (University of Hawaii Press).