Amy Ritterbusch, a professor and researcher at the University of Los Andes in Colombia, will speak about her research regarding rural and urban areas of Colombia, including mixed-method poverty measurement, human trafficking, drug addiction in marginalized children and youth’s lives, and the violent forced displacement of transgender youth from their villages and cities of origin.
Ritterbusch received her doctoral degree from Florida International University. Over the past few years, Ritterbusch has conducted different participatory action research projects with multiple street–connected populations in Bogotá, Colombia, specifically focusing on the social impact of substance abuse, sex work and urban renewal in their daily lives, as well as experiences of socio-spatial exclusion and human rights violations. Her research has received funding and support from UNICEF, Fulbright, the National Science Foundation, Open Society and the International Organization for Migration.