Sabine Henry

Sabine Henry's line of research focuses on the interaction between the environment and migration at household or individual level. In Burkina Faso, she has provided one of the few empirical evidences of the effects of drought on migration and has updated this study by recently including a comparison of the direct and indirect effects of climate on migration (in collaboration with the London School of Economy). In 2024, an FNRS PDR project on perceptions of environmental change and human mobility in sub-Saharan Africa will be completed, in collaboration with the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and the University of St Louis in Senegal. 

With the aim of investigating the link between migration and the environment in various rural contexts (Ecuador, Philippines, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso), her team is seeking to understand who is most at risk of migrating (gender, age, socio-economic level, education, means of subsistence, etc.), which facets of the environment most influence the process of deciding to move, how these facets are perceived by future migrants, and who is likely to be trapped. 

Sabine Henry also has extensive experience of assessing social vulnerability. She began by measuring social vulnerability to flash floods in the Philippines, then became involved in projects focusing on assessing vulnerability to earthquakes in Haiti (2018-24), landslides and flash floods in Rwanda (2019-25), and finally flash floods and river erosion in the city of Bujumbura, Burundi (2019-23).

Significant experience in international and national research projects enables Sabine Henry's team to explore several regions of the world (West and Central Africa, South-East Asia, Central America), to use different methods to tackle the same question (quantitative, qualitative, social game, etc.) and to examine the link between migration and the environment from all angles (interactions between factors, vulnerability, resilience, slow and sudden events, disasters, etc.). Two articles have been cited more than 400 times and two between 100 and 200 times. His team has received three awards at major international conferences. His team currently consists of 5 PhD students and one permanent scientific collaborator. Three new members of staff will join the team in 2024.