Welcome! I am the Executive Director of the Immigration Policy Lab at Stanford University and an Affiliated Scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University. I have worked with governments, donor agencies, and NGOs around the world to design and evaluate policies and programs on migration and displacement, violence prevention, conflict resolution, stabilization, and governance. I am the author of Guilt by Location: Forced Displacement and Population Sorting in Civil Wars (Cambridge University Press, 2024), and my research, analysis, and commentary has appeared in a number of academic and policy journals, along with the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Just Security, and The Conversation. I have also taught courses on forced migration and conflict and trained development practitioners on research methods and program evaluations.
I received my Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, I was Senior Researcher for Peace and Conflict at Mercy Corps and a Postdoc and Lecturer at Yale University. I have received grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. I have also served as a consultant for humanitarian and development organizations on issues related to conflict, displacement, and migration, including UNHCR, the World Bank, the Danish Refugee Council, and USAID. Prior to my academic career, I reported for National Geographic and worked on USAID-funded stabilization and political transition programs in Afghanistan, Libya, and South Sudan. Contact me at alich (at) stanford (dot) edu.
Photos: (L) Ein Issa Displacement Camp, Raqqa, Syria; (R) NMPDC, Kitgum, Uganda (A. Lichtenheld)