Academic and Non-Academic Positions

• Since April 2021: Research Associate in the BMBF-funded research project ‘Tsunami Risk’ with a focus on disaster risk knowledge cultures and practices in Indonesia, at the Disaster Research Unit
• 2016-2020: Doctoral Researcher then Research Associate in the ‘When Disaster meets Conflict’ research project funded by the Dutch Research Council, at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
• 2015-2016: Project Manager (COP21), International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent, Geneva
• 2015: Project Coordinator, Coalition Climat 21 and Alternatiba Strasbourg
• 2014-2015: Consultant, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Addis Ababa
• 2014-2015: Researcher in Ethiopia for the NGO-alliance ‚Partners for Resilence’, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
• 2012-2014: Student Assistant, Universiteit van Amsterdam
• 2013: Intern, Department of Environmental Resource Management, City of Cape Town
• 2011: Intern, UNDP Regional Centre for Europe and Central Asia, Bratislava
• 2010: Intern, Max Havelaar France, Paris

Education

• 2016-2020: PhD, ISS, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
• 2012-2014: M. Sc. Research Master International Development Studies (cum laude), Universiteit van Amsterdam
• 2013: Study and research stay in South Africa, University of Cape Town
• 2008-2011: B.Sc. Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Memberships

• Civic Innovation Research Group at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam
• IHSA – International Humanitarian Studies Association
• EADI – European Association of Development Institutes
• Les Afriques dans le Monde (LAM), Institut d’Études Politiques de Bordeaux

Reviews

• Die Friedens-Warte - Journal of International Peace and Organization
• Les Cahiers d´Outre-Mer
• Development and Change
• Disaster Prevention and Management
• International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
• Journal of Disaster Risk Studies: Jamba
• Journal of International Humanitarian Action
• South African Geographical Journal

• Disasters - Master thesis evaluation for the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

• WS and SS 2022/2023 Research Master supervision, MA Disaster Risk Management, School of Environmental Studies, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta
• WS and SS 2022/2023 Research Master supervision, Geografische Entwicklungsforschung, Freie Universität Berlin
• SS 2022 ‘Katastrophen und Konflit’. Gastvortrag im Seminar ‚Politische Ökologie‘, Bachelor Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie, Freie Universität Berlin
• SS 2018/2019 ‘The Humanitarian Theatre in Ethiopia – Analysing Discourses of the Disaster-Conflict Nexus’. Gastvorträge im Seminar ‘Violent Conflict and the Politics of Media Representation’, Master in Development Studies, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
• WS 2017/2018 Research Master supervision, Universiteit van Amsterdam
• WS 2013-2014, ‘Participatory Research Methods’, ‘Geographical Information Systems’. Gastvorträge und Tutorat im Seminar ‘Fieldwork Methods’, Faculty of Geography, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Research interests

• Disaster research from a social science perspective: Disaster risk creation, disaster cultures and disaster risk reduction
• Humanitarian aid and its de·politicization
• Resilience and climate change adaptation
• Conflict studies and civil society mobilization

Edited Volumes

• Corbet, Alice; Desportes, Isabelle (2023): Politique de l’humanitaire, humanitaire politique? Special Edition of: Les Cahiers d’Outre-Mer, Vol.75.
   

Academic papers (peer-reviewed)

• Desportes, Isabelle (2023): Craindre le politique: la réponse humanitaire aux catastrophes dites « naturelles » en Birmanie (2015), Éthiopie (2016) et au Zimbabwe (2016-2019). In: Cahiers d’Outre Mer, Vol. 75 n°286, pp. 335-371.

• Corbet, Alice; Desportes, Isabelle (2023): Intro au numéro spécial. Politique de l’humanitaire, humanitaire politique? In: Cahiers d’Outre Mer, Vol. 75 n°286, pp. 313-328.

• Desportes, Isabelle; Moyo-Nyoni, Ntombizakhe (2021): Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016–2019 droughts in Zimbabwe. In: Disasters, 46(4), pp.1098-1120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12516.

• Desportes, Isabelle; Hilhorst, Dorothea (2020): Disaster governance in conflict-affected authoritarian contexts: The cases of Ethiopia, Myanmar and Zimbabwe. In: Politics and Governance, 8(4), pp. 343-354. Available online at https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3127.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Getting relief to marginalised minorities: The response to cyclone Komen in 2015 in Myanmar. In: International Journal of Humanitarian Action, 4(7), pp. 1-16. Available online at https://jhumanitarianaction.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41018-019-0053-z.

• Desportes, Isabelle; Mandefro, Hone; Hilhorst, Dorothea (2019): The humanitarian theatre: Drought response during Ethiopia's low-intensity conflict of 2016. In: The Journal of Modern African Studies, 57(1), pp. 31-59. Available online at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/humanitarian-theatre-drought-response-during-ethiopias-lowintensity-conflict-of-2016/AA45003D9410B321640B51546A5D6BE4.

• Kuipers, Erin H.C.; Desportes, Isabelle; Hordijk, Michaela (2019): Of locals and insiders: A ‘localized’ humanitarian response to the 2017 Mocoa mudslide in Colombia? In: Disaster Prevention and Management, 29(3), pp. 352-364. Available online at https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/DPM-12-2018-0384/full/html.

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Desportes, Isabelle; de Miliano, Cecile (2019): Humanitarian governance and resilience building: Ethiopia in comparative perspective. In: Disasters, 43, pp. 109-131.

• Desportes, Isabelle; Colenbrander, Darryl R. (2016): Navigating interests, navigating knowledge: Towards an inclusive set-back delineation along Cape Town’s coastline. In: Habitat International, 54(2), pp. 124-135. Available online at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197397515303143.

• Desportes, Isabelle; Waddell, Joy; Hordijk, Michaela (2015): Improving flood risk governance through multi -stakeholder collaboration: A case study of Sweet Home informal settlement, Cape Town. In: South African Geographical Journal, 98(1), pp. 61-83. Available online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03736245.2015.1052842.

Part of book – chapter (peer-reviewed)

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Mena Fluhmann, Rodrigo; van Voorst, Roanne; Desportes, Isabelle; Melis, Samantha (2019): Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Response in Different Conflict Scenarios.Opens external. In: Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) 2019. Geneva: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). Available online at https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/65903.

Blogs and op-ed

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Disaster response: Why democracy matters. (blog). European Association of Development Institutes Blog – Debating Development Research. Available online at http://www.developmentresearch.eu/?p=743.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Another top priority in times of crisis: Keep democratic life up and running. (blog). blISS - The ISS Blog on Global Development and Social Justice. Available online at https://issblog.nl/2020/03/26/covid-19-another-top-priority-in-times-of-crisis-keep-democratic-life-up-and-running-by-isabelle-desportes/.

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Counter-terrorism laws are undermining humanitarian relief, and are set to get worse today. (blog).Oxfam Blogs. Available online at https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/13/11/2019/counter-terrorism-laws-are-undermining-humanitarian-relief-and-are-set-get-worse.

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Desportes, Isabelle (2019): De anti-terrorisme wet heeft een lelijk neveneffect. (newspaper opinion piece). Trouw. Available online at https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/de-anti-terrorismewet-heeft-een-lelijk-neveneffect~b7cd5e5c/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fduckduckgo.com%2F.

• van Voorst, Roanne; Desportes, Isabelle (2018): (How) should scholars say what humanitarians can't? (blog). blISS - The ISS Blog on Global Development and Social Justice. Available online at https://issblog.nl/2018/05/16/how-should-scholars-say-what-humanitarians-cant-by-roanne-van-voorst-and-isabelle-desportes/.

Working papers and research briefs

• Desportes, Isabelle; Wicaksono, Wicak und Voss, Martin (2024): Disaster*Cultures – Indonesia and its Tsunami Warning System. KFS Working Paper Nr. 32. Berlin: KFS. Available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-42225.

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Vervest, Marie-José; Desportes, Isabelle; Melis, Samantha; Mena, Rodrigo; van Voorst, Roanne (2021): Strengthening community resilience in conflict. The Hague: Partners for Resilience. Available online at https://library.partnersforresilience.nl/pages/view.php?ref=525&k=.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Politics of disaster response in authoritarian low-intensity conflict settings. ISS Research brief. The Hague: International Insitute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Available online at https://www.iss.nl/en/media/2021-01-lic-brief-final.

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Desportes, Isabelle; Melis, Samantha; Mena, Rodrigo; van Voorst, Roanne (2020): When Disaster Meets Conflict: A scenario-based approach to the politics of disaster governance in conflict settings. ISS Research brief. The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Available online at https://www.iss.nl/en/media/2020-12-research-brief-lessons-disaster-governance-and-humanitarian-action.

• Hilhorst, Dorothea; Vervest, Marie-José; Desportes, Isabelle; Melis, Samantha; Mena, Rodrigo; van Voorst, Roanne (2020): Strengthening community resilience in conflict: learnings from the Partners for Resilience programme.Opens external. ISS Working Papers - General Series, no 666. The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Available online at http://hdl.handle.net/1765/131291.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Myanmar: The controversial issue of minorities in responding to cyclone Komen in 2015. ISS Research brief. The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Available online at https://www.iss.nl/en/media/2019-04-cyclone-komen-response-myanmar.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Ethiopia: Responding to the 2016 drought amid political protest and a state of emergency. ISS Research brief. The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Available online at https://www.iss.nl/en/media/2019-04-drought-response-ethiopia.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2015): Partners for Resilience in Ethiopia, Country Case for the Qualitative Process and Impact Study. Groningen: University of Groningen.

Presentations (Selection)

• Desportes, Isabelle (2022): United Nations Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. Nusa Dua, Indonesia [part of the German delegation].

• Desportes, Isabelle (2022): Catastrophes en conflit – Dépolitiser la réponse humanitaire à la sécheresse au Zimbabwe. Séminaire du LAM Les Afriques dans le Monde, Sciences Po Bordeaux. Bordeaux, France.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2021): Depoliticising humanitarian action: Motives, practices, consequences. Panel with Alice Corbet at the Conference of the International Humanitarian Studies Association’. Paris, France.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2021): Compartementalizing in the disaster-conflict nexus. Presentation at the EADI European Association of European Development Institutes, conference. The Hague / online, The Netherlands.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Médecins Sans Frontières Humanitärer Kongress. Berlin (online), Germany [presence as member of the academic community].

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Politics and perceptions: How disaster responders navigate authoritarian low-intensity conflict settings. Politologenetmaal. Nijmegen (online), The Netherlands.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Disaster ruptures, repression and resistance. Presentation with Flora Nei Bawi at the DSA Development Studies Association Conference. Birmingham (online), United Kingdom.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Médecins Sans Frontières Humanitärer Kongress. Berlin, Germany [presence as member of the academic community].

• Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Political crises at times of drought - The case of the 2016-2019 humanitarian response in Zimbabwe. Presentation with Nthombizakhe Moyo-Nyoni at the ECAS European Conference of African Studies. Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2019): Minority support: the balancing act of getting relief to minorities following 2015 cyclone Komen in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Presentation at the IHSA Conference of the International Humanitarian Studies Association. The Hague, The Netherlands.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2018): Localization in practice: a balancing act for disaster responders in 2015 Myanmar. NEEDS Northern European Emergency and Disaster Conference Conference. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2017): The Humanitarian Theatre Drought response in 2016 low-intensity conflict Ethiopia. Presentation with Hone Mandefro at the Conference of the European Association of Development Institutes. Bergen, Norway.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2016): Citizen without a state: Humanitarian aid in different conflict scenarios. Presentation with Dorothea Hilhorst and Samantha Melis, DSA Development Studies Association Conference. Oxford, United Kingdom.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2016): Building resilience in practice? Lessons from the Partners for Resilience programme. Presentation at the IHSA International Humanitarian Studies Association Conference. Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2015): Climate Change COP21 Summit. Paris, France [presence as International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent staff].

• Desportes, Isabelle (2013): Balancing stakes, balancing knowledge: The process of drawing a set-back line along Cape Town’s coastline. Presentation with Darryl Colenbrander, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability Forum. Bonn, Germany.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2013): Barriers to multi-stakeholder collaboration for flood prevention and response in Sweet Home informal settlement, South Africa. Presentation with Joy Waddel and Michaela Hordijk, ClimUrb. Manchester, United Kingdom.

Other

• Desportes, Isabelle (2020): Repression Without Resistance: Disaster Responses in Authoritarian Low-Intensity Conflict Settings. EUR (153 pag.) (The Hague). Prom./coprom.: prof.dr.ir. D.J.M. Hilhorst & R. Van Voorst.

• Desportes, Isabelle (2014): We’ve got to address the underlying causes. A case-study of stakeholders ́ initiatives to increase resilience to flood riskinSweet Home informal settlement, Cape Town. University of Amsterdam (114 pag.). Amsterdam. Supervision : dr. M. Hordijk.