Patrick Sakdapolrak

Biography

Patrick Sakdapolrak is a Professor for Population Geography and Demography at the University of Vienna, and a Research Group Leader at the Department of Geography, Bonn University. Since November 2016, he has been working as a Research Scholar in the World Population Program (POP) at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). He studied Geography and Development Research in Heidelberg, Germany and Wollongong, Australia, and received his doctorate degree at Bonn University, Germany.

His research field is at the interface of population dynamics, environmental change and development processes, with a focus on the topics of migration and displacement as well as health and disease. The central theme of his research is the question of how vulnerable groups live with risk. His PhD thesis is based on field research in slum settlements in India, where the inhabitants have significant higher mortality and morbidity rates than the rest of the urban population. He investigated how these poor urban groups cope with and adapt to environmental and social stresses. His current research on migration-environment relationships in Kenya and Thailand addresses the question how migration alters the way people at places of origin deal with the environment and climate change.

Last update: 06 MAR 2017