Dr. Lys Alcayna-Stevens is a socio-cultural anthropologist trained at Cambridge and Harvard universities. She has ten years’ experience conducting policy-oriented qualitative and quantitative research on development, health, and environmental issues in central Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, and Uganda), including over 26 months of field-based research in the western and central regions of DRC​. She is fluent in French and Lingala and has extensive experience working with indigenous communities (Batwa, BaAka), and with many other ethnic groups in central Africa, on issues surrounding marginalization, land disputes, and gender-based violence. She has experience working with national, provincial and local institutions, and is on the advisory board for two environmental NGOs which support local communities in DRC. She is currently a Research Fellow in the Anthropology Department of Harvard University.
