Kristen McCollum

Migration Studies (2020 cohort)

Kristen is pursuing a DPhil in Migration Studies as a Grand Union DTP scholar with an Advanced Quantitative Methods award. Broadly, her research interests include experimental and quasi-experimental program evaluation methods in humanitarian contexts, and her DPhil explores the role of social networks in supporting the well-being of individuals experiencing displacement. Through her previous research experience in Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, she became better acquainted with the methodological challenges unique to studies involving highly migratory respondents.

For the 2024/2025 academic year, she is a teaching assistant for two core courses of the MSc in Migration Studies: Migration and the Economy and Quantitative Methods. She active in the research communities at the Centre on Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID).

Most recently, Kristen worked with the World Food Programme from 2019 to 2024 to coordinate a set of experimental impact evaluations to improve programming in conflict- and crisis-affected settings. She still partners with WFP to support their research activities. Previously, Kristen has conducted research with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), Oxfam, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She holds an MSc in Impact Evaluation for International Development from the University of East Anglia and a BA in Sociology with Mathematics from Southwestern University in Texas