About the Presenter
Andrea C. Simonelli, Ph.D. holds a master's degree and doctorate in political science from Louisiana State University focused on governance responses to human migration—specifically legal and institutional frameworks to address internal and cross border displacement due to climate processes. She earned a diploma from the United Nations University Environment and Human Security Programme and Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre Summer School in Forced Migration. She is a speaker for the Climate Voices Network, sits on the roster of experts for the Adaptation Fund and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, is a member of the Human Rights and Climate Change Working Group, is an associate with the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere and serves on the board of directors for Many Strong Voices.
Her first book, "Governing Climate Induced Migration and Displacement: IGO Expansion and Global Governance" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), was an institutional analysis of four intergovernmental organizations and their expansion, or lack thereof, to govern those becoming displaced by climate processes.
Simonelli’s work as a research associate on a project for the Norwegian Research Council regarding the perceptions of climate and migration in the Maldives is continuing to yield many publications in both academic journals and edited volumes. Her next project stems from her work in the field, evaluating the facets of community resilience in the Pacific.
Prior to her academic career, Simonelli earned her bachelor's degree in political theory and constitutional democracy from Michigan State University’s James Madison College. She spent more than 10 years as a finance director for U.S. political candidates and a state party, electing officials at both the state and federal legislative levels.