Dr. Erin K. McFee is a Professor of Practice at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University where she focuses on climate security, migration, and the reintegration of formerly armed actors (FAA) (e.g., military veterans, ex-guerrillas, former cartel members, ex-insurgents). Dr. McFee is a political anthropologist who has published and been interviewed in a wide range of peer-reviewed, popular, and practitioner fora in over 20 countries. Her work in the domain of climate security addresses the climate change, conflict, and migration (CCM) nexus, especially with regards of FAA reintegration, stabilization, and security-building initiatives.
Dr. McFee has additionally conducted extensive fieldwork among formerly armed actors since 2010 and worked directly in all sectors that impact the trajectories of these individuals’ lives. Her work ranges from spending 15 months living together with former conflict victims and guerrilla group members in Colombia to consulting for the International Agency for Migration (IOM) on al Shabaab reintegration in Somalia; from conducting ethnographic research and life history interviews among former Cartel affiliates in Mexico to assessing non-governmental organizations supporting former gang members in El Salvador; and from supporting restorative initiatives for justice-involved military veterans in the United States to understanding the life histories and current needs of Afghan National Army Special Forces veterans following the US withdrawal from their country, among many others. She currently has projects in 12 countries on the intersection of FAA reintegration, climate security, and migration.
Dr. McFee has worked in all sectors on these issues (public, private, grassroots, academia, and international development) and is the Founder and President of the Corioli Institute. She received her Doctorate and Master’s in Comparative Human Development from The University of Chicago, a Master’s in Business Administration from Simmons College, and several Executive Certificates in Climate Change (Harvard Kennedy School), Leadership and Leading Change (Harvard Kennedy School), and Conflict and Fragility Management (Geneva Graduate Institute).
