Graduate Profiles

Florentina Andreescu

Florentina Andreescu is a fourth year Ph.D. student. Her dissertation research investigates the myth of nation and state as reflected in films, using post-structural theory and relational methods. Florentina is originally from Romania and holds a Master Degree in International Administration from the University of Miami.

Berverly Barrett

Prior to beginning the doctoral program during the autumn 2009, Beverly Barrett most recently worked in economic and public affairs with the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.  These responsibilities included education for financial literacy, which continued upon her previous experience in nonprofit management for a network literacy education programs throughout Texas.  Following the M.A. program at Johns Hopkins University SAIS in Bologna, Italy and Washington, D.C, where she specialized in International Economics and American Foreign Policy, she spent several years working with the U.S. Government in the House of Representatives, the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs, and the State Department as Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador in Helsinki, Finland.  She graduated from Vanderbilt University, B.S. cum laude in Human & Organizational Development, with minors in Art History and Spanish.

Rebecca Brooks

My name is Rebecca Brooks and I am currently in the International Studies Masters Program at the University of Miami. I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts and did my undergraduate work at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. While at Guilford, I majored in Political Science and International Studies, with a focus on East Asia. During this time, I was able to study abroad in Beijing China for a semester, as well as intern with Save the Children in Washington D.C, also for a semester. My research interests include anything to do with Latin America and or East Asia, specifically Brazil and China relations. When I am through with this program here at UM, I hope to go to Brazil and eventually obtain a job in international diplomacy.

Shannon Gibson

Shannon, originally from North Carolina, holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida in Gainesville, an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Miami and is a third-year PhD student in the Department of International Studies. Shannon currently works as a research assistant in the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy.  Shannon’s research interests focus on the impact of social movements and other challengers to the state, the function of power and discourse in setting the global agenda and, more generally, theories of social change.  As part of her dissertation research she will be conducting field research at a variety of international summits over the coming year such as the UNFCCC COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen and meetings of the G20 and G8 in order to assess the impact of environmental social movements and activist networks.

Maxime Larivé

Maxime is originally from France (Antibes), where he received a Maitrise in History and Geography from the University of Nice. He holds a Master in International Relations from Suffolk University (Boston, MA). Maxime is currently a third year PhD student at the Department of International Studies, where he has been working as a teaching assistant and a research assistant at the Center of the European Union for Professor Roy. He has been elected President of the International Studies Graduate Students Association (INSGSA) for the academic year of 2009-2010. He has been focusing on the European Union, foreign policy analysis, and security studies. His research interest relates to the evolution of the European Union as a security actor.

Cathinka Lerstad

Originally from Norway, Cathinka has spent the past 12 years studying and working abroad - in Israel, England, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Australia, Ukraine, Italy and the United States. She holds a BSc in Economics and Development from the University of Bath (England) and an MA in International Affairs from the Australian National University (ANU). Her professional experience includes work on peacebuilding in the Balkans and UN internal reform. Cathinka is a Fulbright Scholar and third year PhD student in the Department of International Studies. Cathinka's primary research interests include normative political theory, ethics and morality in international relations, and collective security responses to situations of massive human rights violations (R2P).

Alberto Lozano

Alberto Lozano-Vázquez holds a BA in International Relations from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, Campus Acatlán).  From 1998 to 2008 his labor experience developed within both, private and public sectors in México. He is currently studying the PhD in IR in the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami. His scholarly interests mainly include IR theory and security studies, but also he has special interest in subjects as: revolutions, democracy, culture, political philosophy, gender studies, and international trade.

Particularly, he is focused on the US-Mexico bilateral relationship in terms of national security, taking into account different possible theories from the field of IR and enriching the analysis with some elements derived from Comparative Politics and International Political Economy.  

Alberto receives support from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) in Mexico and from the INS Department at UM.

Marsha Pacheco

Originally from the nation-state of Trinidad and Tobago, Marsha is a second year PhD student, McKnight Fellow, and Teaching assistant, concentrating on International Political Economy. Her research interests include Distributional Conflict within Regional Integration Arrangements, Structural Cohesion Funds, and Economic and Political Integration. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Leadership Development from Johns Hopkins University (2005), a Masters of Art in International Development from Brandeis University (2002), and a Bachelors of Art in English: Media Arts from Coppin State University (2000). Prior to pursuing doctoral studies she worked for several years within the government and non-profit sectors in the Maryland/Washington DC metro areas. In her spare time Marsha enjoys travelling, volunteering, and exercising.

REmi Piet

Originally from France, Rémi Piet is a PhD candidate at the University of Miami as a UM Fellow, and a research assistant at the University of Miami European Union Center .

He holds a MBA in International Management (2001) and a MA in International Studies (2002) from Laval University, Canada, as well as a M.Sc. in International Economics & Economics for Developing Countries (2005) from l’Université Paris La Sorbonne, France.

His research interests include European Foreign Policy, Energy Security and Environmental Conflicts, Global Warming and Renewable Energies.
Remi has lived in Mexico, Canada, England and France and has recently held executive positions in a French telecommunication multinational company during 5 years, overseeing operations in 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries, including extensive field experience. Other achievements include field experience on behalf of NGOs in Haiti and in the Middle East (Jordan, Israel & West Bank).
Rémi Piet is currently working as a consultant for the United Nations Environment Program on the Mediterranean Renewable Energy Program (MEDREP) initiative which aims at developing a sustainable renewable energy market system in the greater Mediterranean Region. He also participates in the drafting of the Clobal Environment Fund (GEF) project framework on solar energy, implemented worlwide by the UNDP.

Angela Puentes

Angela Puentes is a first year graduate student from Bogotá, Colombia.  She has a B.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Political Science from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá.  Her research interests include, illicit economies and their connection with armed conflict, and corporate social responsibility in armed conflict and post-conflict scenarios.

Andrea Sanchez

Andrea graduated with a Master of Arts in International Relations from St. John’s University. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in International Studies at the University of Miami, with a focus on trafficking in persons and the sexual exploitation of women and children between U.S. and Mexico. She also works as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Miami’s Toppel Career Center where she critiques students’ career development documents conducts workshops and helps organize events for students.