Ms Ainsley Trahan

PhD student

Eurasian Infrastructures of Seismic Importance: Transboundary Earthquake Risk Management in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

Biography

Career

• 2022-Present: PhD Student
• 2019-2020: Fulbright-Nehru Research Scholar

Qualifications

• MPhil in Development Studies, University of Cambridge (Graduated 2022 with Distinction)
• BSFS in International Politics (International Law, Institutions and Ethics), Georgetown University (Graduated 2019)

Awards

• 2022-Present: Cambridge International Scholarship, University of Cambridge
• 2019-2020: Fulbright Research Scholar
• 2019: Critical Language Enhancement Award Grantee (Hindi)

Research

I am interested in the ways that historical, political, and geographical factors may influence institutional connectivity in cross-border disaster risk management (DRM) networks. More specifically, my research investigates the impact of a shared Soviet history on transboundary earthquake risk management in Eurasia today (Central Asia and the South Caucasus).

My current project focuses on the cross-border networks that dictate infrastructural preparedness to earthquakes in two case studies: 1) the BTC pipeline that crosses the Azerbaijani-Georgian border, and 2) the Andijan Dam which sits at the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border.

Teaching

• Part IB: Development Theories, Policies and Practices (Supervisor)
• Part IB: Inequality (Supervisor)

External activities

• Co-Convener, Cambridge Disaster Research Network (2022-Present)