Lana Gonzalez Balyk

Lana Gonzalez Balyk is a Doctoral Student at the Balsillie School on International Affairs. She previously completed her MA in Human Security and Peace building at Royal Roads University in Victoria, a program concentrated on international development and human rights. Before that she completed her BA in History at University of Calgary, where she focused on Latin American History. She attended a field school in Uganda, focusing on refugee studies, as well as an archeology field school in Mexico.

Lana’s main research interests are migration policy, migration crises, forced migration, refugees, conflict and security, indigenous peoples and decolonization.

Prior to her studies, Lana did contract jobs working for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, working as a Refugee Case Manager for an Immigration Consultant and working as an English as a Second Language Teacher. She also has experience in the private sector, managing a small business for three years. Before that she worked as a Program Manager for a micro-finance organization in Nicaragua, People Helping People Global (PHPG) and as a Research Assistant for Centre for Mediation, Peace and Resolution of Conflict (CEMPROC) in Ecuador.