Stephanie Leutert is a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security and also the Director of the Central America and Mexico Policy Initiative at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on issues related to Central American migration, U.S.-Mexico border dynamics, and Mexico’s migration and security policy. In particular, Stephanie has conducted research on how climate change and increased weather unpredictability contributes to Central American migration to the United States.

Stephanie has previously served as a Senior Advisor for Migration Policy at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. In this role, she worked on policies aiming to establish humane and orderly migration at the U.S.-Mexico border and on the United States’ Collaborative Migration Management Strategy with Mexico and Central America. Stephanie also worked as a Research Associate in the Latin America Studies program at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she focused on emerging security, immigration, energy, and economic issues in the region, with a particular focus on Mexico.

Stephanie has also worked as a Legislative Assistant on energy policy in Ukraine’s Parliament and conducted field research on Mexico’s automotive and aerospace industries. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Wilson Quarterly, and Americas Quarterly, among other outlets. Stephanie has a MA in Global Affairs from Yale University and a BA from Skidmore College.