About me
I am a dual national by birth (British-Italian) and a naturalized Senegalese citizen. Nomadic spirit, I have lived and worked in different European, African and Asian countries. Since 2009, I am based in the Netherlands. I have two beautiful children and in my spare time I love meeting people from different walks of life, am a keen Instagram user, enjoy walking in nature, as well as reading, listening to music, practicing yoga and meditation.
About my work
An ethnographic researcher, I have a multidisciplinary background in sociology, human geography and anthropology. I have spent 20+ years researching how migrants live their lives across multiple worlds, promote development and contribute to humanitarian assistance in their home and host countries.
From my research approach and my work among migrants I have learned that innovation requires stepping out of our comfort zone by experiencing and engaging with different worlds. Today, I carry this insight into working with organizations and companies in different professional fields using ethnography to inspire new ways of addressing their challenges.
I strive to build bridges between academia and practice and have undertaken assignments for the European Commission, United Nations, intergovernmental agencies, NGOs and industry companies. I use ethnographic research to ask questions, listen, organize information in a coherent narrative and uncover otherwise unseen stories. People I have worked with say our collaboration helped them reframe problems under a new light that inspired innovative solutions.
I joined the Social and Cultural Anthropology Department at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2014. Prior to this and after obtaining a PhD in comparative urban studies in 2006, I held positions at universities in Italy, Senegal, the UK and the Netherlands. Before making research my passion, I was an international development and humanitarian practitioner in Africa and Asia.
From my research approach and my work among migrants I have learned that innovation requires stepping out of our comfort zone by experiencing and engaging with different worlds. Today, I carry this insight into working with organizations and companies in different professional fields using ethnography to inspire new ways of addressing their challenges.
I strive to build bridges between academia and practice and have undertaken assignments for the European Commission, United Nations, intergovernmental agencies, NGOs and industry companies. I use ethnographic research to ask questions, listen, organize information in a coherent narrative and uncover otherwise unseen stories. People I have worked with say our collaboration helped them reframe problems under a new light that inspired innovative solutions.
I joined the Social and Cultural Anthropology Department at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2014. Prior to this and after obtaining a PhD in comparative urban studies in 2006, I held positions at universities in Italy, Senegal, the UK and the Netherlands. Before making research my passion, I was an international development and humanitarian practitioner in Africa and Asia.
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