Univ.-Prof. Dr. Patrick Sakdapolrak
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Patrick Sakdapolrak
Head of the Working Group
Professor of Population Geography and Demography
Head of Department of Geography and Regional Research
Vice-Director of Doctoral Studies (SPL 45)
Deputy Head of the Research Platform Mobile Cultures and Societies
Contact
Department of Geography and Regional Research
Universitätsstraße 7/5, D518
1010 Vienna
Tel.: +43-1-4277-48730
E-Mail: patrick.sakdapolrak@univie.ac.at
Hours: There are no office hours in July and August.
Teaching
Biography
My 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 my research is the question of how vulnerable groups live with risk. My Ph.D. 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. I have investigated how these poor urban groups cope with and adapt to environmental and social stresses. My 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. I have the aim to pursue sound theoretical and empirical research which is relevant for wider society. I have studied Geography and Development Research in Heidelberg and Wollongong, Australia, and received my doctorate degree at Bonn University.
Research interests
Conceptual: vulnerability, resilience, livelihoods, translocality, Bourdieu's Practice-Theory
Thematic: human-environment-relations, migration and displacement, health and disease
Regional: South Asia (India), South-East Asia (Thailand), East Africa (Kenia)
Current research Projects
- AGRUMIG – "Leaving something behind" – Migration governance and agricultural and rural change in "home" communities: comparative experience from Europe, Asia and Africa
- HABITABLE – Linking Climate Change, Habitability and Social Tipping Points: Scenarios for Climate Migration
- Migration Moldova – Mainstreaming the Migration and Climate Change Perspective into the National Adaptation Plan-2 and Agriculture Sectoral Adaptation Plan on Climate Change