The research line of Sabine Henry is the interaction between environment and migration at the household or individual -level. In Burkina Faso, she provided one of the rare empirical evidences on the effects of drought on migration and she updated this study by including recently a comparison of direct and indirect effects of climate on migration (in collaboration with the London School of Economy). In 2020, a new FNRS PDR project has started on the perceptions of environmental modifications and human mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the university of Neufchatel (Switzerland) and St Louis in Senegal. With the aim to deepen this link between migration and environment in various rural contexts (Ecuador, The Philippines, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso), her team explored who is likely to migrate (gender, age, socio-economic level, education, livelihood, etc.), which facets of the changing environment most influence the decision-making process to move, how these facets are perceived by the future migrants, and who are likely to be trapped. She also has received funds to study the sociocultural challenges of the EU migration, with the case of Romanians in Belgium (with University of Iasi, Romania).
Sabine Henry also has extensive experience with social vulnerability assessment. She started by measuring social vulnerability to flash flood in the Philippines and then, she is implied in projects focusing on vulnerability assessments to earthquakes in Haiti (2018-23), landslide and flash flood in Rwanda (2019-23), and finally flash flood and river erosion in Burundi (2019-23).
The significant experience in international and national research projects allows the Sabine Henry’s team exploring several regions in the world (West and Central Africa, South-East Asia, Central America), using different methods to tackle the same issue (quantitative, qualitative, board game, etc.) and examining from every angle the link between migration and environment (interactions between drivers, vulnerability, resilience, slow-onset and sudden events, disaster, etc.). Two papers have been cited more than 400 times and two between 100 and 200 times. Her team received three prices during major international conferences. Currently, her team is composed by 5 PhD students and one permanent scientific collaborator, thanks to the support of international and national projects.
Prix du meilleur poster, Population Association of America, 2008.
Prix du meiller poster, UISSP, 2013
Migration – Vulnerability – Resilience
Drought – Land degradation – Natural Disaster - Climate
Event-history analysis – Qualitative methods - Board Games
Ecuador – Philippines – Burkina Faso – Haiti - Rwanda - Burundi
Membre du Steering committee du réseau Population and Environment Research Network (2019-present)
Membre du panel Climat-Health-Migration de l'Union Internationale des Sciences de la Population (2017-present)
Conseil au bureau rectoral pour les innovations pédagogiques (2017-18)
Présidente du comité de pilotage PUNCH (2015-18)
Présidente du Comité Expertise Disciplinaire Géographie (2015-auj)
Membre du comité de rédaction des référentiels interréseaux pour la Géographie, décret Missions
Docteur en Sciences géographiques: UCL, 2003
DESS en Démographie;Université des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg (France), 1998
Licenciées en Sciences géographiques: UCL, 1997