Sophia Dawkins

Focus Areas: Conflict, Civil War, Civilian Protection, Forced Displacement, Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, Peace Processes 

Dr. Sophia Dawkins is a political scientist and policy researcher specialized in understanding and addressing civilian safety during peace negotiations in fragile contexts. Dr. Dawkins has 14 years of experience in the peace, security and humanitarian fields, including significant time on the ground in South Sudan. Alongside her strategic work in political processes, she manages research teams to implement cutting-edge social science methods in crisis settings. These range from using satellite data to understand the needs of marginalized populations to combining advanced statistical analysis with ethnographic research to map communication within armed groups. 

Dr. Dawkins is a Fellow (non-resident) at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, a Fellow at the Centre on Armed Groups and an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at Kings College London. Her current projects are funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, International Organization for Migration and Duke Law School.

Dr. Dawkins holds a Ph.D. in Political Science with Distinction from Yale University, an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

Education

• PhD, MPhil and MA in Political Science, Yale University

• MA in Law and Diplomacy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

• BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Oxford

Honors & Awards

• Fellow (Non-Resident), Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (2024-)

• Fellow at the Centre on Armed groups (2024-) 

• US Institute of Peace Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar (2019-2020)