Search

IAFS Faculty Spotlight: John O’Loughlin’s Research in Kenya

Professor John O'Loughlin with research team in Nairobi

The research team and local collaborators following the Nairobi training.

John O’Loughlin is a College Professor of Distinction in Geography, a Fellow at the (IBS), and a faculty committee member in International Affairs. His research and fieldwork directly inform his teaching, bringing real-world data and global case studies into the classroom for IAFS students. He teaches GEOG 4712: Political Geography and GEOG 4002 / IAFS 4500: Social and Political Outcomes of Climate Change, where students engage with current research on climate change, institutions, and conflict.

John O’Loughlin and Andrew Linke—a former Boulder Geography PhD student and TA—navigate a narrow, slippery ravine while traveling to meet a village elder in Machakos County, Kenya (February 2025).

In August 2024, Professor O’Loughlin received a to study the connections between climate change, food insecurity, and conflict and cooperation in Kenya. The project focuses on how formal and informal institutions can either reduce or intensify conflict and includes a large-scale study of more than 3,000 rural households across 11 counties. The research examines how seasonal weather changes affect food availability, livelihoods, and community stability, as well as the role local institutions play in shaping these outcomes. The research is supported by locally collected weather and environmental data gathered over a three-year period. The main data source is five panel survey waves.

In February 2025, the research team traveled to Nairobi to conduct an intensive training for over 70 enumerators, local supervisors, and regional coordinators. The training focused on administering a survey with more than 100 questions and following detailed sampling protocols across carefully selected enumeration areas.

After a week of in-depth preparation, fieldwork officially began. Research teams—each made up of four enumerators and one supervisor—traveled to counties where they had strong local language skills and cultural knowledge, allowing them to effectively engage with communities and collect high-quality data.

During the first days of fieldwork, Professor O’Loughlin and two Boulder colleagues accompanied teams in three counties to observe how the surveys and sampling protocols were being carried out on the ground. By visiting multiple sample sites and meeting directly with interviewees and village elders, the team was able to see firsthand the careful and thorough implementation of the research process.

Professor O’Loughlin spent an additional month in Kenya in November 2025 and is planning two more extended field visits in 2026 as the project continues.

Research Definitions

Panel survey waves are the different rounds of a survey where the same people are asked questions again over time. Each “wave” is one point in time, allowing researchers to see how opinions, experiences, or behaviors change.

Enumerators are individuals who collect census data by visiting individual homes.

Enumeration areas are small, clearly defined geographic units used to organize data collection. They help ensure every household or person in a larger area is counted once and only once.

Learn More - Research Articles

  • Mach, K. J., Kraan, C. M., Adger, W. N., Buhaug, H., Burke, M., Fearon, J. D., Field, C. B., Hendrix, C. S., Maystadt, J.-F., O’Loughlin, J., Roessler, P., Scheffran, J., Schultz, K. A., & von Uexkull, N. (2019). Nature, 571(7764), 193–197.
  • O’Loughlin, J., Linke, A. M., & Witmer, F. D. W. (2014). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(47), 16712–16717.
  • Linke, A. M., Witmer, F. D. W., & O’Loughlin, J. (2018). Journal of Conflict Resolution, 62(7), 1544–1578.
  • Linke, A. M., Witmer, F. D. W., & O’Loughlin, K. (2022). Political Geography, 92.