Biography
I am doctoral student at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) affiliated to the department's International Development Group (IDG). My current research interests focus on: the migration-development nexus, transnational migrant organizations, hometown associations (HTAs) and state-society dynamics. Throughout my doctoral studies, I've been conducting fieldwork in Boston, New York City and in the southern region of the Dominican Republic, examining the links between migration, development practices and transnational transformations.
Before joining MIT, I spent close to seven years as Research Director in the Center for the New Economy (CNE), a Puerto Rico-based, non-profit think-tank dedicated to promoting innovative and progressive economic development projects and policies. While at the Center, I also taught geography and planning courses at the University of Puerto Rico's Río Piedras Campus, and also at the Polytechnic University's School of Architecture.
Although my doctoral work keeps me quite occupied, I collaborate with the CNE and keep a close watch on socioeconomic affairs in my native Puerto Rico. At present, I hold the Churchill J. Carey Jr. Chair in Economic Development Research at the CNE.
I completed a Masters in City Planning (MCP) at UC Berkeley's Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP) prior to joining the CNE. My Masters work looked at high-technology policy in Puerto Rico and the contemporary economic development challenges in the island. I spent my college days at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras Camups, where I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in economics and geography.
Here's a full copy of my Curriculum Vitae.
Selected Works
"Social Remittances Revisited" (with Peggy Levitt) Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 37, no. 1 (2011): 1-22.
"Rethinking the Migration-Development Nexus from the Perspective of Time" (with Peggy Levitt) Migration Letters 10, no. 1 (2013): 11-22.
"Hometown Associations" In ed. Immanuel Ness, Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. New York: Wiley. 2013 [www.migrationencyclopedia.com]
Review of "The New Puerto Rico? Identity, Hybridity, and Transnationalism within the Puerto Rican Diaspora in Orlando, Florida" by Luis Sánchez. CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies 22, no. 1 (2010): 309-311.
"Escalas de las comunidades imaginarias: de lo local a lo transnacional y viceversa" En eds. Felipe de Alba y Frederic Lesemann, Informalidad e incertidumbre: ¿cómo estudiamos la informalización en las metrópolis? México: UNAM. 2012
"Bringing Culture Back In: Opportunities and Challenges for the Migration Development Nexus" (with Peggy Levitt) In eds. Jeronimo Cortina and Enrique Ochoa-Reza, New Perspectives on International Migration and Development. New York: Columbia University Press. (forthcoming)
"A Closer Look at Dominican Hometown Associations: Transnational Governance, State-Society Dynamics and Development Impacts" (Working Paper).
Academic Projects
Migration, Development and Local Transformations: The Transnational Practices of Dominican Hometown Associations (doctoral dissertation project)
Immigrant Experiences Accessing Social Services: An Unexamined Dimension of Assimilation (with Mary Waters, Rocío Calvo and Marie-Laure Mallet)
Transnational Studies Initiative at Harvard University
Puerto Rico Economic Project @ MIT