Daniel K. Thompson

Daniel K. Thompson is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology and Heritage Studies, University of California, Merced. His research focuses on the intersections of investment, trade, migration, and security in conflict/post-conflict regions, particularly in the Ethiopia-Somalia borderlands. He examines how global war-on-terror border policies reshape urban life and diasporic connections.

• PhD in Anthropology (Emory University, 2019)
• MA in Geography & Cert. in Geospatial Technology (University of Miami, 2012)

Research Themes: His work analyzes refugee return migration, autocratic collaborations, ethno-national identity formation, and refugee economies in South Africa. Current projects include studies on city dynamics in conflict zones and transnational clan networks.

Funding: National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and National Geographic Society have supported his fieldwork and publications.

Teaching: Offers courses on globalization, economic anthropology, and geospatial mapping of population mobility at UC Merced since 2019.