Dr. Julia M. Blocher is a Project Lead, leading the FutureLab's contributions to the project "HABITABLE: Linking Climate Change, Habitability and Social Tipping Points: Scenarios for Climate Migration" (EU Horizon 2020), the largest research initiative ever to be funded by the European Commission on climate change and migration, as well as the project “CLARS: Socio-Economic Vulnerabilities Among Urban Migrants in the Lake Victoria Basin and Great Lakes Region” (clarsproject.com; funded by the (DFG), 2024-27). Both projects combine qualitative and quantitative methods in case study countries in Africa and Asia.
Dr. Blocher's main research interests are in the interaction of political, social, and environmental factors in human mobility outcomes - migration, displacement and planned relocations - in the context of climate change. As part of her work, she is interested in social and political factors contributing to resource-based tensions and conflict dynamics. She has conducted studies on environment, climate change, and human mobility linkages in the Pacific small island states and in the East and Horn of Africa (Tanzania and Ethiopia). Her previous work has included field-based research for the International Organization for Migration (IOM)-led ‘Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy’ (MECLEP) and for the FP7 Consortium ‘High-End cLimate Impact eXtremes’ (HELIX) projects.
Prior to joining PIK, Dr. Blocher was a Project Manager at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research in New York (UNU-CPR), a think tank within the UN system. At PIK, she previously contributed to the "East Africa, Peru, India Climate Capacities" (EPICC) and the "Governance of Climate Change and Human Mobility" projects. She is also a youth advocate, and serves as President of the International Youth Federation (IYF).
She has recently lectured at MCI Innsbruck, Sciences Po Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité (Paris XIII) and Addis Ababa University. She previously worked for the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC-NRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Humboldt University in Berlin, a Master 2 from Sciences Po Paris, Bachelor's degree with distinctions from Johns Hopkins University. She speaks English, French, and Italian as well as some German and Swahili.
Selected Publications (see full CV)
- Sterly, H., Borderon, M., Sakdapolrak, P., Adger, N., Ayanlade, A., Bah, A., Blocher, J. et al. (2025). Habitability for a connected, unequal and changing world. Global Environmental Change, 90.
- Blocher, Julia, Roman Hoffmann, and Helga Weisz (2024) The effects of environmental and non-environmental shocks on livelihoods and migration in Tanzania, Population & Environment 46(7).
- Blocher, J. Vinke, K., Winter, L. Serraglio, D.A. (2024). Handbook for Qualitative Interviews on the Climate-Migration Nexus. Potsdam: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
- Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel (2023) Moving from Reaction to Action - Anticipating Vulnerability Hotspots in the Sahel: A synthesis report from the Sahel Predictive Analytics project in support of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS)
- Blocher, Julia et al. (2021). “Assessing the Evidence: Climate Change and Migration in the United Republic of Tanzania”. Geneva: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and International Organization for Migration (IOM).
- Blocher, Julia and Dalila Gharbaoui (2018) “Long term solutions to disaster displacement - lessons from West Africa.” African Human Mobility Review 3 (3): 1020-1044.
- Gemenne, François and Blocher. Julia (2017) “How can migration support adaptation? Challenges to Fleshing out a Policy Ideal.” The Geographical Journal 183(4): 336-347.
- Blocher, Julia (2018) “Fleeing from arid lands: Pastoralism in the context of climate change”. In: McLeman, Robert and Francois Gemenne (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration. New York: Routledge.
- Blocher, Julia and Andrea Milan (2017) “Empirical research and methodology” In: Susanne Melde, Frank Laczko and François Gemenne (eds.) Making mobility work for adaptation to environmental changes: Results from the MECLEP global research. Geneva: IOM.
- Gharbaoui, Dalila and Julia Blocher (2017) “Limits to adapting to climate change through relocations in Papua New Guinea and Fiji." In: Leal Filho, Walter and Johanna Nalau (Eds): Limits to Climate Change Adaptation. London: Springer Climate Change Management Series.
- Blocher, Julia and Dalila Garbaoui. 2016. “The reason land matters: relocation as adaptation to climate change in Fiji Islands.” In: Warner, Koko, Andrea Milan and Benjamin Shraver (eds.) Migration, Risk Management and Climate Change: Evidence and Policy Responses. London: Springer.
Contact
14412 Potsdam