Menu Close
Professor of Anthropology, Director, Transnational Research Lab, The Ohio State University

I am a cultural anthropologist and my research focuses on Migration and Refugees; Economics and Development; Nutrition and Research Methodology with work in the USA, Mexico, Turkey and China.

Most recently, writing on the impacts and responses to Covid-19 in rural Oaxaca, Mexico

Since the early 1990s I have studied migration from communities in Oaxaca, Mexico to the US with support from the National Science Foundation. In collaboration with Ibrahim Sirkeci (Regent's University, London) we have developed a model of insecurity and migration. I also conduct comparative research on global migration patterns.

My work on entomophagy (eating insects) in Mexico is supported by the National Science Foundation and is part of a project focused on entrepreneurism and rural households.

I am currently part of a team studying the digital divide in Columbus refugee households.

I have served as an expert witness on several criminal and immigration/refugee cases, consulted on marketing and cultural issues with Fortune 500 companies and the World Bank.

Experience

  • –present
    Professor of Anthropology, The Ohio State University

Education

  • 1994 
    Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, PhD/Anthropology
  • 1987 
    University of New Mexico, MA/Anthropology
  • 1984 
    Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, BA

Publications

  • 2019
    Modelando el transnacionalismo: Nuevas Direcciones en Teorías de Migración , Transnational Press
  • 2016
    Conflict, Insecurity and Mobility, Transnational Press
  • 2015
    Eating Soup without a Spoon: Anthropological Theory and Method in the Real World, University of Texas Press
  • 2012
    Global Remittance Practices and Migration during the Economic Crisis and Beyond., World Bank Press
  • 2011
    The Cultures of Migration: The Global Nature of Contemporary Mobility, University of Texas Press
  • 2004
    The Culture of Migration in Southern Mexico, University of Texas Press
  • 2002
    Economic Development: An Anthropological Approach, AltaMira Press
  • 1999
    Cooperation and Community: Economy and Society in Oaxaca, University of Texas Press

Grants and Contracts

  • 2022
    Fulbright Specialist
    Role:
    specialist
    Funding Source:
    Fulbright Commission
  • 2020
    Household Producer Effects of Rural Diet Transformation
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation
  • 2015
    Migration to Turkey: the socio-cultural choices of returning movers.
    Role:
    In residence, Celal Bayar University
    Funding Source:
    TUBITAK
  • 2015
    Mid-Career and Senior Faculty Learning Community
    Role:
    group member
    Funding Source:
    UCAT-OSU
  • 2014
    Oportunidades: Understanding the Growth of the Latino Community in Columbus, Ohio
    Role:
    research directory
    Funding Source:
    OHHP
  • 2013
    Society for Economic Anthropology Conference Proposal
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation
  • 2009
    Mexicanidad in Ohio
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Sigma Xi
  • 2008
    Entrepreneurism among Somali women in Columbus, Ohio.
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation
  • 2007
    Migration, Transnationalism, and Border Politics
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities, working group grant
  • 2004
    Chapulines: the socioeconomic and nutritional importance of grasshoppers in rural Oaxaca, Mexico
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Geographic Society
  • 2003
    The Construction and Reconstruction of Identities: Dominican Immigrants and their Children in New U.S. Destination Communities
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    Russell Sage Foundation
  • 2003
    Garcia Robles, Fulbright Scholar
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Fulbright Commission
  • 1999
    Transnational Migration and Remittances: a Longitudinal Study of Rural Oaxaca
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation

Professional Memberships

  • american antropological association
  • society for applied anthropology
  • Society for economic Anthropology
  • Society for Anthropological Sciences

Honours

College Diversity Award; Member, University Center for Academic Teaching; Sustaining Fellow, Society for Applied Anthropology