Lana Gonzalez Balyk

PhD in Global Governance    

Lana Gonzalez Balyk
Student
Student

RESEARCH CLUSTERS

RESEARCH CLUSTERS

Lana Gonzalez Balyk

PhD in Global Governance

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Lana Gonzalez Balyk is a Ph.D. Candidate in Global Governance with the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests included critical migration and border studies, with a focus on gender. From an intersectional feminist framework, her dissertation examines how migration governance policies and practices shape the lived experiences and community-building efforts of migrant women in Portugal.

Her recent co-authored journal articles appear in Forced Migration Review, Journal of Refugee Studies, and Studies in Social Justice. Her PhD research is funded by an ongoing BSIA fellowship and Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS), which she has been awarded consecutively from 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025.

Lana is a research assistant and collaborator on a multi-year, SSHRC-funded project in Cyprus with Drs. Ilcan and Daǧtaș. During her PhD she has held additional roles at the University of Waterloo, including: Lead PhD Coordinator to assist her Dr. Suzan Ilcan in planning an international conference, ‘From Targeting in Academia to Promoting Trust and Understanding,’ held in June 2024 at the University of Waterloo; and Support Officer for the Migration, Mobilities and Social Policy (MMSP) Research Cluster at BSIA.

Prior to her studies, Lana engaged in contract work for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, held the position of Refugee Case Manager for an Immigration Consultant, and worked as an English as a Second Language Teacher. Prior to this, she worked as a Program Manager for a micro-finance organization in Nicaragua, People Helping People Global (PHPG), and as a research assistant for the Centre for Mediation, Peace and Resolution of Conflict (CEMPROC) in Ecuador.
She previously completed her MA in Human Security and Peace building at Royal Roads University in Victoria, a program concentrated on international development and human rights. Before that, she completed her BA in History at the University of Calgary, where she focused on Latin American History. She attended a field school in Uganda, focusing on refugee studies, and an archeology field school in Mexico.

Lana is fluent in Spanish and speaks intermediate-level Portuguese.

Awards

  • Balsillie Fellowship at BSIA through the University of Waterloo 2019-2024
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) 2024-2025
  • President’s Graduate Scholarship 2024-2025
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) 2023-2024
  • President’s Graduate Scholarship 2023-2024
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) 2022-2023
  • President’s Graduate Scholarship 2022-2023
  • Sharon and David Johnson Award Nov 2023
  • Connect 4 Success Research Travel Grant Nov 2023
  • David Johnson International Experience Award May 2023
  • Connect 4 Success Research Travel Grant Nov 2022
  • Sharon and David Johnson Award Nov 2022
  • Briarhurst Travel and Research Award June 2022
  • University of Waterloo International Experience Award May 2022
  • David Johnson International Experience Award Jan 2022

Select Publications

  • Ilcan, S., S. Dağtaş, and L. Gonzalez Balyk (2025) “Transversal Community-Building: Fostering Women’s Collaboration and Solidarity Across Differences in Cyprus.” Migration and Society (in press).
  •  Gonzalez Balyk, L, Ilcan, S & Dağtaş, S. 2023. “Intersection of Gender and Marginalized Identities on Opposite ends of Europe.” Routed Magazine. 23
  • Ilcan, S, Dağtaş, S & Gonzalez Balyk, L. 2023. “Borderland Porosities: Migratory Journeys and Migrant Politics in Lebanon and Turkey.” Journal of Refugee Studies; fead017 (https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead017)
  • Gonzalez Balyk, L. “Soledad o Solidaridad: Cooperation and Tensions in the Regional State Response to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis.” Studies in Social Justice. 16-3: 612-627.
  • Balyk, L., & Pugh, J. 2013. “Networked governance in Ecuador’s border regions.” Forced Migration Review 43:47-49.

Education

  • MA Human Security and Peacebuilding, Royal Roads University, 2012.
  • BA History, University of Calgary, 2008.