Patrick Meier, PhD (abd)
Fellow, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
Patrick Meier co-directs HHI’s Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning. Patrick has extensive experience in the field of conflict early warning/response and has helped to spearhead the field of crisis mapping. Between 2007-2009, he carried out a comprehensive assessment of the field, identifying gaps, innovative initiatives, good practices and early lessons learned. Today, Patrick continues to play a pivotal role in formalizing the field of crisis mapping and connecting crisis mapping projects across the world to foster an expanded and vibrant community of crisis mappers. Patrick is the co-founder of both the International Network of Crisis Mappers (INCM) and the International Conference on Crisis Mapping (ICCM). He is on the board of Ushahidi and a partner with the BrightEarth Humanitarian Sensor Web (HSW). In addition, Patrick is a recognized and respected blogger on crisis mapping and early warning at iRevolution.
As an international consultant in the field of conflict early warning and crisis mapping, Patrick has collaborated with several international/regional organizations including the UN, OSCE, OECD, IGAD, ECOWAS and ECCAS. He has also consulted for a number of UN agencies including the UNDP’s Threat and Risk Mapping Analysis project in the Sudan. In addition, Patrick’s work includes projects with several NGO’s such as Swisspeace, and foundations like the UN Foundation for which he recently co-authored a major report on the changing role of technology in the humanitarian space.
Patrick Meier is also a PhD candidate at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, where his dissertation research focuses on the intersection between nonviolent civil resistance and digital activism in repressive environments. He is on the board of DigiActive and Digital Democracy. Patrick has an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and was an exchange student at UC Berkeley. Prior to his position at HHI, Patrick was a researcher with the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) and a fellow at SIPA’s Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR). He is also a alumnus of the Santa Fe Institute’s (SFI) Complex Systems Summer School and holds a certificate in complexity science from the New England Complex Systems Institute.. Patrick has taught undergraduate, graduate and professional seminars on a variety of topics including Conflict and Disaster Early Warning, Complexity Science and Digital Democracy.