Ieva Birka

Ieva Birka, the Juris Padegs Research Fellow in the Baltic Studies Program at Yale University for the Fall 2015 semester, is the author and co-author of several publications in English and Latvian focusing on issues of social integration, feelings of belonging, dual citizenship, and the Latvian diaspora. At Yale she developed and implemented a survey focused on the ethnic Latvian population born in the United States and Canada. The aim of the survey was to establish the feasibility of the Latvian Return Migration Plan, to understand how those born in the United States and Canada but now living in Latvia are faring, how informed about life in Latvia are those planning return, and the factors hindering the return to Latvia of others.

Research Interest:  “The Challenges of Bringing Talent Home to Latvia”