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Dr. Audrey Lumley-Sapanski joined CMU in the Fall of 2023. Before joining CMU, she held post-docs in Italy and the UK. Dr. Lumley-Sapanski’s research explores the risks to human trafficking and exploitation faced by migrants and is motivated by a research-for-change strategy to end human trafficking. Her research is currently funded by the National Institute of Justice (2025-2027), a large grant to study cross border human trafficking between Mexico and the U.S. Audrey’s focus stems from a background in direct service as a practitioner at a refugee resettlement agency in Chicago. Lumley-Sapanski's work is both academic and policy-facing and has been funded by the International Organization for Migration, the International Labor Organization, the modern Slavery Policy and Evaluation Centre, and the United Kingdom’s Research Innovation fund, amongst others.

Lumley-Sapanski was a teacher long before returning to academia. She was a New York City Teaching Fellow in Social Studies and received her master's through that program. She taught high school social studies, economics and governance and in the summers, she led students on study abroad trips through the program Experiment in International Living. These experiences were formative for Lumley-Sapanski and through them, she learned how to apply creative and participatory approaches in the classroom. Subsequently, she has taught methods and core coursework at the graduate and undergraduate levels in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. This includes coursework in human geography, urban studies, and research methods. At CMU Lumley-Sapanski is excited to teach human geography, world regional geography, GIS for social scientists, and introduction to cartography. She also teaches upper division coursework like Geographies of Migration, Geographies of Trafficking, and Urban Geography and serves as the advisor to the Geography Club.

Lumley-Sapanski’s favorite part of the job is working with students. Come find her in Houston Hall!

Audrey Lumley-Sapanski's Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

  • Lumley-Sapanski, A., Dotsey, S., & Cinalli, M. (2025). The Effect of the COVID-19 ‘Furlough’ Scheme on Italian Skilled Migrants in Britain: Inclusive and Nonhostile Policies Improve Market Integration and Skills Match. American Behavioral Scientist, 00027642251367534.
  • Flanagan, C., & Lumley-Sapanski, A. (2025). Engendering cumulative disadvantage: Explaining the experiences and outcomes of skilled migrant women. Geoforum, 163, 104310.
  • Ambrosini, M., Dotsey, S., Lumley-Sapanski, A., & Oberle, H. (2025). Language Abuse: The Politicization and Categorization of People on the Move Through Language and Narrative. Genealogy, 9(2), 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020060
  • Dotsey, S., Oberle, H., Lumley-Sapanski, A., & Fiete Peters, M. (2025). Nationalism and Global Citizenship in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Addressing Inequality and Fostering «Glo-Ubuntu» Citizenship. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202503.1529.v1
  • Lumley‐Sapanski, A. & Schwarz, K. (2024). Constructive (in) visibility and the trafficking industrial complex: Leveraging borders for exploitation. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, e12739.
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. & Garbers, K (2024) The Homes for Ukraine Scheme: How the provision of exceptional rights and legal migration routes shaped Ukrainian reception within the United Kingdom. Migration Policy and Practice, 8(3) pp. 13-20.
  • Lumley-Sapanski A, Rodriguez-Huerta E, Young M, Nicholson A, Schwarz K. (2024) Criminalising survivors of modern slavery: the United Kingdom’s National Referral Mechanism as a border-making process. Journal of Social Policy. Published online 2024:1-20. doi:10.1017/S0047279424000230
  • Dotsey, S., Lumley-Sapanski, A., and Ambrosini, M. (2023) COVID-19 & precarious lifeworlds of (in)visible migrants’ care workforce. IJERPH 20(12): 6108.
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A., Schwarz, K. and Valverde-Cano, A. Babiker, MA, Crowther, M., Death, E., Ditcham, K., Eltayeb, AR, Jones, MEK, Miley, S., & Mir, MP (2023) Exacerbating Pre‑Existing Vulnerabilities: an Analysis of the Effects of the COVID‑19 Pandemic on Human Trafficking in Sudan. Human Rights Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-023-00683-7
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. and Dotsey, S. (2022). Paradoxical migrant allyship: the adoption of a disciplinary model of ‘compulsory integration’ for asylum seekers in Italy. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2022.2042221
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. (2022). “It will kill your dreams, your goals, your everything”—Humanitarian migrants, governance through containment and the Italian accommodation system. Political Geography, 94, 102573.
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A., Schwarz, K., Valverde Cano, A. (2021). The Khartoum Process and human trafficking. Forced Migration Review, 68: pp. 46-48.
  • Dotsey, S. and Lumley-Sapanski, A. (2021). Temporality, refugees, and housing: the effects of temporary assistance on refugee housing outcomes in Italy. Cities, (111), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.103100
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. (2020). Explaining contemporary patterns of residential mobility: Insights from resettled refugees in Chicago. Geoforum (116), p. 1-11.
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. (2019). The Survival Job Trap: Explaining Refugee Employment Outcomes in Chicago and the Contributing Factors. Journal of Refugee Studies, https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez092
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A., & Callahan, N. J. (2019). Mutual Benefit: How Vocational Training Programs Utilize Employer Engagement and Refugee Strengths to Facilitate Integration. Social Sciences, 8(5), 145.
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. and Fowler, C. S. (2017). “Planning Dissonance” and the Bases for Stably Diverse Neighborhoods: The Case of South Seattle. City & Community, 16: 86–115.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

  • Lumley-Sapanski, A & Schwarz, K. (2022). ‘Increased vulnerability to human trafficking of migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in the IGAD-North Africa region.’ In The COVID-19 impacts of COVID-19 on migration and migrants from a gender perspective, Chap. 10. International Organization for Migration. Available https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/impacts-of-COVID-19-gender_1.pdf
  • Valverde Cano, A., Schwarz, K., & Lumley Sapanski, A. (2022) Análisis de los factores de vulnerabilidad en los países de origen de las (presuntas) victimas de esclavitud moderna en Reino Unido. Retos del Estado de Derecho en materia de inmigración y terrorismo. (Eds) Ignacio Álvarez Arcá, Elena Avilés Hernández; Marta Fernández Cabrera (dir.), Carmen Rocío Fernández Díaz (dir.), págs. 429-456
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A. (2018). “Refugee Resettlement’s Divergent Outcomes: The Role of the Social Network in Housing Type and Location.” In The Crux of Refugee Resettlement: Rebuilding Social Networks. Nelson, A., Willems, R. and Roedlach, A. (Eds.).

Policy Briefings



Submissions to international courts, authoritative bodies, and other inquiries

  • Lumley-Sapanski, A, Garbers, K, Brotherton, V. and Schwarz, K (2023) Trafficking in persons and protection of refugees, stateless persons and internally displaced persons (IDPs), submission to the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Katarina Schwarz et al., ‘The Role of Organised Criminal Groups with Regard to Contemporary Forms of Slavery’, submission to  the  United  Nations  Special  Rapporteur  on  contemporary  forms  of slavery, including its causes and consequences (16 April 2021). https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/SRSlavery/Pages/cfi-role-organised-criminal-groups-slavery.aspx
  • Lumley-Sapanski, A., Seymour, E., and Schwarz, K. ‘The Nexus between Forced Displacement and Contemporary Forms of Slavery’, submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences (15 March 2021). https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Slavery/SRSlavery/Pages/ReportHRC48.aspx