Astier M. Almedom, Director
Astier Almedom is an applied anthropologist who started out with a Bachelor's degree (1986) in Human Sciences, followed by a doctorate in Biological Anthropology (1991), both of which she received from Oxford University, Wadham College. Beyond Oxford, Dr. Almedom's academic and applied research background has included six years of research and teaching at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she lectured in medical anthropology, advised graduate and professional candidates in the Master of Public Health in Developing Countries (PHDC) and doctoral programs. Her interests in environmental health, and maternal morale in settings of often protracted "complex emergency" led her to spend more time in capacity building initiatives through continual on-site training of non-academic public health and community development field-level practitioners in eastern Africa, and parts of south-west Asia. Dr. Almedom's field research teams were routinely subjected to on-the-job fieldwork training which she designed and implemented. Many of them ended up succeeding in becoming co-authors of her peer-reviewed academic and practitioner/policy-oriented journal publications. Dr. Almedom also run various invited training workshops and seminars in Universities across the UK throughout the 1990's. Dr. Almedom joined the British government National Health Service (NHS) in 1999 as the Research and Evaluation Manager of the Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham (LSL) Health Action Zone (HAZ) where she chaired the multi-agency Evaluation and Learning Workstream, commissioned the HAZ evaluation and co-authored the HAZEL (Health Action Zone Evaluation and Learning) Manual with Leroy White, Yvonne Field, Julia Mason, and Abigail Bennett (2000). Living and working in South London brought home to Dr. Almedom the resilience as well as profound vulnerabilities of asylum seekers and refugee children and young people in the UK. She began to understand the role of multi-agency partnerships in driving change and transformation of health and social systems in deprived inner-city neighborhoods where the HAZ, Children First, sought to build community social capital and tackle health inequalities focusing on children and young people in the context of their social, emotional, and geographical ecosystems.
Since joining Tufts University in the last decade, Dr. Almedom has served as the Henry R. Luce Professor in Science and Humanitarianism, developing new courses and contributing to existing ones across schools, as well as conducting research on human and institutional resilience with respect to international humanitarian policy and public health responses to disasters. Dr. Almedom was appointed Professor of Practice in Humanitarian Policy and Global Public Health at The Fletcher School in 2007 when she also initiated this program under the auspices of IGL and the Provost's Office. Dr. Almedom is committed to combining research and curricular activities aimed at engaging both graduate and undergraduate students in interdisciplinary thinking and experiential learning on and off-campus through projects that fit individual interests and backgrounds, while also contributing to the overall research and publication goals of the International Resilience Program. Recent years have seen Dr. Almedom take resilience seminars and workshops to high level science and policy venues internationally, much to the credit of her Tufts home both at Fletcher and the IGL where students and faculty are open to alternative points of view and engage positively in promoting imaginative and critical thought across disciplines.
Download Almedom's CV (coming soon)
Ayron M. Strauch, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology
Ayron is conducting an interdisciplinary study looking at the links between social and ecological systems in sub-Saharan Africa. He is primarily interested in understanding how natural resource management strategies impact water resources, the variability of water resource quality, the impact of water quality on arid ecosystems and the health of water-stressed communities. Ayron uses both conventional ecological tools as well as interdisciplinary and participatory research methods to better understand complex social-ecological systems. With a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Anthropology, Ayron first became interested in conservation-related issues in sub-Saharan Africa after living in Kenya in 2002. Having earned the cross-school graduate Water: Systems, Science, and Society Certificate, and his Master’s degree in Biology at Tufts University, Ayron embarked on his doctoral research focusing on aquatic ecosystems and land management in Zimbabwe in 2005. He then moved his study site to Tanzania where he completed multi-year fieldwork in the Serengeti National Park and adjacent village of Samunge. Throughout his time at Tufts, Ayron chose to continue with Dr. Almedom's research group and pursue his interdisciplinary work under the guidance of a cross-school Ph.D. advisory committee chaired by Astier Almedom.
Evelyn Brensinger, Research Associate
Evelyn Brensinger is a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) candidate at The Fletcher School. Concentrating on Human Security, International Security Studies, and Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization, she is interested in post-conflict reconstruction and methods of promoting resilience in development and aid initiatives targeting war and disaster-affected populations. Evelyn conducted fieldwork in New Orleans, Louisiana in the spring 2009 for a study, Post-Katrina Study of Human Resilience and Corresponding Sources of Strength, Hope, and Support in the Greater New Orleans Area, that will be incorporated into her MALD thesis. Her additional foci include: the role of corruption in catalyzing and perpetuating conflict (with reference to Afghanistan and Iraq); the use of media, particularly community radio, to promote human resilience in war-affected areas, and; the intersection of development and conflict resolution initiatives. Evelyn participated in a Resilience Seminar held at the Institute of Health, Warwick University in England in 2008 and is co-author of a book chapter with Astier Almedom and Gordon Adam (2010). Previously, Evelyn graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Skidmore College in 2003 as a double major in Government and International Affairs; and worked as a senior research associate for a private international economic consulting firm in Washington D.C., where she was responsible for developing official reports and expert testimony filed by the firm on behalf of international clients at the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. In 2006, Evelyn moved to Istanbul, Turkey, where she launched a small private teaching business. Evelyn has working proficiency in Turkish and German and continues to study Arabic following intensive learning in Damascus, Syria in the summer of 2009.
Kate Cummings, Research Associate
Kate Cummings is a second year MALD candidate at the Fletcher School, focusing on human security and the resiliency of women and children in post-conflict societies. Before Fletcher, Cummings was a freelance photographer and teacher for at-risk teenage girls in western Massachusetts. Her photographic projects include a year-long Watson Fellowship in India, Southeast Asia and the Pacific exploring the connections between Engaged Buddhism and social service, as well as a photographic exploration of healing ceremonies in Vietnam about the Vietnam-American War and its impact on future generations. In the summer of 2009, Cummings traveled to Kenya as an Advocacy Project Peace Fellow and Vital Voices Field Correspondent working with local women leaders to expand their opportunities for individual and collective empowerment through fair trade in traditional crafts, youth mentoring programs, and girls’ education. Cummings hopes to return to Africa to work with youth affected by trauma.
John Parker, Research Associate
John is a first year MALD candidate at The Fletcher School; and also enrolled in Tufts University’s interdisciplinary cross-school Water: Systems, Science and Society Program. John has previously managed and implemented USAID-funded watershed management programs in Guatemala; and served as a natural resources extensionist Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin region. John received his first degree in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from Middlebury College. His general research interests focus on the intersection of water, food, and livelihood resilience.
Chloé Rousseau, Research Intern
Chloé Rousseau was born in Paris, moved to the United States at age six, and now lives in North Carolina. She is fluent in French and Spanish. At Tufts, Chloé is majoring in Community Health and Spanish, and she plays violin with the Tufts chamber orchestra. Chloé has been very involved with the student-led BUILD Guatemala program since her freshman year. Chloé first fell in love with Guatemala at the age of 15 when she took part in a Spanish language immersion program in the city of Quetzaltenango, and she returned to the country in her Senior year of high school to work in rural communities teaching English, helping construct environmentally-friendly stoves, and fundraise for local NGOs. Chloé participated in the inaugural BUILD Guatemala trip and researched perceptions of US foreign policy among rural populations, and has returned to Guatemala twice more as one of the leaders of the 2009 BUILD team. Chloé is interested in global health and policy, including studying practical solutions to health problems in the developing world, and is considering a possible career in law and health policy. This Spring Chloé is studying the works of Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) and Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) as part of her research internship with the International Resilience Program under Professor Almedom's guidance, while studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. In her spare time, Chloé enjoys spending time with her friends and fellow BUILD program members, playing violin, creative writing and reading.
Recent graduates
Jocelyn G. Müller, Ph.D.
Catlin McShane, MALD, Marketing & Engagement Manager, Opportunity Fund.
Jessica L. Anderson, BA, Co-founder/Director, Collaborative Transitions Africa.
Matthew S. Benson, BA
Amanda Fencl, BA, Staff Scientist, SEI-US.
Shanti Sattler, BA, ICFC Fellow.