Dear Members of the CRS Community,
I can鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 already my last day as CRS Director. I have had a wonderful experience as Director over the past five years. It was great to learn more about all the amazing research and advocacy about refugees and forced migration that happens at 91亚色, and to play a small part in helping to support that work
The transition to our next Director, Yvonne Su, occurs on July 1. I know that you are already familiar with Yvonne and her work -- she鈥檚 a superstar! But here is a brief bio:
Dr. Yvonne Su is a specialist in forced migration, climate change-induced displacement and queer migration. She has worked extensively with vulnerable communities in Southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbeans including refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, indigenous communities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ folks. She has 25 peer-reviewed publications in journals like Geoforum, Third World Quarterly, Journal of Gender Studies, and International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction as well as more than 45 opinion pieces, newspaper articles and academic blogs in The Washington Post, The Conversation, and The National Observer.
Su has secured over $5.2 million in research funding and is co-PI on a $3.1 million New Frontiers in Research Fund grant (with Dr. Michaela Hynie as PI) to conduct research on the unintended consequences of climate change adaptation projects from a gender and displacement perspective in the Philippines, Ghana and Bangladesh. She takes an interdisciplinary, participatory and decolonial approach to scholarship that is focused on developing strong partnerships with local communities, NGOs, and policymakers.
CRS will be in great hands, and I鈥檓 excited to see where Yvonne helps lead our community.
In the meantime, I wanted to send out a quick thank you to some folks I relied on during my term as Director:
- Michele Millard: I couldn鈥檛 have done it without you. Thank you so much!
- Faida Abu-Ghazaleh : You鈥檝e done a great job with the Resource Centre. And thanks for all the Turkish Coffee and other treats!
- Michaela Hynie: I don鈥檛 know how you manage to do so much. You鈥檙e a force of nature! And thanks so much for running CRS during my sabbatical.
- Jennifer Hyndman: You left CRS in great shape at the end of your term as Director. I hope I didn鈥檛 mess it up too much! And thanks for all your help in your role as Associate Vice President Research
- Petra Molar: Thanks for all your work with the Refugee Law Lab and with the Summer Course. Onwards!
- Simon Wallace: Not sure how many hundreds of visa letters that you put through in the last few months, but it was a lot! For that, for your other work on the Summer Course, and for your research at the Refugee Law Lab: Thank you!
- Mavis Odei Boateng: Thanks for your help with the Summer Course, this year and last year -- and for all the great pictures!
- Romola Adeola: Thanks for your leadership as the first CRS Assistant Director and for your work on the 2022 Summer Course.
- Anna Purkey: Well, 2020 didn鈥檛 exactly go as expected. But thanks for helping us 鈥減ivot鈥 on the 2020 Summer Course!
- Dagmar Soennecken: Amazing work with Refuge. You even managed to get my most recent messy article into good shape! Thanks!
- James Simeon: Great job on Congress! And thanks for all the other CRS events you鈥檝e helped with.
- Christopher Kyriakides & Gemechu Abeshu: I鈥檓 grateful for your leadership on the Racism(s) and Refugee Subcommittee. Can鈥檛 wait to see the work published.
- Nergis Canefe: Thanks for the art that we used to update the images on the 8th floor. It鈥檚 so much better!
- CRS Board Members: Thanks for your advice and guidance.
- CRS Exec Members: Thanks for all your work over the years -- and for helping to keep me out of too much trouble!
- CRS Researchers: You鈥檙e at the heart of what we do at CRS. I鈥檓 so impressed by your work, and I鈥檓 excited to see what comes next.
- CRS Visitors: It was great to meet you all. You鈥檙e welcome back any time!
- CRS Students: It was a pleasure to learn with you. The future is bright!
- My colleagues at Osgoode Hall Law School: Thanks for giving me the space to focus on CRS over the past five years, and for taking up the slack. I鈥檓 looking forward to being around more.
That鈥檚 it from me as Director. I鈥檒l be around, so please stay in touch.
And, for those of you in Toronto: Happy Pride!
s
SEAN REHAAG
Director, Centre for Refugee Studies
Director, Refugee Law Laboratory
Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
91亚色, Toronto, Canada