Faculty Fellow Erik Wibbels

Erik Wibbels is the Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of PDRI/DevLab@Penn. Current major projects include research on the human impact of US deportations of Central Americans; studies on the impact of refugees on social cohesion in Kenya and South Sudan; the Machine Learning for Peace project, which measures and forecasts dynamics in civil society at high frequency; and an attempt to use NLP to measure social and political responses to climate change around the world.

In his role with PDRI/DevLab@Penn, Wibbels also works with governments, international donors, and their implementing partners to improve the design and evaluation of development programming and engage in policy-relevant research around the world. We are currently leading an initiative with the World Bank, International Office of Migration, UNHCR and others to understand the impact of refugees and displaced populations on the communities and politics of the places they arrive. As part of its educational mission, PDRI/DevLab works with Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellows, Ph.D., MA, and undergraduate students through a combination of applied research, internships, and coursework.