Cassandre Rey-Thibault

Cassandre Rey-Thibault serves as a Bruno Latour Postdoctoral Fellow at Sciences Po's Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), conducting cutting-edge research on compound risk frameworks in urban coastal environments. Her work bridges geography, policy studies, and climate adaptation through critical analysis of risk governance structures.

Education

• PhD in Geography, University of Paris-Est (2022), supervised by Valérie November

Rey-Thibault investigates the porous boundaries between risk prevention, preparation, and crisis management, challenging conventional risk paradigms through compound risk theory. Her research emphasizes urban coastal adaptation under climate change, examining how industrial-port cities like Le Havre navigate multi-scalar governance challenges. She employs qualitative methodologies to analyze organizational forms, expertise production, and actor networks in risk landscapes, revealing tensions between technical solutions and socio-political realities.

Her publications reveal consistent focus on interconnected risk systems across urban networks, nonscalable compound risks, and spatial risk governance. Key trends include deconstructing the risk-crisis continuum, analyzing tangled urban risk dynamics, and exposing limitations in current risk management frameworks when confronting climate-driven compound hazards.

Scientific Awards

• Special 'Territory' thesis prize awarded by Paris Est Sup and Paris-Vallée de la Marne urban community (2023)
• GRALE-CNFPT thesis prize (2023)

Rey-Thibault supervises risk management modules at École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussés (ENPC) and teaches environmental geography at Gustave Eiffel University. Funded by the French Red Cross Foundation and Harvard Kennedy School (2021-2022), she currently leads the BRIM-RISK project (2023-2026) examining coastal urban adaptation. Her grant portfolio reflects strong institutional support for innovative risk governance research.

As core CEE researcher, she contributes to environmental transformations research within interdisciplinary teams focusing on urban governance and climate policy, actively participating in seminars on state-produced public policies and capitalist transformations.