Fernanda Cabezas Astorga

Fernanda Cabezas is a first-year Ph.D.student in political science at the Maxwell School. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in economics from the Catholic University of Chile and a master’s in peacebuilding and conflict resolution from the Heller School.

Fernanda’s work focuses on conflict and violence in Latin America, with extensive experience in organizations such as the Chilean Ministry of Environment, The International Studies Center (INTE), J-PAL Latin America, and Everyday Peace Indicators (EPI).

She has contributed to program evaluations aimed at reducing tensions between host communities and state industries in areas of environmental degradation, addressing city-port conflicts, tackling organized crime in Latin America, and exploring grassroots perceptions of peace in conflict-affected communities in Colombia, with a particular emphasis on the discrepancies between local views and top-down approaches.

Fernanda has conducted fieldwork and research in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia. In addition to her work in Latin America, Fernanda has also worked with the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) on the South Sudan Peace Operation.

Organized crime in Latin America, perceptions of peace/security in conflict-affected communities, qualitative research methods in conflict zones